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If you’re a fan of TV, you like to watch TV shows.
And you also like to listen to TV shows.
But listening to TV shows can be a challenge at times. The TV may be muted, especially if you’re at a gym, airport or restaurant. Or another TV may be playing with the sound on. Or you may be in a noisy space where you can’t hear the TV. Or you may be near a sleeping baby/spouse you don’t want to wake. Or you may need the sound to be louder than others do who are in the room.
Whatever the reason, there are times where you can’t listen to the TV, even though you can watch it.
Tunity solves that problem.
What Tunity Does
Tunity is an app that syncs with live TV shows to send the sound of the show to your phone. You can then listen to the show using Tunity through your phone’s speakers or through headphones connected to your phone.
Once again, I can’t recommend @TunityTV enough if you’re watching games at a bar or restaurant with no sound. Just scan your phone.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 30, 2017
The sound coming through your phone does not replace the sound coming through the TV. Other viewers of the show can still hear the sound through the TV speakers while you listen through the Tunity app.
According to Tom’s Guide, Tunity works with certain hearing aids to help those with hearing issues listen to TV shows: Tunity App Update Streams Live TV Via Hearing Aids.
Availability
Tunity is an app for:
Tunity is free, both to download and to use. Advertisements are shown in the app.
Many channels are supported by the Tunity app, but premium channels are not covered. You can find a list of the supported channels in the Help section.
As of this writing, Tunity is only available for shows in the US.
How to Use Tunity
To use Tunity, download the app to your phone and sign up for an account.
You must agree to share your location information with Tunity so it can sync TV shows.
The location information must be shared Always. This way the app works in the background if you open another app. You can change location permissions in Settings after you’re done using Tunity.
=> See, How to Know Which Apps Are Tracking Your Location
After you’ve registered your account, and given location permission, you’ll see a screen with a window. Align the TV screen in the window so Tunity can scan it to see which show you are watching. It doesn’t have to be precise, Tunity does a good job of figuring out what show you’re scanning.
Tap the arrow to scan the show. The app will take about 15-20 seconds to detect the show and start playing the sound.
At the bottom of the screen are controls to fine tune how the sound is syncing with the show.
When the show is playing you can see tweets about that channel at the top of the Tunity screen. You can hide the sound control buttons if you want to see more tweets on your screen.
What Tunity Doesn’t Do
Tunity only works with live TV shows, not recorded ones. If you’re watching a recorded show using your DVR, Tunity will not work. It also won’t work with streaming shows on services such as Netflix or Hulu.
Syncing the app with a show takes a little while so Tunity isn’t a good fit for those who like to channel surf frequently between shows.
Your Thoughts
Have you ever been unable to listen to a TV program? Have you used Tunity? Where is the handiest place for you to use Tunity to listen to TV shows?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Many thanks to Wonder of Tech reader Dan for suggesting the Tunity app. Do you have an app you recommend? Let us know in the Comments section!
* Man watching TV screens image (edited) courtesy of Naypong via freedigitalphotos.com and Creative Commons
Kudos for the great write up Carolyn. Hopefully the app will gain even more functionality as time goes on.
Dan
Hi Dan, Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I prefer to watch shows that are recorded but unfortunately Tunity doesn’t work with those shows. But it is truly a great app for watching live TV.
Thank you also for your excellent recommendation of the Tunity app!
Hello Carolyn,
Tunity apps sounds really cool,
This happens with me a lot, when I am at a bar or traveling, the TV sound is being muted, mainly when I am in the bar,
gone there mainly for sports but due to the live music the owner turn the TV mute, now thats where tunity is going to hit
for sure, or at a home watching late night TV shows when every one is sleep, so nobody wants to wake them up.
It cool thing, scanning our phones through the TV and just plugin the headphones and enjoy the show to the fullest.
Sad to hear, they wont be working out on Netflix, as people these days are cutting out cables as Internet is far more convenient
than getting a cable at home.
I am getting this one straight away after I am done with my work for today.
Thanks for the share.
Shantanu.
Hi Shantanu, Exactly! I think most of us have been in situations where we can see the TV but not be able to hear it. How great that Tunity solves this problem for us.
I hope you enjoy using the Tunity app, Shantanu.