Suggestions for improvement

[Dioptase]

Switched recently but passed 30days so I am commited at this point. Will be saving considerable money compared to Shaw. My concerns echo a lot of the folks here, but am starting to get used to it.

Noticed that we can now go back in the guide a watch already aired blocks, which at first seems really good until you learn that you cant fast foward, skip, rewind etc. Not having that permission makes the feature useless. If I want to catch the last few minutes of a program I would have to start from the begining and forced to watch the ads ? Thats not going to happen.

Next the 45 day retention of recordings need to be drastically increased. There is good on demand selection which makes recording less imperetive but adequate pvr features is just expected by paying customers now adays.

Please someone improve the level of detail in the guide, I am begging here please! No way to tell if its a new episode or a repeat (on the front end) and often the episodes aren't recorded because the titles are not correct. That kind of makes recording pointless. Being able to better adjust start and end times is a necessity.

I feel like if these things are improved it would help a lot and make customers feel more confident about choosing telus and maybe staying in the future. The technology is good, picture is great, but lacks basic verstility currently.

[WestCoasterBC]

The skip forward/rewind feature is disabled by broadcasters of the channels, TELUS has to abide by the right holders request. The PVR is not meant to be a permanent way to store all recordings indefinitely and forever. The guide does label shows as "NEW". I believe added record times was suggested in ideas at one point. 

The software keeps getting revised and updated, perhaps things will roll out in future updates if on the roadmap.

[Dioptase]

Thanks for the info. I am not expecting to keep things on the pvr forever, but you should be able to save them for longer than 45days, much longer. In terms of going from a local hard drive to cloud based, this is a step backwards in versitility for the customer. No one was being charged extra to save things to their own storage before, only to be nuked before a couple of months have passed.

Now that you mention it I realize, I have seen the NEW header for some new episodes but it sure isnt consistant with some of the programs that have failed to record for me.
I have also witnessed recordings delete themselves spontaniusly, before 45days. That one may have been due to a bug because I tried adjusting series recording options and poof went an episode.

Like I said, good tech and picture but vast improvements and flexibility are needed for this to be successful long term.
It sure good that Telus has a good range of previous episodes on demand because without that, there would be no reason for anyone to choose telus for their tv.

Big bummer to hear about locking tracking on previous programs. They go to on demand with less commercials and the ability to skip, what's the difference ?

[RobG3987]

As well as having the ability to recover/restore previous deleted programs.

[HiddenValley]

As a former "Shaw TV customer" I agree there is a LOT of room for improvement. I am really worried that the ecosystem around these new Android-based boxes comes with severe limits as to what can really be changed. The "streamlined" remote and lack of dedicated function buttons are just one example. I can't see Telus releasing a new remote - the best we can hope for is the ability to map direct functions to a 3rd party remote. 

Telus Devs / support; One place I hope can be fixed is the idea most of us use this box to "Watch TV" so that should be its MAIN UI/UX. MOVE all the "on-demand", Netflix, Streaming, Pay per view, advertising-driven content OFF the main waay too cluttered screen.  When we turn on the box the FIRST screen we see should be a nice modern TV Guide period. Give us all the streaming / on-demand stuff on another screen. OR at least give us the option to set the box preference up in "streaming mode" or "TV mode" 

The voice search is kinda cool, but the services it indexes are mostly useless. Voice command never seems to bring up regular network broadcasting. If I say "watch the news" it always brings up Youtube! Even basic commands like "channel 200" don't work. If I want to "watch Succession"  -it brings up the Google play store! NOT HBO or my saved PVR recording of Succession!!!! 

This whole "new" system is just not ready for prime time or serious TV Watchers... I am sure there is a market segment for this box that doesn't care -but many of us do. 

[SonicMojo]

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@HiddenValley wrote:

Telus Devs / support; One place I hope can be fixed is the idea most of us use this box to "Watch TV" so that should be its MAIN UI/UX. MOVE all the "on-demand", Netflix, Streaming, Pay per view, advertising-driven content OFF the main waay too cluttered screen.  When we turn on the box the FIRST screen we see should be a nice modern TV Guide period. Give us all the streaming / on-demand stuff on another screen. OR at least give us the option to set the box preference up in "streaming mode" or "TV mode" 

 This +100. @Optik-Kate  - if you want to start small with one change that will stop about 60% of the grumbling - do this one. NO one asked for that dogs breakfast of a Home screen and as adults - if I need to switch to an streaming app, On Demand or a recording - I already know how to do that.

