# TiVo Stream 4K versus Fire Stick 4K



## moyekj

Just got my Amazon Fire Stick 4K (my first Amazon stick) about 30 minutes ago and I already love it WAY better than the TiVo Stream 4K. Advantages versus Stream 4K I've seen already:

1. Dedicated Remote buttons for rew, play/pause, ff that actually work in the video apps I care about (Netflix, Prime Video and HBO NOW).
2. Much more responsive for pause/play, ff, rew remote presses, especially in Prime Video
3. For Prime Video it has both ff/rew and 10 sec skip back and forwards and they work very fast. This is HUGE improvement over the TS4K app.
4. Reelgood app launching for Amazon Prime Video actually works! Not only does it take you to the right episode, but it also starts playing the episode automatically. In contrast Reelgood on TS4K just takes you to the launch point of Amazon.
5. Has a "Recent" section of videos I've been playing so that I can easily find to re-launch to what I was watching.
6. With Alexa you can skip around videos easily with commands such as "rewind 2 minutes" or "fast forward 1 minute" and the response time is incredibly good.
7. Fire Stick has a lot of settings built around controlling TV inputs such that even with CEC disabled on a TV you can have it switch inputs through Alexa commands such as "HDMI 1", "HDMI 2".

Very, very happy so far compared to TS4K. I'm sure there are probably other advantages I haven't discovered yet and no doubt some disadvantages, but I'm loving the Fire Stick 4K so far.
I'm already wishing I hadn't bothered with TS4K and instead spent the $50 on another Amazon Fire Stick 4K.


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## omelet1978

You seem like you are primarily or very heavily an Amazon Prime video user so yeah I’d say go with the Firestick. 

I have SlingTV, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and HBO so for me the Tivo Stream works. Albeit a generation 1 and quasi beta device that is is.


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## JimT48

moyekj said:


> Just got my Amazon Fire Stick 4K (my first Amazon stick) about 30 minutes ago and I already love it WAY better than the TiVo Stream 4K. Advantages versus Stream 4K I've seen already:
> 
> 1. Dedicated Remote buttons for rew, play/pause, ff that actually work in the video apps I care about (Netflix, Prime Video and HBO NOW).
> 2. Much more responsive for pause/play, ff, rew remote presses, especially in Prime Video
> 3. For Prime Video it has both ff/rew and 10 sec skip back and forwards and they work very fast. This is HUGE improvement over the TS4K app.
> 4. Reelgood app launching for Amazon Prime Video actually works! Not only does it take you to the right episode, but it also starts playing the episode automatically. In contrast Reelgood on TS4K just takes you to the launch point of Amazon.
> 5. Has a "Recent" section of videos I've been playing so that I can easily find to re-launch to what I was watching.
> 
> Very, very happy so far compared to TS4K. I'm sure there are probably other advantages I haven't discovered yet and no doubt some disadvantages, but I'm loving the Fire Stick 4K so far.
> I'm already wishing I hadn't bothered with TS4K and instead spent the $50 on another Amazon Fire Stick 4K.


If you have a digital antenna you might want to check out the Amazon Fire Recast. It is designed to work with he Fire Stick. There is no charge for the TV guide either. You might also want to check into Philo. It's guide also integrates into the Recast TV guide.


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## Mikeguy

moyekj said:


> I'm already wishing I hadn't bothered with TS4K and instead spent the $50 on another Amazon Fire Stick 4K.


Well, you're still within the TiVo 30-day-satisfaction-guaranteed return period.


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## NiteCourt

Sling also integrates into the FireTv guide listings along with PlutoTV. I also have a FireTV recast so everything is integrated into the guide listings.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk


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## foghorn2

AirTV Mini 4k > FireStick 4K > Apple TV > Roku > Tivo Stream 4K 

thats how I rate them based on my usage/preference

Ironic as how my best and worst is the same hardware. Tivo really botched it up.


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## Dan203

The one thing that bugged me about Fire TV was how Amazon focused the whole UI was. They required extra button presses to get to other apps. Although I still preferred it to Apple TV. Only reason I went back back to Apple TV is because it has a couple of apps I can’t get on Fire TV. 

At this point the only thing I really like about the TiVo is the remote, and even that has flaws that require a 3rd party app to overcome.


