TiVo iPad App Tells You “What To Watch”

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UPDATE: The TiVo 3.0 iOS app is now live.

The second screen invasion is upon us. And TiVo continues to iterate on their very fine companion app. Next up is a reformulation of content discovery. While both the TiVo Premiere and current iPad app provide curated Collections, TiVo tells me the engagement hasn’t been as significant as hoped. Yet they still see great value in providing this sort of intel to subscribers and intends to move suggestions front and center this spring. The 6 “What To Watch” columns will appear when opening the app and consist of both linear and over-the-top content, as you can see from the two included screengrabs. And, like Verizon’s “What’s Hot” app feature for those seeking inspiration, the TiVo app update presents trending live programming culled from subscribers.

From the press release:

TiVo users are immediately presented with the programming they would most enjoy without surfing channels or browsing a guide. “What to Watch Now” combines the viewer’s preferences based on viewing history and assesses live programs airing within the next 30 minutes against real-time, regional viewing trends and user-defined preferences, to offer tailored entertainment recommendations categorized by genre, in an easy to use format.

It’s probably safe to assume “What To Watch” will hit iPad and iPhone mobiles ahead of Android. But TiVo did indicate Android support will be arriving for TiVo Stream this year. And the hold up may have partially been related to effectively securing content on that platform, with TiVo now in a better place given current levels Android 4.0+ penetration.

12 thoughts on “TiVo iPad App Tells You “What To Watch””

  1. So far, I think the TiVo iOS app is fantastic as a remote, and we love how you can take TiVo content to-go. Early releases were buggy, but the current one is pretty stable. It does what it’s supposed to, and does it well. Hard to think of anything missing.

  2. I have Time Warner in San Diego… have I heard correctly that all this nice streaming stuff — iPad streaming, TiVo Stream, etc. — won’t work with most shows on Time Warner due to the copy protection (CCI) flag?

  3. It’s a great app. As to streaming, fear not the CCI byte. Charter locks down everything they can — customers being nothing but criminals and simultaneously, an inexhaustible source of income — yet I’ve Tivo Streamed everything, even some content I pyTivoed to the Tivo in the first place.

    i haven’t tried to Download much via the Stream because then I would likely start to doubt the wisdom of my purchase. There I expect the CCI byte to lock down everything, including my iPad lock screen and my locker combination at that gym.

  4. Andy, as Jon says streaming is fully supported by the cable industry, it’s the copying and download that gets locked down via a few consumer-unfriendly providers like TWC and Brighthouse. So you’re free to use the Stream around the home, but you’ll have problems sideloading shows to take on the road. (Then again, maybe TWC isn’t all that unfriendly – they’re bringing up to 300 channels to Roku?!)

  5. I would much rather see them working on incorporating something like Trakt.TV than this. I guess maybe Pique.com might do it if they ever launch it. There needs to be an easy way to track what content you have watched across multiple sources.

    Maybe I am just the oddball, but I never have an issue finding something to watch. If anything I have too much to watch. I don’t use the iPad app for anything but management.

  6. “Maybe I am just the oddball, but I never have an issue finding something to watch. If anything I have too much to watch”

    The few. The proud. The folks who actually understand how to use a DVR to harvest the multicast.

  7. Forgot to mention… See that little Blockbuster VOD icon/option in one of the screengrabs? Wonder if we can assume the service will be returning (as DISH promised).

  8. Let me get this straight. If you want to buy into the TiVo ecosystem.

    TiVo Premiere 4 $250.00 plus subscription
    TiVo Stream $129.00
    TiVo Mini $150-$200.00 plus more subscription fees. To use the Premiere 4 as a whole home server. Then no option to supplement the 4 Tuners with OTA tuners. How is this setup better then Media Center?
    The apps which are free are nice. But I just don’t get how anyone would spend this type of money per month just for a guide.

    I would agree this gives me a better guide and a better experience then the Cable Company DVR and services but its roughly the same amount money per month. Is TiVo nickel and diming its way out of the universe?

  9. But with the TiVo equipment you own it. So you will have value in them when you want to upgrade so they can be sold. With the cable company equipment you never own them. So there is zero residual value. A TiVo with lifetime service is worth several hundred dollars.

  10. Being someone who always chooses the best user experience even if it costs a bit more, I will always choose Tivo over generic DVRs, especially if I can have lifetime on the devices rather than a monthly fee. I big fan of Lifetime of all sorts.

    One reason is that every subscription based service I have is just another candidate for a future cut in my household spending, as health care costs and inflation increase much faster than wages, when those increase perceptibly at all; but all that matters is the shareholders, right?. Unlike congress, I am forced to aggressively make cuts all of the time to balance the budget. Not to mention in the new norm, you’ve got to have a good savings buffer for the day when some exec who doesn’t even understand what I do decides that he can hire 12 Elbonians to do my job cheaper than I can; and since no one else can speak Elbonian, who is to say? Better add a project manager in there too, to manage the 12; I coordinate all my work with myself for free. Bottomline for me is that subscriptions are the enemy of my long term planning, and that’s all the MSOs have to offer.

    Thanks to the miracle of resale values of Lifetimed Tivo equipment that I already upgraded, coupled with a watchful eye for bargains (Woot! No really, I mean woot.com), I was able to trade in with a whole lot of bother my Lifetimed 1 TB Tivo HD for a Lifetimed 2TB upgraded Tivo Premiere at a total net cost of $35, a tad higher because I insisted on buying a high quality WD drive than what the entire Tivo Community had been using. My overall cost of ownership for Tivo has been less than what I’d be paying if I had settled for generic DVR, since the older equipment is still good eats. Granted, Tivo’s $100 across the board lifetime increase a few months afterwards works a little against this business case so I wasn’t subject to that.

    With that most excellent iPad Tivo app and the sub-less Tivo Stream, the roller coaster of fun with my upgrade never seems to end. Oh yeah, never pay full price; my Tivo Stream was $109 at Crutchfield and I even got $5 Fatwallet cashback, putting me dangerously close to the price this thing should have cost in the first place: ~$100. Yowza.

  11. Don’t get me wrong Tivo is excellent. I have owned the Premiere in the past and sold it. I would never use the crappy Comcast equipment etc. I just prefer the flexibility of the HTPC I built for myself. I wonder if Tivo will ever update the UI to full HD, maybe they don’t have to since we will probably see Series 5 this year or next.

  12. It isn’t just about the guide it is also about the experience. My Media Center experience was not great. It missed shows, recorded duplicates, etc while TiVo had no issues with the exact same shows. At least for me the HTPC doesn’t offer anything else I need. I can play all my server content via PyTiVo. I can manage my TiVo remotely from the web with TiVo.com or from the desktop using KMTTG.

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