Optik TV Bulletin Board: Discover, Discuss, and Develop

[Optik-Kate]

Dear Neighbours, 

We’re the TV Product Development team, and we strive to bring you a continuously improving TV service and experience that fits your needs. Since the launch of the new Optik TV service through the TELUS TV+ platform, our business and development teams are working hard to add, improve, and maintain existing and new features to bring you the best Canadian television experience through Live TV, On Demand, and streaming services. 

We are passionate about our TV products, and most importantly, we love this community that helps support its improvement. We appreciate your input as we work towards making The Evolution of Optik TV better every day, and we’d like to open up the lines of communication by keeping this page updated with helpful information about our TV products. If there is other information you’d like to see in this guide, drop us a comment below.

*Please note, this is not a live troubleshooting or feedback article. Submit your specific TV service questions by creating a post in the Neighbourhood, or submit your TV product and feature suggestions here. We look forward to hearing from you and working together to make Optik TV the best it can be! 

New to Optik TV? Check out these support articles: 

Installing your TELUS TV Digital Box

How to use the TELUS TV+ app

Navigate and Learn About TELUS TV+ Features 

TELUS TV Digital Box Remote

Find more TV support articles here.

Helpful Tips and Tricks

Recordings	Easily access your recordings within each profile by holding down the  button on your remote.
Homepage	Dismiss the homepage screen by holding down the  arrow button. Bring up the homepage by clicking the  button.
App Row	You can customize your app row. Use the “+” tile to add a new app, or hold down “ok” on a specific app tile to move or remove an app tile.
Guide	Use the “CH” down button to skip vertically within guide Press the  button to “jump to date” on the guide. You can also use the “Options” button to filter the guide to only show subscribed or favourite channels.

Find more navigation tips and tricks here. 

Experiencing issues with your TV product? Try the following:

• TELUS TV+ Apps: Update your app to the latest version.
• Browsers: Clear cookies, allow third party cookies, try incognito mode, ensure ad blockers are turned off.
• Digital Box: Unplug the digital box from the power outlet for at least 10 seconds and plug it back in.
• Device: Ensure the device you are using to access the TELUS TV+ app is on the most up-to-date operating system. Visit your device manufacturers’ website for steps on how to update the devices and what the latest firmware should be. 

Need more support? Check out these options below:

Neighbourhood

• Get answers from other TELUS customers and Community Power Users and Admins

@TELUSSupport on Twitter

• Tag @TELUSSupport to flag any questions and start a conversation with our support team.
• Any unresolved questions will be passed on to the next level support for further investigation. 

Support Chat Bot

• Start a chat with the purple smiley box on the bottom right corner.
• Request to speak to an agent if your question is unresolved, which tends to have a shorter wait time compared to calling in.
• Any unresolved questions will be passed on to the next level support for further investigation.

Brownie points if you can include the following info so that we can help you faster:

*Reminder: For privacy protection, do not include any personal information in public posts!*

• Device information: iOS/Android (tablet/mobile), computer browser & OS, Android TV make/model, Apple TV model, Digital Box or PVR information 
• What’s the expected outcome vs. what is actually happening? 
• Is it happening on other devices that you own? 
• Is it happening to all types of content? (Live TV, On Demand, 3rd party apps such as Netflix)
• When did it start? Is it intermittent or constant?

Improvements We Are Working On

We always strive to improve our products to deliver the best experience. See below for a list of areas where we are actively working on improving. Thank you for letting us know the areas where we need to focus more on. 

