# New Tivo Interface: Tivo UX



## rick123 (Dec 9, 2004)

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tivo-introduces-next-gen-user-070000827.html

Saw this story this morning. Anyone have an idea when this may start rolling out? Sounds like a win for us Tivo users if it's all they describe and actually works...


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

I'll be interested to see the visual changes, and the customizable shortcuts might be promising. The other items sound like a bunch of over-hyped marketing speak.


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## mschnebly (Feb 21, 2011)

Wow, now this looks nice!


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Features of the new TiVo UX:


*Visually rich, appealing interface * With a superior new and modern visual display, the new UX puts content front and center, so that users can easily identify what they want to watch.

*Predictions*  Beyond traditional recommendations, TiVos innovative new Prediction technology takes a users actual viewing habits and predicts the shows they most likely want to watch at that moment.
Fast access to content  The new experience makes accessing content faster than ever. From Predictions to Recent Activity to What to Watch, TiVo minimizes clicks to content.

*Content from multiple sources *TiVos UX was designed to accommodate multiple content sources, delivering users abundant entertainment choices from linear, on demand, and streaming apps.

*Personalization features * The entire experience is personalized, 
from recommendations to predictions, TiVo uses past viewing behavior to direct the user to the content they are most likely to enjoy.

*Customizable shortcuts  *Users now have more control over their viewing experience with customizable shortcuts on the Home screen and the ability to favorite the apps they most frequently visit, giving them quick access to their content across platforms and providers.


*Personalization features:* it sounds like profiles may actually be part of the conversation.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

mschnebly said:


> Wow, now this looks nice!


What looks nice? I don't see any pictures on the article. Just words.

The showcase seems to be this week. When it is going to be available for customers, and to which TiVo devices, is just a guess.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

bradleys said:


> *Personalization features:* it sounds like profiles may actually be part of the conversation.


That'd be great, but I won't be holding my breath. It's just as likely that they're doing all this under the painfully flawed one-device/one-user approach they've stuck with for nearly 2 decades. They consider the current "watch progress" bars to be personalization, even though they're practically useless in a multi-viewer home.

p.s. I'm ready with my checklist if/when the new UX rolls-out.


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## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

I wonder what platforms this will reach, I'm assuming the Bolt and Roamio but most likely not the premiere.

Also will the Roamio and Bolt end up with the same user interface? there are slight differences in the menus and text colors..

I guess time will tell

-TL


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Time_Lord said:


> I wonder what platforms this will reach, I'm assuming the Bolt and Roamio but most likely not the premiere.
> 
> Also will the Roamio and Bolt end up with the same user interface? there are slight differences in the menus and text colors..
> 
> ...


Hard to say, TiVo does not like to maintain different code sets so if they plan on continuing to update the Premiere line with functionality it will get the update, if they plan on deprecating the line all together it will not.

I think it has about a 60/40 chance of being updated.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

Oh, woe is the day that my Roamio moves to a horizontal tile ux for my recordings like the Dish Hopper uses, and God forbid this applies to the guide. My brain processes vertical text lists so much more efficiently than horizontal (left/right) pictures. Hope we have an option for vertical list view if this ux is destined for roamio/bolts.


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## jwort93 (Dec 18, 2015)

Screenshot here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/9/12861534/tivo-rovi-new-user-interface-channel-surfing-dvr


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

bradleys said:


> [*]*Predictions*  Beyond traditional recommendations, TiVos innovative new Prediction technology takes a users actual viewing habits and predicts the shows they most likely want to watch at that moment.


Sigh. Amazon with much more experience and lots bigger computers still insists on putting infinite amounts of utter junk I'd never want on the home page when I connect to amazon.com. I can just imagine exactly how wonderful this innovative predictive technology will be from a company that can't even get factual data right, like TV schedule information.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

jwort93 said:


> Screenshot here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/9/12861534/tivo-rovi-new-user-interface-channel-surfing-dvr


Oh god. More tiles. I hate tiles. Especially when they are different sizes and try to predict what I want to do. Until they put the electrodes in my brain, they have no idea what I want to do.

The one part of Plex I detest is the opening screen that does exactly what the picture here does.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Hmm. TiVo's description of what the new UI/UX is sounds pretty good but I'm not impressed by that single screenshot over at The Verge. Hopefully we'll get a full unveiling of it next week at CEDIA. Will have to reserve judgment until then.

Does everyone assume this will come to the Roamio? I know major software updates have typically been extended back at least one generation before the current one. Still though, the Bolt was introduced with a slightly different UI than the Roamio and TiVo stated that those tweaks wouldn't roll back to the Roamio and they haven't. Now that they're introducing the Bolt+ and can fully make Series 6 the current generation of retail TiVos by retiring the Roamio Pro, perhaps they'll want to further differentiate Series 6 from earlier models by making the new UI exclusive to it.

Hopefully they'll reveal their plans about that next week.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

TonyD79 said:


> Oh god. More tiles. I hate tiles. Especially when they are different sizes and try to predict what I want to do. Until they put the electrodes in my brain, they have no idea what I want to do.


It's a full screen Discovery Bar. Ugh.

If it's customizable, fine, but like you, the predictions of what appears in the Discovery Bar are never what I want to do and I've wanted a way to turn it off ever since it was introduced. Oh well.


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## Welshdog (Jan 4, 2005)

The bit I read said this was "built for connected TVs and mobile devices." It also described it as a "next-gen user experience service." This doesn't really sound like it is for Tivo at all. Sounds like something embedded in TV sets or downloaded to them.

http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/ibc-tivo-introduces-new-user-interface/407609


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

Maybe this new UI won't be rolled out to retail TiVo devices at all. Maybe it's just part of what TiVo is trying to sell to MSOs to put on their own boxes?

I didn't realize until just now that they're not waiting until CEDIA next week to fully unveil the new UI, they're doing it now at IBC, the International Broadcasting Convention going on in Amsterdam. Seems less like a retail-oriented showcase than one targeting industry insiders.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm hoping this is coming to Premiere, Roamio, and Bolt, as it is finally the excuse as to never finishing the HD interface. So long as this is 100% a HD interface.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Oh lord... This board forum going to go nuts!

This one image isn't enough to make an opinion on and for all we know this is the user interface for the new network dvr...

Interesting though


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## sangs (Jan 1, 2003)

bradleys said:


> Oh lord... This board forum going to go nuts!
> 
> This one image isn't enough to make an opinion on and for all we know this is the user interface for the new network dvr...
> 
> Interesting though


I'm not one to overreact, but I'm going to with this. No. No. 1,000 times no. All I ask is they please leave me the option to keep things looking as-is.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

windracer said:


> ... the predictions of what appears in the Discovery Bar are never what I want to do and I've wanted a way to turn it off ever since it was introduced. Oh well.


