What the Tech?: App of the Day – Tunity
CHARLOTTE – A few years ago during a big sporting event, I found myself at a sports bar that was playing the games (okay, it was the NCAA tournament). Of course, it was noisy and the TVs were muted but I really wanted to hear the announcers. It wasnβt possible.
Then I found the app βTunityβ which streams audio of whatβs playing on TV to your smartphone. Sounded cool but did it really work?
Back then I got mixed results. Recent updates have improved the app considerably. Hereβs how it works:
Opening the app youβre asked to give it permission to use the phoneβs camera. You then aim the camera at the TV youβre watching and tap the screen. βTunityβ then detects the channel thatβs playing on the TV and after a few seconds begins playing the audio through either the phoneβs speaker or earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker I guess.
I found while the audio hardly ever synced perfectly with the announcer you can fine-tune the audio to get it close enough to where you donβt hear the announcer say the shot was good before seeing the ball leave the playerβs hand.
βTunityβ works with channels showing live TV events and shows. The supported channel listings include almost all major networks. It does not work with Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, etc. You can of course use it at home. βTunityβ is best for sports because the announcers are not always on screen and since you can hardly ever sync voice to video perfectly to enjoy TV shows where actors are speaking dialogue.
The βTunityβ app is free for iPhone and Android devices and if you find yourself frequently trying to watch a sporting event in a sports bar, gym, airport, doctorβs office, or any place with a muted TV, itβs an app youβll be glad you βheardβ about.