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## moyekj

I just essentially leave Reelgood app running on Fire Stick and accessing everything from there, so very little interaction with rest of GUI so far. Also moved that to 1st position in apps list.


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## dlfl

moyekj said:


> I just essentially leave Reelgood app running on Fire Stick and accessing everything from there, so very little interaction with rest of GUI so far. Also moved that to 1st position in apps list.


Wow! That app is so new to Fire TV devices that it doesn't even have any reviews on Amazon.com (at this writing). I assume you knew about it from using it on another device (??). I'm wondering if setup and some of the advanced features don't require a smart phone, tablet or web interface, i.e., can't be done purely with the AFT remote.


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## jimpmc

dlfl said:


> Wow! That app is so new to Fire TV devices that it doesn't even have any reviews on Amazon.com (at this writing). I assume you knew about it from using it on another device (??). I'm wondering if setup and some of the advanced features don't require a smart phone, tablet or web interface, i.e., can't be done purely with the AFT remote.


The Fire TV and Android TV versions are identical in terms of UI and current functionality, however, some of the linking apps that launch properly in one don't on the other (HBO GO for example doesn't launch on the Fire TV verison).


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## moyekj

dlfl said:


> Wow! That app is so new to Fire TV devices that it doesn't even have any reviews on Amazon.com (at this writing). I assume you knew about it from using it on another device (??). I'm wondering if setup and some of the advanced features don't require a smart phone, tablet or web interface, i.e., can't be done purely with the AFT remote.


I just learned about Reelgood a few days ago from using it on TiVo Stream 4K since the TiVo software itself is full of holes and launching into Prime Video episodes doesn't work in that UI either. Was curious if it worked fine on FireTV 4K device and confirmed it works better than I could have expected.


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## dlfl

moyekj said:


> I just learned about Reelgood a few days ago from using it on TiVo Stream 4K since the TiVo software itself is full of holes and launching into Prime Video episodes doesn't work in that UI either. Was curious if it worked fine on FireTV 4K device and confirmed it works better than I could have expected.


Can you set it up directly with the FireTV remote? Streaming sources? Watches? Notifications (I assume not for that one).


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## jimpmc

dlfl said:


> Can you set it up directly with the FireTV remote? Streaming sources? Watches? Notifications (I assume not for that one).


Yes to all.


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## moyekj

dlfl said:


> Can you set it up directly with the FireTV remote? Streaming sources? Watches? Notifications (I assume not for that one).


Yes you can use the FireTV remote to set which services you receive, which series to watch, which episodes of series you have already watched, etc. You can also do all that from a web interface if you wish instead. In my case it's linked to my Google account, so setting up my Reelgood account was as simple as clicking on the Google sign in button.


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## vurbano

moyekj said:


> Just got my Amazon Fire Stick 4K (my first Amazon stick) about 30 minutes ago and I already love it WAY better than the TiVo Stream 4K. Advantages versus Stream 4K I've seen already:
> 
> 1. Dedicated Remote buttons for rew, play/pause, ff that actually work in the video apps I care about (Netflix, Prime Video and HBO NOW).
> 2. Much more responsive for pause/play, ff, rew remote presses, especially in Prime Video
> 3. For Prime Video it has both ff/rew and 10 sec skip back and forwards and they work very fast. This is HUGE improvement over the TS4K app.
> 4. Reelgood app launching for Amazon Prime Video actually works! Not only does it take you to the right episode, but it also starts playing the episode automatically. In contrast Reelgood on TS4K just takes you to the launch point of Amazon.
> 5. Has a "Recent" section of videos I've been playing so that I can easily find to re-launch to what I was watching.
> 6. With Alexa you can skip around videos easily with commands such as "rewind 2 minutes" or "fast forward 1 minute" and the response time is incredibly good.
> 
> Very, very happy so far compared to TS4K. I'm sure there are probably other advantages I haven't discovered yet and no doubt some disadvantages, but I'm loving the Fire Stick 4K so far.
> I'm already wishing I hadn't bothered with TS4K and instead spent the $50 on another Amazon Fire Stick 4K.