Yup, I disable everything in the Discovery Bar except 'My Shows' -- and still end-up with noise up there from time to time. The thing is, like with many features on modern TiVos, without user profiles the features are rendered mostly useless, since they aren't customized to a given viewer's history or preferences. (Putting aside the fact that some people just don't want the additional clutter, or the noise of what TiVo thinks they might want to watch.)


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Welshdog said:


> The bit I read said this was "built for connected TVs and mobile devices." It also described it as a "next-gen user experience service." This doesn't really sound like it is for Tivo at all. Sounds like something embedded in TV sets or downloaded to them. http://www.multichannel.com/news/content/ibc-tivo-introduces-new-user-interface/407609


Maybe that's the UX for the Mantis?



bradleys said:


> Oh lord... This board forum going to go nuts! This one image isn't enough to make an opinion on and for all we know this is the user interface for the new network dvr... Interesting though


Yep, that's my thought too.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

HarperVision said:


> Maybe that's the UX for the Mantis?


But it has an "A Options" thing at the bottom, and most streaming boxes don't have the A/B/C/D buttons.

I really hope that's not what the new UI looks like, that looks horrible. And if it is the new UI for the TiVo I hope they don't back port it to Roamio, or they have an option to use the old UI.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

We users have so many places to find out about new shows we may have interest in, I don't need my TiVo to clutter up my home screen with their suggestions, if I want suggestions I will turn on record suggestions, that is the first thing I turn off on any new TiVo I get. Work on the guide data, that IMHO is what counts the most, figure out a way to add time to any delayed program automatically (like 60 Min on Sundays when it follows a sports game) as of now I do it on the One Pass for all CBS shows I record on Sunday. I just want to sit down at my TV press the TiVo button twice and pick out what I want to watch, simple. I will use Google to find out about any new shows I may want to record.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I like to play around a try new things so I will use it until I can make a honest opinion / not an emotional one.

I do expect TiVo to offer the legacy menu just as they did with the SD menu for an extended period of time - but you have to understand that new functionality will not likely be back ported.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

Of course they'll deliver a new UI before complete the existing one... 

TiVo doesn't multitask very well, so I assume the updated presentation will hit Roamio and Bolt in addition to everything else current and upcoming. The question is when.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

davezatz said:


> Of course they'll deliver a new UI before complete the existing one...


The UI on the Bolt is almost complete. There are only a few SD screens left in the setup section. (complex ones like network, CableCARD, etc...) Although the rest of the settings section feels a bit unpolished to me. Like they just crammed all the options in there to make them HD without a lot of thought to organization.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> Although the rest of the settings section feels a bit unpolished to me. Like they just crammed all the options in there to make them HD without a lot of thought to organization.


Yeah, it seemed to me like someone mandated only 2 levels of options, so they had to reorganize a lot of the options to meet the mandate without the groupings necessarily making sense.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Pic of My Shows

The main screen looks alright but My Shows looks like ass. See how the text menu is minimized in favor of the giant tile band that can only fit 4.5 shows? And how the text only shows 4.5 lines too? This board is going to blow up. 

If Tivo's smart they'll make this all optional and not force-feed it to people who bought their current equipment for the current UI.


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

Looking forward to screenshots and/or videos. And maybe an announcement of what devices this is heading to. I'm not really a fan of tiled-interfaces either, but I trust TiVo, so I'll reserve judgement for now.


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## ufo4sale (Apr 21, 2001)

MR Brain is not pleased!!!


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

I'll say the same thing when that I did when we went from the SD UI to the HD UI. I didn't buy a TiVo to watch the UI, I don't care what it looks like. All I care about is how easy it is for me to get down what ever it is I am trying to get done. 

Right now I have all 6 of my TiVos running 3 of them have the SD UI and 3 the HD UI. I find very little benefit to the HD UI and again don't give a rats a** how it looks. Just make is easy to get done what I want to get done.


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## tenthplanet (Mar 5, 2004)

Kind of looks like the Netflix interface...


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> The main screen looks alright but My Shows looks like ass. See how the text menu is minimized in favor of the giant tile band that can only fit 4.5 shows? And how the text only shows 4.5 lines too?


Seems like they're doomed to fail because they're trying to do both, text and tiles. It's just one image but it *does* look awful, functionally.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

lessd said:


> We users have so many places to find out about new shows we may have interest in, I don't need my TiVo to clutter up my home screen with their suggestions, if I want suggestions I will turn on record suggestions, that is the first thing I turn off on any new TiVo I get. Work on the guide data, that IMHO is what counts the most, figure out a way to add time to any delayed program automatically (like 60 Min on Sundays when it follows a sports game) as of now I do it on the One Pass for all CBS shows I record on Sunday. I just want to sit down at my TV press the TiVo button twice and pick out what I want to watch, simple. I will use Google to find out about any new shows I may want to record.


Amen.

Netflix went to that kind of nonsense by default and it takes some work to actually browse the offerings. They used to have a real nice table that you could sort and filter and they understood the difference between a tv show and a movie! Now it is all "here is what is new" and a Barbie TV show is listed next to the latest History Channel offering on Hitler next to Star Wars.

I liken it to walking around a video store with all the pictures (the boxes) but even those were organized by genre and title rather than "we think you will like this."


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> But it has an "A Options" thing at the bottom, and most streaming boxes don't have the A/B/C/D buttons.


Yeah, that is the new Bolt (and maybe Roamio) interface with those buttons. They seem to be making the Win 8 mistake. Trying to force a touchscreen look onto a button system.

I'd imagine they would be navigate to buttons or under a "*" like (Roku) options button for a streaming device. Touch screen you just touch the words.

It can be made portable but we will see.

Wonder if it has sideways scrolling like their new web page. Eek!


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## tenthplanet (Mar 5, 2004)

atmuscarella said:


> I'll say the same thing when that I did when we went from the SD UI to the HD UI. I didn't buy a TiVo to watch the UI, I don't care what it looks like. All I care about is how easy it is for me to get down what ever it is I am trying to get done.
> 
> Right now I have all 6 of my TiVos running 3 of them have the SD UI and 3 the HD UI. I find very little benefit to the HD UI and again don't give a rats a** how it looks. Just make is easy to get done what I want to get done.


 Can't argue with that.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

tenthplanet said:


> Can't argue with that.


True but the SD to HD change was just spit and polish, really. A stopped using Tivo just as the change was happening and came back years later and didn't miss a beat (just had to find where they buried some old and new tricks).

We may be talking a completely new paradigm. Or maybe we are not. So far, all we saw was Tivo Central with a bunch of huge graphics.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yeah based on those two screen shots this looks nothing like the traditional TiVo menus. The SD->HD transition had a similar feel at least.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

I don't understand this whole thing with TiVo. If it ain't broken, why fix it??!!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

thyname said:


> I don't understand this whole thing with TiVo. If it ain't broken, why fix it??!!


