TiVo to Launch Apple TV App Later This Year

[MacRumors]

TiVo is planning to launch apps for Apple TV, Roku, and Fire TV later this year, reports Zatz Not Funny via The Verge. The apps will let people watch live or recorded video on multiple TVs without the need to purchase a TiVo Mini.

The TiVo Mini boxes are priced at $179.99 and are typically needed to extend TiVo DVR content to additional televisions in the home.

TiVo is a DVR service for recording live programming to watch at a later time, and it is equipped with a number of features like online recording options, playback while a show is still being recorded, scheduled recordings, and more. It also integrates with several services, including Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix.

The company recently introduced its latest product, the TiVo BOLT OTA which includes an antenna for cord cutters. The BOLT OTA costs $250 for 1TB of storage, which can hold 150 hours of HD content. TiVo charges a $6.99 monthly fee for the BOLT OTA, but the additional apps will be free with no other costs associated.

The apps are said to be coming in the second and third quarter of 2019, with TiVo to launch an app for Fire TV first, followed by Roku, and then Apple TV.

Article Link: TiVo to Launch Apple TV App Later This Year

 

[KPandian1]

How will this influence the viewing experience of the current TiVo customers - they already (like me) have the device?

And those who don't, need to be a TiVo customer in what manner to be able to use the app?

 

[McG2k1]

This is good news. As a TiVo owner with a single mini attached I’m glad to see some more options arriving. I’d love to see an LG app too!

 

[AzzUrr1]

The Apple TV starts singing: „I‘m still alive“

 

[deeddawg]

How will this influence the viewing experience of the current TiVo customers - they already (like me) have the device?

Sounds like it will allow you view content from your Tivo on other TVs in your home using an AppleTV or Roku device instead of having to buy a Tivo Mini device. Maybe even a tuner stream.


That said, I wonder if Tivo is coming in a little bit too little too late. I've been a Tivo user for many many years, but dropped cable tv service a few months ago. Since the OTA content here even in the ATL suburbs is subpar relative to something like DirecTVNow, it's been a long while since I've switched to the tivo input on my TV.

Plus with DTVN I can leverage one subscription both at home and at a vacation place. Not really able to do that with Tivo to date, and likely not even with their ATV/Roku app.

So yeah, this is probably great news for folks with tivos and who still have cable tv -- or folks with cable considering a Tivo since they won't have to buy a bunch of minis if they have roku / atv devices already on those tvs.

Still, I wouldn't be betting on cabletv as the future.

 

[coachgq]

I thought they already had a fire tv app?

 

[TriBruin]

How will this influence the viewing experience of the current TiVo customers - they already (like me) have the device?

And those who don't, need to be a TiVo customer in what manner to be able to use the app?

Sounds like this is going act as a TiVo mini. You will be able view recordings and even Live TV on a different TV. This saves the cost of a second device (TiVo mini). In fact, with a six tuner primary TiVo, many families could probably remove a 2nd TiVo or standard cable box and have only one cable connected box.

 

[adr1974]

Sounds like this is going act as a TiVo mini. You will be able view recordings and even Live TV on a different TV. This saves the cost of a second device (TiVo mini). In fact, with a six tuner primary TiVo, many families could probably remove a 2nd TiVo or standard cable box and have only one cable connected box.

Sounds great...just wonder how the experience will be with the atv remote.

 

[BC2009]

So little so late for TiVo. Even with their announcement of finally doing this so I don’t have to switch inputs to access my TiVo content, they still won’t have it until late 2019 for Apple TV. Lame. No idea what took so long to announce. Let’s hope their development schedule does not slip.

The nice thing about this will be being able to use my AirPods to watch TiVo content while my wife is asleep in bed.

 

[macpro2000]

Still slower and reduced user experience than a Mini. The remotes don’t compare. I’ll still use my 7 minis.

 

[Nermal]

The Apple TV starts singing: „I‘m still alive“

As does TiVo. I had no idea that it was still around!

 

[Westside guy]

In general this is good news, but practically speaking - not sure how much, at least for us.

We’ve been with TiVo for almost 20 years, but we hardly ever watch anything on the Bolt anymore. Generally we’re using our third-gen AppleTV if we “watch TV” - it’s just easier and better than the Bolt for streaming media, which includes all the rips I’ve made of the DVDs and Blu-Rays we’ve purchased, Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO, etc.

TiVo was great for it’s time, and for years I loved them to death... but technology has largely passed them by.

 

[napabar]

Still slower and reduced user experience than a Mini. The remotes don’t compare. I’ll still use my 7 minis.

The Mini's are junk because you can't use them with WiFi. Hello Tivo, it's 2019. Thank God fro this Apple TV app!
[doublepost=1547208919][/doublepost]

In general this is good news, but practically speaking - not sure how much, at least for us.

We’ve been with TiVo for almost 20 years, but we hardly ever watch anything on the Bolt anymore. Generally we’re using our third-gen AppleTV if we “watch TV” - it’s just easier and better than the Bolt for streaming media, which includes all the rips I’ve made of the DVDs and Blu-Rays we’ve purchased, Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO, etc.

TiVo was great for it’s time, and for years I loved them to death... but technology has largely passed them by.

Not really. We just got our 3 years ago, and use it daily.

 

[HailstormX]

Lol shocked they aren’t trying to charge a monthly fee or in app purchase for this app.

 

[craigrusse11]

Yup, Apple TV is a dead product moving forward. It’ll never be upgraded from here on.

 

[erinsarah]

In general this is good news, but practically speaking - not sure how much, at least for us.