I am especially bummed at how badly Tivo Botched the remote. Ive had AMazon 4k sticks on TV's for awhile now. I just dont see much of an advantage with tivo's remote. they need to label the pad area and add the functionality that the firestick remote has at least.


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## moyekj

vurbano said:


> I am especially bummed at how badly Tivo Botched the remote. Ive had AMazon 4k sticks on TV's for awhile now. I just dont see much of an advantage with tivo's remote. they need to label the pad area and add the functionality that the firestick remote has at least.


Agreed. I only wish the firestick had an "Input" button to change TV inputs and that it supported IR learning. Even though the TS4K has the "Input" button it's not useful without IR learning to me, because pressing "Input" button just brings up the TV menu. But the TV remote has an input cycle button which would be the best one to emulate.

I haven't yet tried to pair the TiVo remote to Fire Stick just out of curiosity if that's even possible.


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## jimpmc

vurbano said:


> I am especially bummed at how badly Tivo Botched the remote. Ive had AMazon 4k sticks on TV's for awhile now. I just dont see much of an advantage with tivo's remote. they need to label the pad area and add the functionality that the firestick remote has at least.


The Pad area on the Fire Stick 4K remote isn't labelled either. Nor is it on my remotes for my Samsung TV, nVidia Shield, etc. Why do people keep mentioning this as an issue?


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## mdavej

jimpmc said:


> The Pad area on the Fire Stick 4K remote isn't labelled either. Nor is it on my remotes for my Samsung TV, nVidia Shield, etc. Why do people keep mentioning this as an issue?


Yep. No labels on the pad is no big deal. No play/pause button at all IS a big deal. What were they thinking?


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## aaronwt

How do you get the Reelgood app on the Firetv 4k Stick? I looked for it yesterday and the search on the FireTV 4K stick came up with nothing.


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## md wass

aaronwt said:


> How do you get the Reelgood app on the Firetv 4k Stick? I looked for it yesterday and the search on the FireTV 4K stick came up with nothing.


trying the search function and see if it shows up?


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## aaronwt

mdavej said:


> Yep. No labels on the pad is no big deal. No play/pause button at all IS a big deal. What were they thinking?


For me, it's rare I actually use the play, pause, rewind, and fast forward buttons with the streaming apps with most of my streamers. SInce I can do all that from the D-Pad.
And with the Stream 4K it's also the same with most apps. So the Stream 4K D-Pad worked fine for transports controls in my use..


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## SugarBowl

My firestick is pretty slow. The TiVo stream is much more snappy than my firestick. 

Here are the differences i've noticed. 

Firestick
- No Nest app. Can view 1 camera with alexa voice commands, but it closes the stream after about 10 minutes. (same with Ring) 
- HDHomerun app can't play copy protected channels
- Slingbox app is available, but not very good. 

Tivo Stream
- Nest app to view 1 or 4 nest cameras on the screen at same time, indefinately. 
- HDHomerun app will play copy protected channels
- Chromecast support
- no slingbox app

Roku Ultra
- Spectrum app for watching cable channels and on demand (with Spectrum )
- No Nest or Ring video support
- no hdhomerun app
- ethernet support


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## siratfus

moyekj said:


> Just got my Amazon Fire Stick 4K (my first Amazon stick) about 30 minutes ago and I already love it WAY better than the TiVo Stream 4K. Advantages versus Stream 4K I've seen already:
> 
> 1. Dedicated Remote buttons for rew, play/pause, ff that actually work in the video apps I care about (Netflix, Prime Video and HBO NOW).
> 2. Much more responsive for pause/play, ff, rew remote presses, especially in Prime Video
> 3. For Prime Video it has both ff/rew and 10 sec skip back and forwards and they work very fast. This is HUGE improvement over the TS4K app.
> 4. Reelgood app launching for Amazon Prime Video actually works! Not only does it take you to the right episode, but it also starts playing the episode automatically. In contrast Reelgood on TS4K just takes you to the launch point of Amazon.
> 5. Has a "Recent" section of videos I've been playing so that I can easily find to re-launch to what I was watching.
> 6. With Alexa you can skip around videos easily with commands such as "rewind 2 minutes" or "fast forward 1 minute" and the response time is incredibly good.
> 
> Very, very happy so far compared to TS4K. I'm sure there are probably other advantages I haven't discovered yet and no doubt some disadvantages, but I'm loving the Fire Stick 4K so far.
> I'm already wishing I hadn't bothered with TS4K and instead spent the $50 on another Amazon Fire Stick 4K.