Someone posted a link in another thread to a press release from TiVo explaining that they did a research study showing that Millennials will pay money for a system that allows them to search, or get suggestions for what to watch, across providers. I assume TiVo is attempting to tap into that potential market.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

On the one hand, I do think that the TiVo UI/UX needs to be refreshed. Compared to various app interfaces I regularly use, as well as the new X1 from Comcast and the Hopper from Dish, TiVo does look sorta last-decade. And compared to other DVRs, I feel like TiVo requires a few more clicks sometimes to get what I want and it's kinda text-heavy. (Also, the whole thing of not having an Exit button on the remote to escape menus and get back to whatever you were watching is bewildering to me but I'm used to it now.) They'd better be building voice search/control into their new UX too.

All that said, it's definitely risky on the retail front for TiVo to re-engineer their UI because the UI is literally what defines and differentiates TiVo and keeps all the longtime TiVo die-hards on this forum sticking with them. But I'm betting that a new UI is really more about impressing the MSOs they're trying to strike/renew deals with than it is about keeping their retail business alive. Evolve or die.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

krkaufman said:


> That'd be great, but I won't be holding my breath.


Exactly. As we've seen with the guide data transition there can be a fine (curvy) line between TiVo UX and TiVo sUX.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Someone posted a link in another thread to a press release from TiVo explaining that they did a research study showing that Millennials will pay money for a system that allows them to search, or get suggestions for what to watch, across providers. I assume TiVo is attempting to tap into that potential market.


Don't they already do that? How is a new UI going to make the glitchy search of Hulu, Netflix et al any better?



NashGuy said:


> On the one hand, I do think that the TiVo UI/UX needs to be refreshed. Compared to various app interfaces I regularly use, as well as the new X1 from Comcast and the Hopper from Dish, TiVo does look sorta last-decade. And compared to other DVRs, I feel like TiVo requires a few more clicks sometimes to get what I want and it's kinda text-heavy. (Also, the whole thing of not having an Exit button on the remote to escape menus and get back to whatever you were watching is bewildering to me but I'm used to it now.) They'd better be building voice search/control into their new UX too.
> 
> All that said, it's definitely risky on the retail front for TiVo to re-engineer their UI because the UI is literally what defines and differentiates TiVo and keeps all the longtime TiVo die-hards on this forum sticking with them. But I'm betting that a new UI is really more about impressing the MSOs they're trying to strike/renew deals with than it is about keeping their retail business alive. Evolve or die.


Yeah, let's all go with the black background and get rid of text. that is so last century. In case you missed it, I just did what is now illegal in North Korea. Sarcasm.

The Tivo UI is fine except for some inconsistencies and a few extra clicks. They don't have to go to a black background and big flashy posters to fix that.

Oh, and enough studies have been done that millennials don't spend money at all. All these stupid companies try to chase money that doesn't exist.


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

Look how it de-emphasizes any guide by putting 'Menu' at the bottom of the text. Maybe they think this is how they'll take care of their guide data problems by taking the guide out and having the interface rely on search and what you've already been watching. Then you won't be able to see how messed up their data is.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

series5orpremier said:


> Look how it de-emphasizes any guide by putting 'Menu' at the bottom of the text. Maybe they think this is how they'll take care of their guide data problems by taking the guide out and having the interface rely on search and what you've already been watching. Then you won't be able to see how messed up their data is.


Huh?

there is no Guide in Tivo Central now. Why woudl you expect them to add one?

For that matter, who knows what Menu is and why does it have a "0" next to it at the bottom?


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

There's no reference to managing recordings or 1pass. That part is taken out completely, which is consistent with changing the guide. If it's under menu then it's still being de-emphasized. So maybe this is just the Mantis.


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## reneg (Jun 19, 2002)

bradleys said:


> Oh lord... This board forum going to go nuts!
> 
> This one image isn't enough to make an opinion on and for all we know this is the user interface for the new network dvr...
> 
> Interesting though


Even Sofia Vergara doesn't look happy with the new interface.


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## OmeneX (Jul 2, 2016)

I immediately thought of the Netflix interface with a TiVo central portion. There isn't a reason to not believe they haven't just commingled the two types of menus together. 

Imagine that you could surf the graphical displays (ala) Netflix style *if you wanted* or with a quick push of the TiVo button you snap back to the normal TiVo central guide and browse that as you guys are used to?

Basically one is more prominent then the other depending on the user's currently preferred browsing behavior. I would also suspect it would default normally TiVo guide control first. Should keep most TiVo OGs happy.

I figure these screen shots are just rough shots and currently emphasizing the Graphical portions more since it's the "newer" thing to the TiVo GUI. We just haven't seen how the menus animate and/or swap prominence. 

A little polish and quick menu reaction. Hmm.. I can dig it.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

series5orpremier said:


> There's no reference to managing recordings or 1pass. That part is taken out completely, which is consistent with changing the guide. If it's under menu then it's still being de-emphasized. So maybe this is just the Mantis.


Noticed this too. The "home" screen is said to have customizable shortcuts. I suspect that's why the menu items go from 1-4, then jumps to 0. Guessing we can probably add more stuff from 5-9, and/or remove what we don't want.


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

Looks like another disaster. Why do companies insist on breaking things? The text (you know, the important details) is tiny and the images huge. Makes things harder and longer to find. Sigh. Happening to every website and app, including all the big companies, so no surprise.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

weird it's as a SPORTS story


Wondering if I will see it on my Bolt or if you'll need to upgrade.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

senorgregster said:


> Looks like another disaster. Why do companies insist on breaking things? .


No kidding. I'm still livid over the HD menus. I had SD menus for a long time. It worked. I can't believe they changed them.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

atmuscarella said:


> I'll say the same thing when that I did when we went from the SD UI to the HD UI. I didn't buy a TiVo to watch the UI, I don't care what it looks like. All I care about is how easy it is for me to get down what ever it is I am trying to get done.
> 
> Right now I have all 6 of my TiVos running 3 of them have the SD UI and 3 the HD UI. I find very little benefit to the HD UI and again don't give a rats a** how it looks. Just make is easy to get done what I want to get done.


+1000, even though I do prefer the HDUI.

I'm really sick of people who are obsessed with the look of a a UI rather than ease of use and functionality.

"Hey, my TiVo didn't record what I wanted".

"Yeah, but don't the screens look snazzy?"


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

lpwcomp said:


> +1000, even though I do prefer the HDUI.
> 
> I'm really sick of people who are obsessed with the look of a a UI rather than ease of use and functionality.
> 
> ...


Good UI design isn't an either/or proposition. It both looks good and is easy to use/functional.


