Philo subscribers can watch on up to three devices at the same time. This is fairly consistent with the rest of the industry making Philo’s simultaneous streams policy no better or worse than many other services. However, the number of streams is often not the only limitation and reading beyond the ‘three streams at the same time’ highlights Philo’s restriction is better than some other services.
One of the big selling points with Philo is the low cost. At just $20 per month, Philo provides an option for those that don’t want to continually pay increasingly higher prices to access live TV. However, Philo is not just a low-cost service as the channel lineup is directly related to the cheaper price. Due to this, Philo is unlikely to be the right service for consumers looking for a more robust live TV streaming experience.
As more households turn to accessing live TV over the internet, the number of simultaneous streams becomes all the more important. Ensuring a subscription offers enough streams so that all household members can watch what they want and when they want is equally as important as device support, and even the channel lineup and price.
Watching Philo on multiple devices
Philo allows subscribers to stream on up to three devices at the same time. This is in line with many other live TV streaming services, including YouTube TV, and more than some others, such as Hulu Live TV. As a result, the standard Philo simultaneous streams limitation can be considered average to good.
However, what’s likely to be more important is that Philo does not seem to add any further limitations beyond the number of streams. For example, some services make a clear distinction between home and non-home devices. This distinction can often have a knock-on effect for simultaneous streams.
That’s not an issue with Philo as the service does not place any additional restrictions on which devices can access the service at the same time. Philo subscribers are free to stream live TV on any three devices at the same time.
Philo simultaneous streams caveats
Although Philo appears to be fairly generous with its simultaneous streams policy, there are some caveats to be aware of. The first is that there is currently no option to add additional streams to a subscription. For example, some services, including Hulu Live TV and fuboTV, offer upgrades that add additional streams for an additional monthly price. This allows subscribers to ensure their subscription can be customized to better suit their individual household needs, albeit at an extra cost.
With Philo, there is no option at all. All Philo subscribers only have access to three streams at the same time. For any consumers in need of more simultaneous streams, this might not be the service. However, Philo’s TV Everywhere app support might be one way to circumvent this limitation.
TV Everywhere support allows subscribers to a service like Philo to log directly in to a partner network app. Not only can this result in access to additional shows and movies, but accessing a network app directly won’t count towards the Philo simultaneous streams limitation.
Another caveat to be aware of is how Philo deals with households trying to access more streams than they are entitled to. For example, some services simply stop additional streams from accessing the service when they attempt to. In contrast, when a Philo account launches a fourth stream at the same time, instead of that fourth device being presented with a ‘too many streams’ warning, the oldest stream playing is automatically shut down.
In other words, someone watching Philo on one device may find their stream ends when someone else starts streaming using the same account. In these instances, the oldest stream viewer will be alerted that the stream limit was reached, not the newest stream viewer.
Philo simultaneous streams summary
Philo can be streamed on up to three different devices at the same time with few limitations. The service does not distinguish between devices, making it easy to stream on any officially supported device at the same time. This is a fairly standard stream limit although the freedom to steam on any device makes it more accommodating than some other services.
In terms of the limitations, the first to be aware of is that there is no stream upgrade option available, with three streams the minimum and maximum limit. The second is that older streams are ended to make way for newer streams, which can result in subscribers already watching Philo being booted to make way for new viewers.
Read more: How to cancel Philo
Leave a Reply