Foxtel pledged its Presto subscription movie service as an Australian launch partner for Chromecast, and today it’s made good on that promise with an app bringing Presto’s service to Android tablets, with Chromecast support baked-in to cast those movies to the biggest screen in the house.
Presto gives you access to a library of movies available to stream instantly at a price of $19.95/month, with a few deals going around to make your first month or two a little cheaper. You can start and stop your subscription whenever you like.
There’s a decent library of recent-ish movies on offer from all of the major studios and distributors, like current features Pain & Gain and The Wolverine. We also found Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6, although some titles like Avengers and Transformers were notable by their absence.
The app itself sports an attractive, if not particularly Android-y, UI with some neat page-folding animations and it works best on tablets in landscape mode. There’s a number of interesting and amusing categories to browse (our favourites are “Bad Boys Like Fast Toys”, “Robbed! Pipped at the Best Picture Post” and “Movies of Mass Destruction”) alongside the usual genre selection. The parental controls can be set to require a pin to view content with particular classifications.
You can also see the current schedule of Foxtel’s movie channels and watch the movies on the schedule (including those yet to air) via the app.
Chromecast support works as you’d expect, allowing you to play your selected movies on your TV. You can continue to use the app as usual, while playback controls are overlaid at the bottom of the screen.
What it doesn’t do is allow you to subscribe in the app – you’ll need to go to the Presto website for that, side-stepping Google’s in-app purchase conditions.
Owners of Australian Chromecast units purchased since launch will be happy to find they’re getting a free month of service from Presto from July 1, while digital subscribers to News Corp’s “+” services can get two months of free access. If you’re using Preston on iOS you’ll find an update to the app bringing Chromecast support today, further proving the device’s cross-platform, ecosystem-agnostic appeal.
Today’s release of Presto to Android tablets marks the first of the Australian Chromecast launch apps to actually reach the market, for which Foxtel deserves some credit. It’s a welcome addition indeed, as we’re still waiting for ABC iView and Quickflix to launch their Chromecast-enabled apps.
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Presto launches on Chromecast
Premium movie content now available on living room big screens and on Android tablets
Presto, Australia’s premium entertainment streaming service, today stepped up to the big screen as it unveiled that it is now up and running on Google Chromecast as well as on selected Android tablets.
As an official Chromecast launch partner, Presto is also offering a special one month free service for subscribers who purchase a Chromecast device. The special offer kicks off on 1 July; however, any customer who purchased a Chromecast device since its launch in Australia on 28 May will also be eligible to take up this Presto offer.
In addition, Presto’s premier move content will also be available for new and existing News Corp Australia digital subscribers. From 1 July, members of The Daily Telegraph+, Herald Sun+, The Courier-Mail+ and The Advertiser+ brands can enjoy two months complimentary access to Presto.
These special offers* highlight the value that Presto’s premier movie content brings to the customers of these two major brands.
Shaun James, Director Presto & VOD, said, “Customer response to Presto has been fantastic, with lots of feedback asking to view it on the TV. We’ve heard this loud and clear and starting today, subscribers will be able to see the full potential of Presto as it takes to the big screen in living rooms across the country. Combine that with availability on selected Android tablets, and Presto becomes an even more compelling way to watch great movies.”
“With the Presto Chromecast app, Aussies will now be able to watch more of their favourite local and international content on the biggest screen in their homes. We look forward to seeing other developers follow Presto in building Chromecast functionality into their apps,” added Aisling Finch Head of Consumer Marketing, Google.
Presto features the most recent premium movie content available in Australia to a subscription streaming service. Its movie collection is a regularly updating collection of Hollywood blockbusters and great past favourites. Presto’s hit movies for July feature Grown Ups 2, The Hangover Part 3 and Man of Steel. New hits on tap over the next couple of months also include The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Thor: The Dark World, Captain Phillips and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 along with many others.
All Presto movies are ad-break-free and the service offers on demand films from all eight Foxtel Movies channels including: Foxtel Movies Disney, Foxtel Movies Premiere, Foxtel Movies Comedy, Foxtel Movies Romance, Foxtel Movies Thriller, Foxtel Movies Action, Foxtel Movies Family, and Foxtel Movies Masterpiece.
Subscribers can connect to Presto in minutes and are free to come and go from the service on a monthly basis, with no lock-in contract, and without the need to buy through a basic tier.
Presto offers an intuitive customer interface and delivers the best in local and international movies including curated collections, recommendations and critics’ reviews from Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers can enjoy Presto via Chromecast, selected Android tablets, iOS tablets and PC/Mac computers.
Presto offers movies from all the major studios and key independents including MGM, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Roadshow Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Entertainment One Films Australia, ICON, Studiocanal and Transmission Films.
Presto is available to all Australians with a suitable internet connection^.
*Offers are independent of each other and cannot be combined; only one offer available per Presto subscriber.
^Additional charges apply for Presto Rental (pay-per-view) titles. Ongoing subscription fees apply unless you cancel your subscription. A full list of compatible devices is available at presto.com.au/devices. Internet connection with minimum speed of at least 3Mbps required to view Presto. Presto is available over 3G/4G networks and WiFi on compatible tablets. ISP and data charges may apply. Video quality may vary according to connection type. Only available for use in Australia. Full terms and conditions are available at presto.com.au/prestoterms.
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Update Presto’s site hasn’t been updated to indicate its newfound Android availability, but their Android Launch FAQ does reveal some new details.
The recommended device list is the usual Samsung tablets (Galaxy Tabs and Galaxy Notes) but Nexus tablets can come along for the ride too – the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are on the recommended list.
Presto has also increased the number of devices users can have on their account from three to four.
And the app has now hit Google Play! Download it below:
Will you be checking out Presto? Tell us in the comments!
not sure if you can help me, but for some reason, presto is not compatible with my nexus 5. how and why ? N5 was bought from google play in aus. so y ?
Certainly glad to see the Chromecast support happen. Can’t really see the value proposition of the service though.
Is it possible to download and view Presto Movies offline?
Okay so if I want to take avantage of this 2 month free access promotion, I’m going to assume that you still have to put credit card details in. My question is, is it simple to just stop the subscription after the 2 months is up and remove the credit card from the account?
That is, if I dont like the service. Finally have fast internet now so I can now properly try out one of these streaming services. 🙂
From what I can see on the Play Store, it isn’t just Samsung tablets. From the log of devices I’ve used, Presto could be installed on the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet, the Nexus 7 and the Kobo Arc 10, plus some other older models.
“selected Android tablets” means Samsung only. Foxtel’s “support” of Android is nothing short of disgusting. Foxtel Go still isn’t available on Android tablets (ex Samsung devices), despite being promised nearly two years ago. It is only available on a single non-Samsung Android device – the Nexus 5. If you contact them to ask when, or if you read their community support forums, you get a different answer every time, ranging from “we’re working hard to bring this to more devices” to “tough s**t, you can’t run this on your Android” (paraphrasing). Until they a) stop living in Samsung’s pocket and… Read more »
I did note the wording, but didn’t see clarification on the devices anywhere. Foxtel gave us access to an early build for the article, and screenshots were taken from my Nexus 7 on which it ran fine, so I had assumed there’d be a wider compatibility gamut. Will check this out more. On non-Samsung devices and Foxtel in general, I think there might have been a long exclusivity window at play (the Nexus 5 came about a year after the initial release of the app for the S4), but of course nobody would confirm that. I know Foxtel has heard… Read more »