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

TonyD79 said:


> Huh?
> 
> there is no Guide in Tivo Central now. Why woudl you expect them to add one?
> 
> For that matter, who knows what Menu is and why does it have a "0" next to it at the bottom?


I think the numbers are shortcuts, if you hit the TiVo button and then a number very quickly after, it brings up search, one pass, etc. There is a list of all of them here on the forum (somewhere).


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> Good UI design isn't an either/or proposition. It both looks good and is easy to use/functional.


There are at least twe problems with that. 1. As I said, too many people are truly more concerned with how something looks. 2. "looks good" is a subjective evaluation.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

NashGuy said:


> Good UI design isn't an either/or proposition. It both looks good and is easy to use/functional.


If a UI looks good is 100% personal opinion. While easy of use/functionality is also some what opinion based it is significantly less so.

In the end there are some people who want a new look just for the sake of change. Functionality may not even be a concern. Others will resist change even if the change enhances functionality.

When it comes to the UI on pretty much anything I personally have little use for change that doesn't enhance functionality for me. The old SD UI worked fine the new HD UI works fine, the visual difference between the 2 is nearly irrelevant to me. But the new HD UI did provide some new features that while I don't care about them perhaps others do so in the end I was good with the change as I believed it benefited TiVo.

The same will be true for the next UI change. It will likely do nothing for me functionally and I will find any visual changes to be irrelevant. But if it does something for others and helps expand or at least maintain TiVo sales I will be good with it.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Dave has some bigger/better shots, including a third What to Watch screen:

http://zatznotfunny.com/2016-09/tivo-unveils-new-interface-completing-existing/

It's a step in the right direction as far as modernizing, but it's like they stuck the discovery bar in the middle of the screen, made the tiles so big only 4 panels can fit, and cut off everything else underneath.

Does that giant panel go to a folder, hence no episode description for Blackish? Need more data.


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

Just make it a scalable interface, you choose. Classic or Tiles. Give us color options too.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

atmuscarella said:


> If a UI looks good is 100% personal opinion. While easy of use/functionality is also some what opinion based it is significantly less so.
> 
> In the end there are some people who want a new look just for the sake of change. Functionality may not even be a concern. Others will resist change even if the change enhances functionality.
> 
> ...


I admit, I do enjoy watching all the old men on this forum get their Depend undergarments twisted in knots when faced with some sort of change to their beloved TiVo. They remind me of these guys:


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## richard.furman (Apr 23, 2016)

Will the new UX be fully implemented, or will they half ass it for years on end like the HD interface?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

atmuscarella said:


> I'll say the same thing when that I did when we went from the SD UI to the HD UI. I didn't buy a TiVo to watch the UI, I don't care what it looks like. All I care about is how easy it is for me to get down what ever it is I am trying to get done.
> 
> Right now I have all 6 of my TiVos running 3 of them have the SD UI and 3 the HD UI. I find very little benefit to the HD UI and again don't give a rats a** how it looks. Just make is easy to get done what I want to get done.


My issue is take a full Pro model with 3 TBs and good luck finding a specific show with the UI they have teased so far


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

richard.furman said:


> Will the new UX be fully implemented, or will they half ass it for years on end like the HD interface?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk


if it's a updated software maybe they will be smart and not release it in parts like the old Tivo did.


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## jodell (Jul 10, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> I admit, I do enjoy watching all the old men on this forum get their Depend undergarments twisted in knots when faced with some sort of change to their beloved TiVo. They remind me of these guys:


Hey! I resemble that! Not the ball-chinian on the right but the old bald guy on the left. LOL

Jodell


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

I'll bet right now that looks will beat out functionality. Has on every recent redesign I've seen. Things that were front and center will be tucked away. I can currently see 9 shows on the current my shows. I'd be happily surprised if the new design allows seeing more than 5.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Ok, I will be the outlier....

Can't really tell the full functionality yet but looking at the 3 screens at Zatsnotfunney, 

I like it. Looks good and I can see the distinct possibility of better app integration and easier use. I may hate once its here and there will be a day or two learning curve but I do like where its going. I hope to get it on my Tivos.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

PSU_Sudzi said:


> I think the numbers are shortcuts, if you hit the TiVo button and then a number very quickly after, it brings up search, one pass, etc. There is a list of all of them here on the forum (somewhere).


I got that. What is odd is having 0 at the bottom after 4.


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## jmerr74 (Nov 3, 2015)

I was just talking with my wife how much I enjoy having the TiVo experience again on Thursday and how much we liked it. This could be good or I could go back to Comcast...doubtful but we shall see.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

jmerr74 said:


> I was just talking with my wife how much I enjoy having the TiVo experience again on Thursday and how much we liked it. This could be good or I could go back to Comcast...doubtful but we shall see.


Sadly, what I've seen so far makes X1 look a bit more appealing. Sure hope we are only seeing what TiVo thinks is cool rather than the real guts.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

The thing that is annoying about the SD UI is that because I watch delayed within the buffer, or within a current recording, if I access settings, I have to be really careful about pausing first, else I get dumped from delayed point to live. Also, I agree does it matter what it looks like as long as it works? Sure, I can accomplish objective using tiles, but I really hate em. Much slower for my brain to process than vertical lists.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

richard.furman said:


> Will the new UX be fully implemented, or will they half ass it for years on end like the HD interface?


It was nearly done except for little used screens. I'd bet a dollar this has been in the works for a long time and is why those screens were never updated. I'd guess they only updated screens that had overlapping functionality.

More globally, its unreal how many folks are crapping on something they know little about. Granted, it could have issues, but it could also be awesome.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> It was nearly done except for little used screens. I'd bet a dollar this has been in the works for a long time and is why those screens were never updated. I'd guess they only updated screens that had overlapping functionality. More globally, its unreal how many folks are crapping on something they know little about. Granted, it could have issues, but it could also be awesome.


Hey. That's the chance you take when you market only bits and pieces.


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## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

TonyD79 said:


> I got that. What is odd is having 0 at the bottom after 4.


It seems natural to me, like a phone tree menu.."Press 1 to go to..." Press 2 to go to ...", .... and lastly, "Press 0 to speak to an operator". It could be the final catch-all option where things go if they don't fit elsewhere in a given screen (like the generally disliked, yet still often necessary, hamburger menu on phones), or it could be a 'go back a level' option, or a universal menu with the same or consistently similar options popping up on all screens, regardless of where you are in the interface.

Overall, from the 3 screenshots I've seen, I just can't tell if it's something good or bad for my personal taste. I'd love to see this thing in action before I make up my mind if I like it or not...if it's more graphical, yet performant enough(speedy transitions, zero lag loading up images, etc.) I could see myself getting into it. Getting me to the exact content I want quickly is of course a primary factor, but not the ONLY factor. All really depends on how it feels to use, which a couple screenshots just can't convey.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I am hoping a video surfaces from the demo this week.