I've been using the fire products since they came out, any new generation, I get it. You'll find out there are pros and cons with anything. Because I'm a prime member, the Amazon-centric Home doesn't bother me. But after getting the Nvidia Shield Pro, I'm realizing I like Android TV much better. So I knew what to expect when I got the Stream 4k. It's all on how you organize your Android TV home. That "RECENT" you're talking about, it would be on home if you set Prime as one of your rows. I have Netflix, Prime, Disney, Plex, etc., as my rows. Once you start playing media, they will show up in your rows where you get to "continue" watching. In the Tivo Stream app, there is a Recently Watch row as well. Reelgood App sounds nice, but through the years, I've been that, done that. Some of them are fly by night companies and will vanish on you, that's a con with Fire TV is if you depend on 3rd party apps for features. An Amazon update could cause this or that function of the 3rd party app to break, and it would depend on if the developer keeps up with Amazon.

Don't let the Tivo Stream app fool you. The Android Home interface is where you should focus your attention. The Tivo 4k doesn't even boot into Tivo Stream, it boots into Android TV. The Tivo remote even has the Android TV home button, as well as the Tivo Stream home button. The Tivo Stream is just an app that you need to launch like any other app. I think it's pretty nifty, and I like how it aggregates the searches for Netflix, Prime and Disney for me. The 3 services we pay for happens to be supported by that app, so I guess I would like it more than others. I use the Tivo Stream app to browse most of all. Until they're able to sync the watchlists, I still prefer to save my movies in the actual apps, and getting to the actual apps and continue a movie is pretty seamless if you take time to organize your Android TV home.

Then again, It's like I've been looking at a green wall for 7 years now, so this new fresh coat of red paint is making me giddy. LOL! But believe me, it's all user needs and habits. What is better than others in this streaming gadget world is absolutely subjective.


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## moyekj

I don't mind the Android TV UI, that portion is fine. But lack of dedicated buttons for rew/play/ff and the fact that the main video apps I use work much better with Fire TV is what really sells it for me. The transport controls using the TS4K remote are just too clunky for me. Also the TiVo Stream database is full of holes to where it is essentially useless to me. You are better off just going directly into the video app rather than through the TiVo interface.


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## siratfus

moyekj said:


> I don't mind the Android TV UI, that portion is fine. But lack of dedicated buttons for rew/play/ff and the fact that the main video apps I use work much better with Fire TV is what really sells it for me. The transport controls using the TS4K remote are just too clunky for me. Also the TiVo Stream database is full of holes to where it is essentially useless to me. You are better off just going directly into the video app rather than through the TiVo interface.


But those buttons are redundant. I think that's why the Tivo has so many features on their remote. I never use the those play buttons on the fire stick. The directional pad serves the same purpose. Tapping left or right to rewind or speed up, hold it down to speed up really fast. Hit the center select is the same as pause. So my fingers are used to doing that, so it was seamless for me with the tivo remote. You might be surprise how often you'll use the directional pad instead of the dedicated buttons because your thumb can feel for it faster. In any case, again, I've been looking at a green wall for 7 years. LOL!


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## moyekj

siratfus said:


> But those buttons are redundant. I think that's why the Tivo has so many features on their remote. I never use the those play buttons on the fire stick. The directional pad serves the same purpose. Tapping left or right to rewind or speed up, hold it down to speed up really fast. Hit the center select is the same as pause. So my fingers are used to doing that, so it was seamless for me with the tivo remote. You might be surprise how often you'll use the directional pad instead of the dedicated buttons because your thumb can feel for it faster. In any case, again, I've been looking at a green wall for 7 years. LOL!


