With performance and stability deemed consistent across platforms, Comcast's pay-TV streaming app recently exited beta on Roku and Amazon's Fire TV devices, and will soon do the same on Samsung and LG smart TVs.

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

August 10, 2022

3 Min Read
Comcast's 'Stream' app is finally exiting beta across all platforms

Xfinity Stream, Comcast's pay-TV app for various TV and mobile platforms, is about to drop the "beta" label now that the app provides a uniform level of performance and stability across all supported platforms, the company confirmed to Light Reading.

The process is underway. Comcast began to drop the beta label on Roku players and Roku TVs on August 4, and did the same on Amazon Fire TV devices on August 5, a Comcast spokesperson said. Comcast's Stream app for Samsung and LG Electronics smart TVs should get out of beta before the end of the month.

Figure 1: Comcast's Stream app for Roku devices has lost the beta label last week, a move that comes more than five years after the app first appeared on the platform. (Source: Light Reading/Jeff Baumgartner) Comcast's Stream app for Roku devices has lost the beta label last week, a move that comes more than five years after the app first appeared on the platform.
(Source: Light Reading/Jeff Baumgartner)

Comcast also supports the Stream app on its Flex boxes and web browsers. A redesigned and enhanced (and non-beta) version of Stream launched on Apple TV boxes in June. The Apple TV launch tied into a broader streaming agreement between Comcast and Apple.

Xfinity Stream is Comcast's X1-like pay-TV app/user experience that provides access to services such as the live TV lineup, VoD and a cloud DVR without necessarily having to rely on an operator-supplied set-top box.

Stream's exit from beta has been a long time coming – Comcast first launched a beta version of Stream on the Roku platform back in early 2017, some nine months after the operator introduced the Xfinity TV Partner Program.

Beta app launches followed on Samsung (in 2018), LG (in 2019) and Fire TV (in 2020).

Comcast, a spokesperson said, is dropping the beta label now that the company feels the overall performance and stability of Stream is consistent across all platforms. There are some nuances among the app for each platform, but they are now all using a similar foundation and providing a similar experience.

The redesigned Xfinity Stream app for Apple TV was never in beta. Comcast plans to extend features and capabilities available today on the Stream app for Apple TV across its other supported platforms in order to make the app experience even more consistent across device types. However, the company did not say when it expects to phase in those updates on its app for Roku players and other platforms.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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