TLC for iPad Review

Discovery Communications has recently announced the release of their newest app: TLC for iPad. Whether you’ve recently jumped on the Here Comes Honey Boo Boo bandwagon or you can’t get enough of shows like Say Yes to the Dress, Cake Boss or Hoarders, the app is your go-to location for everything TLC related.

It’s easy to navigate once launched. Users can search for shows or videos or browse the featured, most popular videos or full episodes sections. The app is designed to bring users access to daily video clips, show highlights, show information, social sharing capabilities and even the opportunity to watch full episodes. When viewers find something they like, they can add it to the favorites section by touching the little heart to watch later or share it with friends.

I was most excited about the full episodes feature, but there are only a handful of select shows to watch. However, it’s nice to be able to browse them directly within the app. Hopefully more episodes are added in the future as Discovery plans to release behind-the-scenes content and extras audio synched to episodes soon.

Diehard TLC fans will greatly appreciate the easy-to-use schedule that displays when their favorite shows air. The schedule shows what’s on now, gives access to show extras and even provides the ability to create reminders so users never forget to watch their favorites.

The app is completely free, but it does come with advertisements. There’s a banner ad displayed at the bottom of the app along with commercials before each video. The ads aren’t too annoying, but prepared to see the same commercial over and over again if you want to watch a lot of video clips. A couple of other minor snags worth mentioning are that users must be connected to the internet to use the app and there’s no way to comment on videos to interact with the TLC community.

To sum it up, the TLC for iPad app is the perfect companion for fans of the network. The clean scrollable interface is easy-to-use and there’s plenty of content to keep viewers interested. Let’s hope that future updates continue to improve its functionality and bring users more content and features to look forward to watching.