Improvements We Are Working On	Related  Devices	Recommendation
Apple TV Sound Sync	American Channels on Apple TV	View content on alternate Canadian network channels if available, or use the TELUS Digital Box. Alternatively, you can periodically try changing the channels which will help re-sync the audio.
Unable to run series recording on news channels	All	Episode recording is available while we work on resolving this.
Unable to set First Run Only on certain content	All	First run and rerun is available while we work on resolving this.
Login error	iOS/tvOS	On your Apple Phone or Tablet. Go to Settings (your device setting, grey spiky wheel), not the app setting) Scroll down to "TV Provider" Select "TV Provider" Sign out Turn off the button allowing TELUSTV+ access via TV Provider Exit the settings app Go to the TELUS TV+ app Go to the settings button located at the bottom right hand of the app If you get a pop up asking to select TELUS TV+ as a TV Provider, decline the request You can accept notifications Select Login Manually enter My TELUS username. Manually enter My TELUS password (avoid using the iOS keychain as incorrect passwords may have been saved) For TVOS, you can change the setting via settings -> users and accounts -> TV provider. Sign out and toggle it off for TELUS TV+
Playback error on 4K recorded content	All devices except for Digital Box	Digital Box 4K recording viewing is unimpacted.
Login Error: Error 500-300. Generic error/ Error 404-3304	Specific Accounts	This is likely an account related issue, please contact our support team (see “need more support” section for options) and reference this article to have your account reprovisioned
Recordings icon is missing from the menu	iOS/tvOS	This is likely an account related issue, please contact our support team and reference this article to confirm that the PVR subscription is present on your account.
'Required output protections are not active' Error	Older Android devices/OS	We added a performance toggle to address this playback error. If your device encounters this error, it will ask you to go to settings to turn on "playback performance", and after restarting the app, VOD or live should play as expected.  Please note, this toggle is intended to address specific video playback issues, if video playback already works properly on your device, then there is no need to use this toggle. However, if this toggle doesn't address the specific error you're seeing, you'll be prompted again with a specific error message and error code. Please report the full message and we will continue to work on improving this feature.

We strive to support a portfolio of devices so everyone can enjoy our TV service. Did you know we currently serve and maintain our service on over 18,000 variations of Android devices alone? This includes a combination of hardware specifications, operating systems, and software updates by manufacturers. With constant patches and updates happening, it’s easy to miss the mark every now and then. We appreciate you providing feedback on where we can improve in terms of the playback experience.

Improvements We Are Working On	Related  Devices	Other Great Ways to Watch
Live TV Playback Interruption	Older Android devices/OS	Please see a list of other ways to watch for now while we work on resolving this.
VOD Playback Buffers and Will Not Start	Older iPads

See additional troubleshooting steps on our support page here.

Regards,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood TV Product Development Team.

[Mjwatts]

The Telus TV+ app glitches A LOT on the Telus Android box compared to all of my other devices. I can literally sit beside it and stream no problem on my.phone. Netflix on the same device is smooth as silk for playback.

I'm starting to think I should just get a better device (Chromecast or Nvidia Shield).

[st0106]

Can’t comprehend why such a big drop after the rollout of the new sys. Telus was almost the #1 in Canada bc it was using the same dvr as Bell, but the apps dragged the legs. Bell had rolled out a better new sys on Fibe TV, few months before Telus with 10 simultaneous recordings, the same pq as before (still behind Rogers and potentially any other provider buy sys. from comcast) plus transfer of future scheduled recordings. However, Telus not only couldn’t do any of these, cancel 4K channels, but also sets up an industry-wide low by reducing the recordings of existed tasks’ expiry to merely 45 days. Are we following philo TV? lmao

[Kitsune]

Our experience has been beyond awful. At this point we're thinking of moving to Shaw if you guys can't fix it ASAP and give us something for having a whole month of constant issues that make our tv unwatchable.. This new box is RIDDLED with issues from day 1, it clearly hasn't been tested properly. You should've never rolled this box out without actually testing it 1st and having it pass some real customers live testing it (while obviously getting paid or something for trying out a beta system). This is just just plain negligence tbh, it costs so much for TV nowadays and to have it not work the way it should and be inferior to your older boxes FROM 10 YEARS AGO... You clearly just bought them and rolled them out to new customers telling them it was the latest and greatest thing.. j


There are just SOME of the issues we've encountered (copy and pasted from a post I made):

- It consistency has corrupted recordings that were fine an hour before but I walk away to say have dinner or walk my dogs and come back and they have error msgs..

