With ITV finally bringing out their app for iDevices, we know have all channels from 1 through to 4 covered. The BBC iPlayer has been doing it’s iPad business for a while now, Channel 4 had their On Demand app out relatively recently, and ITV have now joined the gang.

The ITV app is not a bad one but the choice is limited, considering how many channels ITV have. There was nothing on there I’d watch, but it has all the staples, Emmerdale, Coronation Street… Jeremy Kyle. The only thing that was remotely interesting was that recent detective show with the lovely Suranne Jones in it. They had the last episode available but no apparent series link to catch up. You can tell from the screenshot above that they do have the “Watch More Episodes” feature, but just not on the one thing I wanted to watch. Oh well.

Channel 4 has a bit more choice, and I do quite like the interface. I’ve watched a couple of things on there so far, particularly rewatching the first series of Black Books, which is as epic as I remember. They have the same advert at the start of everything I’ve watched so far, and whilst the ad itself isn’t that annoying, the repetition is. Plus it’s a whole minute long which seems like a lot. Having said that, there are no ads in the middle of the show which is something of a bonus.

Naturally, the BBC app is leading the way in terms of design, and the search function is really good - particularly when compared to the website or the iPlayer on our LG TV. I do find that the player stops occasionally when I’m watching something. A bit of buffering, the little spinny loading logo, it’s irritating but usually if you wait long enough it comes back again. I’m not sure about the other two, but the BBC app also has a selected number of films, the ones they have the rights to, anyway.

Very different apps, all with different things on offer, but all a most excellent step forward in the on-demand world. Whatever you’re in the mood for watching, you’ll probably be able to find it on one of these three.