# Sling TV integration?



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Has the Sling integration gotten any better in the last year? I used up my trial back when I first got my Stream 4K. At the time it didn’t actually show Sling DVR "recordings" in the TiVo UI you get when you press the TiVo button. Has that changed at all? 

If not is there any other app, or streaming device, that does do this? We want to dump cable but my wife really wants a simple all in one UI where she can keep track of what she's watching.


----------



## eskovan (Sep 30, 2002)

Well, sort of. You can include ‘Sling recordings’ in the Home Screen list of channels, but it doesn’t always work perfectly. Sometimes it doesn’t show everything that’s there, so you have to open the Sling app anyway.

It’s gonna be awhile before the TiVo streaming device is as simple and direct as their DVRs are..


----------



## scottchez (Dec 2, 2003)

On FireTV and Android, the did just totally re did the Sling Interface. It is now more like a Tivo or Cable DVR.
All new, with a real nice guide. Similar to Youtube TV and the others.
Remember Dish Owns Sling, After the lawsuit of many years ago, Dish did contract and buy some of Tivos patents and worked on some coding together for a while.

Other devices will be upgraded later.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

scottchez said:


> On FireTV and Android, the did just totally re did the Sling Interface. It is now more like a Tivo or Cable DVR.
> All new, with a real nice guide. Similar to Youtube TV and the others.
> Remember Dish Owns Sling, After the lawsuit of many years ago, Dish did contract and buy some of Tivos patents and worked on some coding together for a while.
> 
> Other devices will be upgraded later.


I saw a review of the new UI. It looks pretty nice. I'm holding off trying to convince my wife to switch until it comes to Apple TV. I'm also probably going to buy an AirTV to go with it because if she can record her shows from local channels and "cable" in the same UI she's more likely to accept the transition.


----------



## scottchez (Dec 2, 2003)

They just added it to the first batch of Rokus. Firetv is done. Apple will be last. Phased rollout. Slow


----------



## 241705 (Mar 9, 2010)

Dan203 said:


> I saw a review of the new UI. It looks pretty nice. I'm holding off trying to convince my wife to switch until it comes to Apple TV. I'm also probably going to buy an AirTV to go with it...


I added Sling again for a month to get the Olympics broadcasts. If I stick with it I'm also thinking about buying an AirTV, even though I have an HDHomeRun for OTA, just to be able to integrate all my live channels into one guide and make it easier to use. Hope that new Sling app makes its way to my TS4K before my current month of Sling runs out.


----------



## 241705 (Mar 9, 2010)

I decided to buy a Firestick 4K on sale, and the new Sling app is pretty nice. I'm also getting surround sound on many of the Sling channels - hadn't noticed that before.


----------



## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

AirTV pulls your local channels into the Sling app guide, but those channels don't show up in the Tivo Stream 4k guide.


----------



## 241705 (Mar 9, 2010)

SugarBowl said:


> AirTV pulls your local channels into the Sling app guide, but those channels don't show up in the Tivo Stream 4k guide.


I don't use the TiVo Stream 4K guide, anyway. I'm more interested in having a single interface for live TV, and it seems Sling with an AirTV is my best option at this point.


----------



## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

blackngold75 said:


> I don't use the TiVo Stream 4K guide, anyway. I'm more interested in having a single interface for live TV, and it seems Sling with an AirTV is my best option at this point.


Yes. Hulu Live is about the only other option that includes locals.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> Has the Sling integration gotten any better in the last year? I used up my trial back when I first got my Stream 4K. At the time it didn't actually show Sling DVR "recordings" in the TiVo UI you get when you press the TiVo button. Has that changed at all?
> 
> If not is there any other app, or streaming device, that does do this? We want to dump cable but my wife really wants a simple all in one UI where she can keep track of what she's watching.


If you want to go with Sling, then a combo of the AirTV Mini + AirTV 2 + USB hard drive + OTA antenna is probably your best bet for an integrated UI/UX. (Or instead of the $99 Air TV 2, with 2 OTA tuners, you could go with the $199 Air TV Anywhere which has 4 tuners and includes the hard drive. Some of these devices can be had for less/free when you prepay for a few months of Sling. See here.)

If you want to use your Apple TV, you might try FuboTV or AT&T TV, both of which integrate with the Apple TV app that pulls together content from lots of different services.

If you want to go with YouTube TV, then the Chromecast with Google TV is probably the device that will give the most integrated UI/UX.

