HBO Max finally launches on LG smart TVs in the U.S.

By Derek Malcolm August 3, 2021

If you’re an LG TV owner who’s been frustrated by having to access HBO Max through a set-top box or another streaming device and not natively through the TV, then it’s your lucky day. Today LG Electronics USA and WarnerMedia announced that the HBO Max app is now available on LG smart TVs in the U.S.

After being made available to some LG television models in Latin America and the Caribbean in June, the HBO Max app can now be downloaded from the LG channel store to LG OLED TVs, LG QNED Mini-LED TVs, and LG NanoCell TVs made in the 2018-2021 model years and running webOS 4.0 and up.

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A navigation pane in HBO Max.

The app can be opened with LG’s Magic Remote, either by navigating through webOS’s menu or by using the remote’s voice command feature and simply saying “HBO Max.” The addition rounds out LG’s streaming service apps, which have long included Apple TV+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and others.

The WarnerMedia direct-to-consumer streaming service has been gaining traction since its launch in May of 2020 and now boasts more than 13,000 hours of content across HBO, Warner Bros., DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and more. Earlier in the pandemic year, Warner Bros. made headlines by announcing that they would release its entire 2021 movie slate simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.

LG and Warner Media noted in their press release that the availability of the HBO Max app comes in time for viewers to stream The Suicide Squad, which debuts in theaters and on the service on August 5th and will be available in 4K UHD, HDR10, and Dolby Vision for 31 days.

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If you love college basketball and can process more than one game at a time, you're going to go bananas for YouTube TV's new multiview feature, which will be rolling out on a limited, early access basis starting March 14. With multiview, you'll be able to pick up to four channels and see them all simultaneously, with the ability to easily flip the active audio from one to another. The new feature is compatible with any TV-based YouTube TV installations (streaming media players, smart TVs, and game consoles), but it doesn't yet work on mobile devices or computers.

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If you're one of the lucky, randomly chosen users, you'll see an option to watch up to four preselected, different streams at once in your “Top Picks for You” section. After selecting multiview, you can switch audio and captions between streams, and jump in and out of a full-screen view of a game.
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Pioneer Elite VSX-LX805 AVR with a TV.

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