England reached the Euro 2020 final but Apple TV users didn't see it happen

Harry Kane England Flag (Image credit: Reuters)

What you need to know

England reached the Euro 2020 final but the second half of the semi-final was marred by ITV Hub technical issues.
Apple TV users were unable to watch chunks of the second half and took to Twitter to complain.

Yesterday saw England reach the final of Euro 2020 and while many were cheering along in front of their TVs, others were left exasperated after an ITV Hub technical issue meant they couldn't watch the action. Chunks of the second half were missed by those watching on Apple TV boxes — and they were not happy about it.

Quite what happened isn't clear, but tons of people took to Twitter to complain that they were unable to watch more than a few minutes of the second half without being kicked out of the stream. To add insult to injury, they had to then watch ads before they could get back in — if they got back in at all.

So, the adverts play OK, but then #itvhub decides that it doesn't want to go. Then try again and same result... Good job there's nothing important on tonight, like say a sporting event.. pic.twitter.com/RNZilb3UrcSo, the adverts play OK, but then #itvhub decides that it doesn't want to go. Then try again and same result... Good job there's nothing important on tonight, like say a sporting event.. pic.twitter.com/RNZilb3Urc— Steve Steer (@Somst_Fruitcake) July 7, 2021 July 7, 2021

ITV was the only way for UK viewers to enjoy the game, leaving the channel's streaming service under considerable load. Load it clearly couldn't cope with. Those watching by means other than an Apple TV seemed unaffected, however.

Unfortunately we're experiencing issues with Apple TV - please bear with us while we fix this. Apologies for any inconvenience.Unfortunately we're experiencing issues with Apple TV - please bear with us while we fix this. Apologies for any inconvenience.— ITV Hub (@itvhub) July 7, 2021 July 7, 2021

We already knew that the ITV Hub app wasn't the best Apple TV app around, but yesterday's debacle has clearly left a sour taste for many an England fan. Thankfully the final — on Sunday with England facing Italy — will be available on both BBC and ITV, so a repeat performance is unlikely.

As an aside, it's important to remember that football is indeed coming home. Hopefully that was a consolation to those who missed out yesterday.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.