Entertainment
Sling: Live TV, Sports & News
Live TV streaming with pick-your-own channel packages, plus a free tier called Sling Freestream.
Get the app
Opens the official store page
- Developer
- Sling TV LLC
- Score
- 4.6
- Downloads
- 100K+ ratings
- Age
- Rated 12+
- Version
- 9.47.1
- Price
- Free
Screenshots
About this app
Sling TV is live television delivered over the internet, for people who want cable-style channels without a cable contract. You pick a base subscription, add Extras (themed channel collections) as you like, and can pause or change the package whenever you want. Sport is a big part of the pitch: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football and basketball, MLS, golf, NASCAR and combat sports all feature. A News Extra adds national news networks and financial channels. Beyond live TV there's a sizeable On Demand library of shows and films, and premium streaming services can be bolted onto a plan. A lifestyle section covers reality and home shows. If you'd rather not pay, Sling Freestream offers hundreds of free live channels and a library of free On Demand content. It needs an account but no credit card, and sign-up happens on the Sling website rather than inside the app.
Sling: Live TV, Sports & News: the full guide
What the app is
Cable channels without the cable contract is the idea. Sling TV streams live television over the internet in packages you assemble yourself: a base subscription, then themed Extras added or dropped at will, pausable between seasons.
Sport does much of the selling, with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, college basketball and football, MLS and golf, plus NASCAR and combat sports, and a News Extra bundles national news and finance channels. A sizeable catalogue of shows and films is there On Demand, other premium services can be bolted on, and Sling Freestream gives anyone who registers several hundred free live channels plus free On Demand titles, no card required.
How it works day to day
Evenings are channel-flipping with a modern twist: live sport on one tab, a news network on another, and the On Demand library when nothing live appeals. Sports fans build their package around the season, adding a Sports Extra in autumn and pausing when it ends. The Freestream user has a different rhythm, dipping into the free live channels without ever entering a card. Because registration is done on Sling's website and not inside the app, the first session involves a detour to a browser before anything plays.
Why people look for it
Cord-cutters searching for a way to keep live sport and news without a cable bill find Sling near the top of every list. The ability to pause a subscription appeals to people who only want sport for part of the year. More recently the Freestream tier draws people who just want free live channels on an iPhone or iPad.
Look and feel
Only three screenshots appear on the page, fewer than most entries here, probably a live guide, an On Demand browse screen and a player view. Streaming apps in the Entertainment category almost universally use dark backgrounds with large show artwork, and Sling's channel-grid heritage suggests a programme guide is central. The listing doesn't confirm the layout.
Updates and upkeep
Version 9.47.1 indicates a mature app with a long patch history in its ninth major release. Sling TV LLC is a sizeable operator, and the 4.6 rating from more than a hundred thousand reviews is respectable, if a notch below the top of this batch, which for a live streaming service often reflects playback complaints. Only the App Store is linked here.