 Strongly disagree. The directional pad was practically useless for the Prime video playback. With the AndroidTV/TS4K app you have to press up or down and then scroll around to choose what action to perform. So even a simple pause/play is at least 2 presses. Plus you don't have option at all for 10 sec skip back/forward, and the rew/ff is very crude compared to that on FireTV which you can use left/right hold down on the pad for precision, or the dedicated rew/ff buttons for more crude. On AndroidTV you only get the crude rew/ff and no dedicated buttons to get you there. Also, on FireTV I can use Alexa to skip xx seconds or minutes backwards or forwards easily which I don't believe you can do with Android TV app. So at least for Prime Video app, the FireTV is hugely improved compared to the AndroidTV app. That's not a knock on AndroidTV hardware, but a much inferior app available on that platform.


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## siratfus

moyekj said:


> Strongly disagree. The directional pad was practically useless for the Prime video playback. With the AndroidTV/TS4K app you have to press up or down and then scroll around to choose what action to perform. So even a simple pause/play is at least 2 presses. Plus you don't have option at all for 10 sec skip back/forward, and the rew/ff is very crude compared to that on FireTV which you can use left/right hold down on the pad for precision, or the dedicated rew/ff buttons for more crude. On AndroidTV you only get the crude rew/ff and no dedicated buttons to get you there. Also, on FireTV I can use Alexa to skip xx seconds or minutes backwards or forwards easily which I don't believe you can do with Android TV app. So at least for Prime Video app, the FireTV is hugely improved compared to the AndroidTV app. That's not a knock on AndroidTV hardware, but a much inferior app available on that platform.


You're right, I just checked my Tivo Stream. I was testing Plex app before. With Prime, it drops down a menu and so you have to do further clicking. With Netflix, it'll actually show thumbnails. If they give all the apps the Netflix treatment, I'd be happy. I mainly use my Caavo universal remote, so I wasn't aware of the various different app behaviors. I hope they use one formula for all the apps, but that's probably hoping for too much.


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## Ed Starfire

I was a longtime TiVo customer, I dumped cable 6 months ago. I've been using Fire TV Stick, I was looking forward to trying out the TS4K as my wife misses her peanut remote. I spent the past week kicking the tires on the TS4K, I'm not sold on using it as my daily driver. No OTA solution is a critical flaw IMO; the new mini-peanut remote is a Frankenstein of the legacy TiVo peanut crossed with a modern streamer remote & the results are ugly. The TiVo content aggregation software seems to be roughly equivalent to ReelGood or JustWatch, I don't see the advantage of using TiVo's dongle & remote. 
I switched back to the FireTV Stick, for $50 I'll keep the TS4K, but its going on my pile of unused tech hardware. Nice try TiVo, but I think it was a swing & a miss.


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## moyekj

Ed Starfire said:


> The TiVo content aggregation software seems to be roughly equivalent to ReelGood or JustWatch, I don't see the advantage of using TiVo's dongle & remote.


 Even TiVo's content aggregation part is screwed up. There's too many holes in TiVo streaming metadata compared to relative newcomers Reelgood or Justwatch (which is just plain embarrassing for TiVo), and on AndroidTV they can't even launch properly into Prime Video titles, so it's a complete fail for aggregation of streaming services.


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## pl1

moyekj said:


> Agreed. I only wish the firestick had an "Input" button to change TV inputs and that it supported IR learning.


What I do to change inputs with the Firestick 4K is to say "HDMI 1" or "HDMI 2" and it changes the input for me.


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## moyekj

pl1 said:


> What I do to change inputs with the Firestick 4K is to say "HDMI 1" or "HDMI 2" and it changes the input for me.


Interesting, is that using CEC or something else? Because TV I'm using doesn't support CEC.


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## pl1

moyekj said:


> Interesting, is that using CEC or something else? Because TV I'm using doesn't support CEC.


I'm not sure. I think it is through HDMI. I have a Samsung 4K with CEC set to off and it works. I have an Insignia Fire TV as well as a Toshiba Fire TV, and it works. Lastly, I have a real cheap Insignia TV and it works.


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## moyekj

pl1 said:


> I'm not sure. I think it is through HDMI. I have a Samsung 4K with CEC set to off and it works. I have an Insignia Fire TV as well as a Toshiba Fire TV, and it works. Lastly, I have a real cheap Insignia TV and it works.


I have Insignia TV and you're right, it works! I also just discovered that Insignia actually has a "Inlink" setting which is off by default, but you can turn it on and then when I press a button on FireTV remote it will automatically switch the TV input to it via CEC. Not sure I like that but nice to know the option is there. Even with CEC off on the TV though the input switching works just as you described. Very nice, thanks!


