# Released: TiVo Commander



## arantius

For the past two months, after participating in the Discovering the iPad interface thread for a while, I've been working on an Android port of the TiVo iOS app.

I've just released it! You can find it on the Android Market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.arantius.tivocommander

Source is on GitHub:
https://github.com/arantius/TiVo-Commander

Constructive feedback is welcomed.


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## innocentfreak

Cool I will give it a try later tonight.

Just sent a crash report in. It still seems to be working, but it generated some form of a crash on my Droid Charge.


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## arantius

innocentfreak said:


> Just sent a crash report in. It still seems to be working, but it generated some form of a crash on my Droid Charge.


Did you try to set up a season pass and say to keep "all shows"? I didn't try that before, seems to fail in the same way.


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## innocentfreak

Yeah. I wasn't sure if it was that.


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## mr.unnatural

Does this work with any Tivo model other than the Premiere?


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## arantius

mr.unnatural said:


> Does this work with any Tivo model other than the Premiere?


No. The Premiere added the interface that this relies upon.


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## randyb359

The remote and search work for me but "my shows" usually does not(it has worked only one time). Any ideas how to get this to work?


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## arantius

Not without more information. For now all I can suggest is to get a bugreport (a specific term in Android) and send it to me (my email is visible in Market). An easy way to do that is this app:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bh.android.bugreporte
(Yes, it takes quite a while.)

Preferably, get it to work and fail once just before doing so.


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## jcthorne

I cannot get it to connect to my tivo. I am on a wifi connection on my home network, and I input the ip address of the tivo. Tried using the IP address in the browser and it connects to the tivo fine so its on the right network. Tivo commander just reports "Could not connect, check host and port settings" I left the default port setting of 1413.

Suggestions on what I am doing wrong?


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## moyekj

jcthorne said:


> I cannot get it to connect to my tivo. I am on a wifi connection on my home network, and I input the ip address of the tivo. Tried using the IP address in the browser and it connects to the tivo fine so its on the right network. Tivo commander just reports "Could not connect, check host and port settings" I left the default port setting of 1413.
> 
> Suggestions on what I am doing wrong?


 Make sure you have network-based remote option turned on for your Premiere:
Settings--Remote, CableCARD & Devices--Network Remote Control--Allow network-based remote controls
(This only works for Premieres, so if you are trying with a non-Premiere TiVo unit it won't work).


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## jcthorne

moyekj said:


> Make sure you have network-based remote option turned on for your Premiere:
> Settings--Remote, CableCARD & Devices--Network Remote Control--Allow network-based remote controls
> (This only works for Premieres, so if you are trying with a non-Premiere TiVo unit it won't work).


That was it. Thanks! Trying it now.


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## mcaaronice

I'd recommend putting that you need to enable the network remote option somewhere in the app or on the market description (or both). I was ready to give up before I found this thread.


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## wp746911

app works great for me so far (HTC EVO on sprint)- I second putting some pop-up about enabling network remote. Now, why could tivo not have done this a long time ago? It's a sad day for tivo when the cable companies are out innovating them.


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## arantius

Thanks for the input guys. I had turned that on for my TiVo long ago, and I didn't even realize it was necessary. I'm releasing a new version that checks for this, soon. I just need to do some testing.


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## psalmx

Running this on a droid incredible with cyanogen mod 7. First few versions didn't work at all ending in force quits, update today has made it run, however after trying to load "my shows" it just sits and doesn't populate the list. The remote function works well.


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## rfryar

Can you connect to multiple TiVo Premieres with this app? I have two and the app is nice on my Nook Color, but would love to work with both TiVo's and select between them.

Thanks,

Rick


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## arantius

> ... trying to load "my shows" it just sits and doesn't populate the list ...

Make it fail, then send a problem report. Without details, I can't do much of anything.

> Can you connect to multiple TiVo ...

Sorta? Go into settings and pick a different one and it's possible. But it's not really designed for that, so it's not super convenient.


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## aridon

If only the hd interface on the Tivo worked this well


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## psalmx

latest version works great.


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## tomhorsley

Yea, I was just experimenting with it some today, and somehow it is possible to delete a show without sending it into a busy wait sate for 30 seconds. Imagine that . If only the native interface could do that...


