DirecTV Now's Revamped Interface and Cloud DVR Features to Debut This Spring

[techwarrior]

Ditto, Beta wonk here too.

It is maddening! DVR content management on ATV is horrible, can't selectively record series, skips, stutters, and restarts pretty regular. At one point they warned us of impending updates that would cause this for a weekend, but it has never gotten better. Often switch to the GA version to finish watching shows.

Skip commercials? Sometimes, but even that is not easy to do. No pressing the sides of Siri remote to skip, that just brings up a menu that defaults to go back 15 seconds. Slide over to the skip forward 15 seconds (if available) and do a series of skips to get past the repeated commercials. No rhyme or reason to availability of skip forward, same show, same channel, and sometimes yes, sometimes no.

DVR is limited, I would guess about 20 1 hour shows.

Guide is more informative, improvement here. But performance is back to the hot mess it was in the first few months of the service in 2016.

AT&T: If you are reading this, spare yourself the embarrassment and fix these and other criticisms folks are sharing before you unleash this on the masses.

 

[TheIntruder]

I have a love/hate relationship with DTVN.

On one hand, for those who were early subscribers, it still remains (for the time being) a good value.

OTOH, it can't consistently produce a good, functional app, and support it on the back end. It seems unable to build upon the progress it makes, or maintain forward momentum without repeatedly regressing in some manner.

The app's guide UI, combined with the dysfunctional ATV4 remote, is one of the worst user experiences I've encountered in decades of using technology. Basic navigation is a chore.

The latest example -- just when it recognizes that program summaries in the grid are indeed useful, and not all movies it doesn't have data for were made in 1970, it just disappears again. The data is there, if you dig down into the info screen, but it's no longer displayed in the grid, like it briefly was. Where did it go? Puzzling.

I now actually experience more back end streaming data issues now than early on, when many were having problems even getting a consistent picture. The apparent solution -- more helpful tips in the error screens, not fixing the root problem?

I recognize that the basis of DTVN is a small company that AT&T bought, and put its name and brand on. But if the plan is to eventually move all of DTV subscribers to this IP-based service, it's going to have to put the effort into bring it up to par, even with Comcast. That's a low bar.

 

[bopajuice]

Still hanging in there with the original gobig $35 promo. Weathered the crappy software but still hanging. Hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's my main source of TV. Like that they are slowly adding local channels. Let's hope it gets better.

 

[Woodstockie]

Do you use the side scroll on the Apple Remote? It is much faster to get you through the guide if you are hopping more than a few channels.

Yes, but that is also part of the frustration with the Apple remote: it is too sensitive (even when I changed it in the settings of ATV). A lot of times even when you pick the remote up you can already swipe channels. Hopefully there is a good compromise between the remote and the DTVN channels. We will just keep plugging away.

 

[sbm]

Much left to be improved before the release if AT&T is thinking spring.
I liked that you could swipe down on the regular apple tv app to get the guide. It's few clicks and some swipes to get there in beta. Scheduled recordings still may or may not actually record. No way to select only new episodes, if you choose to record a series you'll get reruns as well. And hopefully it records the show start to finish, sometimes it starts a half hour early, sometimes a half hour late.
Only 20 hours, that fills up fast, and deleting seems to not always happen. The fast forward and 15 second skip seems to have disappeared from the DVR (it was never available for me for on demand content).
Shows expire on DVR. I don't know if that's because this is beta and there's only 20 hours or if that's what AT&T wants to do. Part of the point of DVR is to save that big game where your team won to rewatch for years to come.
Some shows on DVR seem to quit halfway thru and restart from the beginning.
Live tv picture quality and reliability has improved, it was reminiscent of winter 2016 when I started with the beta.

 

[macaddiict]

Are you trying to fast forward while the show is still airing? Or is it any recording you have saved?

For all of the shows I have tried so far, fast forward is not available even if it has been days since it aired. I did find that you can fast forward on some On Demand programs — that is, when they work.

 

[upandown]

I posted this in another thread but it applies here too. I have to say I agree with you all that it was crap. But just a few days after they announced the new app would be released in the spring, which at the time sounded like a terrible idea, there was an update. The update made a huge difference! I feel like the whole app just came together. Since then changing channels is faster, the UI now makes sense and feels more natural. And it's able to stream very well through a VPN on crappy hotel wifi. I'm actually quite impressed with what they have now. The DVR still needs work however. I have one small question for the rest of you. Does the audio quality seem kind of low? It seems like they got over zealous with using a low bitrate.