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## pl1

moyekj said:


> I have Insignia TV and you're right, it works! I also just discovered that Insignia actually has a "Inlink" setting which is off by default, but you can turn it on and then when I press a button on FireTV remote it will automatically switch the TV input to it via CEC. Not sure I like that but nice to know the option is there. Even with CEC off on the TV though the input switching works just as you described. Very nice, thanks!


You will notice in the FIRE STICK 4K settings that there are all sorts of settings for controlling your TV. They have really done a good job of updating their devices. I actually prefer it over the Samsung built in support.


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## moyekj

pl1 said:


> You will notice in the FIRE STICK 4K settings that there are all sorts of settings for controlling your TV. They have really done a good job of updating their devices. I actually prefer it over the Samsung built in support.


Thanks for the info. Looks like another huge advantage of Fire stick versus TS4K which I'll add to my OP.


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## trip1eX

Yeah if are heavy into Prime and want Alexa...then FireTV is a no-brainer.

I'm not a believer in the 1 UI dream for streaming. I could change my mind in the future. But with few streaming apps I have no problem switching between apps. Also in the streaming world, content is on-demand and I don't have to keep track of storage space and there is always stuff to watch. So I don't have to watch 1 show from each of 10 streaming services every day.

It just works differently for me with streaming so far. I'll go on Netflix and watch stuff. Then maybe I go on HBO and get into a series there. Maybe I will be, 'well Showtime has this and that series and/or season and why not get that and watch that for awhile. ' Then I'm over it. And then I move back to Netflix or something else. I even have Prime and well I haven't even touched the content there much if at all. 

And then I find the aggregator stuff lacking anyway. ARe they showing all the content the service has? I doubt it. PLus it's still launching the app. Maybe you even have to click on the proper account still. A lot of stuff I come across on a service like Netflix is by browsing. So I don't trust the aggregator to really give me any more than the 'top 10 list' of each service. 

If I know the show already, I know what service it is on generally. Maybe a few older shows can switch providers (streaming services) once in awhile and I forget. But otherwise I know. And if there is some show I hear about somewhere and forget every detail but the name, I can google what service it is on if I really need to. 

And then I mean what's the limit on how many different shows you can see on your UI at once anyway before it bogs down into more a mess? I mean you can get such a long list that it doesn't really feel like it is any more of a benefit compared to just switching between a few services. ...


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## mrizzo80

What is the “one UI” I see mentioned in various threads? I don’t think that will ever happen. The closest you’ll get is subscribing to various Amazon Channels or (maybe?) the Apple TV has a similar version of that. 

These companies don’t seem to want to give up customers interfacing with their apps. It would be nice if they would provide a common video control API (queue the xkcd 14/15 competing standards meme) and just stream the bits to a great video player for any service we subscribe to.


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## mrizzo80

Fire OS does great with Prime content in the “continue” strip. And their native video player is pretty nice as well. If the continue strip worked with other providers I would not be playing around with the new TiVo device. ReelGood does a pretty great job in that regard, though. 

I don’t understand why Amazon never iterated on that concept. It’s not rocket science that people want to have a “recently played” list that they can click once to continue watching a given show, regardless of what provider it’s on. I’d love an explanation from product managers on this. 

I’ll probably throw my Firestick 4K on the bedroom TV and load up ReelGood on it and just use both OSs for a while.


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## jimpmc

mrizzo80 said:


> What is the "one UI" I see mentioned in various threads? I don't think that will ever happen. The closest you'll get is subscribing to various Amazon Channels or (maybe?) the Apple TV has a similar version of that.
> 
> These companies don't seem to want to give up customers interfacing with their apps. It would be nice if they would provide a common video control API (queue the xkcd 14/15 competing standards meme) and just stream the bits to a great video player for any service we subscribe to.