We’ve been with TiVo for almost 20 years, but we hardly ever watch anything on the Bolt anymore. Generally we’re using our third-gen AppleTV if we “watch TV” - it’s just easier and better than the Bolt for streaming media, which includes all the rips I’ve made of the DVDs and Blu-Rays we’ve purchased, Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO, etc.

TiVo was great for it’s time, and for years I loved them to death... but technology has largely passed them by.

This is actually GREAT news for my household. Been Tivo liftetime members since a year after Tivo was created. We have two TVs (Great room + Master bedroom), one with a Bolt and one with a Mini. Both have ATVs. We do most of our viewing via ATV apps, but switch inputs to Tivo to watch network stuff (via rooftop antenna). I look forward to not having to switch inputs so much anymore. Plus our TV has an HDMI handshake issue, and every time we switch inputs we have to turn the TV off and on again to get it to work right.

I'm hoping ATV Siri works with this, such as "Watch Big Bang theory on Tivo". That would skip the issue of remote control lag.
[doublepost=1547217114][/doublepost]

Yup, Apple TV is a dead product moving forward. It’ll never be upgraded from here on.

Not sure I see your reasoning here. It's a pretty robust device now, and it seems like they are still investing in it and working with other companies (such as Tivo) to make it more adaptable. And with Apple's pending streaming TV business still being formulated, I would think it's still a crucial part of the business.

For us it's really starting to become a central hub for the house. Connectivity to the stereo for all things Airplay, streaming stuff from devices, Apple Home, and soon Tivo Central...I still see plenty of growth with it.

 

[LoadStar]

The Mini's are junk because you can't use them with WiFi. Hello Tivo, it's 2019.

You could use them on Wi-Fi, but it would require a wired-to-wireless Wi-Fi bridge instead of just an ordinary USB wireless adapter. However, at CES, TiVo also introduced a Wi-Fi adapter for the TiVo Mini:
https://zatznotfunny.com/2019-01/tivo-mino-wireless-adapter-slated-for-midyear-release-60/

 

[trainwrecka]

Yup, Apple TV is a dead product moving forward. It’ll never be upgraded from here on.

I'm sorry... what? I've used the Apple TV for more than a decade. I keep seeing people buy them. Dead? I doubt it.

 

[erinsarah]

The Mini's are junk because you can't use them with WiFi. Hello Tivo, it's 2019.

Ever try using the TiVo app on the iPad? Hitting the 30-second skip is a painful experience, because there's a lag of 2+ seconds, depending on Wifi speed. God forbit you hit the skip button 4 times at once in hopes of skipping all the commercials. You'll be watching it spin for ten seconds or more. The advantage of the mini being wired is providing a more tivo-ish experience. Now, that being said, one would think Tivo could come up with buffering technology that would avoid this problem, but hey...it's only 2019.

 

[lederermc]

A Tivo device without a subscription is just a brick. No thanks.

 

[ChromeAce]

This article could just as easily be interpreted as claiming TiVo will be launching an app for  TV that RUNS ON THE TIVO but this is never clarified.

 

[britboyj]

Hilarious that this article has to explain what TiVO is.

 

[nsayer]

Honestly, this news turned us around on TiVo. We have a couple of Premieres and they were likely going to be our last TiVos, as we are pretty much an Apple TV household (the idea of spending a big bag of money on a TiVo Mini was a non-starter). If we're going to have a DVR, we want a whole-house solution and use the Apple TVs as the interface. We recently cut the cord and have an antenna an HDHomeRun tuner for local channels. It's been a project of mine to figure out how to add DVR functionality (currently we can stream live antenna TV to the Apple TV), but if TiVo releases an Apple TV app (that isn't *****), then we might try the Bolt instead.
[doublepost=1547241155][/doublepost]

Lol shocked they aren’t trying to charge a monthly fee or in app purchase for this app.

Never say never. I wouldn't put it past them. Or charging an outrageous price for the app.

 

[jwdsail]

How will this influence the viewing experience of the current TiVo customers - they already (like me) have the device?

And those who don't, need to be a TiVo customer in what manner to be able to use the app?

Looks like it will allow you view content from your Tivo on TVs in your home using an AppleTV instead of having to buy a Tivo Mini.

This could get my parents to replace their TabloTV, which replaced a CableCard Tivo when they cut the cord, with an OTA Tivo?

When I was looking for options that would work for their home, the OTA Tivo would have required either a long run of coax to the Tivo where the TV now is, or having the OTA Tivo where I set up the TabloTV, and adding at least one Tivo Mini box.. At the time, the TabloTV seemed like the better option. Allowed me to set up the TabloTV with a very short coax run to the antenna to minimize signal loss with an already marginal signal and keep them on the AppleTV full time, rather than switching back and forth between the AppleTV and Tivo to watch TV. (Vue, Netflix, iTunes on AppleTV, OTA stations on Tivo)

Still, if there ever is an option to migrate their old Tivo Lifetime service to a new OTA Tivo, I just may get one to try this out. Wish this had been an option 6 months ago.

 

[KPandian1]

As does TiVo. I had no idea that it was still around!

Not in the USA, I see.

Don't you know that the world revolves around this country?

5+ year user here - cheaper than cable TV for OTA if you don't watch other services much. Now, with the Apps, it is better.

Nothing beats the "Skip" feature - no cloud "DVR" works as well as this service. Five minutes after the show is over, Skip works - so the concept of time-shift with zero commercials works great for OTA.

Ditched CableTV, so I don't know how well the basic cable channels execute this feature.

TiVo Bolt, PlayStation (for Blu-ray) and ATV4K.

Their latest (Bolt) remote sucks - dark black, no lighting, tough to locate the remote or the buttons.

Hope TiVo doesn't disappear.