Irish Sky Q customers should start seeing some changes to how they interact with the service starting today as Sky has rolled out a raft of new features in the “biggest change to the box since launch.” The overall user experience, or UI, has been streamlined to help users get to the content they want quicker along with new show and sports centre experiences.
HDR, which rolled out to Sky Q on a limited basis a few weeks ago, is now making its to the Disney+ app for those of you who still haven’t watched Hamilton. We’ve also been told that they’re constantly upgrading their voice search abilities and have even launched a brand new Sky Q remote that moved the voice search button front and center on the remote, to entice users to use the search function even more.
Below is a breakdown of the new features you can expect:
- A new expanded view UI – the old menu bar on the left has been replaced with a dynamic collapsible menu, letting you see much more content laid out when in this section.
- Each show now has a show centre, a section that will showcase every available episode, season, recording and broadcast schedule, all in one place.
- There’s also a new smart button that gets you to the episode you want quickly. So, if you’re halfway through an episode of Gangs of London, it’ll say ‘continue ep. 3’, or if you’ve just finished, it’ll suggest you start the next episode. The smart button will switch between Continue, Delete, Watch from the Start, or Play the next episode – all based on what you watched last.
- Sports fans can find all the latest games, news, documentaries, fixtures, podcasts and tables in new sports centres. Saying ‘football’ into the voice remote will get you to a page that brings together live and on demand football content from all channels and apps including; Sky Sports, Sky Sports App, BT Sport, terrestrial channels, YouTube and Spotify. You can also do this for a range of sports including; F1, GAA, Golf, Boxing and Tennis, with leagues and other sporting events coming soon.
- Voice discovery has been improved and Sky Q’s advanced voice search has got more intuitive, letting you ask for themes and genres, alongside actors. Saying “thrillers with Nicole Kidman” will bring up relevant suggestions of what to watch. You’ll soon be able to ask for entertainment themes too, such as ‘new shows’, ‘Halloween’ or ‘Christmas’.
- Following the launch of HDR on Sky Q earlier this year, Disney+ is now available in HDR. And there’s still more to come over the next few months, including more Sky Nature shows, Sky originals and Sky Cinema movies in time for Christmas. HDR live sport will come in 2021.
Fraser Stirling, Group Chief Product Officer, Sky, said: “We’ve redesigned Sky Q to make it even smarter, simpler and better at aggregating all of the TV and app content you love into one place. A new-look UI, improved voice search and more intuitive navigation make everything easier to find without having to search around, so you can get to the next episode of Succession, a brilliant football podcast, or choose from the most popular original dramas easily.
“And we’re not stopping there, the tech team behind Sky Q and Sky Go are working hard on loads of new updates that we’ll be rolling out every few months, so you can expect your Sky TV experience to keep getting better.”
