Get the most out of your Sky Glass or Sky Stream
Sky launched Sky Glass way back in 2021 so it’s been around for a few years now – and in that time it’s seen a number of updates and improvements that have enhanced its experience. Sky Stream, meanwhile, arrived on the scene in 2022. It’s a streaming device that plugs into your TV via HDMI, giving you access to Sky’s services but without the need for a satellite dish.
Sky Glass and Sky Stream run on the same interface and OS, which means that many of the tips and tricks for Sky Glass apply to Sky Stream too. So whether you’re looking for the quickest way to find content, or you want to try out the low latency feature on Sky Sports Main Event that reduces the broadcast delay, these are our top tips for Sky Glass and Sky Stream.
1. Find your remote
If you ever had Sky Q, you may have known about the remote trick from that offering where you press the Sky button in the middle of the box to make your Sky remote beep. Well, for Sky Glass, you simply say “Hello Sky, where’s my remote” and it will start beeping. If you’ve got Sky Streams and you can’t find your remote then we strongly recommend searching down the side of the sofa.
2. Use voice control
Sure, talking to your TV isn’t the most natural thing to do, but if you have an Alexa in your home, or a Google Assistant smart speaker, you should be used to talking to devices by now. It’s the quickest way to find what you might be looking for on Sky Glass or Sky Stream, as well as go back or go forward.
For Sky Glass, microphones are built into the TV so you can just say “Hello Sky”, followed by the name of the TV show or film you’re trying to find, or something like “rewind” to go back. For Sky Stream, press and hold the remote button on your Sky remote and speak.
3. Reduce latency when watching sport
Sky announced a number of updates to its Entertainment OS in April 2024, including reduced latency when watching sport on Sky Sports Main Event. That feature began rolling out in mid-November, allowing you to opt in to enhance your viewing experience. The feature will reduce broadcast delay by around 22 seconds.
To view the low latency channel on Sky Glass or Sky Stream, you can either opt in using the Live Sync button on Sky Sports Main Event, or use the dedicated channel – 921 for HD customers or 922 for UHD. You can also use the voice button on your Sky remote and say “Sky Sports Main Event Low Latency” or “Sky Sports Main Event Live Sync” to access.
4. Add to Playlist
Playlist is one of the best features on Sky Glass and Sky Stream, allowing you to have up to five personal Playlists that you can add whatever TV show or film you want to. Think of it like the alternative to recordings on Sky Q, but separated for different users and all available to stream when you’re ready to watch them.
To add a show to your Playlist, find the show or film and press ‘Add’, or press the “+” on your Sky remote. You will also eventually be able to add specific actors and actresses to your Playlist, while footie fans will be able to add teams to see matches in one place, though that’s coming in a future update.
You’ll find Playlists at the top of the home screen on Entertainment OS interface, just under recommended shows.
5. Use Categories
Sky’s content offering is one of the best out there – and that applies for both Sky Glass and Sky Stream. If you aren’t looking for recommendations and you know what you want (good on you), then head to TV Guide. From here, press left on the circular pad on your Sky remote to get to content by Category. It makes it easier to find specifics, like films or kids.
6. Find out what’s on next week
Sky Glass and Sky Stream are all about streaming content ‘On Demand’, as Sky calls it. That means you can stream something from last week, from six months ago or you can stream it live as it is being shown. Speaking of what is being shown, you might want to know what is on next Saturday night at 8PM and with both Sky Glass and Sky Stream, you can jump ahead up to 7 days. When on TV Guide, press and hold the right button on the circular pad on the remote and you’ll see ahead for up to a week.
7. Sign into all streaming services
It might sound obvious but it’s probably the best tip we can offer you – except the remote one, that’s pretty sweet for Sky Glass users. If you have accounts with multiple streaming services, make sure you have signed into all their respective apps on your Sky Glass or Sky Stream. Plenty are available from Netflix and Disney+, to BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The more you sign into, the better your recommendations will be.
8. Skip adverts
We quite enjoy an advert sometimes, but there are times when you just want to carry on watching whatever had your eyes glued to your TV. Press and hold the right of the circular pad on your Sky remote to fast forward, or just press and hold the microphone button on the remote and say “fast forward [number of minutes the average advert is for the show you’re watching]”.
9. Access quick settings, well, quickly
The settings on Sky Glass and Sky Stream aren’t the quickest to access as you have to scroll through all the content options on the left menu bar before you get to them. There’s a quicker way though – press the three dots on the Sky Glass and Sky Stream remotes. A bar will then appear at the bottom of your screen, giving you access to quick settings like changing the viewing mode, turning night mode on or off on Sky Glass.
10. Use Night Mode
Some soundbars like Sonos have specific features to reduce louder sounds and enhance speech and dialogue so you don’t wake up the kids upstairs, or the neighbors next door. If you’re on Sky Stream and you’re using a soundbar with your TV, then check the settings to see if night mode or similar is offered.
If you have Sky Glass and you’re using the built-in speaker, open up ‘Settings’ and head to ‘Picture and Sound’. From here, you’ll see ‘Night Mode’, tap on it and turn it on or off. There’s also an option for enhancing speech quality to help make dialogue clearer, though it doesn’t offer quite the same level of control as the Sonos Arc Ultra and its advanced Speech Enhancement feature.
11. Search based on actor/actress
If you love a particular actor or actress (Ryan Reynolds is a huge favorite of ours at The Ambient), you can search based on them to pull up content on Sky Glass or Sky Stream with that person in it. Press and hold the microphone button on your Sky remote and say the name of the actor or actress.
12. Turn on subtitles
One of the features added with the Sky Entertainment OS 1.3 update was the option to have subtitles on UHD content. To turn subtitles on quickly, press the three dots on your Sky remote and you will see the subtitles option come up on the quick settings bar.