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

FitzAusTex said:


> The thing that is annoying about the SD UI is that because I watch delayed within the buffer, or within a current recording, if I access settings, I have to be really careful about pausing first, else I get dumped from delayed point to live. Also, I agree does it matter what it looks like as long as it works? Sure, I can accomplish objective using tiles, but I really hate em. Much slower for my brain to process than vertical lists.


Same thing happens on my Roamio with the HD UI also.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

PSU_Sudzi said:


> Same thing happens on my Roamio with the HD UI also.


Depending on how you have the 'Video Window' setting configured, and which TiVo menu option you explore within the incomplete HD UI, I *think* the previous poster was implying that the Video Window would let them keep watching their content, or would prevent them losing their place, even when they hit the settings menu -- a capability not available in the SD UI, lacking the Video Window. (link)

Or something else.

edit: p.s. Personally, I disable the Video Window feature since it's not available across both DVRs *and* Minis, and so want to avoid being peppered with questions by the family.


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## JohnBrowning (Jul 15, 2004)

Don't particularly care for the purported new UI. The one I have now is just fine. I also don't understand the issues folks have with the little used screens that are still in SD. It is a big "so what?" to me. Probably my biggest concern with the indicated new UI is the font sized of the menus. DON'T SHRINK THE FONTS! There is a huge problem across a wide swath of industries where they hire 20-somethings to implement the UI with zero consideration for 40+ year old eyeballs! I see this everywhere from restaurant menus to computer and other home displays.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Here's a new UX image from this Fierce Cable article








:


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

It is really trying to feel like one of the modern streaming apps - Netflix, Amazon, etc... 

It isn't necessarily a bad idea, it can differentiate itself from MSO devices. But it better be intuitive and quick. And if they port the same UI to support the Mantis, it could be pretty cool.

Don't be afraid of change...


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

The big upper right image is Live TV, in case anyone hasn't realized. So it appears they're making the in guide live window MUCH larger.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

HarperVision said:


> The big upper right image is Live TV, in case anyone hasn't realized. So it appears they're making the in guide live window MUCH larger.


That's about the only change I'm probably gonna like.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I would love to see the channel grid in this UI


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

So it looks like the Home menu will have:
1 My Shows
2 What to Watch
3 Search
4 Apps
5 - 9 user assignable shortcuts to different apps, etc.
0 Menu

That's actually a pretty good improvement over what we have now. I assume you can use the number keys on the remote rather than scroll through the choices and hit OK. And by assigning apps to slots 5 - 9, you can access them more quickly than is the case now. (And who regularly uses more than five different apps on their TiVo anyhow?)

So, fewer clicks to get to what you want.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I always turn off the live window. I wonder if that will be an option still? I don't like it because it can spoil shows by showing you something on live TV that's further in to the show then you've watched yet.


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## tivolocity (Aug 12, 2002)

I do like the ability to have the streaming apps at the top of the menu hierarchy.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Tweaking the UI in this way, moving things around and distracting us visually while telling us we're getting more personalization, makes me think we're the marks in a 3-card Monte game being dealt by TiVo, and the elusive Queen of Hearts is actual personalization in the form of user profiles.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

krkaufman said:


> Tweaking the UI in this way, moving things around and distracting us visually while telling us we're getting more personalization, makes me think we're the marks in a 3-card Monte game being dealt by TiVo, and the elusive Queen of Hearts is actual personalization in the form of user profiles.


Well, there are improvements to be made to the TiVo UI (such as making it quicker to get to streaming apps) that don't involve user profiles. But I would agree that the sort of intelligent personalization that will supposedly be built into the new UI (e.g. predicting what shows you will want to watch based on time of day) would make a lot more sense if TiVo offered user profiles. (And also allowed those user profiles to be tied to different user profiles or logins for streaming apps.)


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

NashGuy said:


> Well, there are improvements to be made to the TiVo UI (such as making it quicker to get to streaming apps) that don't involve user profiles. But I would agree that the sort of intelligent personalization that will supposedly be built into the new UI (e.g. predicting what shows you will want to watch based on time of day) would make a lot more sense if TiVo offered user profiles. (And also allowed those user profiles to be tied to different user profiles or logins for streaming apps.)


Agreed w/ your agreement (see 2nd to last bullet), and that there *are* plenty of improvements to be made outside the "users" space... but it's jamming salt in the wound when they market these changes as "personalization." Like with the "watched progress" bars, these features become problematic and are of greatly diminished value in multi-user households without user profiles.


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

JohnBrowning said:


> I see this everywhere from restaurant menus to computer and other home displays.


The latest villain is Publix supermarkets. They just changed the font they use to print labels in the deli. Now they have 99% white space on the label and tiny little fonts saying what the thing you are thinking about buying is. It wouldn't be so bad if they needed the space, but the labels are as big as they used to be.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

HarperVision said:


> The big upper right image is Live TV, in case anyone hasn't realized. So it appears they're making the in guide live window MUCH larger.


Yes. That is a plus. But that means less data when you pick one of the other menu items or the live window changes size (ugh). They did the size change on directv and it was hated.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> I always turn off the live window. I wonder if that will be an option still? I don't like it because it can spoil shows by showing you something on live TV that's further in to the show then you've watched yet.


Huh? It only shows what you are watching when you hit the buttons so how is that possible? It doesn't show you things you weren't already watching.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

TonyD79 said:


> Huh? It only shows what you are watching when you hit the buttons so how is that possible? It doesn't show you things you weren't already watching.


You turn on the TV to watch Survivor that's being recorded just in time for the big live TV window to show you who just got voted off before you were able to start it up from the beginning. Or the score of the football game in the 3rd quarter when I was wanting to start from the top.

I always press "TiVo" to go to the menu before I turn on the TV and have the live preview off so I don't run into these cases.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

TonyD79 said:


> Huh? It only shows what you are watching when you hit the buttons so how is that possible? It doesn't show you things you weren't already watching.


If you watch sports it is almost impossible to use the Live TV window unless you want the game to be spoiled. There is no guarantee that the active tuner won't be the one with the active recording.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

my wife likes to channel surf...... seems like Tivo is trying to turn itself into an apple TV with a coax input.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

rainwater said:


> If you watch sports it is almost impossible to use the Live TV window unless you want the game to be spoiled. There is no guarantee that the active tuner won't be the one with the active recording.


I can ignore the live TV window pretty easily and Pause works in that screen just as well as when the live TV is zoomed.

It is simple user preference having the live preview on or not, but I do not think "spoilage" is really that big of a problem.

I personally like it, but understand why you may prefer to turn it off.

(Like if you are watching a Disney movie and your wife walks in)


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

NashGuy said:


> So it looks like the Home menu will have:
> 1 My Shows
> 2 What to Watch
> 3 Search
> ...