- it's deleted ALL of our saved recordings twice

- you can't record something more than once per day and you can't extend recordings for example we mainly record sports so for Rian delays, OT, etc

- it has stuttering issues that aren't fixed on restart

- you can't save recordings longer than the default 45 days

- you can't record the same show on more than 1 channel

- You have to manually go thru the guide and find what you want to record and the guide takes forever to load and just says "info unavailable" for like 20-30secs

- The search function is just broken it only shows a few options and when you try "view all" it shows completely random content (example you search boxing and randomly it'll show Thomas the train, random reality shows, Disney Channel kids stuff, etc)

And now to top it all off, it's completely broken. Started not being able to play anything in Netflix, it would open but when I'd go to play something Netflix said there was an issue with the box and to reset it. Tried that multiple times, checked internet connection in the Netflix app and on my computer and that's fine, it's just the box. After resetting over and over trying to fix Netflix I gave up, but now it can't play ANYTHING. Not even any channels live tv or recordings we have saved.

Keep getting this error code when I try to do anything: ERR_PLAYER_P210

This is completely unacceptable, every post I see on here or Reddit or tech forums about the new Telus 4k boxes is awful. Our old non-4k box that I had from 8 years ago worked fine and never had issues with recordings, could extend them, record on multiple channels, search and record, etc.. (if you can't tell we mostly PVR stuff because we're big sports lovers but are too busy so PVR is 1 of our biggest complaints because we use that like 80% of the time we use our tv)

[beatlesfan]

I'm a new PureFibre Telus Optik+ customer since April . From the beginning, the fast forward and rewind functions on recordings and live TV have not worked on any of my TVs. The video advances or rewinds, but I am not able to see where it is advancing to or rewinding, it is simply a guessing game. I have four Telus boxes, and have the same issue with all of them. I have been on many chats with Telus and all of the boxes have been rebooted multiple times. In addition, a technician recently came, but advised me when he arrived that he had not received any training on my box and so likely could not help, which turned out to be true! Telus has given me the runaround saying that my issue has been passed onto their "Optik TV Escalation Team", whatever that means. Has anyone else run into the same issue and found a resolution for the problem? It is extremely frustrating as, of course, I am paying for a service I'm not receiving. It's also not a great introduction for a new customer.

I also have to reboot at least one of my boxes daily for a variety of reasons; e.g. live program I am watching is "stuttering", "sorry, there's been an error" message.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[Smokey146]

LiveTV Playback has been an issue for many months.  It cuts out all day every day, making it useless.  Given the general level of problems with various TELUS apps/services I am not surprised.

[Smokey146]

Mac

Chrome/Safari

[Q4W]

Just curious if your Optik is on wifi or ethernet cable? If it's wifi and you can switch to ethernet it would be worth trying.

[Q4W]

I just switched from Shaw (Shaw is not even cancelled yet) to Telus and have to be honest, if I had discovered the forum on the new 4K boxes before, I wouldn't have switched until the obvious bugs are worked out. Now that I am onboard, the process is extremely painful!

Here are a few key things:

CLOUD RECORD: The 45 day record time (which I notice many people have commented on). What really needs improved from a customer service perspective is to give people a timeframe of when this will be increased - communication is key. I see posts noting this will "soon" be increased to 90 days and then longer in the future but Telus needs to not only prioritize this but also give customers a timeline. My 30 days to jump ship back to Shaw without penalty is running out quickly.

