# When will the iOS app be updated for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus?



## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

The current app is scaling to fit the 6 and 6 Plus screen. It looks passable as do most apps that haven't been updated for the newer screens. But there is no comparison to an app that has been updated for the new resolutions, you can see A LOT more on the screen and things just overall look vastly better.

TiVo: when is this update coming?


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## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

Knowing the speed in which tivo operates, I'd say 2nd half of 2015.


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Still waiting. 

The good news is that Apple will require this compliance eventually. When the switch from iPhone 4 to 5 happened all apps were required to be iPhone 5 optimized several months after the iPhone 5 became available.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

You don't seem the patient sort, huh? 

Do you want to reach out to Tivo, perhaps?


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Actually most of the apps I regularly use have been updated and some several weeks ago. So I am patient but expect companies to support their products in a timely manner.


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Still waiting, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released almost 3 months ago.

Still think I'm not the patient type?


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

Ha! A mere 3 months...talk to the Android users about patience. 

Seriously, I wouldn't expect an update for this purpose anytime soon. The UI works, and looks fine. Video playback uses the native iOS player, so there is no scaling going on there. It might appear if an update is sent out for other reasons, but otherwise I expect TiVo will do it when it becomes required by Apple.


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## Ashton (Dec 3, 2014)

docprego said:


> Still waiting, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released almost 3 months ago.
> 
> Still think I'm not the patient type?


You're quite impatient.

Google just updated their Plus app for the larger iPhones. Expecting TiVo to update faster than Google is unrealistic.


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Ashton said:


> You're quite impatient.
> 
> Google just updated their Plus app for the larger iPhones. Expecting TiVo to update faster than Google is unrealistic.


Can't agree, as I've said most of my favorite apps were updated very quickly after the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched. If these smaller developers can do it 2 months ago, surely TiVo with their much greater resources can get it done as well.

I'd hardly categorize waiting 3 months as being impatient.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

docprego said:


> ...I'd hardly categorize waiting 3 months as being impatient.


Well then be prepared to feel "dissatisfied" for quite a while longer.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

docprego said:


> Still waiting, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were released almost 3 months ago.
> 
> Still think I'm not the patient type?


Yes.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

What needs to be changed? Isn't the iPhone 6/6+ still 16:9 just like the iPhone 5? If so shouldn't apps just scale to thier screens? I still have a 5s so I'm genuinely curious what the actual issue is when you use the app? does it just look blurry from scaling up to the bigger screen? Or are there some other UI issues?


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Dan203 said:


> What needs to be changed? Isn't the iPhone 6/6+ still 16:9 just like the iPhone 5? If so shouldn't apps just scale to thier screens? I still have a 5s so I'm genuinely curious what the actual issue is when you use the app? does it just look blurry from scaling up to the bigger screen? Or are there some other UI issues?


When apps are not optimized for the larger screen the fonts are abnormally large and less content is visible on the screen.

Here's an example:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14...ort-for-ios-8-1080p-playback-on-iphone-6-plus

It is clear that updating the TiVo app for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would allow more of the program guide and every other screen in the app to be visible at once. This is a clear and obvious advantage that the app currently does not provide.

I stand by the fact that 3 months is long enough and the update should have happened already.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

So it works fine, you just want it to be optomized so it shows a few more characters of text across and a few more lines vertically? Seems like a petty complaint to me. 

Optomizing a UI for multiple resolutions is not as easy as you'd think. Unless you have a very basic app that only uses standard APIs and controlls, which the TiVo app clearly doesn't, resizing is not free. It's something you have to do manually in the code for every control. It can be very difficult and 3 months is really not that much time in the scheme of things.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

There is even an option in iOS8 on the iPhone 6 to choose whether you want more content on the screen (for the apps that support it) or to scale up ALL apps to make everything larger. So, a lot of people are scaling apps that could show more text and graphics because that is what they prefer. If TiVo supported the iPhone 6 display natively all you'd gain is a few more entries in lists and perhaps a few more words in descriptions.

As noted previously, I wouldn't expect any changes in this regard anytime soon.


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Dan203 said:


> So it works fine, you just want it to be optomized so it shows a few more characters of text across and a few more lines vertically? Seems like a petty complaint to me.
> 
> Optomizing a UI for multiple resolutions is not as easy as you'd think. Unless you have a very basic app that only uses standard APIs and controlls, which the TiVo app clearly doesn't, resizing is not free. It's something you have to do manually in the code for every control. It can be very difficult and 3 months is really not that much time in the scheme of things.