I thought these shortcuts always existed (even to the SD interface), but were just not visible on screen? I like the reminder, though I can see it being nice to turn off once its a learned response.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

jrtroo said:


> I thought these shortcuts always existed (even to the SD interface), but were just not visible on screen? I like the reminder, though I can see it being nice to turn off once its a learned response.


Well, I know that there are some number button commands you can use for certain menu selections now but they're different than in the new UI. Currently, after hitting the TiVo button and bringing up the main TiVo Central screen, you can press the following single keys to select these menu commands:

1 = Season Pass Manager (#1 Priority)
2 = To Do List (2 Do List)
3 = WishList Search (3 Wishes)
4 = Search by Title (Search 4 Titles)
5 = Browse by Channel
6 = Browse by Time
7 = Record Time/Channel
8 = TiVo Suggestions
9 = Showcases
Slow = Messages & Settings

As far as I know, the above shortcuts are not customizable.

If there's a way that we can currently launch a specific app by pressing a single button from the main TiVo Central screen, someone please let us know.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> Well, I know that there are some number button commands you can use for certain menu selections now but they're different than in the new UI. Currently, after hitting the TiVo button and bringing up the main TiVo Central screen, you can press the following single keys to select these menu commands:
> 
> 1 = Season Pass Manager (#1 Priority)
> 2 = To Do List (2 Do List)
> ...


7-9 only work in the SDUI. In the HDUI, Slow is the Preview Window toggle.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

lpwcomp said:


> 7-9 only work in the SDUI. In the HDUI, Slow is the Preview Window toggle.


Ah, thanks. After 1 and 2, those shortcuts are useless for me and I've never even tried them.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> Ah, thanks. After 1 and 2, those shortcuts are useless for me and I've never even tried them.


Me too except that I also occasionally use Slow.


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## brandenwan (Nov 6, 2015)

Margret Schmidt, chief design officer at TiVo says:

_"The update...will roll out to TiVo subscribers soon..."_

I'm guessing very soon.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

jsmeeker said:


> No kidding. I'm still livid over the HD menus. I had SD menus for a long time. It worked. I can't believe they changed them.


? HD Menus are very nice


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

Surprised they'd roll this out before cleaning up the guide data debacle.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

brandenwan said:


> Margret Schmidt, chief design officer at TiVo says:
> 
> _"The update...will roll out to TiVo subscribers soon..."_
> 
> I'm guessing very soon.


Source / link?

Very interesting! So soon....


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

They really need to get their priorities straight. Pictures are Not faster or easier to use than text. Reminds me of what my boss would tell vendors, "we won't pay you for fashion changes"

Work on something worthwhile.


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

senorgregster said:


> Surprised they'd roll this out before cleaning up the guide data debacle.


Nah, they roll this out to distract users from how bad the guide data actually is .


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## steinbch (Nov 23, 2007)

thyname said:


> Source / link?
> 
> Very interesting! So soon....


It's found in the article linked on the previous page.

It isn't actually a quote, but just a line in the article. The big question is whether it will make its way down to the Roamio or if it will be Bolt only (I'm guessing the latter).


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm still surprised roamio got comskip, so who knows what will happen. A new ui is not for us, it's for new sales or in response to request to a cable partner.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I suspect we will see it on the Roamio and Bolt versions... I think they will sunset and baseline the Premiere at it's current build level.

I am actually not afraid of the change, looking forward to see how it improves the integration with app content.


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## miadlor (Sep 4, 2003)

bradleys said:


> I suspect we will see it on the Roamio and Bolt versions... I think they will sunset and baseline the Premiere at it's current build level.


They should allow us to swap our Premieres for Roamios to thank us for being Beta testers. To compensate us for the pain we went through when it came out.


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## spartus4 (Oct 11, 2014)

bradleys said:


> I would love to see the channel grid in this UI


If you goto Tivo's main page you will see a picture of the guide on a screen in a living room.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

spartus4 said:


> If you goto Tivo's main page you will see a picture of the guide on a screen in a living room.


You mean this one?


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

spartus4 said:


> If you goto Tivo's main page you will see a picture of the guide on a screen in a living room.


pretty sure that's a render using the current tivo central. You can even see the blue line to the right and left of the current discovery bar


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Maybe this is what Ira was referring to being announced at CES and needing our help to test? Seems unlikely he'd say something like that about new hardware, like the Mantis, so it makes more sense that he would be talking about a big software change like this.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

HarperVision said:


> You mean this one?


That's all I found and it ain't a guide. It is an explore this show type screen.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Looks to me like what you see now when you highlight an entry en the discovery bar, only expanded to take up the portion of the screen that was occupied by whatever menu you were in.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

HarperVision said:


> You mean this one?


That screen is actually a little TiVo-esqe at least.

I am betting (Hoping) the guide doesn't significantly change. The layout of the page might be a little different, but I bet the grid design itself survives the transition.


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## spartus4 (Oct 11, 2014)

TonyD79 said:


> That's all I found and it ain't a guide. It is an explore this show type screen.


Sorry about that. Go to business.tivo.com and look under products. It is some of Rovi's stuff. Some of it sure looks a lot like the UX. I hope it isn't. That would make it no better than a cable box with the exception of having apps.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I bet that is your new: *My Shows* menu


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

bradleys said:


> I bet that is your new: *My Shows* menu


Hate, hate, hate, hate.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

^^ That is the current Browse TV and Movies.

The new My Shows is seen earlier in the thread.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Watch the video - new mobile app?

https://forward.tivo.com/videos/B-Roll_Knowledge_Opt3.mp4

It doesn't seem to be branded so I do not know...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jwort93 said:


> Screenshot here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/9/12861534/tivo-rovi-new-user-interface-channel-surfing-dvr


WTH is that??

What the crap? How did I miss this? When the heck is this thing rolling out?

I hope at least all the UI screens are in HD finally?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Most of the Tivo for Business site is pre-existing Rovi stuff. There's even a video "bullshot" of a Rovi UI running on a Bolt. (It's not real and just B-roll footage.)

Some of it has the potential to be cool if integrated into the Tivo UI, such as sports scores, player stats, user profiles, etc. But that would all collectively be a massive re-coding undertaking that's unlikely to happen right away with this new UI. Tivo is slow as hell.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

bradleys said:


> That screen is actually a little TiVo-esqe at least.
> 
> I am betting (Hoping) the guide doesn't significantly change. The layout of the page might be a little different, but I bet the grid design itself survives the transition.


It's a lot tivoesque. The top tile portion was lifted directly from the current tivo central discovery bar.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

bradleys said:


> That screen is actually a little TiVo-esqe at least.
> 
> I am betting (Hoping) the guide doesn't significantly change. The layout of the page might be a little different, but I bet the grid design itself survives the transition.


