# User Folders / MultinUser



## Connor (Oct 13, 2002)

With the new 6 tuner capability and huge hard drives I would think it would be nice to be able to sort recordings into individual user folders. Currently we have 2 Tivo's one is mine. The other is the wife's. Her's is a Series 3 HD and Mine is a Premier (Dual). So only 4 Tuners. Would be nice to just get a single Roamio Pro and a Mini. But we don't want to dig through each other's shows. So looks like either 2 Roamios or 2 Roamio Plus and maybe a Mini.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Why not just one new Roamio? That would get the job done, other than speed and tuners, the boxes have the same software and a plus could handle the streaming for either box.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Yep, retire the S3 and get a Roamio, keep the Premeire.


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## Connor (Oct 13, 2002)

I didn't think you could stream with the Dual Tuner Premier.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Absolutely it works great! The only thing you can't do with the two tuner Premiere is pair it directly to a mini... But the Mini can still stream from it and the Roamio and Premiere can stream from each other.

I currently have a Roamio Pro, a two tuner Premiere and a Mini on my network and it is the perfect setup.


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## Connor (Oct 13, 2002)

bradleys said:


> Absolutely it works great! The only thing you can't do with the two tuner Premiere is pair it directly to a mini... But the Mini can still stream from it and the Roamio and Premiere can stream from each other.
> 
> I currently have a Roamio Pro, a two tuner Premiere and a Mini on my network and it is the perfect setup.


On the TiVo site it says..

"COMPATIBLE DVRS (4-TUNERS REQUIRED)
TiVo Roamio and Roamio Plus or Pro
TiVo Premiere 4 and XL4/Elite
TiVo Roamio OTA"

So.. I'm confused.. I only have a TiVo Premiere. not a Premiere 4.

You can read my other thread here.. http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=527298

The end goal with this suggestion was to stay at 1 Tivo and have a folder options that would allow us to only NEED one Tivo since we want to keep our shows separate, or organized in such a way that we don't have to wade through each others shows. That's the ONLY reason we need more than 1 Tivo with the advent if the Mini.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

The mini needs to be permanently paired to a 4 + tuner TiVo (Premiere or Roamio) Once the Mini is paired it can stream from any Series 4 or better TiVo on your network.

If you add a 6 tuner Roamio that would be the Mini's host TiVo. You can then use your Mini to stream content from either the Roamio or the Premiere. 

Note: Each of the TiVo's will also be able to stream from each other... Premiere from the Roamio or vise versa.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Agreed, re: the original intent of the thread... TiVo is LOOONG overdue for adding a multi-user experience to their software. All the "partially watched" status bars mean little in a multi-user setup, especially if one has gone with the new Roamio/Mini technology and all the recordings are sitting on a single DVR.

I submitted this as a new feature request just the other day, though I didn't expect I was the first to ask for it.

I was going to say "Really wish they CC'd the user on feature request submissions," but found I'd saved my form input the old-fashioned way...



> *I wish my TiVo DVR could do this:*
> 
> A Multi-user Experience: Present and manage distinct user/viewer experiences, including individualized "watched progress", personal My Shows interest/subscriptions filtering, individualized content access and purchase controls, personal streaming app authentication setup (and in-app profile restriction, where applicable).
> 
> ...


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## Connor (Oct 13, 2002)

So, I'm going to refine my request. It's a 2 part request..

Ability to have Custom Filters (on left side)

and then.. the Ability to set Season Pass/One Pass so that you can tag said pass with one or more TAGS that the Custom Filters see.

This would allow viewers to better organize their content and allow multiple viewers in the house to more easily find their content. This would also allow for One Passes on Online/Stream content to not get lost in the Now Playing List.

I would love to be able to tag my shows/One Passes as.. SciFi, Crime, Husband, Wife, etc etc..


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Connor said:


> So, I'm going to refine my request. It's a 2 part request..
> 
> Ability to have Custom Filters (on left side)
> 
> ...


Custom filtering is the most reasonable solution TiVo could implement. It would only require a mechanism to allow the user to "tag" a recording or One Pass. That would work really well for "Profiles"

Genre's could be done without any manually tagging - But I don't know how much value it would bring in the "real world". The left filtering already allows filtering by Movies, Sports, Kids, et al... For me personally, the list of content just isn't that long to need a finer grain filter...


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Just in case TiVo personnel are monitoring this feedback, I felt compelled to pipe-in and vote against custom tagging as a sufficient fix for "user profiles", since such tagging would do ZERO to address the following critical features of an effective multi-user interface:

per-user progress tracking
user-specific streaming app credentials
user-specific access controls (view-only/add/edit/manage/etc)
Custom tagging might facilitate some content filtering, but user-specific filtering would be best implemented as part of a comprehensive solution to the multi-user issue; anything else would be time and resources wasted on a short-term workaround, rather than a solid solution moving forward.

Plus, the time not wasted on a tagging workaround could be better spent, once the multi-user solution is in place, developing a proper TiVo screensaver.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Just in case TiVo personnel are monitoring this feedback, I felt compelled to pipe-in and vote against custom tagging as a sufficient fix for "user profiles", since such tagging would do ZERO to address the following critical features of an effective multi-user interface:
> 
> per-user progress tracking
> user-specific streaming app credentials
> ...