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## wdowell84

This app is awesome. Thanks so much for releasing it for us! I was wondering if there was a way for the recently deleted or netflix or other tivos shows that are listed under my shows on the tivo to show up under my shows on the app on my phone. It still works by using the remote to go to those sections, but it would be a lot faster if that was possible. Again thanks a ton for the app, I am loving it!!


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## ShannonWrege

I have the same question as rfryar. I can get it working if I have the MAK and the service number, but these seem to be system wide settings. It would be nice to define and save these for each discovered Tivo so you could easily switch between two or more.

Thanks for your help.

Best,
Shannon


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## arantius

As I've already said in this thread, the app was never designed to support multiple DVRs. I could probably add that, but since I have only one, it's the sort of thing that's hard to test. And I'm not terribly motivated to build hard features for strangers just because I've already given away a lot of my time.

I think the MAK is account-wide, and the TSN should be discovered by the settings/discovery screen, so it "should work". But if it doesn't, again, I have one DVR so I have no idea how it's behaving in that situation.

Or: I can put that feature request on the list, but don't hold your breath.


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## brentil

Love the app! I forked your code, going to see if there's anything beneficial I can add once I get done with school this semester.


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## psalmx

Official droid incredible 2.3 update broke my shows


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## dcbk

I entered in the 192.168.1.x address, tried 1413 (as well as 443 since I get to the Now Playing list on the computer that way), and put in the MAK of my Premiere, but it says "Searching" and No Results Found. I know the 192 address is right, and the MAK is right (it is the password for the browser Now Playing). Neither port seems to make a difference. Remote control is on (and it works using an iPhone and another Tivo app).

And as I type this, I noticed my WiFi was off on my Droid X, so now it finds the box...and DANG it is a HD Series 3 box, oh well!

Decided to include this for others in case the above is useful.

Thanks, D


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## 6spdcoupe

I am now getting a " Authetication failed; Check MAK settings" message. MAK is correct - confirmed on both the Tivo and Tivo.com. Remote is enabled, video sharing is and has been enabled.

Help ?


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## rockypine

This is a great app, but being able to see the channel listings on a tablet would be nice. My question is why can't TiVo use some of the money they're spending advertising their wonderful ipad app and develop an android app rather than expecting someone to do it for free? Do ipad owners have a higher subscription rate than android users?


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## brentil

I really don't get it. It's hard to believe they're leaving the Android market completely untapped. More Android devices are sold every day than iTrendy devices and there are more Android devices in use right now than any other device. (Nielson numbers) This of course does not take into account tablets, but their sales #'s versus the other devices are not as large.










Hello, McFly, are you there?


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## 6spdcoupe

I'm sure it will get there eventually, but yes it is pretty clear cut that they Should be moving on it Much quicker. Actually should be well into Android territory by now rather than waiting it out. Android isn't a 'phase' it is here to stay and more manus need to recognize that.


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## tomhorsley

And with android, you might even be able to run on your windows or linux desktop as well using the android emulator (there ain't no ipad emulator, at least no free one I've heard of).


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## brentil

tomhorsley said:


> And with android, you might even be able to run on your windows or linux desktop as well using the android emulator (there ain't no ipad emulator, at least no free one I've heard of).


Well speaking of that why the heck don't I have a Windows app (or Linux or Mac) that does this too so I can do it all from my laptop or desktop? It's just calls over the network to the ports being used...


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## brentil

Maybe we should start a new thread for all of this instead of continuing to derail this one...


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## innocentfreak

brentil said:


> Well speaking of that why the heck don't I have a Windows app (or Linux or Mac) that does this too so I can do it all from my laptop or desktop? It's just calls over the network to the ports being used...


Kmttg does many of these things and more in a desktop app. It is java based so not much in the way of a guy, but it works great.


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## Hexerott

Using it on a Droid Bionic and love it. Thank you!

Edited to add: If only it could control my TV volume.


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## jakeridge

Great app but I have a question.

If I am using this app from outside my home on wireless internet or wifi what port do I need to forward through my router? I tried the 1413 port but that didnt work.

thanks


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## arantius

1413 it is.