I sure as heck hope so. I am playing with Plex DVR and they use pictures for everything. That is horrible. No grid guide or listing. Just pictures of "on now" and "starting soon" with no definition of what soon is.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

spartus4 said:


> Sorry about that. Go to business.tivo.com and look under products. It is some of Rovi's stuff. Some of it sure looks a lot like the UX. I hope it isn't. That would make it no better than a cable box with the exception of having apps.





bradleys said:


> Watch the video - new mobile app?
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com/videos/B-Roll_Knowledge_Opt3.mp4
> 
> It doesn't seem to be branded so I do not know...


That's the FanTV (FanTiVo?) stuff I referenced *here*:

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10997140#post10997140


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

bradleys said:


> I bet that is your new: *My Shows* menu


Haha, look at that remote they're using with a Bolt, it's not even a peanut!


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

That looks identical to a "Browse TV & Movies" movie category layout in the current UI.

EDIT: Missed BigJim pointing this out upthread already.



bradleys said:


> I bet that is your new: *My Shows* menu


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

TonyD79 said:


> I sure as heck hope so. I am playing with Plex DVR and they use pictures for everything. That is horrible. No grid guide or listing. Just pictures of "on now" and "starting soon" with no definition of what soon is.


The reason Plex DVR, HDHomeRun DVR and other software only use a picture-based program guide rather than the traditional grid for listings is because the grid is owned and patented by -- wait for it -- Rovi! So even if they got the actual listings from another company, they'd still have to pay Rovi, now TiVo, to license use of the grid guide design.


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## Jed1 (Jun 18, 2013)

What is the old saying "something old is new again". Here is a product brochure for the new TVGuide On Screen UI that was going to be marketed to the CE manufacturers back in 2009.
At that time Rovi was still Macrovision and this was a year or so after they purchased Gemstar. The copyright date is at the bottom left of the brochure.
https://web.archive.org/web/2010010...n_Aug09.pdf?link_id=productsProductLiterature

https://web.archive.org/web/2009072...de_ce/tv_guide_on_screen.htm?link_id=rightnav
Kind of looks similar to TiVo's new UI.

Here is the original TVGuide On Screen UI that started in 1997 and was the first Electronic Program guide on the market. This was version 9 that is embedded in both of my Pioneer Kuros. Notice the action bar on top. You don't have to leave the guide to see your recordings. In fact most of what is in TiVo Central will be found on the action bar.
Also if you hit the info button twice the box would expand and show a list of the shows coming up on that channel for the next 12 to 24 hours. 
https://web.archive.org/web/20100102175719/http://rovicorp.com/support/9466.htm

Here is where Comcast's X1 platform came from. This was a guide Gemstar was also working on when Macrovision bought them. At that time it was known as code named "Liquid".
Take notice what is says under Rovi, "the new name for Macrovision".
Rovi is suing Comcast for patent violations as a lot of their X1 guide is using features from this guide including the search feature.
https://web.archive.org/web/2010010...e_Aug09.pdf?link_id=productsProductLiterature
https://web.archive.org/web/2009072...t_generation_media_guide.htm?link_id=rightnav

Also both guides were incorporating a new search ideal that Gemstar came up with called "6 degrees of search". This would allow the user to search the entire TVGuide database and also OTT sites like Netflix and your cable companies VOD library.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

NashGuy said:


> The reason Plex DVR, HDHomeRun DVR and other software only use a picture-based program guide rather than the traditional grid for listings is because the grid is owned and patented by -- wait for it -- Rovi! So even if they got the actual listings from another company, they'd still have to pay Rovi, now TiVo, to license use of the grid guide design.


And yet everyone uses it. Must not cost much.

But there are other methods that give more data. Lists like in the paper for example. Channel by channel.

No, they CHOSE stupid tiles. Courting the damned millennials.

I find it almost useless with 20 channels OTA. I can't imagine more.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> And yet everyone uses it. Must not cost much.
> 
> But there are other methods that give more data. Lists like in the paper for example. Channel by channel.
> 
> ...


I hope to heck the TiVo live guide is still available. I don't even like the grid guide and this tile crap is much worse.


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## oneprouddaddy (Dec 7, 2005)

Sounds good looks horrible but we will have to wait and see


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

TonyD79 said:


> And yet everyone uses it. Must not cost much.


Relative to what pay TV charges the average customer for the overall bundle of channels and boxes they provide, no, the cost to license the guide grid from Rovi probably isn't a big deal. I'm sure the cost is easily absorbed/hidden there. But relative to services like Plex DVR and HDHomeRun DVR that cost $5 or less per month, maybe not.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

NashGuy said:


> Relative to what pay TV charges the average customer for the overall bundle of channels and boxes they provide, no, the cost to license the guide grid from Rovi probably isn't a big deal. I'm sure the cost is easily absorbed/hidden there. But relative to services like Plex DVR and HDHomeRun DVR that cost $5 or less per month, maybe not.


There could also be a large upfront cost, or minimum order, which makes the cost of entry tough for a small company. Not everyone charges a small per seat license.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> I hope to heck the TiVo live guide is still available. I don't even like the grid guide and this tile crap is much worse.


I hope you get what you want. I still want the grid guide. The live guide makes no sense to me. I want to know what is on multiple channels in the next couple hours not what is on a single channel up to 10 hours from now.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> There could also be a large upfront cost, or minimum order, which makes the cost of entry tough for a small company. Not everyone charges a small per seat license.


So. Patent lengths are 20 years, right? The grid guide patent was 1996.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

So this is strange. I went to the TiVo preview at CEDIA yesterday and they were NOT showing the new UI. I asked about it and the booth folks told me they weren't going to show it.

I did manage to find out that the grid guide will not be removed.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

DigitalDawn said:


> So this is strange. I went to the TiVo preview at CEDIA yesterday and they were NOT showing the new UI. I asked about it and the booth folks told me they weren't going to show it. I did manage to find out that the grid guide will not be removed.


Yay!

But of course why would they ditch their own guide? TiVo owns that now.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> I hope you get what you want. I still want the grid guide. The live guide makes no sense to me. I want to know what is on multiple channels in the next couple hours not what is on a single channel up to 10 hours from now.


I never said I wanted the grid guide to be unavailable. I prefer the live guide because I use it a lot to look for movies that I want to record on TCM and MGM. It's a lot easier to look at a page of entries at once.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

TonyD79 said:


> The live guide makes no sense to me. I want to know what is on multiple channels in the next couple hours not what is on a single channel up to 10 hours from now.


I've always felt the same way... why call it the "live" guide when it only shows you a single "live show" at a time?
With the grid, I get a much better view of what is "live" (multiple live shows at a glance) and what will be live very soon.
The live guide is almost the exact opposite of what you would expect.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

lpwcomp said:


> I never said I wanted the grid guide to be unavailable. I prefer the live guide because I use it a lot to look for movies that I want to record on TCM and MGM. It's a lot easier to look at a page of entries at once.


