# my Stream 4K is back in its box



## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

I'm going back to my FireTV Cube.

After a frustrating evening watching Amazon Prime last night, I did some soul searching.

I've spent more time with my Stream 4K tinkering in developer menus and trying to get my remote to control my soundbar. That's not fun.

I wanted something that would unify my streaming apps and give me a TiVo-familiar interface to compliment my linear viewing. This device (edit: the single TiVo Stream app on the 4k) ain't that.

I mainly use the "big" streaming services. My needs are usual. I don't have needs to sideload or subscribe to a niche app no one has heard of.

I watched all 12 episodes of "Normal People" on Hulu last week. Not once did TiVo bring me to my current episode.

I tried this weekend to watch the interactive Kimmy Schmidt episode on Netflix. TiVo Stream 4k would only display it in HD although my other devices reported 4k and other shows on Netflix on the Stream showed in 4k.

With Prime, it's much too difficult to find and "bookmark" 4k versions of shows. Using the TiVo remote to Rew and FF on Prime is just too complicated and not accurate enough at all.

Just my two cents but as a easy-to-use device that gives me access to easy-to-use and reliable streaming apps, this doesn't deliver. And the TiVo app and remote don't add enough value to act as a trade off.

I'll keep the device in a closet somewhere and pull it out if I hear things gets better.


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## rczrider (May 16, 2020)

To be fair, I think the Prime Video app kinda sucks in general.

But so does the TS4K.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

rczrider said:


> To be fair, I think the Prime Video app kinda sucks in general.
> 
> But so does the TS4K.


On Android TV, yes. On Fire TV it's very good.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

moyekj said:


> On Android TV, yes. On Fire TV it's very good.


Exactly.

I'd suspect that on Amazon's own device.

But I also found Hulu to be superior on FireTV and Netflix to be better on my Vizio TV.


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## BillyClyde (Mar 3, 2017)

I've been testing the AT&T TV box and that's actually what I think a new TiVo should've been. The entire background operation and GUI *IS* AT&T TV, which is the way the TiVo app should've been on the TS4K! The menu floats over top of it with selections for Guide, My Shows, Discovery and then the apps. As I use it, it makes me think of what I wanted in the next gen TiVo, BIG time!

The big downsides are of course price and having a contract, but I actually tested signing up for AT&T TV Now instead which is the streaming version of AT&T TV with the contract and when you sign in with those credentials it actually WORKS and even then gives you channel numbers and the operation is exactly like when using the contract based AT&T TV! You can find the boxes easily on eBay for cheap, around the same as TS4K will be. The other downside for now is no Hulu or Amazon Prime, but they're apparently promised to be coming soon, but I take that with a grain of salt.

I'm in my two week trial window and I'll most likely return them for now. Once they add Hulu and Prime I'll probably buy boxes on eBay and use AT&T TV Now on them. I loved the experience of melding traditional legacy cable/satellite type box use with channel surfing, always on live TV, GUI overlay, etc. with much more advanced app use like the Google Play Store. This is what a new modern TiVo should have been!


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

I believe that level of customization Google only allows television subscription providers to do.

That’s why Tivo can do more customization on their AndroidTV boxes that are distributed by IPTV services.


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## BillyClyde (Mar 3, 2017)

cwoody222 said:


> I believe that level of customization Google only allows television subscription providers to do.
> 
> That's why Tivo can do more customization on their AndroidTV boxes that are distributed by IPTV services.


SlingTV is a TV subscription provider.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

BillyClyde said:


> SlingTV is a TV subscription provider.


Yes, but they're not the maker or seller of the device. TiVo is. And they're not a provider.

That's why tivo can customize their IPTV boxes - because those boxes are manufactured and sold (leased) by providers.


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## BillyClyde (Mar 3, 2017)

cwoody222 said:


> Yes, but they're not the maker or seller of the device. TiVo is. And they're not a provider.
> 
> That's why tivo can customize their IPTV boxes - because those boxes are manufactured and sold (leased) by providers.


I get that, but I bet there's a way for them to do this. They just cheapened out by using just an app.

The AT&T TV is essentially just an app that opens in the background GUI. You can see it basically do that when you go from an app to home.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

Ok, you’re right.

Tivo didn’t do the better thing that they’re already doing for non-retail devices because they’re dumb and lazy.

Thanks for the insight.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

rczrider said:


> To be fair, I think the Prime Video app kinda sucks in general.
> 
> But so does the TS4K.





moyekj said:


> On Android TV, yes. On Fire TV it's very good.


The Amazon app is basically the same on most of my devices. I have a very similar experience whether using Roku, FireTV, or Android TV.

The big difference for me between the FireTV and Android TV devices is that with Android TV devices the stream will start with a UHD encode or be there within a couple of seconds. While the FireTV seems more likely to start at an HD ecode. And ramp up to the UHD encode in a few seconds.

The TiVo Stream 4K Amazon app worked just as well as my Shield TVs Amazon app.


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

aaronwt said:


> The Amazon app is basically the same on most of my devices. I have a very similar experience whether using Roku, FireTV, or Android TV.
> 
> The big difference for me between the FireTV and Android TV devices is that with Android TV devices the stream will start with a UHD encode or be there within a couple of seconds. While the FireTV seems more likely to start at an HD ecode. And ramp up to the UHD encode in a few seconds.
> 
> The TiVo Stream 4K Amazon app worked just as well as my Shield TVs Amazon app.


I had the opposite experience.

FireTV gets to UHD within seconds but TiVo Stream took while (like over a minute) and often would jump back down to HD/1080p.

I started using my Fire for all my Prime content.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> The Amazon app is basically the same on most of my devices. I have a very similar experience whether using Roku, FireTV, or Android TV.
> 
> The big difference for me between the FireTV and Android TV devices is that with Android TV devices the stream will start with a UHD encode or be there within a couple of seconds. While the FireTV seems more likely to start at an HD ecode. And ramp up to the UHD encode in a few seconds.
> 
> The TiVo Stream 4K Amazon app worked just as well as my Shield TVs Amazon app.


Android TV doesn't have 10 sec skip back/forwards using rocker buttons which I use a ton. Fire TV does. That's enough for me to pronounce it the better solution even without considering other advantages.

In fact, I'd rather subscribe to HBO and other video services through Amazon channels just to preserve that functionality and have 1 consistent and full-featured player for as many video titles as possible rather than having to use a multitude of different apps, each with different functionality and limitations.


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## BillyClyde (Mar 3, 2017)

cwoody222 said:


> Ok, you're right.
> 
> Tivo didn't do the better thing that they're already doing for non-retail devices because they're dumb and lazy.
> 
> Thanks for the insight.


I'm not sure if that was sarcastic or not, but either way I laughed my butt off!!!


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## Philosofy (Feb 21, 2000)

I just got one as a gift, and I'm not impressed. When I search for movies I've purchased on Amazon, it asks if I want to watch the trailer from YouTube or rent/buy from the Google Store. I have to tell the TS4K to open the Amazon app to see movies I've purchased. And the ff and rewind functionality is terrible, and the instant replay is nonexistent. C'mon TiVo, I've been with your for over 20 years, and your products from twenty years ago had better interfaces.


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