Optik TV Smart Remote

[Digitalone]

I would like to know why Telus has decided to drop the current Optik TV Smart Remote app to adopt their new and most confusing Optik TV GO or whatever its called. 

With the new app you will no longer be able to:

1) use your phone as a Remote,

2) change channels on your various boxes from your phone using the guide, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION I CAN THINK OF FOR YOUR SERVICE. THIS FUNCTION ALLOWS ME OR FAMILY MEMBER TO CHECK THE GUIDE AND CHANGE CHANNELS WITHOUT HAVING TO USE THE ON-SCREEN GUIDE.

3) use the guide to jump to future dates or days

4) easily record and change record settings using the guide. 

5) manage your recordings on your PVR. 

My assumption is that the old app was powered by i.TV and Telus thought they could do a better job and not have to pay for i.TV rights to use. Well you didn't do a good job and actually succeeded in making a great app worse. 

The new app is extremely confusing and I consider myself to be a bit of a tech nerd. Multiple clicks required to drill into functions of the app, confusing record and show listings when using the guide. 

For all those who wish to see the old app remain functional chime in here. 

[PvT]

Just perused the app that we are now being directed to as the one I have used is flagging that it will no longer be supported as of June 26.  The old app worked really well, the new app is horrible, I thought I was a bit of a techy but this surely does not apply to being able to use the newer app, intuitive does not apply here at all.  Please keep the old app running; the guide function, scrolling ahead into the future and setting PVR recordings from off site are all really great.  The new app, dare I say again; horrible.

[JasonM1]

My Optik TV boxes are not in the same room as my TV's, and in one case on a different floor of my house.  I rely on the Smart Remote app to control my Optik TV boxes.  They are discontinuing the app later in June 2018 and their new Optik TV app does not have the Smart Remote feature enabled.  I spoke to Telus Technical Support and they provided me with this information.  Without the Smart Remote app, I cannot control my boxes, making the Optik system completely useless.  I will have to cancel my Optik TV service and talk to another provider.

Not sure why Telus would cancel the Smart Remote app BEFORE they have the features enabled in their new app.

The existing Smart Remote app is poor, but I have been tolerating it for the last 3+ years as I have no other choice.  It needs to be refreshed and I was looking forward to hopefully a better upgrade in the new app, but now Telus is just cancelling it without replacing it.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Mikekpt]

Yes same here. Xantech dinkylink has been a good product as I used to install. Loved my house operating off iPhone. So pissed off. I split the telusbox living room and master. So I’m $200 per tv plus install or pay someone. Thanks Telus. I can say you suck again. 

[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

[Arrvon]

Hi, I also registered (as many others in this thread have done) to voice my displeasure over the Smart Remote app being cancelled.

The fact that so many users have registered just to bring this issue up should show TELUS how much this means to them and how important it would be to fix the issue.

The new app is clearly just a web based app. It’s only 8mb to install so it’s likely just running your web browser in a fancy TELUS looking app.

In any case, it is a big step backwards and loses some of the very important features the other app had. Here are the features that Telus has taken away for me:

-a quick guide to search days ahead
-a quick guide to scan channels quickly and then select it/play it on the tv
-the ability to let me kids browse on demand kids shows from the app and then play them on the tv. (One of our boxes, the one connected to the kids tv, is the older generation Telus box which is extremely slow to navigate so this makes it much easier)

The new app would be somewhat useful if it at the very least could send the shows to start playing on the tv instead of a small iPad screen.

Overall it’s an extremely dissapointing sign as a customer that Telus would even consider losing all these features as an option, let alone actually purposely deciding to get rid of them. Even if i.TV was ending their support, the software should have been purchased by Telus and integrated into the new app.

I sincerely hope that Telus brings back the smart remote features that were clearly a selling point and much used/loved feature.

[GarbageApp]

This was so dissapointing. Take away an amazing funtional app and force me to watch on my tablet?!?

What idiot thought this was an improvement? For Christ sake, what a stupid move. I’ve deleted this stupid resource pig.

bring back the ipad/iphone remote app.

how many pages is this thread expressing the same dissatisfaction.

idiots

[Shank]

Does Telus even monitor this forum? An answer would be appreciated. This isn’t the only thread on this topic

[NFtoBC]

I expect they don’t have much to say. The developer of the product, and owner of the intellectual property has abandoned the product. This leaves Telus in the position of no longer being able to offer the now unsupported product, and likely unable to re-create it without being in a copyright infringement situation. If it was as simple as cut and paste, it likely would have been done by now by someone.

[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.

----------------------

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.

[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.