Mere days after Mari dinged Verizon’s lagging app experience, FiOS Mobile has been updated on iOS and Android platforms. Joining existing live cable network availability (77 channels and a smattering of free on demand), Verizon has worked deals with many local affiliates (NBC!) and flipped the switch on out-of-home streaming. Remote viewing is somewhat limited in selection at the moment, consisting of just 9 channels including HGTV and Food Network. But I much prefer the operator app hub approach versus tracking down apps for each channel that can be authenticated… and hope to see this expand to include ESPN, CNN, Cartoon Network, and the like. Beyond the content updates, my largely unused Kindle Fire HD will find new life as the “kitchen TV” given its brand-spanking new FiOS Mobile app. Sadly, the app doesn’t take advantage of the Kindle’s stellar stereo speakers the way say Netflix does – perhaps audio volume and quality will improve with a future update? While the FiOS app remains somewhat crashy on both my wife’s iPhone and my Galaxy Note 2, these updates and bundled service lessen my interest in the currently Android-incompatible TiVo Stream and Roamio. But I still pine for a FiOS TV Roku app… doubly so given my impulsive Groupon purchase.
If only the app worked Dave. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing twice, with the same results – it says I’m not connected to WiFi and shuts down, bringing me to a screen that says if I won’t accept its TOS, then I can’t use the app.
Looking at comments in the iTunes store, it seems this problem is pretty pervasive. They’ve had this problem with apps before – does not one do QA over there?
I have it working on all three devices mentioned in the article, although crashy on two as mentioned. What are you trying to run it on? Also, they now let you submit crash reports – which hopefully helps us collectively get to a better place…
So more apps that simulate me watching TV like I did forty years ago? No FF/Rew/pause etc.
I don’t like watching TV like I did in the 20th century.
So more apps that simulate watching TV like I did forty years ago? No FF/Rew/pause etc.
I don’t like watching TV like I did in the 20th century.
To be fair though, I did just spend the last ten minutes using the app on my 2nd gen Nexus 7, a 7″ Fire HD and the 8.9″ FIreHD. On all the tablets the app was very responsive and video started playing right away. And I guess if you use a FiOS DVR it does have the capability to start a recording on it. But of course no way to pause, rew, or FF on the tablet itself which is what would be most important to me if I were to use it. Otherwise I can just use my SlingBox 350 to stream to my tablets and phone. And stream any channel available to me on FiOS.
EDIT: I just tried it on my 4.3″ Rezound cell phone too. It seems to work just as well as it did with the tablets, but if I am connected to the cellular network it gives me a more limited number of stations to watch. And says I need to connect to my local WiFi to get access to more channels. And when I did enable WiFi those other channel options popped up.