HBO Now on Macbook Pro

April 8, 2015 10:06 AM

iTunes allowed me to download the new HBO Now app. Site said available on Apple products with IOS. But, while it took my money, I cannot find or load the downloaded app. I admit to being an idiot understanding and managing my Macbook. But shouldn't the download appear somewhere? Neither iTunes nor HBO make it easy to troubleshoot. Any ideas/ directions??
posted by NorthCoastCafe to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

IOS is for Iphone/Ipads, your macbook will be running some version of OS X. It let your buy the app though your account but it will only load/download on a compatible device.
posted by Captain_Science at 10:08 AM on April 8, 2015 [6 favorites]

To follow up on what Captain_Science said, if you want to use HBO Now on your Mac I believe you just log in to the website and watch in-browser (the way you'd watch Netflix).
posted by radioamy at 10:10 AM on April 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Yes--iTunes is meant to manage your Apple mobile devices on top of the music, and so it lets you purchase apps for them through its interface. Programs you can run on your MacBook will be found in the "App Store" program that you have on your MacBook. I know this is not intuitive at all and doesn't make much sense.
posted by foxfirefey at 10:14 AM on April 8, 2015

There is no desktop app for HBO Now. The app you are able to download is for iOS devices only. If you want to watch it on your Mac, you'll have to do it through your web browser. Or are you talking about not being able to find the iOS app at all? It should be as simple as downloading it to your iOS device, if you have one.
posted by signondiego at 10:31 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

As someone said above it will only work on iOS devices and Apple TV. You're unable to watch on your MacBook.
posted by shesbenevolent at 10:52 AM on April 8, 2015

Apparently not true:

After you create an HBO NOW account and start the service, you can view HBO NOW online from your Mac at hbonow.com. HBO NOW can be viewed from multiple devices for viewing simultaneous streams. #

posted by caek at 11:21 AM on April 8, 2015

As someone said above it will only work on iOS devices and Apple TV. You're unable to watch on your MacBook.

HBO Now support says differently:

To use HBO NOW in your browser, you need a laptop or desktop computer running either Mac OS X version 10.6 or later, or Microsoft Windows Vista or later. In addition, you'll need one of the following support browsers updated to at least the version shown:

Internet Explorer 10
Safari 7
Chrome 37
Firefox 31

Unless otherwise noted, you should always use the latest version of your chosen browser.
posted by bluecore at 11:21 AM on April 8, 2015

I don't think you actually paid anything. iTunes will let you download the iOS app on a Mac (so you can then sync it with an iOS device), but the HBO Now app itself is free. The monthly subscription is an in-app-purchase you have to buy inside the iOS app. Once you have that paid account, you can also watch HBO Now on your Mac in Safari.
posted by w0mbat at 11:27 AM on April 8, 2015

You will also need Flash Player 17 in my experience.
posted by infinitewindow at 1:07 PM on April 8, 2015

Just to confirm what others have pointed out, you can in fact watch HBO Now on your computer, in a browser, so long as you register for it using an iOS device. I downloaded the (free) app and subscribed for it on my iPhone (though an in app purchase/subscription) last night and was watching on my Windows 8 HTPC later that evening.
posted by noneuclidean at 2:05 PM on April 8, 2015