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. 

Q4 2024: (note: had to remove previous updates due to character limits on post)

• Zoetrope Previews: See exactly where you're skipping on Live TV, recordings, and On-Demand. Enjoy fullscreen previews when fast-forwarding or rewinding, so you never lose your place. (Thumbnail preview coming soon)
• Fast Forward and Rewind Speeds: Control your scrolling speed with ease:
  • 1x: Scroll at 2x speed.
  • 2x: Scroll at 8x speed.
  • 3x: Scroll at 24x speed.
• Picture Quality Improvements: Most non-sports channels now stream in 1080p (high-definition) for sharper images, with a backup at 720p. Sports channels now uses 720p at 60 frames per second (fps) to keep fast-moving content smooth and prevent display issues—further picture quality improvements to come.
• Recovery After Internet Outage: Your digital box will now automatically resume live TV content as soon as the internet connection is restored.
• Improved Guide on Apple TV: Navigate your TV Guide effortlessly with enhanced performance and no freezing issues.
• Automatic Playback for Recordings: Binge-watch your recorded content with ease as the next recording in your playlist automatically starts playing—no need to press a button!
• Enhanced Restart and Lookback Logic: Enjoy seamless transitions between Restart and Lookback programs for uninterrupted viewing.

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!

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.

[BD17]

Any update on this? It's December and the picture quality is still really bad.

[Optikal_Speak]

Unbelievable!

Telus is like the 20-something who thinks they no it all.

I got new digital Android TV- ( minus an intentional typo) boxes in August'24.

An upgrade (?) from the legacy hard drive PVRs. Gotta say the picture quality is far superior...all on 10-12:yr old, non-4K LG/Samsung smart TVs and a Panasonic projector.

That said...I share a ton of the deficiencies and headaches noted by all in the "Neighborhood" yet none related to picture quality.

Conclusion: even more evidence Telus is way behind the curve in A/V  TV/Streaming development.

Suggestion: Telus "FIRE/TERMINATE" your CDO (Chief Development Officer) yes...spelling it out for Telus' benefit.

Crazy Town...people!

[Optikal_Speak]

Actually strike "Unbelievable" for "Par for the course"!

[Optikal_Speak]

Btw... I'm on copper. Been promised fiber for for 4 yrs. Sounds like I should leave fiber out of my diet for the foreseeable future 😉

[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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