For me, Reelgood has been the conduit for WAF (wife acceptance factor). Having had a Roku, Nexus Player for years, then a Shield, then a Fire Stick 4k, then a TiVo Stream 4k + Samsung's built-in apps, the family did not want to use them as it was more confusing to do different things on different machines. Finally, I got them to use Reelgood -- it makes the actual device fairly transparent -- they get to just see the same basic UI on all devices with their curated list and for the most part directly link into the actual app to watch the program. And it was actually remapping the TiVo button that helped that as my wife was used to pressing the TiVo button to get to the main screen.


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## mrizzo80

jimpmc said:


> For me, Reelgood has been the conduit for WAF (wife acceptance factor). Having had a Roku, Nexus Player for years, then a Shield, then a Fire Stick 4k, then a TiVo Stream 4k + Samsung's built-in apps, the family did not want to use them as it was more confusing to do different things on different machines. Finally, I got them to use Reelgood -- it makes the actual device fairly transparent -- they get to just see the same basic UI on all devices with their curated list and for the most part directly link into the actual app to watch the program. And it was actually remapping the TiVo button that helped that as my wife was used to pressing the TiVo button to get to the main screen.


Oh, if that's what it is, then yes, I totally get that.

I thought "one UI" was for people wanting to get all content in one single video playing app and not get bounced around to Netflix, Hulu, AP, etc.

And kudos to whoever I originally read here talk about that Button Mapper app. I did the same thing - my TiVo remote control button opens up ReelGood too.


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## moyekj

I have now setup my wife's TV with TS4K and Reelgood for her set of shows and I'll keep and use the Fire Stick 4K with my Reelgood account for myself.


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## stuart628

Sounds like it’s time for feel good to be bought by. Big fish...TiVo you reading this 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## osu1991

Guess I’ll definitely go back to the 4K Fire Stick on the living room setup. The flickering is back on videos played with plex and Emby tonight. 

I really wanted to like this as it works well with YouTube TV, Philo and the HD Homerun app, but the Live Channels app has an annoying audio dropout on every OTA channel and now once again the video blinking on plex and Emby. I’m just tired of fooling with it.

I’ll leave it connected to my office tv and hope an update comes through someday. I can use it in an emergency for live tv with YTTV or Philo. SiriusXM seemed to work ok with it too, but I already have an Echo and a Nest Hub I can play that with in the office.


Edit: it seems rebooting it clears out something as the same file now has played 9 mins without a screen flicker.


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## vurbano

siratfus said:


> You're right, I just checked my Tivo Stream. I was testing Plex app before. With Prime, it drops down a menu and so you have to do further clicking.


 YUP. Tivimate with IPTV and sling video playback as well. Use d pad to get to a drop down to pause? Ridiculous. I have loved every single remote Tivo has made until this piece of JUNK remote rolled out. Question is what bluetooth remote with play/pause/rew/FF will work with the 4K and still have the google voice button etc??


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## jimpmc

moyekj said:


> I don't mind the Android TV UI, that portion is fine. But lack of dedicated buttons for rew/play/ff and the fact that the main video apps I use work much better with Fire TV is what really sells it for me. The transport controls using the TS4K remote are just too clunky for me. Also the TiVo Stream database is full of holes to where it is essentially useless to me. You are better off just going directly into the video app rather than through the TiVo interface.


FYI, I paired the Fire Stick 4k remote to the TS4k and the rewind and fast forward buttons worked in Prime Video as single click items like they do on the Fire. So, it's not the Android TV app itself that doesn't support it. Maybe there is hope then of mapping the buttons but those must be something different than what button mapper allows for media controls fast forward and rewind. Anyone with a pro version of Button Mapper who can try mapping with keycodes?


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## moyekj

jimpmc said:


> FYI, I paired the Fire Stick 4k remote to the TS4k and the rewind and fast forward buttons worked in Prime Video as single click items like they do on the Fire. So, it's not the Android TV app itself that doesn't support it. Maybe there is hope then of mapping the buttons but those must be something different than what button mapper allows for media controls fast forward and rewind. Anyone with a pro version of Button Mapper who can try mapping with keycodes?


Interesting, thanks. How about left/right Dpad presses for skip 10 secs back/forwards? Does that work too? I'm guessing not.


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## jimpmc

moyekj said:


> Interesting, thanks. How about left/right Dpad presses for skip 10 secs back/forwards? Does that work too? I'm guessing not.


I already unpaired it and moved it back, so don't know.


