TELUS TV Feature Updates - Ongoing

[Optik-Kate]

Dear Neighbours, 

We’re experimenting with different formats to assure you we’re listening and working on improvements to the TELUS TV platforms. We have frequent releases designed to tackle the platform's immediate and long-term stability, and we’ll do our best to keep this thread up to date with each new release to celebrate our wins together.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list; minor customer-facing fixes and non-customer-facing backend work are not included. 

Q3 2024:

• Bulk Delete for Recordings: You can now delete multiple recorded episodes simultaneously, making managing your recordings easier.
• Episode List Access: When playing a recorded episode, you can see a list of all other episodes from the same series directly in the player.
• Binge-Watching Made Easy: Enjoy seamless binge-watching of recorded episodes, as they now play sequentially without any interruptions.
• Order Cloud PVR Directly: You can now order Cloud PVR service directly from your set-top box for added convenience.
• Start from the Beginning: Easily start recordings and VOD (Video on Demand) content from the beginning, even if you joined late!

Q2 2024:

• Recording improvements: 
• Eliminated the skipping of the first episode when scheduling recording series
• Reduction of removed recordings due to metadata inconsistencies
• Series schedule will remain in the recording manager after a season ends
• Launch of Free Ad-Supported Streaming Channels so you can watch them anytime, anywhere, without a subscription
• Apple TV interface redesign for better navigation
• Custom date/time picker on Android mobile guide
• Remove content from the resume lane by press & hold (long press) on items in the lane

Q1 2024:

• Recording improvements: Series recording on news-related programs
• Guide filter selection such as “my favourite channel” remains after turning the TV off and on
• Search results are now expanded to include third-party streaming apps availability in the program detail page
• Optimized search functionality via content type and cast member names
• Default focus on home - requiring only one click of the “back” button to return to the last watched stream
• User experience and design improvement on Apple TV and iOS

Q4 2023:

• Additional 4K channels on the TELUS TV Digital Box and Android TV devices 
• New and Live tags in the TV Guide
• Increased Cloud Recording duration to 90 days
• Pay Per View events are now available for purchase
• Recording improvements 
• Unviewable recordings can now be deleted
• The recordings manager now shows the newest recordings first
• Bug fixes related to recordings going missing
• Bug fixes for sports recording auto-extension 
• Surround Sound is now available
• Dismissing the “next episode” prompt is now working correctly

Q3 2023

• Chromecast - cast from TELUS TV+ mobile app to Chromecast-enabled receivers
• Game Zone - a dedicated zone on the Telus TV Digital Box with over 180 free and simple-to-play games using your mobile device as the controller 
• Resume from your Apps row on the home screen to resume shows from Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video and more

Q2 2023 

• Playback Performance Toggle - A new option in the Settings menu aimed at improving video playback on older Android devices (mobile/tablet).
• Pause Live TV for up to 15 minutes on the TELUS TV Digital Box and TELUS TV+ app
• Restart a show from the beginning that aired up to 30 hours in the past

• Profile improvements
• Recordings only show in individual profiles
• ‘Recommended for you’ personalized by profile
• ‘Favourite channels’ and ‘Favourite movies & series’ by profile
• Live Sports recordings are automatically extended; 90 minutes for tennis & 60 minutes for all other sports

Regards,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood TV Product Development Team.

[Montell]

My telus tv box is also showing no update so far.

So are you developing the android tv app in tandem with the official telus box? Can I expect my shield tv telus tv app to also be updated? Last update was November 21st which was getting a bit lengthy after 3 months....

I am pretty happy with the android tv app on my shield, obviously some bugs with recordings need to be sorted out, and in general I think everyone would like to see a bump in picture quality so it looks like the old optik tv system when I had fibre with the old system it was very impressive picture. I think thats probably the number 1 wish everyone has.

I dont use the telus tv box and convinced my friend to switch from shaw for this reason this week. He also uses sony android tv telus app. He was done with additional telecom boxes and remotes being required. So I really hope the android tv app will also receive this update soon.

The only other big glaring feature for me personally missing from the android tv telus app is ppv purchases. I still have the cheap telus tv android box for this reason only.

[KHR]

Yes, there is an update to Android TV as well.

Google and Apple have different policies and best practice guidelines on app update rollouts. For example, as soon as a new app is published to the Apple App Store, it can be manually updated by anyone. If you have automatic updates turned on, you will get the app pushed to your device according to a set rollout schedule over a few days to a week. For Android, you have to wait your turn; you can't manually update until the end of the rollout schedule for automatic updates.    

[Kwallz]

Ok, so what does that mean for my situation ?
The Telus box says it's up to date and I can't manually update it. It's still got the old number.

@KHR
Side note, Do you happen to know if I am able to return these new Telus tv app box things and get the old better previous system ?

[KHR]

Hi @Kwallz it likely means that you're in the queue for an update per Google's schedule and should get it shortly. If you don't have it by Monday, try rebooting your system (sometimes that can help), and failing that, check back in here and someone can look into for you.

I don't know the exact process, or even if it's possible to revert to legacy equipment and plans etc. but you'd need to get in touch with our loyalty team. They would probably need to cancel your existing services and send a technician to install things (which may come with a bill). A couple of things worth noting: 1. some features (cloud recordings, access to Disney+ and Apple TV+ etc.) are not available on the legacy system and 2. the plan is to eventually move folks over from the legacy system as that hardware is reaching obsolescence. 

[Rocky3]

I started this thread on "Auto update apps" 

I was told a while ago how to manually update. That seems to be awol now so if you do not get the push update how do you do a manual update.