It's hardly petty. Literally millions of people upgraded to larger iOS devices 3 months ago. Why? The clear answer: Larger and higher resolution screens. Without updating the app it is no more functional then it was on an iPhone 5. Also it's not just "a few more characters of text across and a few more lines vertically". The resolution of the iPhone 5 was 1,136 x 640, the resolution of the 6 is 1,334 x 750, admittedly not a huge difference from the 5. BUT the resolution of the 6 Plus which concerns me most as I own one is 1,920 x 1,080, a significant difference from the iPhone 5.



Diana Collins said:


> There is even an option in iOS8 on the iPhone 6 to choose whether you want more content on the screen (for the apps that support it) or to scale up ALL apps to make everything larger. So, a lot of people are scaling apps that could show more text and graphics because that is what they prefer. If TiVo supported the iPhone 6 display natively all you'd gain is a few more entries in lists and perhaps a few more words in descriptions.
> 
> As noted previously, I wouldn't expect any changes in this regard anytime soon.


The only reason the scaling option exists in iOS 8 for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is so that older apps which don't utilize the higher resolution screens will still be usable. This gives Apple the advantage of still having an enormous app catalog for their new phones while developers are updating their apps for the new resolutions.

It's all academic anyway because at some point Apple will require this and then the debate becomes a moot point.


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## Ashton (Dec 3, 2014)

Doc, it is obvious that this concerns you very much. No need to go on about it.

Why not go to TiVo with your concern? There's not anything that can be done by users here.


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## docprego (Jan 6, 2014)

Actually it's not the app at this point that I continue this discussion over. It's that I have presented an intelligent debate with supporting facts and I get back comments like "You don't seem the patient sort, huh?" and "You're quite impatient". 

The purpose of a forum is to foster intelligent debate among enthusiasts of a specific topic. I've attempted to do this but continue to get back very little material of constructive value. 

Side note: the mobile app that this forum supports, Tapatalk, was updated for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus well over a month ago.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Maybe they have a significant update coming to the app, which also includes new screen size support, and they don't want to go back and update the current version.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

docprego said:


> The only reason the scaling option exists in iOS 8 for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is so that older apps which don't utilize the higher resolution screens will still be usable. This gives Apple the advantage of still having an enormous app catalog for their new phones while developers are updating their apps for the new resolutions.
> 
> It's all academic anyway because at some point Apple will require this and then the debate becomes a moot point.


She's saying that there is an option to zoom all apps, even those that have been optomized for the bigger screens.

Being a PC developer I can tell you there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to resolution. You wouldn't believe how many issues we see because someone has their Windows DPI setting set to 125% because the native resolution of their screen makes everything too small. People have this perception that more pixels = better, but program UIs are pixel based so in reality more pixels can sometimes result in a UI that's to small to read.

With the way the TiVo app is designed a smaller UI might be hard to navigate. It could make the targets too small causing frequent miss-touches. The 6+ has a 401ppi screen, compared to 326ppi for all other models, which means that without zooming, or a complete UI adjustment, everything in the app would be about 20% smaller then it is on other devices. That could make it nearly unusable.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Even if they don't change the size of the interface, they still want the images to be native resolution and not scaled. Eventually the app will become 6/6+ optimized, whether TiVo feels like doing it or not.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> She's saying that there is an option to zoom all apps, even those that have been optomized for the bigger screens.
> 
> Being a PC developer I can tell you there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to resolution. You wouldn't believe how many issues we see because someone has their Windows DPI setting set to 125% because the native resolution of their screen makes everything too small. People have this perception that more pixels = better, but program UIs are pixel based so in reality more pixels can sometimes result in a UI that's to small to read.
> 
> With the way the TiVo app is designed a smaller UI might be hard to navigate. It could make the targets too small causing frequent miss-touches. The 6+ has a 401ppi screen, compared to 326ppi for all other models, which means that without zooming, or a complete UI adjustment, everything in the app would be about 20% smaller then it is on other devices. That could make it nearly unusable.


Which is exactly why the "larger image"/"more on screen" option exists in iOS8.

Docprego: I think the responses are appropriate...apparently no one else considers it as pressing an issue as you. You are getting debate, just no agreement.


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## jacques (Jun 2, 2000)

Comparing the speed of an upgrade to Tapatalk to the TiVo IOS app is not apples to apples. The Tapatalk app is their primary product, they have to keep it updated, the app is their number one priority. The TiVo IOS is NOT the primary product of TiVo. It's certainly a feature and an important one for people who use it, but the primary focus of TiVo will be the TiVo box itself. 

