All about entertainment apps

Why your mobile device is ideal for entertainment

A smartphone or tablet has a large colour screen capable of excellent detail. They are designed to enable video playback and crisp text for reading.

For sound, your mobile device has a decent set of internal speakers, but if these aren’t loud or clear enough for you, it’s also possible to connect headphones or earphones. This can be done with a cable on some devices, and via wireless Bluetooth on others.

How Wi-Fi helps with entertainment

Smartphones and tablets can connect to the internet over Wi-Fi. This means you can download, stream, and watch all kinds of entertainment without having a cord attached to your device.

Entertainment comes from apps

There are several kinds of entertainment app, and each provides a different kind of entertainment, from TV shows to movies and familiar radio programs and music downloaded over the internet.

All about catch-up TV apps

Catch-up TV is a service offered by the major television networks. You can think of it as an app version of a TV channel. The app lets you watch your favourite shows when it suits you, by viewing them on your mobile device.

You can learn more about catch-up TV later in this course.

All about streaming apps

Streaming apps are similar to catch-up TV apps, except they have content from all sorts of sources, not just one TV channel. Movies are the focus of most streaming apps, but they also provide TV programs and documentaries too.

You can learn more about video and music streaming later in this course.

eSafety tip

Many entertainment apps can share their content with a big screen TV, if your TV has this functionality. You can find out more about TV and movie streaming in the Using smart TVs course.

All about internet radio apps

Internet radio is like regular radio, except that you tune in to stations over the internet. This means you can access thousands of stations from all over the world. You can find a station to listen to by searching, or by letting the app recommend you something.

You can learn more about Internet radio later in this course.

All about podcast apps

Podcasts are like radio programs, divided into episodes, and made available over the internet. A podcast app helps you find podcasts to listen to and you can subscribe to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode.

You can learn more about podcasts later in this course.

YouTube video and music

YouTube is a video streaming app that’s a bit different to the others, in that YouTube users can share videos for everyone to watch. YouTube has a huge amount of content, and you’ll almost certainly find something that interests you.

You can learn more about YouTube later in this course.

Where to get entertainment apps

Your device’s official app store will have lots of entertainment apps to choose from. Some services, like catch-up TV or streaming, have official apps. Others, like internet radio, have lots of apps and you can choose one based on the reviews on the app’s store page.

You can find out more about getting apps for your device, in the What is an app? course.

Well done!

This is the end of the All about entertainment apps activity. You’ve learned how your mobile device can be used to enjoy various kinds of entertainment, and that apps help make this possible.

Up next, in the Catch-up TV apps activity you’ll learn more about how catch-up TV works and what you’ll need to enjoy it on your smartphone or tablet.