I just installed our two Telus TV digital boxes this week - and after about 8 seconds of use - my entire family has been peppering me with the same question - WTF is all this stuff on the main screen - I just want to watch TV?

Truer words have never been spoken. 

Sonic (also in HIdden Valley!)

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @SonicMojo, thanks for the feedback! I've definitely passed this on to our development team. In the meantime, you might already know this, but pressing the "back/return" arrow button on the remote dismisses the home screen. 

[SonicMojo]

Kate

I am aware of all the key commands and other elements you have tried to communicate on this forum and I do appreciate the effort - however this thread (and many others like it) shows that the problems with this Digital Box have little to do with the remote and everything to do with the software, user interface experience and the plethora of other issues that plague this horrific piece of hardware.

I have been "trialling" the new Telus PureFibre services and this Digital Box since May 28 and after experiencing first hand what I would have to put up with (for potentially two long years) in a contract situation - I immediately halted the trial, cancelled the new package and returned to Shaw.

For the life of me - I cannot imagine any Telus customer (new OR existing) would think that this horribly designed Telus TV app (front end) OR hardware would be good long term. It's unthinkable that Telus decided to spend billions carving up everyone's lawn here in Calgary, lay down a killer new network infrastructure and then pair that with this disaster of a digital box.

All I can say is I am glad I was able to remove my home from this trial without committing to anything, but I do truly sympathize with those who now have to live with this device for potentially months or years before anything good comes of it. 

It is painfully clear that without a massive re-engineering effort and a painful (and complete) rewrite of this "app" - this app is not (and was never) ready for primetime.

Continued success and I will be sure to watch this space and see what happens in the next two years when my Shaw/Rogers renewal comes due.

Sonic.

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @Dioptase , thank you for the objective feedback, the one around guide is especially helpful. I will be passing these improvements on to the development team. While I cannot promise any timelines, our timeline to make improvements are much faster now that we are on the new platform. Please stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for your patience while we work on improving the service. 

[st0106]

What programs have you tried to play via the past TV guide? Fibe TV has a similar function with the same name Restart, but it merely forbids direct fast-forward on the dvr. However, it could be a negotiation-related issue, cause I notice that when Bell quietly rolled out Restart outside the dvr this year, at first non of the channel allowed pause or rewind, then it gradually changed channel by channel. Telus could be in a similar situation.

[Dioptase]

Hey thanks for your comments. In terms of programs its been a mix of news, movies, tv shows, channels like tlc.

[Paljam]

Now two months into Telus tv and absolutely hate it.

Agree 100% with the annoying start up screen. PLEASE get rid of it.

 Also, why cant the software allow you to switch tvs and pick up where you left off in a recording consistently? Why is it so hard to set series recordings of certain news shows?

Why can’t the software allow you to fast forward or even slow forward frame by frame, particularly annoying when watching certain sports?

Why not give us a 15min forward option? 30 seconds is not enough?

I have been so disappointed in this experience. I realize giving up my Shaw box, where I had total control over my recording was a HUGE mistake. 

[giantbrownguy]

I mentioned in another thread that I haven't been able to use my digital box because the PVR functions are missing. It turns out to be a mixed blessing because I've been using my Apple TV and the experience is night and day (even with my older, non-4k box). The UX is faster, there's no adds and everything works as it's supposed to. It would honestly be easier if Telus gave us an option to subscribe to the PVR/broadcast service and use our own equipment at a discount. There is no benefit to the Telus equipment at this point.

That said, it is a significant improvement over the aging dinosaur that was Microsoft Mediaroom. That system was getting close to 15 years old without any major improvements.

[Dioptase]

It appears that Telus has done a total reset on my recordings and scheduled recordings. Everything is gone. I have to go an reset series schedules and I have missed what I was going to watch tonight. Great long weekend surprise from Telus. Message directly to Telus: the unreliability in the recordings and then it can all just be erased without warning, is completely un-acceptable.

[HiddenValley]

I sympathize!

Many of us here have had this happen more than once! 
it is unbelievably frustrating when a core function like the PVR can be so unreliable!

[KHR]

Hi @Dioptase 

Did you very recently contact technical support and notice that you lost recordings, or did this happen totally on its own? We have noticed that some of our support agents have been canceling and re-providing the recording service to resolve issues during troubleshooting, but this has the unintended consequence of wiping your recordings and deleting all recording settings.

If it happened without you contacting our technical support line - I'd love to know more so that we can get to the bottom of what happened. Please send me a DM!

[Dioptase]

It was deleted on its own. No contact with tech support or anyone. Sending dm