I quite fancy watching French TV on my iPad but, because my Apple account is still UK, the app is not available in the Apple Store. A bit of searching suggests that changing country is a faff as it messes with your existing subscriptions. Is that the case or is it reasonably straightforward?
I canāt help with the Apple account stuff as I donāt have any Apple products, but you can watch live TV on certain channels using www.france.tv via your browserā¦
For example,
Does that work on an iPad as a workaround?
Thanks, I do have that. I didnāt really mention the rationale that Iām trying to rationalise the number of accounts that I have as part of ādeath planningā*. I currently use Molotov but was thinking about just using the Orange TV service that comes with my internet access and wanted to try it out before paying for the service that letās you use it on smart TVs.
*not that I plan to die soon but I have cancer and ride motorbikes so, you knowā¦
1 Like
The smart TV service is now available. I recently downloaded Orange TV onto my smart TV and it works fine (provided you have an Orange account).
It is indeed but I want to check it out before paying good money for it. 
If you are using Orange for internet, then the TV is free. You just have to log into it using your Orange login.
Sosh wants a fiver a month to use the smart TV function. As far as I can see, itās only free on mobile devices
Orange TV is free on non-mobile devices but Iāve no idea about IPads etc being a Neanderthal. We have our Orange box that came free in addition to the Livebox and we connect it to an old computer monitor plus speakers. Works well but probably wouldnāt suit you more modern peopleā¦ 
Iām cheap and on Sosh, where the TV box costs ā¬5 per month, so Iām not paying that to have it on one TV 
Ahā¦ that makes sense! Iām actually overpaying for Orange at the moment since there did a fiddle when changing me over to fibre. I shall vote with my feet when the heat recedes enough for the brain to work 
Yes changing countries will make you lose your subscriptions. The only way I can think of would be to jailbreak it and sideload the app. Which is doable but I have never done with an apple device
1 Like
If you had said you were with Sosh, I could have given you firm information.
I am with Sosh, and the Orange TV service IS FREE on my smart TV (as well as on my phone).
The webpage definitely wants ā¬5 from for smart tv access but I might install on my android box and see what happens.
Turns out that itās pointless as the app isnāt available on Fire devices, though I suppose I could sideload it.
Edit: nope, turns out I canāt do that either as Orange explicitly blocks access from FireOS devices. Itās almost like they donāt want my money.
If itās the same as the app I have on the dĆ©codeur Orange gave me, then dont botherā¦ I find the user interface clunky and unintuitive.
For example, accessing the electronic programme guide is particularly painful. I have to choose a time of day and wait for the details to load. And the details are rubbish - a thumbnail image that takes up too much space and doesnāt tell me anything, the name of the programme and the time it starts.
The EPG allows me to go back in time and see what was on telly, but clicking there programmes doesnāt let me watch them on catch-up. There is a āReplayā option, but thatās in a different part of the app, so you have to exit the EPG and hope itās available.
Too much of the app takes up screen estate, so you canāt keep watching a programme whilst navigating the menu either.
The whole thing seems designed to up sell subscriptions to stuff I donāt want or need. I only keep it as a backup for when my other method for watching TV is playing up.
Rant overā¦ and breathe.
Hmm I donāt find it that bad but ya any sports I want to watch needs a sub. I pretty much only use it for music channels, poker or news. Otherwise I use YouTube TV
Whoops, sorry I didnāt answer your question so deleted it.
From playing with my Macbook in other countries, the OS didnāt like it when I specified a local AppStore (wherever I happened to be) instead of the one with which Apple thinks I should be registered (i.e. in France).
Notwithstanding any technical constraints, I do wish that this ācountry specificā nonsense would end. We are in a global era now and therefore services should be global.
(sorry - I do not have any answers, just wanted to rantā¦)
3 Likes
You are right but the problem is that content, ie TV programs, films, music, books etcā¦ has historically had rights to it sold under contracts limited to particular geographical areas to, eg ādistributeā that content in the defined geographical area for āxā period of years.
Undoing that system and with all the rights already in place for so much of it is something no one seems able to tackle. So there is the shadow economy of pirating etc.
There is an actual expert on this here on SF, so Iāll shut up now. Oh, and another expert also on SF in a very closely related field, intellectual property rights. They might come along and let us know if thereās any hope of sense ever prevailing on international access to content 