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## wizziwig

Here are some of the other FireTV Stick 4K features that make it a better buy:

1) Fire TV Stick 4K can be obtained for as little as $25 when on sale during holidays.
2) Has properly working video output that doesn't wash out your colors, crush shadow detail, or elevate black levels.
3) No forced SDR->HDR conversion.
4) Less buggy CEC support.
5) Supports adaptive refresh rate in video apps that support it (Amazon Prime, Kodi, etc.). This gives you native 23.976 fps playback without the 3:2 judder of running everything at 60Hz.
6) For me, it also appears to handle interlaced MPEG2 video better but I need more testing.
7) Easier to get USB ethernet adapters working. I eventually got this to work on the TS4K but it took some finagling.
8) Working HDR in youtube app.
9) Includes HDMI extension cable so easier to install with cramped HDMI ports.

Many others already mentioned like the improved rwd/pause/fwd navigation through dedicated remote buttons.

This will likely get returned within the 30 day window unless there is some miracle software update before my return window closes.


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## siratfus

jimpmc said:


> I already unpaired it and moved it back, so don't know.


What buttons on the Fire remote are you holding to get it into pairing mode?


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## jimpmc

siratfus said:


> What buttons on the Fire remote are you holding to get it into pairing mode?


Home key for 20 seconds. Light will start to flash.


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## siratfus

jimpmc said:


> Home key for 20 seconds. Light


Ahh, I have many fire remotes. The newer ones with the volume rocker is the one that works. I was trying it with the ones without and SMH. Thanks!


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## foghorn2

wizziwig said:


> Here are some of the other FireTV Stick 4K features that make it a better buy:
> 
> 1) Fire TV Stick 4K can be obtained for as little as $25 when on sale during holidays.
> 2) Has properly working video output that doesn't wash out your colors or elevate black levels.
> 3) No forced SDR->HDR conversion.
> 4) Less buggy CEC support.
> 5) Supports adaptive refresh rate in video apps that support it (Amazon Prime, Kodi, etc.). This gives you native 23.976 fps playback without the 3:2 judder of running everything at 60Hz.
> 6) For me, it also appears to handle interlaced MPEG2 video better but I need more testing.
> 7) Easier to get USB ethernet adapters working. I eventually got this to work on the TS4K but it took some finagling.
> 
> Many others already mentioned like the improved rwd/pause/fwd navigation through dedicated remote buttons.
> 
> This will likely get returned within the 30 day window unless there is some miracle software update before my return window closes.


Bingo, it does handle interlaced Mpeg2 video than the Tivo sick stick. Not because of the hardware, the same AirTv handles it in hardware way better then the FTV in software (software is disabled), and with Kodi on the Tivo Sick Stick, the hardware does not function at all, it appears to be disabled and software decoding sucks arse compared to the FTV.

All the software issues on the Tivo Sick Stick are not present on the FTV or the AirTv 4k dongle.

The lack of rew/ffd/pause-play buttons makes the Tivo Sick Stick a terrible buy and a nonstarter. They exist on the FTV and the AirTv Mini 4K remotes.


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## jimpmc

foghorn2 said:


> Bingo, it does handle interlaced Mpeg2 video than the Tivo sick stick. Not because of the hardware, the same AirTv handles it in hardware way better then the FTV in software (software is disabled), and with Kodi on the Tivo Sick Stick, the hardware does not function at all, it appears to be disabled and software decoding sucks arse compared to the FTV.
> 
> All the software issues on the Tivo Sick Stick are not present on the FTV or the AirTv 4k dongle.
> 
> The lack of rew/ffd/pause-play buttons makes the Tivo Sick Stick a terrible buy and a nonstarter. They exist on the FTV and the AirTv Mini 4K remotes.


At least there is hope if things are working on the AirTV 4k dongle, as the settings/configuration can be applied to the TS4k, since they are the same hardware/manufacturer.


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## foghorn2

jimpmc said:


> At least there is hope if things are working on the AirTV 4k dongle, as the settings/configuration can be applied to the TS4k, since they are the same hardware/manufacturer.


Well a plain jane Dongle Andriod TV has no issues, it seems to be a layer of crap Tivo slops on top that messes it all up.


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