ONLINE SUPPORT ARTICLES: As a new customer, it seems very difficult to search online for a solution that doesn't bump you to an article about the old system with instructions that don't work. It is difficult to differentiate between support for the 2 generations of 4K. Calling in is an option but getting through can be an extremely long wait (almost 2 hour on one call this past week) ---> See Update Below

As I type this, I wanted to use Google Mini to change channels but I have to connect Telus to Google. The only instructions that I can find says to scan the QR Code and go to channel 9097. Channel 9097 doesn't exist on the new 4K guide and I can't complete the task. Connecting Stingray to my iPhone app was also delayed as the instructions for that have also changed for the new 4K.

TELEPHONE TECH SUPPORT: TECH SUPPORT ON THE NEW 4K TV IS HORRIBLY PAINFUL DUE TO UNTRAINED STAFF!!!

I called in as I couldn't find any of the Stingray Channels. I had a great customer service rep - friendly and went out of his way to help. However, turns out this tech was referencing troubleshooting steps from the old 4K and not the new technology. This call went on for quite awhile before being told that it was probably a programming thing. I later received voicemail that a problem was made when setting up the account and it should be fixed now. It wasn't. I called in again and I lucked out with a new rep who knows that with the new Optik, you have to use the app and they no longer appear on the channel guide. The first rep had me repeatedly searching for 7000 series channels. I have a strong feeling that the system is so new, even Telus reps haven't been fully trained and are just figuring out as they go.

STINGRAY MUSIC: PLEASE BRING BACK THE MUSIC CHANNELS TO THE GUIDE! Not having the Stingray Channels in the guide is a total inconvenience. Coming from Shaw, I am so used to hitting the voice command button and telling it what Stingray Channel to go to. We also have an extensive home automation system and this really complicates the entire process. Our in wall touch screens have graphic icons for our favourite Stingray channels. Touch the graphic and in behind the scene, the control system sends the correct channel numbers to the TV box. That is no longer possible since it is now app based. Even accessing through Telus Optik it is now such a complicated change to have to open an additional app and scroll through a list.

Second Stingray issue: I was trying to access Stingray 4K channels that are listed as part of the Core channel list. Like the Stingray Music change, these channels no longer exist on the new Guide. Once again, the Telus website directs you to the old 4K help section. So confusing and a waste of time trying to find help.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Tech support about where to find the Stingray 4K. He actually had never heard of Stingray 4K and said Stingray is only audio to which I referenced their channel list emailed to me by Telus just a few weeks ago. I also asked if there is a specific online support area specific to the new 4K. I was told that there wasn't and to quote him "....which is extremely odd since the new Optik is so different." He was unable to resolve any my issues and is going to have to look into it and call me back... which leaves me with one main question:

WHY ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS BETA TESTING A BRAND NEW SYSTEM THAT EVEN YOUR SUPPORT HASN'T FIGURED OUT???

I'm really sitting on the edge of using the 30 day money back clause!

[Q4W]

An additional note that I forgot to mention is it would be extremely helpful if Optik profiles could be PIN protected like Netflix. We have an AirBnB and we were very surprised that there is no method of keeping people from logging into any profile. We will also miss the ability to limit some TV boxes from accessing our PVR recordings which was a great feature we had with Shaw. Now guests can watch and delete our recordings which is not ideal. 

[st0106]

That’s probably a function for business customers.

[Q4W]

Perhaps. I just know it was standard with Shaw normal accounts and really handy. Also stops kids from deleting recordings from parents' accounts. Seems like a pretty simple addon based on the fact it is android based system.

[MrSL]

Hi @Q4W  My opinion, go back to Shaw while you can! Yeah it's a pain after the wheels are in motion on a switch, but I'm seriously regretting not doing it!

I was a Shaw customer for over 19 years until I recently switched. Needless to say, I will not be renewing my Telus contract when it expires... Took a while to find all the issues, but the cloud recording is frankly pathetic. Series scheduled recording has a mind of it's own. Numerous times it's disappeared mid season. The crazy 45 day recording limit, not able to set a time extension to your recordings etc etc. 