I understand your desire to have a native 6+ app, I also have a 6+. But I flip flop between android and ios platforms frequently enough that I know there are always going to be apps that fall behind. 

Here's hoping for new mobile apps from TiVo. But I'll not hold my breath.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

I don't have high hopes for a iPhone 6 optimized app. However, the app has to use the iOS 8 SDK early this year (forget the date) whenever they submit an update so it may push them to add support for the new screen sizes. Though, my biggest complaint is not lack of support but the fact that the UI looks like it is about 10 years old.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

They just updated the UI to use the new iOS 7/8 controls. Everything else is designed to look like the UI on the TiVo itself. It doesn't feel old to me at all. Feels consistent with the main TiVo experience. The Android version is a little less consistent, maybe because they have to support so many screen sizes?


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## dcline414 (May 1, 2014)

I believe the 6+ resolution is actually the same as the first non-retina iPad mini... since TiVo is one of the few apps I use that actually has separate iPad and iPhone apps with totally different interfaces, this may pose a greater challenge to develop native resolution apps for the 6/6+.

Many other app developers would already have had an iPhone 6+ resolution built in and could have scaled down an iPhone 6 version. But TiVo only has low(er) resolution iPhone app versions since their higher resolution versions are for the iPad.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

The original iPad and iPad mini resolution is 1024x768. The iPhone 6 Plus resolution is 1920x1080.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Tivo only has so many available resources. I think a rework of the iphone app to support a few more pixels available on a couple new models ranks pretty low on the priority list. Well below fixing bugs in the tivo software that actually prevent features from working and well below adding actual new features to the system. The updated resolutions you ask for can be rolled out at the next major update for that app. No need to expend resources for that when other things are MUCH higher priority in the tivo world. Your ios app works, just not the way you want.


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## Quake97 (Apr 24, 2006)

Personally, I find the app unusable on the iPhone 6 because the video is pixelated. Good thing I have a mini to view video on. 

Joe


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

jcthorne said:


> Tivo only has so many available resources. I think a rework of the iphone app to support a few more pixels available on a couple new models ranks pretty low on the priority list. Well below fixing bugs in the tivo software that actually prevent features from working and well below adding actual new features to the system. The updated resolutions you ask for can be rolled out at the next major update for that app. No need to expend resources for that when other things are MUCH higher priority in the tivo world. Your ios app works, just not the way you want.


I believe the iOS app is developed by a separate team then the main OS, so I don't think one really effects the other. Originally it was developed by an outside company, but I believe I read somewhere that TiVo ended up buying that company so now they're part of TiVo but most likely still a separate team.


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## tghosh (Dec 3, 2014)

I have a 6 plus and am surprised that even 3 months after the phones launch, many "mainstream" apps have not been updated for the new size/resolution 

For example, the Wells Fargo mobile banking app hasn't been updated yet.


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## ort (Jan 5, 2004)

This is annoying, but at the same time not really that big of a deal. iOS8 actually broke this app for a long time. It was unusable away from your home network for like 3 months. Now, THAT was a big deal.

I'd rather see them add background downloading of shows. It's possible, but TiVo can't seem to figure it out.


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## Megamind (Feb 18, 2013)

From TiVo Press Release for CES:

"TiVo will also be demoing a completely rebuilt and optimized Android mobile application coming in March and rolling out premium sideloading to iOS users in the coming months."


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## sofakng (Dec 19, 2003)

I saw that part of the statement too, but what does "premium sideloading" mean?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I think it means that there will be a way to transfer protected content to your iOS device. Comcast allows it via a check out system, where once you transfer a show to a mobile device it's checked out from the main DVR and no longer viewable. If you check it back in then it's deleted from the mobile device and reinstated on the DVR. This satisfies the requirements of the "copy once" flag by making it so the show is never viewable on more then one device at a time.

At least that's what I hope it means. Could be way off and it could be something about downloading content from Amazon or Vudu directly into the TiVo app. The press release isn't really clear.


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## Quake97 (Apr 24, 2006)

Two things. I noticed that the video only pixelates when streaming in home. If I download the content at best quality, it looks great. What I don't understand is why the streaming quality is better on my iPad. 

Second, the app was updated today and they describe the side loading as what was said above. You transfer to the iOS device and the copy is deleted on the TiVo. 

Joe


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