Bring back the optik smart remote app

Nanayb2

This new telus Optik app is terrible. The old smart remote app was wonderful and I can easily see my TV guide and record and control my telus box. I don’t understand why Telus is replacing that with this stupid new app that only allows you to record a show but not function as a remote for your box. TELUS BRING BACK THE SMART REMOTE APP OR I WILL DROP TELUS SERVICES. THE SMART REMOTE APP IS THE BEST.

Nighthawk

You'll notice there was a significant change in the Optik app. The old version was quite old (> 6 years) and was retired. Whether or not the remote feature can be implemented for the new app remains to be seen. That's something internal to Telus that we'll only find out when they are ready to announce something.

The Smart Remote is from 2012 and is just plain outdated. It was released for Android 4.0. Mobile operating systems have changed considerably as well so the Smart Remote app was due to be retired. Trying to code an app to support far too many versions of an OS with different APIs is not a simple task.

Personally I find using the real, physical, Optik remote to be far superior to the Smart Remote.

cjlien

The old app works just fine on my new iPhone.

Dont replace a great feature just because it’s old and especially when the “new” app has very little to do with TV. It’s a watch TV on your phone app. Very dishonest of Telus to suggest the new app is a replacement. This is cancellation of an important service in my opinion and it reduces competitiveness with Shaw. Do you seriously like poking through the on TV guide with up and down arrows Nighthawk, compared to whipping around on a phone or tablet and then zapping straight to that channel? How about searching with the Optik remote arrow ring and OK compared to a phone keyboard? This is a very bad move on Telus’ part.

psl

@Nanayb2 Thanks for the feedback. It is definitely good for us to know that this is a feature that our customers value. We will forward your sentiment to our product team, and see if we can find ways to incorporate it into the new app

hawkmoon

Totally agree with @Nanayb2 - the new app is horrible to use. It's designed for watching On Demand on your mobile device - not remotely controlling your PVR. I love the old/existing app. If I forgot to set my PVR for something I could easily do it while on the go from my iPhone. Please can we have the same programming grid layout in the new app? I can easily jump to any day/time and channel to hit record. The new grid layout barely lets you see one hour's worth of programming per screen.

etherealdragon

Yes. Telus want to attract more people to join the on-demand service. However, if Telus fails to do the basic things right, why thinking that changing the app would promote that?

There are several use cases I normally use for Shaw / Telus TV apps:

- To browse for TV shows based on date and time schedule

- To look for upcoming shows via the show’s name

- To record the (first-run-only) series of show, or quick optional select just a single occurrence of the show

- To check the scheduled upcoming recording

- To check the recorded shows / series

The current design of the app certainly does not take these use cases into high prioritized considerations. If design is not driven by use case, then the value of the app or software is at worst.

No wonder people says Telus never cares about their customers. The app’s design tells us all.

PGN

THe new app has little resemblance or in common with the new one that is designed to generate revenue through streaming. The smart remote was a tool and service that one could chose to use. Very useful for people with mediocre vision as there is no way to increase the font size on the TV guide.

I am not sure why we can’t have both apps.

The new app is convenient for streaming on other devices but it is purely a money grab, not a service.

PGN

Completely agree!! Please let us keep the smart remote Telus! I use both and they have basically nothing in common!

Reneeaz

I don’t understand why TELUS couldn’t have upgraded the old app which was very convenient and much used for looking up what was on TV and also for changing channels, checking what is coming up on subsequent days and recording series, etc. they could’ve put this new app out for those people who wanted to watch TV on their iPhone or iPad etc. The new app is absolutely horrible and as you can see from all the previous comments it doesn’t do many of the things that most of us are accustomed to. We want to be able to control the TV and check what’s coming up and to be able to record entire series. You cannot search on this new app and it doesn’t allow you to look at any other day except for the present one. In other words it’s an absolutely awful app which is not a replacement of the old one but something someone dreamed up thinking that we wanted to be able to watch TV on our mobile units. I am not alone in feeling this way. Please bring back the old app and if you must, upgrade it slightly. It worked perfectly the way it was.

Jamez74

Bring back the smart remote app please! The new app is terrible and has nothing to control your channels?

Gunther

I so liked the old one, I also had the new one which is nice for view TV on my ipad, but has no functionality for changing channels on my PVR for live tv, it also does not highlight "new". The scrolling is very clunky and unpredictable and contains little information. Lastly, the filtering on the new one is rather useless. Please bring it back and if you can improve the new one to include the functionality of the old, I have no problem having only one app, but please test it.

Thank you

Nanayb2

So as Telus promised the old smart remote app stopped working June 26. This is a very sad day for Telus optik tv users. The new optik app is crap and useless.

Nanayb2

Got this email from Telus. The “improved” optik app??? What a joke!!!

Rentalguy

I love this: "Everything you love and more" !! How about reality: "Threw away the features you loved, made the UX really difficult on small devices, added features you don't use.

PGN

New app is also an old app and it is not a replacement for the smart remote. It’s garbage and you seemingly care nothing about what the customer wants. Two completely separate uses. None of the fantastic features of the Smart Remote - just a revenue stream.

Lf2

bring back the optik tv remote. My TV is on another floor and I was able to turn on the musc to listen to. Now I am unable. I don't want to listen to the music through my phone or tablet

Is there any other way to control the optik TV box. I can control my sound system with a remote.

T2018

I wouldn’t quite say that I think the new app is a total disaster. It’s has some nice features though on balance I do prefer the old app.

However; I mainly have optik TV for sports and I watch a lot of different sports and leagues.

The old old app was really great to find the games I want to record.

In the new app the experience when searching for sports games is poor.

I can see where searching for a TV show or film it would work fine in the new app but searching for a sports game is hard as you what to know what teams are playing and the search results in some cases do not show you both teams (text cut off) or display them in an easily navigated list.

I think these flaws are less functional and more a UI/design issue.

Jdoc

Bring back the old app!!!!! Please. How frustrating.

PaigeClark

I just got the new app hoping i could go through channels on it for my actual TV and its just for the phone! I tried looking for other smart remotes to do the job for me but none work! I relied on the smart remote on a day to day basis as it made life way easier for me. I am a long term customer of Telus and i have never been so disappointed in their service than i am right now.

Nighthawk

Just to re-hash what has been posted before. The company behind the Smart Remote no longer exists and they took their intellectual property with them. The app was dead and had no way to get future updates. Asking to bring back the old app won't work. Offering suggestions for the new one is a better path to take.

In Smart Remote, if you look under Settings > About, you'll see "Powered by i.TV". The vendor (i.TV) that created the old app framework no longer exists. Their website doesn't exist anymore either and just redirects to a domain parking service. It looks like before they shut down they changed the focus of the company towards more social interaction relating to television and no longer on the apps.

This is an article about i.TV from around the time Smart Remote came out.

With the vendor switching focus to social media and followed by their demise, support, updates, and fixes for the app would not have been possible. Whether or not there is an alternative vendor with a similar remote control framework will be the big question.

The company that was spun off of i.TV, yo.tv, is basically just a social media / TV guide hybrid that doesn't work well for Canada. The spin off company doesn't offer the same remote control framework.