[Montell]

Telus needs to do better and do better in a hurry, because so far the new android platform has been a neglected flop that seems to even be regressing.

Things present for years on old optik tv for ages seem to be a struggle or just not important to get working on telus.

I constantly get recording issues trying to record anything such as dateline, it just wont let me, why? The old system I could hit record on anything.

A few other items to add to missing features, known issues list.

No ppv's, some boxing ppv's are only available in canada on telus and shaw. Cant believe something like ppv which has been around for 40 years is somehow missing. And using app's is not intuitive for a user and not always possible. This is unacceptable. The old system even let you record a ppv if you were not at home, a huge bonus that shaw and rogers dont allow. But now you cant even order a sports ppv through telus guide anymore, let alone record it like on the old system!

Surround sound does not work and has taken a step back, old optik dolby digital 5.1 worked great on all HD channels, the new optik system did have it working on 4k channels, but now its only outputting stereo audio. Another step back. Even if the android box reports dolby digital surround its only outputting 2 channel stereo. Again this worked fine at least for 4k channels last month, now they are stereo only. And HD channels also have stereo sound.

This has been very frustrating, I switched to the system in april and have not seen much progress and even regression. Telus needs to do better or this is going to be a massive problem for there business and people moving to shaw.

[Montell]

One more to add to the list, about once a month maybe because I watch alot of 4k channels, the android box slows to a crawl and requires a reboot. Tonight the settings menu to reboot wouldnt even come up. The 4k video stream wouldnt start, it just kept stuttering, I could navigate most of the UI ok, but could not open settings to reboot. Changing channels in the guide also just gave me a stuttering video feed or nothing.

I had to unplug power and plug it back in. The boxes seem very underpowered for the UI and features telus has implemented or the software is not well optimized and is resource hungry.

[Montell]

Just to update this, watching football game and again had this issue where the video player starts stuttering and the screen goes black on a 4k channel. Then eventually I get the below error on other channels when I try to change it.

Eventually I get Sorry an error has occurred ERR_Player_P001.

A reboot is usually need to fix this.

[Montell]

I am on hard wired gigabit telus internet if that matters.

[Montell]

A large post on reddit with someone getting this error daily.

https://www.reddit.com/r/telus/comments/16h7dy9/telus_tv_box_is_absolute_garbage/

I dont want to pile on the techs and developers here, working in IT when something goes sideways like this telus needs to hire more resources and support the staff, clearly the issues are getting out of hand and these boxes are landing in more customers laps. This needs to be more stable and include more basic features in a hurry from previous optik system, and I assume the staff is completely overwhelmed. 

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @Montell , you are correct, that is the recommended troubleshooting step. 

The P001 error indicates that the start of playback timed out. You should be able to dismiss the error and playback should work. Failing that, I would suggest force-closing the app and/or clearing the cache through the following steps. Also, may I recommend to please start new posts for each issue? It will be easier for me to keep track! Thanks.

Go to Settings -> Top Menu > Device Settings > Apps

select TELUS TV+

Clear Chace/clear data (ok)

[Montell]

Thanks for the reply. A few things of note.

I seen you responded to someone else with this issue back in July. I can often fix the problem myself by either changing channels or rebooting the device. As mentioned though the other night I couldnt even open settings during this error. Settings would simply not open. So I had to unplug it. 

I guess im also hoping for a root cause solution instead of a work around, this is not something users should have to be doing so frequently paying for an expensive cable package. Has any investigation gone into fixing the underlying issue so users dont have to deal with it?

I also post here because I thought this was an ongoing list of bugs, some of these I have posted are missing so I just wanted to make telus aware. It would be great to see a list of all bugs and what are actively being worked on rather then just random forum posts on similar subjects. Thats just my thought anyway but I will follow your lead if its easier. 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Montell]

And just a note I have posted some of these issues on separate threads such as lack of surround sound which is simply not working properly and only outputting two channel audio.