Optik TV Smart Remote

[slynnw]

Very disappointed with the new app. I need the remote control functionality. I do not need to watch TV on my devices... I am not 12 years old. Please give us adults what we need as we are the ones choosing service providers and paying the bill.

[Secretsquirrel]

We are very active users of smart remote. If it is discontinued, we will seek our tv service from Shaw. That’s how valuable smart remote is to us.

[frankw]

Looks like the smart remote app (also named "Optik TV", the same name as the new app) is starting to be shut down, or maybe it's crapping out.  Guide no longer working, but I can still select recordings to play back, and select channels. 9pm PST June 25. 

Now I will need to go find and buy an IR extender, and those gadgets can be very unreliable.

[Midislander]

I also registered just to voice my displeasure with the loss of the remote app. It was the best thing about optik tv.

The new app, as has been stated is fine for twelve year olds who want to watch tv on a 5 inch screen. I didn't buy a 55 inch hdtv to use my IPad. I have been hedging on upgrading to the new ultra hd products because of the weak content of most of the channels. Is it worth it to watch the same 8 or 10 shows repeated every 4 hours or less in a day. I'm looking at you Smithsonian, Nat Geo and BBC Earth. The only reason I haven't cut the cord is it's just too easy to quickly look at the guide, tap the channel and it's on. No searching for a program and times, streaming or downloading. The Optik TV app is fine for what it was meant for, although clearly made for a laptop and not mobile devices. My Harmony remote is great for controlling multiple items via wifi. But the Optik app was a clean simple app that did both. Please give it back or I fear the prospect of saving $150 plus a month may be too much to resist.

[kevinm]

I hoped that once the old Optik TV app was disabled they would have added the “missing” features to the new app, but alas no.

It’s very frustrating to no longer be able to:

- quickly change the day/time

- change the channel on the Optik box from the app

- quickly jump to the different channel number sections

This is a big step backwards in functionality. Too bad no one from Telus has yet to chime in

[Reneeaz]

 The new app is certainly not a replacement but totally different.   As you can see, very few people like it as it is missing most of the things that you could do with the old app. I wish they would’ve just left the old out there and we could have used it if we wished instead of this new whatever it is. I’m sure there are a lot more of us out there who think this is a terrible change and we miss the functions of the old app. 

[PvT]

I just forwarded this thread link to Telus Support.  Hopeful they will come here and have a listen to our comments and input as well as chime in.

[Nighthawk]

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.

[frankw]

The Smart Remote app is still partially working and I hope they leave it running until a new app or other solution can be developed.

The Guide and Recordings views don't work any more. But I can select a channel by entering the number, also pause/play/forward/reverse buttons work on the pop up remote.  So I can use the app on an iPad in my secondary viewing room to at least pause/fast forward a program.  I can use my main TV room which has the PVR and regular remote to select a program or recording and then move to the other room (big TV there) to watch and pause/play/etc from the iPad app as needed.

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BTW if anyone is shopping for a IR extender, they come in 2 varieties.  The regular IR extender is about $30 and designed for people who have all their equipment in one room but want to put some devices out of sight in a nearby closed cabinet or closet.  The other type is a wireless IR extender and costs more at $50+ and can be used to allow an IR remote to be used in a separate room from the controlled equipment.

[PvT]

Yesterdays Social Media contact to @TELUSsupport went like this:

@TELUSsupport Hopeful the current Optik TV app will very soon carry over some important features from the original app. Here’s just a fraction sample of customers feeling on just that. Would be great if someone from @Telus could chime in here as well: :~) https://forum.telus.com/t5/Internet-TV-Home-Phone/Optik-TV-Smart-Remote/m-p/85926

@... We will make sure to pass on that information/suggestions to the correct teams

@TELUSsupport Thank you 👍

[Wolfman5001]

I phoned Telus today to voice my concern about the discontinuation of the smart remote and I was told it was because not very many people use it. Well good job Telus, you forced a much worse app with a fraction of the functionality on us that I'm certain even less people will use than the smart remote app.
This is the reason people are moving away from cable to online streaming. You know what I can control from my phone with an app? Netflix, Hulu, amazon video etc. This is a complete step backwards and if it wasn't for live sports I would totally cancel tv all together. The removal of this app is just another example of how out of touch our cable companies are.

[mbp]

@Wolfman5001 - You should have looked about 3 replies up if you wanted the most likely reason the app was discontinued.

[Vanbakeld]

I agree. The new app is horrible. We were already thinking about going back to
Shaw and this might just be the push we needed. Telus sucks.

[frankw]

@mbp Telus is a company worth about $27 billion, not some tiny undercapitalized startup running in a spare bedroom that must do things at very low cost. They mismanaged their Smart Remote project if they were cheapskates and made it dependent on a software component made by a little company (maybe 1 person?) that didn't make enough money and one day decided to cease operations. A competent tech company (actually the people in charge of the Smart Remote app) would make sure their project had a more solid foundation. If they are blaming the outside framework supplier, that's just an excuse, it is Telus's responsibility to develop reliable systems and they failed on this one.

[RB2]

I just signed up to make the same point, only to find a long string of posts from disgruntled users.  The ONLY thing I used the old app for was to program the PVR when I was away from home, and that worked reasonably well.  I've been trying to use the old one for the past few days and kept getting an error message - until I went to Telus' website I didn't know that it had been discontinued, because Telus had not bothered to tell me.  The new app tries to be too clever, and the part that I want (remote set recordings PVR) is clumsy at best, and doesn't work for specific needs (e.g. if there is a news program with the same name on every hour, I cannot record (for example) the version that comes on at 6:00pm).  Scrolling is inconsistent, the programs don't keep up with the time, and a slight mistake results in the time jumping back to the current time.  And I don't want to watch TV on my phone.  ANY CHANCE OF BRINGING BACK THE OLD APP, OR OFFERING AN APP JUST FOR PROGRAMMING PVR'S?

[Rentalguy]

I totally agree. New app is horrible, and the remote is gone. Worse, nothing on the App Store or app tells you this. I just spent 20 minutes try to get the non existent feature to work. TELUS LUSTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS !

[LC2]

I totally agree, as a loyal customer who is the adult in the house who pays the bills I'm extremely disappointed in the decision to not offer the one great feature Telus had on their smart Optik remote.

[LC2]

I would like to chime in...the Optik Smart Remote is a feature truly valued by our family and we are highly disappointed that this app is no longer functioning without a suitable replacement. 

[WestCoasterBC]

I would imagine if it's a feature Telus can implement in house in the future they may work on this feature. Keep in mind it was a 3rd party that supplied the remote feature before that is no longer around.

[Mikekpt]

Smart remote for a smart home.  Everything is run off my iPhone. I have a tv on the wall with speakers on each side wired to a central spot with my Telus box. The app had some glitches which could and should have been worked on.  Telus claiming the new app works only to find it doesn’t by tech support after we discovered this together. Really disappointed. Turn up the app again Telus. Up until now I told new neighbours and community how happy I was with Telus.  If I didn’t have others in the house that watch the blue jays and news I would have just cancelled the tv service.