9 thoughts on “Sling ups the app ante: Android and iOS updates add Roku support, Windows 8 app on deck”
it says that in order to use the sling app on roku, you have to have an iphone or android phone. That blows. I have both, but it still blows. Now i have to fumble multiple devices in order to use a slingbox. i just might as well change inputs on my tv and continue to use the boxee box.
Dave, did you notice in the cnet video the youtube channel on the roku? i wonder if thats the old, grandfathered channel.
I assume it’s easier technically and there are some benefits to using the more capable, more flexible smartphone or tablet as a remote compared to Boxee’s, WDTV’s, etc. However, Sling indicates they could deliver a more traditional app. May depend on feedback such as this.
Will look again at that video, thanks. I’m betting it’s the older unofficial YouTube app some of us still have…
Given how terrible the Sling App’s interface is on the NeoTV device I have at home is, I think that its a plus that you control the Roku app via phone/tablet.
Guess I’ll update my phone app later today. Still annoys me that the iOS app isn’t universal.
In any case, I think I’ve decide that my favorite media “streamer” is my 25 foot HDMI cable I bought to hook my laptop up to my TV :).
Now that TiVo has inserted themselves as a clear competitor to Sling, hopefully this lights a fire their development efforts and we get good Android and Windows 8.1/Phone 8 apps.
This Roku Sling app is TERRIBLE.
I load the app on the Roku then start the Slingplayer on my phone. Click the button with the arrow in it and select the Roku. Then it says its now playing on the Roku but it dosent… and the sound comes out the phone… never plays on the TV.
After a few minutes the Slingplayer app on the phone crashes and the Slingplayer app exits taking me back to my Channel List on the Roku.
I removed this one off my Roku.
Thanks for the update, Scott. I had early access to the iPad app but not to the Roku portion, which is why we abstained from coverage. I’m planning on checking it out. It’s designed to work in a DIAL/Chromecast-esque fashion that once the app/Roku connection is established, audio/video is streamed from Slingbox-to-Roku and the mobile app is only the controller.
Speaking of DIAL, Chromecast-esque interaction… I beamed some YouTube videos from my Android to my bedroom TiVo Mini last night. Very cool. And now I know how to lather up a badger brush. ;)
The quality is quite poor on the Roku, at least on the older HD-Pro model. That could be because the HD-Pro only outputs 720p or it could be the limited bitrate to the iOS apps blown up to 40 inches. Whatever it is, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Is it time to upgrade from the Roku HD-XR?
3 Channels that I am interested in are not available on that generation. ESPN3, Spotify, and now Slingplayer.
Currenlty, I use Pandora, Amazon Prime Streaming, Netflix, and MLB.tv (in season).
Or will those channel be coming soon to chromecast as well (I own 2 of those).
it says that in order to use the sling app on roku, you have to have an iphone or android phone. That blows. I have both, but it still blows. Now i have to fumble multiple devices in order to use a slingbox. i just might as well change inputs on my tv and continue to use the boxee box.
yep, you need a phone in order to do anything with sling on a roku:
http://www.slingbox.com/get/pr-slingplayer-updates-nov-2013.html
Dave, did you notice in the cnet video the youtube channel on the roku? i wonder if thats the old, grandfathered channel.
I assume it’s easier technically and there are some benefits to using the more capable, more flexible smartphone or tablet as a remote compared to Boxee’s, WDTV’s, etc. However, Sling indicates they could deliver a more traditional app. May depend on feedback such as this.
Will look again at that video, thanks. I’m betting it’s the older unofficial YouTube app some of us still have…
Given how terrible the Sling App’s interface is on the NeoTV device I have at home is, I think that its a plus that you control the Roku app via phone/tablet.
Guess I’ll update my phone app later today. Still annoys me that the iOS app isn’t universal.
In any case, I think I’ve decide that my favorite media “streamer” is my 25 foot HDMI cable I bought to hook my laptop up to my TV :).
Now that TiVo has inserted themselves as a clear competitor to Sling, hopefully this lights a fire their development efforts and we get good Android and Windows 8.1/Phone 8 apps.
This Roku Sling app is TERRIBLE.
I load the app on the Roku then start the Slingplayer on my phone. Click the button with the arrow in it and select the Roku. Then it says its now playing on the Roku but it dosent… and the sound comes out the phone… never plays on the TV.
After a few minutes the Slingplayer app on the phone crashes and the Slingplayer app exits taking me back to my Channel List on the Roku.
I removed this one off my Roku.
Thanks for the update, Scott. I had early access to the iPad app but not to the Roku portion, which is why we abstained from coverage. I’m planning on checking it out. It’s designed to work in a DIAL/Chromecast-esque fashion that once the app/Roku connection is established, audio/video is streamed from Slingbox-to-Roku and the mobile app is only the controller.
Speaking of DIAL, Chromecast-esque interaction… I beamed some YouTube videos from my Android to my bedroom TiVo Mini last night. Very cool. And now I know how to lather up a badger brush. ;)
The quality is quite poor on the Roku, at least on the older HD-Pro model. That could be because the HD-Pro only outputs 720p or it could be the limited bitrate to the iOS apps blown up to 40 inches. Whatever it is, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Is it time to upgrade from the Roku HD-XR?
3 Channels that I am interested in are not available on that generation. ESPN3, Spotify, and now Slingplayer.
Currenlty, I use Pandora, Amazon Prime Streaming, Netflix, and MLB.tv (in season).
Or will those channel be coming soon to chromecast as well (I own 2 of those).