[Kwallz]

Hi, are there any plans to update the recording options ?
I want to record canucks games, but if i setup a series recording it records every NHL game that comes on so I constantly have to deleted so many recordings
I would like to be able to setup series recording for Canucks only like I used to on my old system.

Also when would this 90 day recoding expire setting go away ?
I want to save certain shows or recordings, I don't want them to delete . . . Please remove this automatic 90 day expire.

[Rocky3]

You can record locally in real time while watching/playing a show whether live or from cloud recording using a HDMI splitter. While the cloud recording is a file just like the previous PVR I have not found a way to just copy the file.

[KHR]

We are looking at a number of improvements to recordings, including more start/end time modifications (either manual or automatic), sports team recordings and a longer storage duration. As usual, we can't promise any timeline on these items, since development times can vary and anything that requires multiple parties to participate gets complicated. TELUS uses a 3rd party service for guide data, and having sports team recordings requires codevelopment.

I will say that is extremely unlikely that TELUS will ever have unlimited forever storage on the cloud PVR service...not only would server space become ridiculous pretty quick but there are copyright law implications that didn't exist with a hard-drive solution. That said, we are evaluating options for download and/or 'keep for longer'. 

[Kwallz]

Thanks for the info and great to hear there is process being made !
It's be a learning process and a little frustrating coming from Shaw where all these things were already in place. . . . seemed so strange to me to get this brand new system that's so far behind the old systems and their features / options.

[Craigvee]

Good day.  I do not see updates being worked on to fix the always HDR resolution issues.

I just "upgraded" to the Android box from the Arris 4k box and the picture quality on all non 4K is absolutely abysmal.  It looks like what SD used to look like on the HD box.  I am currently forced to use the old Arris box simultaneously with the Android box.

I also noticed that the sound quality is not as good as the Arris box.  I use Dolby DD+ with a receiver, however it sounds worse when comparing side by side.

The always HDR issue/HD upscaling is a HUGE problem and I do not understand how Telus could roll out these boxes to their customers in their current iteration.

Can you please advise whether this problem is being addressed?

[broadcastguy]

It’s definitely not an upgrade. The new platform is terrible.

[Kwallz]

I think everyone agrees to this statement

[KHR]

Hi @Craigvee 

The HDR to SDR switching requires a firmware update from Android TV 10 to Android TV 12. It is in late-stage testing, but a timeline for release hasn't been established yet. 

[Craigvee]

Thank you. Looking forward to it.

[bimmerdriver]

We've been with Telus for many years, starting long before Optik was introduced. We switched to Optik almost 15 years ago and I don't want to think about how many Telus boxes we've been through that ended up in the landfill. We finally got fibre just over a year ago and went through months of unreliability of the NAH, WiFi Booster and PVR/STB equipment. Now that it's finally been stable for a while, Telus is rolling out another half-baked solution. Based on the comments, I'm going to hold off as long as possible. Hopefully by the time Telus forces us to switch, it will finally work.

[viperdiablo1]

I wonder how long Telus will let people stay with the older more reliable boxes after reading this on Telus website :

https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/upgrading-your-optik-tv-hardware-to-telus-tv

[Rocky3]

@viperdiablo1 

Good find. Those with the old optik take notice.

"Later in 2024, TELUS will no longer be supporting a selection of older Optik TV HD PVR and Digital Boxes"

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@viperdiablo1 wrote:

I wonder how long Telus will let people stay with the older more reliable boxes after reading this on Telus website :

https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/upgrading-your-optik-tv-hardware-to-telus-tv

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[broadcastguy]

That’s cool. I’ll cancel my Optik
/TELUS TV service if that’s the case. They aren’t listening to customer complaints, and have gone all-in on an inferior product—I’m out.

[KHR]

Hi @viperdiablo1 @broadcastguy @Rocky3 @KTown 

That was a support article created specifically for folks using Optik HD equipment AND the Netflix application with legacy internet equipment. Netflix removed support for their app on legacy HD Optik equipment, and these customers would have been left with no way to watch Netflix on TELUS equipment. This is the reality of technology and working with partners...the partners can withdraw support from a given operating system at any time. Prime Video was never supported on HD equipment and Netflix removed their support. At a certain point, all equipment will have to be retired, but rest assured that you will be notified to the best of TELUS's ability, and not simply by an article posted to our website. I always recommend having your correct email address and phone number on file (you'd be surprised...).

For what it's worth, TELUS currently has 3 generations of Optik TV equipment: Optik HD PVRs/Digital Boxes (there are a few iterations of these, but the newest is from ~13 years ago), Optik 4K PVRs/Wireless Digital Boxes from 2015/2016 and the newest TELUS TV Digital Box with Cloud Recording for Optik TV introduced in 2023. It is specifically the HD equipment that we will be phasing out over the coming years. The 4K hard-drive PVR will continue to be supported for a little while longer. If you're on HD equipment and prefer that user interface and functionality, I'd recommend upgrading to 4K equipment by connecting to our customer service folks.

[broadcastguy]

It’s pretty sad that the technology from 2015 is superior to what was released last year. I honestly thought they’d release a product with higher quality, and less compressed, video for fibre customers. I’ve got 3G symmetrical fibre and the new TELUS TV uses less bandwidth than ever. Crazy, and not what I’d consider innovation.

[viperdiablo]

I appreciate the reply. Why would the faq have this posted on that article referring to the 4k pvr box as well as the others you mentioned? Maybe that needs to be updated?

“Frequently asked questions
My equipment is working fine. Why do I need to upgrade?
Starting in 2024, TELUS will no longer be supporting Optik TV on your HD and 4K PVRs or Digital Boxes. To ensure that you can continue to enjoy Optik TV, you need to opt in to upgrading your equipment. “