TV user interface shortcomings

[WesJD]

Having just installed a Telus TV box, I'm startled at how bad the user interface is. Some of these concerns have been raised by others already, but here's my list of issues:

- I can't change the startup screen to take me directly to live TV; I'm faced with ads for shows I'm not interested in.

- I can't turn off the list of apps at the bottom of the Home screen, even if I'm not subscribed to them.

- I can't display more than 5 rows of the guide at once.

- There is no "page down" to step through the guide vertically, or a "next day" to jump ahead horizontally.

- When setting a recording, there is no option to record only new shows.

- When doing a search, there is no option to show only TV results; I get Netflix results even though I'm not subscribed and don't want to see Netflix listings.

- A search I tried yesterday failed to produce any TV results (although it gave some Netflix options), but then later in the evening I found the show I wanted in the guide.

- I can not keep a recording longer than 45 days.

- I can't filter the guide to display only shows in English.

- Recordings of reruns are displayed in the order of the date the rerun aired, not in the order they originally aired. The result is a list of recordings with no apparent order at all.

Telus, you have a golden opportunity right now to get some market share with Shaw's sale to Rogers, but based on my experience you're blowing it big time. 

[A-B]

Hey, thanks for this feedback. We're definitely aware and working on a number of things with the new platform. I'm not sure if this is anything that you're not aware of, @Optik-Kate but there is some solid feedback here.

[HiddenValley]

Excellent summary! I agree with everything you highlight and more! 
I would also add the lack of clear documentation for the remote functions. For example, a long press of the rec button brings up your saved show / PVR library! A long press of the back button restores the live TV!  There are others I don't remember... 

[Optik-Kate]

Hi @HiddenValley, we created the following post in hopes of bridging some of the information gaps around navigation. https://forum.telus.com/t5/Optik-TV/Optik-TV-Bulletin-Board-Discover-Discuss-and-Develop/td-p/136951

[Optik-Kate · Accepted solution]

Hi @WesJD , thank you for the detailed summary. I'm seeing a lot of feedback in neighbourhood and I am working on summarizing the requests to pass it on to our development team. In the meantime, hoping the following tips and tricks may be of help. 

1. To dismiss the home screen, long press the back button to get back into Live TV

2. There's no option to remove the app row, but you can customize the row by long pressing the "ok" button on a specific tile, and you can unfavourite or move the app tile

3. For the guide, not much we can do about adding more rows before the fold. For accessibility reasons, we want to keep the fonts legible. Maybe we can add a customization option in the future, but that's going to be pretty low priority compared to some other items 

Use the "CH bottom" arrow to go a page down vertically on the guide. To move the guide horizontally to next day, press the "options" button and there is the option to "jump to date". You can also filter your guide channel list using the "options" button to show subscribed channels or your favourite channels

4. We're working on ironing out the recording bugs

5. That's fair, I don't have much workaround for that one other than the TTV+ option is at least always presented first

6. Curious to know what show you are searching for so we can look into it

7. The 45 day duration with unlimited storage is a big change for sure, we are working towards extending the duration

8. Does your guide show French channels? 

9. Thanks for this feedback! 

@HiddenValley We do have navigation support articles available that mentions these, but it appears users are having a hard time finding them. I am working on a new documentation for this forum and hopefully that will clear up navigation confusions. Please stay tuned! 

[WesJD]

@Optik-Kate Thank you very much for your detailed response. A couple of followup comments:

#1 - Yes, I realize it's not that difficult to exit to live TV, it's just a recurring annoyance.

#3 - I agree about the font size. What I would prefer is a full-screen guide instead of only the bottom half of the screen.

Re "Ch bottom" button - I didn't see that on the remote (I've already returned it), and your tech support didn't mention it when I complained about the lack of a page down option.

#6 - I was searching for "Last Man Standing".

#8 - Yes, it was showing French channels. That might have been before I set it to filter to only channels I'm subscribed to, I don't remember.

Thank you again! This is more responsiveness than I'm used to from a telecom company. I may come back once these issues are dealt with.

[Optik-Kate]

Np! We definitely acknowledge that there are features that can be improved. I appreciate the candid feedback! 

For #3, interestingly enough, it's a half screen because users wanted extra details of the shows, such as season and episode. So it's hard to balance of wanting to keep the guide large while including all those details!

Sorry you couldn't stay with us this time, hope to catch you next time!