Sony have revealed the media and streaming apps that will be available for PlayStation 5 on day one of the console’s release.
It seems as though a new range of apps has had to be created for the platform, in order to exist in the new and separate part of the system software dedicated to non-gaming media, as was revealed during the PS5 showcase last week.
Update: Sony have clarified that all named apps will be available on day one.
The streaming services confirmed for day one include:
- Apple TV
- Disney+
- Netflix
- Spotify
- Twitch
- YouTube
- Amazon Prime Video
- MyCanal
- Hulu
- Peacock
More apps are expected on day one – Ars Technica have a confirmation from CrunchyRoll that their app will be available – but Sony’s not provided an exhaustive list and had to issue yet another clarification after leaving things a bit vague. Notable by their absence are the likes of HBO Max and country specific streaming platforms like BBC iPlayer.
As on PlayStation 4, Twitch and YouTube will also be integrated into the system’s Create button functionality to broadcast your gaming online, while Spotify can play music for you while you game. Apple TV will be launching alongside a new PS4 app as well.
Sony also explained that a little more about the Media space in the system software. You won’t need to download any of the entertainment apps through the PS Store, they will simply be there in the Media section of the UI.
What’s also not detailed is the actual playback capabilities of the PS5. The console can almost certainly stream in 4K and with HDR, but will the PS5 support Dolby Vision HDR? Dolby Atmos audio for media? We’re still in the dark on some of the PS5’s media credentials.
Source: PS Blog
MrYd
So they’re all there on the PS5, taking up that valuable SSD space instead of letting you download the ones you want?
It’s going to be like the PS4, isn’t it? Whoever pays Sony the most gets put in front of the ones you actually use. And then something new pops up and shifts everything around and you end up launching the wrong one until you get used to the new positions.
rossthebassist
I doubt they will be pre installed. More like shortcuts on the system under Media and when you select one it downloads for the first time. Hopefully they will run off the external drive. Time will tell i guess 28 days and counting.
TSBonyman
Going by the size of the Youtube app on PS4 (the only one i have installed), it’s 246Mb and i expect PS5 apps won’t be significantly larger, but even if they are double the size they’ll still be relatively small filesizes. If we’re lucky they might even be small enough to be included in the OS SSD footprint.
However it sounds like we will still have the annoyance of not being able to fully remove the media apps we don’t want. :/
MrYd
But if you could remove them, they wouldn’t pay Sony as much for having them on there in the first place.
Disney obviously pay lots, so they’ll probably be first. Netflix must be throwing money all over the place, so they get a special button on everything. Amazon don’t seem to spend as much, so they don’t get special buttons everywhere (or an app on the Sky Q boxes, which is what I use for everything else these days), and I guess why they’re not mentioned as being there on day 1.
The BBC will probably spend 6 months whinging about not getting special treatment and then end up there anyway.
And YouTube might spend some money, or might not. They certainly haven’t paid Sky enough to be on their boxes properly. There’s an app, but you can’t watch films you’ve paid Google for. It just quietly fails. Unlike the PS4 app.
It’s annoying you can’t just install the ones you want (or the ones you can’t use elsewhere), but it’s clearly down to money.
Andrewww
Well, my media experience with PlayStation has always been mixed with new console generations. Netflix on PS4 didn’t work reliably, and their rubbish support could not sort that. Back then, it worked better on PS3. My PS4 never was able to play movies from my server, which, again, my PS3 does.
So I definitely keep my PS3 for the time being, not only for some old games I like to revisit.
Of course, it would be convenient if the PS5 plays media from an attached hard drive, and I wouldn’t mind Netflix on it, but I’m so fed up with unkept marketing promises, I will only believe it, if I actually see these working.