For the most traditional cable-like experience, but with lots of apps also available on the same device, look to AT&T TV and its optional custom Android TV box and full-scale voice remote.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

So I ended up subscribing to Sling and bought an AirTV anywhere. I like how Sling is integrated with the TiVo Stream now, but it doesn't work with AirTV at all. It doesn't even show AirTV recordings in the My Shows screen. 

If that worked I think I could probably get my wife to switch. This TiVo UI seems to work well enough that I think she'd figure it out. But if she can't record the local channels and put them into the TiVo UI somehow then it's not going to work.

Maybe TiVo is working on their own OTA DVR that will integrate. If they are I'll definitely pick one up and give it a try.


----------



## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> So I ended up subscribing to Sling and bought an AirTV anywhere. I like how Sling is integrated with the TiVo Stream now, but it doesn't work with AirTV at all. It doesn't even show AirTV recordings in the My Shows screen.
> 
> If that worked I think I could probably get my wife to switch. This TiVo UI seems to work well enough that I think she'd figure it out. But if she can't record the local channels and put them into the TiVo UI somehow then it's not going to work.
> 
> Maybe TiVo is working on their own OTA DVR that will integrate. If they are I'll definitely pick one up and give it a try.


From what I've read, it seems like the TiVo Stream 4K's integration with Sling has never been "all the way there" versus just using the Sling app itself. And given the fact that Sling sells their own customized Android TV dongle (AirTV Mini), plus the always-questionable situation at TiVo, I kinda doubt that ever improves.

Would be interesting if TiVo rolled out their own headless Tablo-type OTA DVR for use with the TS4K. But again, at this point, who knows. I'd say it's more likely that TiVo completely bows out of the retail DVR market than launch an entirely new product there.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

That’s what I'm hoping for. A separate TiVo device that can record OTA and then integrate those recordings right into the My Shows list with everything else. 

The integration with regular Sling DVR recordings seems to OK now. It's definitely better than it was when I tried it before. And it looks like they carry data for all the major streaming services now, except Apple TV+, so the "One Pass" thing should work pretty good too. 

I emailed someone I know at TiVo to see if they could give me some insight on what they've got coming down the pike. If they give me any info that I'm allowed to share I'll let you guys know.


----------



## apexadam (Jun 4, 2008)

scottchez said:


> On FireTV and Android, the did just totally re did the Sling Interface. It is now more like a Tivo or Cable DVR.
> All new, with a real nice guide. Similar to Youtube TV and the others.
> Remember Dish Owns Sling, After the lawsuit of many years ago, Dish did contract and buy some of Tivos patents and worked on some coding together for a while.
> 
> Other devices will be upgraded later.


Um. YouTube TV has the worst guide and play system I have ever used. They should all simply copy the Tivo style and include "ad skip". Then Tivo can release the product entirely since that's all they've got left.


----------



## ohboy710 (Jun 30, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> Has the Sling integration gotten any better in the last year? I used up my trial back when I first got my Stream 4K. At the time it didn’t actually show Sling DVR "recordings" in the TiVo UI you get when you press the TiVo button. Has that changed at all?
> 
> If not is there any other app, or streaming device, that does do this? We want to dump cable but my wife really wants a simple all in one UI where she can keep track of what she's watching.


In my opinion, The Sling integration with Tivo still blows. It's clunky and slow and the Sling app locks up a lot. It's nice having the guide in the Tivo stream without having to open the Sling app, but you can't use the DVR without opening the app. Also it keeps cutting off my shows a few seconds before a commercial would normally play, so I miss the last 5-7 seconds of the show before each commercial break. When I use the Sling app on the Roku, I don't have that issue.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

ohboy710 said:


> In my opinion, The Sling integration with Tivo still blows. It's clunky and slow and the Sling app locks up a lot. It's nice having the guide in the Tivo stream without having to open the Sling app, but you can't use the DVR without opening the app. Also it keeps cutting off my shows a few seconds before a commercial would normally play, so I miss the last 5-7 seconds of the show before each commercial break. When I use the Sling app on the Roku, I don't have that issue.


Yeah we tried Sling for like 6 months. It wasn’t good. We switched to a Channels DVR instead. Charter offers a streaming only plan that offers TVE for every channel which costs about the same as Sling.


----------



## jeff.c.sturm (10 d ago)

As of December, it doesn't look like Sling has improved on the Tivo. We're dumping it now. Happy so far with Philo + Channels DVR. Neither integrates with the Tivo guide, but the Tivo features of the device are becoming quickly irrelevant for us.


----------