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## pullmyfinger

Does anyone know why the Tivo Commander for DROID has the tv volume and power buttons dissabled? All of the other features are working perfectly, but I cant set the volume or power because those buttons on the DROID app are gray'd out.

Please advise, thanks..


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## arantius

This app controls your _TiVo_, not your _TV_, where volume and power (usually) happen.


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## Dpordy99

sounds cool


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## pullmyfinger

arantius said:


> This app controls your _TiVo_, not your _TV_, where volume and power (usually) happen.


If you look at the physical TIVO remote, it has these buttons and if you looked at the soft remote on this app it also has these buttons but they are grey'd out. So volume and power ALSO happen on a TIVO remote and I was wondering if anyone besides you can help answer this question. This seems like a great app, but it should also allow this remote feature that the TIVO remote allows.


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## innocentfreak

pullmyfinger said:


> If you look at the physical TIVO remote, it has these buttons and if you looked at the soft remote on this app it also has these buttons but they are grey'd out. So volume and power ALSO happen on a TIVO remote and I was wondering if anyone besides you can help answer this question. This seems like a great app, but it should also allow this remote feature that the TIVO remote allows.


How would you propose the phone send the commands to the TV? TiVo's own iPad app doesn't support what you want.


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## weinberk

arantius said:


> Constructive feedback is welcomed.


It's working wonderfully here.

3 (nitpicky) suggestions:

1) Have the application switch between different tivos more easily. Currently you need to go to settings, select the tivo, then ok to the MAK. How about just having a simple drop down box that you can select between the multiple tivos? If a mak changes or something, then you'd need to go to settings, but how often does that really happen?? This would be just a bit more intuitive.

2) On all screens, show which tivo we're working with. This is especially important with the remote screen.

3) If at all possible, let us browse one tivo's recordings from another to initiate a MRV transfer to the room that we're in. That would be really cool.

Thanks so much for this wonderful program!


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## wmcbrine

pullmyfinger said:


> So volume and power ALSO happen on a TIVO remote and I was wondering if anyone besides you can help answer this question.


No one else is going to give you a different answer. I could go into more detail, but it would come to the same end.

On a regular TiVo remote, most of the buttons do this:

Play --> infrared --> TiVo

while volume and power buttons do this:

Vol+ --> infrared --> TV

On a Slide remote with the Bluetooth adapter hooked up, most of the buttons do this:

Play --> BlueTooth --> TiVo

but volume and power still do this:

Vol+ --> infrared --> TV

It can do this because the Slide is still a fully-capable infrared remote. Now, let's take a look at a network remote. Most buttons do this:

Play --> TCP/IP --> TiVo

but volume and power do... nothing. Because you don't have an infrared port on the device where you're running the network remote, do you?* And you have no other way to talk to the TV.

_The TiVo does not control the TV volume. The TiVo does not control the TV power._ You can control these functions with a TiVo remote, because, and only because, _the remote talks directly to the TV_.

You _can_ send volume and power codes to the TiVo with the network interface, and it will dutifully record them in its log of all your remote keystrokes. But that's all it can do with them.

An HDMI setup could theoretically change this situation... but as far as I know, TiVo has made no provision for that yet.

* And even if you do have an infrared port, it's probably not compatible. Back in the heyday of PDAs, they all came with IrDA ports, which were theoretically handy for talking to other PDAs or PCs, but generally wouldn't talk to TVs. There was a nice universal remote program for WinCE, but it didn't do anything on most PocketPCs, because the IrDA hardware wasn't up to the task of generating a signal a TV could understand. Nowadays, the Android phone that's replaced your PDA probably doesn't do infrared at all.


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## zekeisaszekedoes

Works great on a Virgin Media TiVo... thumbnails don't load but all the rest is fine as long as you manually enter IP/MAK/TSN details.

So it works on the LAN but now I'm trying to get it working across the WAN, so if I want to schedule a recording when I'm away from home I can, using 3G or someone elses WiFi. I've opened port 1413 but when port checking it with GRC ShieldsUp! site it says it is stealthed, as if the TiVo has a firewall or I need to open more ports on the router.

Any ideas?


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## Amnesia

The market link in the OP doesn't work...


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## arantius

Late last night, TiVo sent a takedown request for this app to the Android Market, on trademark infringement claims. It was honored, and thus this app was removed.

