mlb at bat – Optimistic Mets Fan

March 4, 2016

How To Fix Your MLB At-Bat Audio Subscription

I purchased the MLB At Bat app, on my Verizon Galaxy S5, on Wednesday and I listened to some baseball audio only to discover it was claiming I didn’t have a subscription on Thursday. Being a programmer, I took the normal steps to debug an app issue. I restarted my phone. I cleared the app’s cache. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app. Nothing. I tried in a web browser on a computer and when that didn’t work I realized it must be something with my account and purchase.

So what has to have happened is that my purchase worked fine, I listened to some of the Tigers on Wednesday, and then my auto-renewal from last year kicked in, which I’d purchased on the same date, afterwards and in some way that double attempt at connecting to the MLB.com account borked it all.

I actually talked it through on Twitter with @MLBFanSupport and they ended up telling me “talk to Google” which wasn’t particularly helpful.

The recept reviews of the app in the app store speak to a similar problem.

So here’s what I did.

1. I canceled my auto-renewal subscription.

2. I then clicked ‘report a problem’ on my Google Play order history for the app, claiming it was defective. in the text I explained that it wasn’t activating in the app and that cancelling it seemed to be the only way to fix it.

3. They refunded me pretty fast; I got an email saying my purchase had been refunded.

4. I then repurchased the subscription, via the app itself. I clicked the audio tag at the top of the scoreboard. I selected ‘season subscription’, logging into my mlb.com account and putting in my Google password for the purchase from the Play Store.

5. And then it worked.

6. I then went into my Play store purchase history and canceled the auto-renewal of the subscription, so I don’t deal with this again next year. I have to download a 2017 update to the app anyway, so I might as well manually click the subscribe button again then.

March 7, 2011

Why No Gameday Audio?

I’m annoyed that the MLB At Bat app for 2011 doesn’t include mlb.tv. There is no option for it on the Android version of the app, something I presume will be added for Opening Day. I don’t pay for MLB.TV anyway as the games I want most, the Mets, will be blacked out, but I’d love to watch the Spring Training games. The iPhone and iPod versions of this app do allow free access to the video feeds in Spring Training, and it’s a great feature. I do have an iPod touch, but I’m not going to pay another $15 just for that feature and there is no portability between platforms; I’d have to buy it twice.

I’d settle for the audio feed of mlb.tv, but even that’s not an option. Today’s Mets game is on SNY, but not the radio. So my app doesn’t let me see the video, and also provides no audio feed. At the very least couldn’t I have the audio feed from SNY without the picture? It might not be great, but it’s better than nothing.

Still, so far I’m pretty happy with the app. It keeps track of the play by play, provides me video highlights when they’re available, and is pretty versatile. I’m still glad to have purchased it, I just want to see some Mets baseball during my lunch hour!

Follow Ceetar on Twitter.

February 24, 2011February 24, 2011

MLB At Bat 2011

Initial impressions of the 2011 MLB At Bat app that was released today. ($15 from your applicable App Market) This is only the initial reaction, since more features will be released for Opening Day.

I had the iPod version last year, this year I’ve got the Android version. First thing I did was set my favorite team to the Mets.

First thought was that I like the rosters being included on each team. Sortable by name, or by position, which is great for depth charts and when you’re sitting in the stands trying to figure out which Cardinal pitcher in the bullpen wears 54 (Jaime Garcia). It’s also great for setting up a scorecard if you like to keep score at the game.

There’s a link to tickets and promotions on each game and team page, and I suspect this is for the ability to purchase tickets on the phone, and use it as a barcode to get into a stadium. Neat.

All the normal features from last year and the basics like scoreboard, standings, video highlights, and game preview screens are included. The #1 reason most people buy the app is obviously included as well: The on-the-go access to gameday audio of all the teams, and the ability to track, pitch by pitch, the progress of any game.

Something else to keep an eye on is ordering food in the ballpark via this app. The Phillies and Aramark debuted something late last year to allow you to do this. The app allows you to check into a ballpark, and it verifies your location, allowing access to features such as this one. Currently the check-in and ordering food parts of the app do not seem to be there, so I suspect this is one of those things maybe destined for the Opening Day update.

Also not featured yet that will be added, is Twitter integration. The app will likely contain a twitter feed for each of the 30 teams’ hashtags, allowing you to follow along with the buzz of the team beyond your normal timeline.