I think, not unlike the long requested Common NPL, true profiles are highly unlikely to be on TiVo's road map. I suppose I could be wrong, but over the years a person gets a pretty good feel for TiVo's design strategies.

My suggestion for somebody who really wants true division of content is to get a second TiVo. A last gen Premiere works nicely.

All that said, I wouldn't hold my breath for true profiles.



> developing a proper TiVo screensaver.


Now you are just poking the bear!


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I don't see the need for most users. 

1) WE are already adept with scanning the guide and looking for shows that sound interesting. And, most of the shows we skim over are shows we don't watch. 

2) Even if I have a separate profile I'm still going to see a huge list of shows to choose from. It might be missing a few handfuls of cartoons and wifey shows, but still a list. I will still be scanning it for the show I want to watch.


3) Now instead of skipping over shows I don't watch I will have to switch in and out of profiles. I'm not seeing the payoff. If somehow it could read my mind then I could see the benefit.

4) Next the admin of the dvr would not only be switching out of a profile and into his own, but would also switch in/out of a 2nd universal profile in order to manage the disk space. I'm the admin in our household so I would need to regularly look at a 2nd profile that shows all shows in order to manage space effectively on the dvr. That's another headache.


Oh an idea popped into my head after #3. What about a fingerprint sensor in the remote? One built right into the pause button. I pick up the remote and it knows who i am and only the shows I want to see are there. That would help.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

Or actually what if they just let you use the number buttons to represent user profiles? And let you assign different views to the last 5 numbers. 

I would be number 6 in my family. Wife could be 7. 8 and 9 could be kids. Kids could share a number. And 0 could be admin view. Then at least all you'd have to do is hit a number and the view would switch. 

And then in the settings you'd have see the numbers 6-0 and a blank next to each of them in which you can enter a name. Click on a number and you'd get a season pass list, same view you see in season passes, and you'd have a box next to each (not unlike you see in the channel list) and you can check/uncheck each season pass which would either make it visible in your profile or not.

That would simple.

But even then, when you get create a new season pass or record a show, you would have to assign it to users or have the user go grab it if they want it or delete it from their list etc, and that ongoing managing is a pain. 

...which really just brings me back to square one: I don't think the benefit of not seeing a few handfuls of shows from other family members outweighs the hassle of managing and using multiple profiles.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

bradleys said:


> My suggestion for somebody who really wants true division of content is to get a second TiVo. A last gen Premiere works nicely.


That's certainly the only short-term solution, and mirrors Apple's iDevice attitude toward multiple users, but it becomes rapidly impractical for even the deep-pocketed after a couple users.



bradleys said:


> ll that said, I wouldn't hold my breath for true profiles.


Definitely not. It's disappointing, even a little saddening, that a multi-user DVR isn't yet available (even if only at a content filtering/progress tracking level), but I'm definitely NOT holding my breath waiting for TiVo to make it happen. If they haven't done so 16 years in... And, as you've indicated, there's a conflicting monetary incentive for them to NOT implement such a feature -- even if that incentive now conflicts with the supposed value proposition of their Roamio/Mini DVR/client model.



bradleys said:


> Now you are just poking the bear!


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

trip1eX said:


> Oh an idea popped into my head after #3. What about a fingerprint sensor in the remote? One built right into the pause button. I pick up the remote and it knows who i am and only the shows I want to see are there. That would help.


That's certainly an interesting technical option, though it might add a bit to the cost. They could also use voice matching via remote (see Roku's latest models, with voice search via remote); retinal scan may be a bit much, though an add-on camera with facial-ish recognition, ala XBox One and 360(?), might be an option. Wi-Fi Direct login from a nearby smartphone would also be a possibility, and one that would allow asynchronous login/logout of multiple viewers, allowing someone who has to exit a group viewing session before the end of a program to bookmark their progress in the show.

Absent the technical facilitation, switching profiles can be made as easy as it is in Netflix's approach, absent any passwords, passkeys, etc.

And you wouldn't *have* to have a 2nd "master" profile if you're the guru/admin within the home and don't have a problem scanning/scrolling through all the content. You'd just setup profiles for those less adept at or amenable to the navigation.

All that said, *content filtering is a tertiary feature/benefit*, as far as I'm concerned, relative to a multi-user solution -- though I see now that I left "content filtering" out of my numbered list, above. Place it as 2.9 in that list. The main benefit I'm looking for, at present, is bullet #1: user-specific progress tracking.

The current progress bars are mostly useless in a house with many viewers, except for shows with a very narrow audience. (e.g. The lady of the house can be pretty confident that the progress bar for that Dr. Phil episode is an accurate measure of where she left off.) The progress bars listed under "My Shows," I would think, would show *my* progress. And wouldn't it make sense if the "Partially Watched" filter were specific to what *I* have partially watched? Or if the Discovery Bar could be configured to populate based on my personal viewing patterns, listing the next episode for my most-watched series?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

As a followup, TiVo doesn't have to add multi-user progress tracking, but I'm pretty confident *someone* with a similar server/client DVR solution is going to add this feature, so TiVo may want to consider doing so, if they don't want to be at a competitive disadvantage.


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