Time will tell what happens to rectify this. If you have graphic design skills you could probably help me hasten that.


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## moyekj

Sad day. For a long time now TiVo has stopped promoting any kind of 3rd development, and now they are actively campaigning against it. Oh well it was nice while it lasted...


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## innocentfreak

Wow that is bad. Did you use any files or images from TiVo? Unless they had a problem with the name and they are afraid it will be confused with the official TiVo app which may be on the way.


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## brentil

I'm actually rather surprised it's taken this long for them to request it removed as the images & logos used looked exactly like theirs. I finish my masters this semester so if I have time afterwards I'd like to pitch in myself to help.


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## lart2150

lame move tivo. On a side note I was able to download, compile, and side load from source.

Was the take down in regards to the image of the remote?


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## megazone

Is the .apk available anywhere?

Edit: Answered my own question https://github.com/arantius/TiVo-Commander/downloads


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## jqkurz

Just loaded it on my Kindle Fire and it works great. Thanks.


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## aaronwt

jqkurz said:


> Just loaded it on my Kindle Fire and it works great. Thanks.


Thanks for the info. If I get a fire this is what I will use it for.


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## fergiet

Great little app. Hope you get it sorted.


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## aaronwt

Has any one used TiVo commander on a Pandigital Novel eReader? I just picked one up from NewEgg for $70. You are supposed to be able to put android 2.1 on it so I'm hoping TiVo commander will work fine on it. I figure I only plan to use it with the TiVo. Then when the larger Kindle Fire comes out next year I will pick that up.


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## aaronwt

This is great. I got this working on my $70 Pandigital Novel(7 inch White). I'm glad I was able to get this to work instead of paying $200 for the Kindle Fire


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## thatwilsonguy

Is there any possibility of creating an app for Google TV that uses the same method for searching Tivo's DVR as Tivo commander and adding it to the search results on Google TV?


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## brentil

arantius, do you have a a To Do list or bug list you want help working on? I just synced your newest version with the basic remote in it and want to contribute.



thatwilsonguy said:


> Is there any possibility of creating an app for Google TV that uses the same method for searching Tivo's DVR as Tivo commander and adding it to the search results on Google TV?


That sounds very possible to work on as the new Android tools add Google TV as a development source to work against.


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## arantius

brentil said:


> arantius, do you have a a To Do list or bug list you want help working on? I just synced your newest version with the basic remote in it and want to contribute.


Master no longer has the self-made icons and crappy remote, FWIW.

But: Not really. I've got a few TODO comments in the code, and https://github.com/arantius/TiVo-Commander/issues . As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, some users would like to see the guide, the todo/season pass list, and related management features (remove scheduled recordings?).

But at least for now I can't distribute this, so take that into account before you invest your time.


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## gregory_g

What a tremendous app. I love it! 

And, for those that are curious, it runs fine from Android emulator (Tested with SDK 2.3).


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## Amnesia

I'm trying to figure out why the TiVo Commander app can't find my TiVo until I manually enter the IP address. How does it try to find it?


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## arantius

http://blog.tivo.com/2012/01/tivo-app-for-android-its-here/

The official TiVo app is out. You might want to head in that direction.


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## arantius

It took almost a year but DVR Commander for TiVo® (that's what I have to call it now) is back on what is now the Google Play Store!


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## innocentfreak

arantius said:


> It took almost a year but DVR Commander for TiVo® (that's what I have to call it now) is back on what is now the Google Play Store!


Congrats. Are you allowed to talk about what happened?


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE

some times finds my all my premires, but get the caution sign next to them. Refresh and I might get 1 premire to work, go back in and get caution signs again. 

Have yet to go back and forth between premires, which is why I would use it.


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## arantius

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> some times finds my all my premires, but get the caution sign next to them. Refresh and I might get 1 premire to work, go back in and get caution signs again.


I agree, something isn't perfect here. For me at home, it lists both the pyTivo shares as unsupported (good, expected), and my Premiere as supported (good), and it again as unsupported (wha?).

But this release was basically just putting it back out there as it was a year ago with very little updates. Now that it's live again and people can use it again, I have reason to improve the quality.


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