TiVo did say it was coming. And now it has arrived… as TiVo’s iPad app has morphed into a universal app that now also supports the iPhone and iPod Touch. While I’ve enjoyed the rich and powerful iPad edition, I much prefer the smaller form factor of a smart phone to use as a virtual remote and for device management.
In addition to the new iOS platform, version 1.5 of the free TiVo app brings limited DVR management to Series 3 and TiVo HD owners along with the requisite and supported virtual remote. Also, it appears TiVo is shooting for some sort of halo effect by offering a new “guest mode” to allow non-TiVo subscribers to browse their local guide.
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Looking forward to checking this out tonight! Will see how the UI has been retrofitted for the small screen. As it is, things have seemed somewhat cramped on the iPad.
Best news of the day…so far! That and the new Pandora site redesign.
this is cool stuff from TIVO. I just recently came back to TIVO since my cable provider RCN is offering it as its standard DVR. I enjoyed the Tivo ipad app, but I think the pod/iphone app will be more convenient to use. Looking forward to this.
Better news would be an Android version
Well, we did see a minimalist TiVo Android app released for Virgin Media and TiVo did state one is on the way here in the US. So hopefully it won’t be long now?
I tried it out and it appears to work. For my S3 it basically works as a combination of the DVR Remote app (for remote control) and the tivo.com web site (for program data). There’s no Now Playing list for the app like there is for DVR Remote though.
I also ran into my first problem. My S3 vanished from the list of local TiVo boxes in the app on both my iPhone and my iPad. In addition it disappeared from the DVR Remote app and off the My Show list of my Premiere. It looks like the app killed the S3’s discovery notification. Likely a bug on the S3. This required a reboot of the S3 to fix.
Early on with the iPad app, it’d lose my Premiere in a what sounds like a similar manner. Not sure which side the error was on. Also one of the supposed work arounds at the time was to turn Bluetooth off… but it was never on.
I’d love a comparison of what features are available on the iPad app between TivoHD and Premier. I have no premier to compare it to.
Michael, sounds like the S3/THD can basically schedule recordings. Whereas the iPad app, can manage Season Passes, see Now Playing, Delete individual recordings, etc. Seems pretty limited. But at least you get that virtual remote?
Here is the official line item from TiVo’s press release:
NEW! TiVo Series3™ Support* – Now users who have TiVo Series3TM, HD and HD XL DVRs can also download the app to browse, search and schedule recordings as well as make use of the reinvention of the TiVo remote.
* TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVR users will enjoy the app’s guide, scheduling, remote control, search and explore features, but these users should anticipate a smaller set of features and capabilities than TiVo Premiere users.
Thank you. I don’t really like using touch screens as remotes because I don’t like having to look at the buttons. but I’ll try it out tonight and see. I do use the “DVR remote” app when I need to do a lot of keyboarding.
Michael, here is the TiVo page with comparison guide
http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/product-features/stay-connected/iphone/index.html?WT.ac=tivohome_iphone_details
I was surprised the iPad app for the TiVo HD doesn’t include the To Do list since it is available from TiVo.com. I wonder if the app can’t do both local network and internet at the same time.
Michael, I wouldn’t want it as my primary remote but if the Peanut is with my wife or on her nightstand, etc this is a great supplement. Also, being able to delete shows and manage Season Passes via the iPhone or iPad is pretty priceless – so much more efficient than going through the TiVo STB menus.
Brennok, thanks for the tip and the link.
TiVo must have known I switched to a Verizon iPhone last week!
Thumbs up for rock & roll.
I’ve used the iPad app on my home network and everything was fine & dandy (once TiVo fixed some bugs that made my PremXL to appear as a “non-Premier” box).
Just installed the app on my iPod Touch here at work and realized just how much TiVo has crippled functionality when not on a home network. I can’t even view my My Shows, To Do list, Season Passes and I’m pretty sure I can’t schedule anything from Guide either (Guide works but once I go into details of a program, nothing shows up – icon is spinning eternally).
Sure, I can schedule recordings and do a bunch of other stuff from TiVo’s site, but I shouldn’t have to do that when there’s an app. Lame! :(
FYI I updated the post with pics from my own iPhone/TiVo. Haven’t spent much time with it, but it doesn’t seem to have the scrub bar. However, the much more important individual show deletion option is there along with the Season Pass manager. I’ve had one or two connectivity issues and a crash thus far.
Yet another reason I wish TiVo would let me buy a Premiere with a working SDUI, but they ain’t, so I’ll keep happily sticking with ‘teh snappy’ of my TiVo HD.
However, it’s very nice to see TiVo extending the possible functionality to S3 and HD users. It’s the right thing to do, and I like thinking of TiVo as a company that does the right thing. It’s part of what makes them lovable.
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Now I have my own Chucky-esque dilemma to work through.
My TiVo is on a separate subnet than my WiFi LAN, hidden behind a Mac Mini working as a pseudo-network bridge. It works fine for the TiVo, since it can talk to the WAN. It works fine for the Mini, since it’s wired to the TiVo. And the wonderful part is that it works fine for my other OS X devices on the LAN, since I can pop into UNIX and use the “sudo route add -host” command to let them know where to talk to the TiVo.
But, of course, I can’t get to the command-line on iOS, even though it’s hidden in there somewhere. Damn game consoles. So my iOS devices can’t see the TiVo, even though everyone else on the LAN can.
Obviously, adding a router solves the problem, but I’ve got space/clutter constraints in the TV area, which is why I haven’t already added a router to use the 3rd party iOS TiVo remotes. Maybe Apple will add a true “bridge” mode to Internet Sharing in Lion and solve my problem in software, but I suspect Internet Sharing is probably a legacy feature that isn’t due for any improvements during OS X’s slow fade out.
So the app allows you to see the Listings Guide but only allows you to record from the listings. It does not give you the option to jump to that channel. Semi-Annoying…
I guess they were concerned in case of a tuner conflict you would have to switch to the remote GUI to close the alert..
I’m willing to put up with that… Let’s file it as a bug TiVo…
Can’t figure out how to stream to iphone? Can anyone help me out. Tivo wouldn’t be stupid enough not to include that.
@SouthPaw,
Naw, streaming to the iPhone isn’t supported. It wouldn’t be easy either since the recordings are MPEG-2 transport streams that the iPhone wouldn’t be able to play, and the Tivo doesn’t appear to have the resources to convert the shows on the fly, nor the rights to do it potentially. Buy a SlingBox if that’s something you want.