LG Electronics has announced that the HBO Max app is now available on LG Smart TVs from 2018 and later. To celebrate the launch of the app, HBO Max has made a number of preview episodes from it most popular series free to watch.
The HBO App is now available, thanks to a firmware update, on LG OLED and LCD TVs, more than a year after the service first launch. The only disappointment is that those with an older LG TV will not, at least not yet, be able to access it as the rollout is limited to models running webOS 4.0 and later. It means TVs made in 2017 or earlier aren’t included.
"LG Electronics USA and WarnerMedia announced today that the HBO Max app is now available on LG Smart TVs in the U.S., including its line-up of award-winning LG OLED TVs,” the companies said in a joint press release.
The statement continued: “The arrival of HBO Max on LG Smart TVs makes it easier than ever for subscribers to access the popular streaming platform’s full portfolio of premium content in one integrated experience and comes on the heels of the launch of HBO Max on LG Smart TVs across select territories in Latin America and the Caribbean in June.”
LG TV owners may appreciate that the launch of the app comes just in time for the release of Suicide Squad, which is available in 4K, Dolby Vision and HDR10 on the HBO Max app for 31 days from August 5. The app first gained support for those formats, and Dolby Atmos, in December last year.
Perhaps the biggest draw will be the free preview episodes. These were previously available on the HBO website, but the update means there’s no longer any need to fiddle around with the web browser just to have a quick gander. Apparently, the free episodes are available to watch on all versions of the app, so it’s not only LG TV owners that will be able to enjoy them.
The previews include episodes of Game of Thrones, The Flight Attendant, The Nevers, Lovecraft Country and more, WarnerMedia said.
The app will likely be a welcome addition for LG TV-owning fans of the Warner Bros film studio, which said earlier this year that it intends to launch its entire slate of 2021 movies directly on the app, for a fee of course. Traditionally, new releases were always released in the cinema before, and only came to streaming platforms and DVD after several months.
That decision will no doubt please those who still feel its unsafe to venture to crowded public spaces. Instead of breathing the same air as dozens of other theatre-goers, they’ll be able to watch the new Dune movie for example, from the safety of their own sofas.
HBO Max is not yet officially available in Europe, though it’s set to launch later this year. In the meantime, it can be accessed via a VPN. Prices start at $15 (£10.77) per month for ad-free viewing and $10 (£7.18) per month with ads.
