The MLB At Bat app, the official app for Major League Baseball, has been given a major update, with two headline new features.
The first is DVR-style functionality …
There’s one more app joining Apple’s small list of road-ready apps for the car today as MLB At Bat for iPhone has been updated with CarPlay support.
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(Screenshot from USA Today demo)
We already saw MLB.com At Bat make an appearance in USA Today’s demo of CarPlay during Apple’s WWDC developer conference earlier this month, and today Apple has updated its CarPlay microsite to include the baseball-dedicated app to its list of apps that support the feature. In the shot above and below you can see the icon for At Bat as well as a preview of the CarPlay specific user interface from USA Today’s demo. The app is expected to support streaming audio from baseball games for MLB.com At Bat subscribers.
MLB At Bat is the first app to join the CarPlay compatible apps announced earlier this year with major third party apps like Google Maps and Pandora Radio notably lacking support. As it stands currently, though, Apple is the gatekeeper for integrating CarPlay support as it decides which apps it wants the feature to support.
Like it did last year after inking a partnership with Major League Baseball, T-Mobile is once again offering free access to the MLB At Bat apps on iOS and Android. Tmonews points us to official confirmation from a T-Mobile support employee:
“UPDATE: As the official sponsor of Major League Baseball, we will be offering MLB At Bat 14 to our customers for free starting May 1 through the entire regular season! With our unlimited data and nationwide 4G LTE, you can enjoy all the great features MLB’s At Bat has to offer!”
That’s instead of paying for one of several MLB subscriptions that grants access to the app starting at $2.99 monthly or $20 for the entire season. There’s no word from T-Mobile with the official details yet, but we’d imagine customers will get access to all the live games and content apart from premium features available to $115/per year MLB.TV Premium subscription.
The MLB At Bat app is available for iOS and Android now.
This season will be the first that Major League Baseball uses a new expanded instant replay system that it first announced back in January. Now, the MLB At Bat app for iOS devices has been updated with support for the 2014 season and the new replay system. That means that users of the app will be able to view “every decisive instant replay video clip and review explanation,” the same footage the umpires review, through the app’s Gameday feature.
A little more on the new replay system from the MLB’s announcement:
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The popular MLB.com At Bat app has been updated today for the 2014 season and Spring Training with a complete redesign alongside new features and content. The updated app’s UI has been given a complete overhaul and redesign for iOS 7 on both iPhone and iPad, and new content starts with over 200 Spring Training games available as live video or radio broadcasts.
MLB.com At Bat returns for the 2014 season with live Spring Training baseball from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. MLB.com At Bat is the official app of Major League Baseball.
The redesign offers a new inline video playback experience and the app now has “league-wide scoreboard functionality for single-tap expansion.” The app’s iTunes page also notes that an update before Opening Day will bring additional features and functionality.
The updated MLB.com At Bat app is available on the App Store now. The app requires a subscription available for purchase in the app for $20 for the entire 2014 season or $2.99 monthly. The content is available for free to MLB.TV Premium subscribers.
A full list of what’s new in the update app is below:
New for At Bat in 2014
• Complete app re-design to optimize your At Bat experience for iOS 7 (iPhone and iPad)
• Redesigned to deliver inline video playback
• New league-wide scoreboard functionality for single-tap expansion
• Access your MLB.TV Premium subscription to watch live video of more than 200 Spring Training games
• Listen to available radio broadcasts of Spring Training games
• Multi-platform live audio access for At Bat 14 subscribers (portable to Mac/PC with a valid MLB.com account)
•Universal support for At Bat 14 subscribers, accessible on iPhone, iPad and other supported smartphones and tablets
• Follow batter-by-batter action for every Spring Training game
• Breaking news, schedules and interactive rosters and player stats for every team
• Sortable batting, pitching and fielding statistics (iPad)
• Customize At Bat’s home screen to feature your designated favorite team (iPhone only)
• Video library archive, searchable by keyword
• Classic games video archive featuring dozens of baseball’s legendary games
• Closed captioning for live video
Pitchers and Catchers are set to report over the next few days and MLB is getting its 2012 App ready
Baseball fans will be happy to hear that Major League Baseball is again bringing the MLB at Bat app back to the App Store so they can enjoy every game throughout the season on their iOS device. In previous years, the MLB at Bat app on the App Store made available audio of the games and in-game statistics. A premium package could open video for all games. This year, MLB is changing the way they bring you games.
Luckily for this season, MLB confirmed with EverythingiCafe that MLB at Bat ’12 would be available for free on the App Store for both the iPhone and iPad— as long as you pay for the one time subscription. The app will stream both audio and video and bring in-game stats.
MLB at Bat ’12 will be available Feb. 29 for free. However, if you want to use the app, you will have to pay a once-a-year $119 subscription as a returning customer or $125 as a new customer. Those who subscribe can view 150 Spring Training games and all 2,430 regular season games, though some are subject black outs. You can now sign up for the MLB.TV season on the MLB website. The first game will stream March 3.
