TV service Aereo releases Android app

Mobile • App and service allows users to watch local TV on their mobile devices.

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Aereo, the Internet-based television service that recently launched in Utah and allows subscribers to watch local-over-the-air stations on their mobile devices, has finally released an Android version of its app.

The service, which costs either $8 or $12 per month, broadcasts the live feeds of more than 25 Utah TV stations to your desktop computer and mobile devices such as an iPhone or a computer tablet.

An iOS version of the app for the iPhone and iPad has been available since Aereo launched in Utah last August. But now a free Android version is available through the Google Play Store.

With the app and service, you not only can watch the local stations live, but you also can digitally record programs to Aereo's servers to play back later.

The controversial service, which launched earlier this year in New York City, has been the subject of several lawsuits by the television networks, alleging Aereo infringes on broadcasters' copyrights. Another suit was filed against Aereo earlier this month by local TV stations KUTV Channel 2 and KSTU Channel 13. But courts have ruled in favor of Aereo in two previous suits, claiming the service does not violate copyright laws.

The company uses an array of tiny dime-sized antennas that takes the over-the-air TV signals and puts them on the Internet where they can be seen through the Aereo mobile app or through a desktop web browser. Aereo claims it stays within copyright laws because each antenna is assigned to one user.