I guess the live guide is better for finding things to record... the grid guide is better for watching live TV.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

In theory I should like the Live Guide better than Grid, but I don't have the patience to look at one channel at a time. However I'd take either over a screen full of tiles where text is de-emphasized (and tiny). And this goes for the 1P Manager, To-do List, and My Shows, not just the Guide. I deal with tiles on Netflix, but I only use NF a few times a month. I'm not so worried that tivo would get rid of the current Guide, more worried about My Shows.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

FitzAusTex said:


> In theory I should like the Live Guide better than Grid, but I don't have the patience to look at one channel at a time. However I'd take either over a screen full of tiles where text is de-emphasized (and tiny). And this goes for the 1P Manager, To-do List, and My Shows, not just the Guide. I deal with tiles on Netflix, but I only use NF a few times a month. I'm not so worried that tivo would get rid of the current Guide, more worried about My Shows.


I got used to the large thumbnails in windows media center for recorded shows.
It actually made it much easier for my 7YO to scan through recorded shows and find something she wanted to watch. It also worked better in our bedroom where we had a smaller screen and text was a little more difficult to read.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> I never said I wanted the grid guide to be unavailable. I prefer the live guide because I use it a lot to look for movies that I want to record on TCM and MGM. It's a lot easier to look at a page of entries at once.


Didn't mean to imply you did. I was actually supporting your desire. The rest was just a personal comment on the live guide. I never understood its appeal but I support anyone who wants it.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

FitzAusTex said:


> In theory I should like the Live Guide better than Grid, but I don't have the patience to look at one channel at a time. However I'd take either over a screen full of tiles where text is de-emphasized (and tiny). And this goes for the 1P Manager, To-do List, and My Shows, not just the Guide. I deal with tiles on Netflix, but I only use NF a few times a month. I'm not so worried that tivo would get rid of the current Guide, more worried about My Shows.


True dat.

Btw, the tiles actually make it so much harder to find things. I use Netflix a lot and I hate trying to find new stuff on it.


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## brandenwan (Nov 6, 2015)

DigitalDawn said:


> So this is strange. I went to the TiVo preview at CEDIA yesterday and they were NOT showing the new UI. I asked about it and the booth folks told me they weren't going to show it.
> 
> I did manage to find out that the grid guide will not be removed.


Poor Renee. Booooo.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

adessmith said:


> I guess the live guide is better for finding things to record... the grid guide is better for watching live TV.


What is Live TV?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

adessmith said:


> I've always felt the same way... why call it the "live" guide when it only shows you a single "live show" at a time?
> With the grid, I get a much better view of what is "live" (multiple live shows at a glance) and what will be live very soon.
> The live guide is almost the exact opposite of what you would expect.


The live guide does exactly what it says. you see what is currently on for a bunch of channels at the same time. more than what you can see with the grid guide.


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## abovethesink (Aug 26, 2013)

So they aren't going to show this at all at cedia? Bummer. Just the Bolt+ then?

It would be kind of funny if they just quietly ship out the Bolt+ boxes with this UI. It would certainly get us buzzing.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

TiVo didn't have the grid guide for a long time becuase of the licensing costs. That's where their own guide design came from. They added the grid guide first to the DirecTiVo becuase DirecTV insisted on it, then released it to regular TiVos as part of the 3.0 software update. (IIRC) That was like 3-4 years after TiVo was released. At the time the patent for the guide was owned by GemStar and they were very agressive about suing anyone who used it without licensing.


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## mlcarson (Dec 31, 2007)

It's amazing that our patent office is so inept as to give patents out for things like a table. I wonder if I can patent the pie chart.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

mlcarson said:


> It's amazing that our patent office is so inept as to give patents out for things like a table. I wonder if I can patent the pie chart.


I'm sure apple already has that.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

mlcarson said:


> It's amazing that our patent office is so inept as to give patents out for things like a table. I wonder if I can patent the pie chart.


And given that five of those abstract patents were stricken down last year, it shows how ineffective the patent office is.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

mlcarson said:


> It's amazing that our patent office is so inept as to give patents out for things like a table. I wonder if I can patent the pie chart.





aaronwt said:


> I'm sure apple already has that.


Yes, they call it the PiChart!


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> The live guide does exactly what it says. you see what is currently on for a bunch of channels at the same time. more than what you can see with the grid guide.


Yep, I was going to make basically that same point.

Looking at screenshots of the HD versions of each 
The live guide shows you:
(left column) what's currently playing on 8 simultaneous channels AND (right column) the 8 current and upcoming programs on the selected channel.

The grid guide shows you:
For 8 simultaneous channels, what's current and upcoming over the next 2.5 hours (though you don't get a full listing of the furthest 1/2 hour)

If you're only interested in what's on _right now_ either works.

The live guide has an advantage if you want to look further into a specific channel; especially a movie channel - the Grid Guide might only show a single program while Live will still list 8.

The grid guide has an advantage if you want to know what will be playing on a bunch of channels 15 minutes from now (or if you want to see how close programs are to ending on a bunch of channels)


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

What does everyone make of the new TiVo UX announcement/rollout? 

There was a press release, a few tech sites got a bit more info for their articles, and a couple screenshots were provided and/or found by enthusiasts digging around tivo.com. Doesn't seem like a good way to announce your new UX that has been in development for two years.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

aaronwt said:


> The live guide does exactly what it says. you see what is currently on for a bunch of channels at the same time. more than what you can see with the grid guide.


I guess it goes to show I haven't spent enough time on the live guide. I just remember getting frustrated trying to find a currently airing show. I'm thinking it was probably because it was coming on in just a few minutes as opposed to on right now (something I had forgot to record) ... so I was frantically having to flip through one station at a time to find it before I missed the beginning of it... this was before I realized you could switch it to the grid guide.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

mrizzo80 said:


> What does everyone make of the new TiVo UX announcement/rollout?
> 
> There was a press release, a few tech sites got a bit more info for their articles, and a couple screenshots were provided and/or found by enthusiasts digging around tivo.com. Doesn't seem like a good way to announce your new UX that has been in development for two years.


I would imagine now that some of the "insiders" have gotten a first look at it, there will be a more detailed announcement with more information very soon.
They are probably trying to let the Bolt+ announcement marinate a little longer before no one cares anymore because all they are talking about is the new UX.


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## SrLANGuy (Dec 26, 2001)

adessmith said:


> I guess it goes to show I haven't spent enough time on the live guide. I just remember getting frustrated trying to find a currently airing show. I'm thinking it was probably because it was coming on in just a few minutes as opposed to on right now (something I had forgot to record) ... so I was frantically having to flip through one station at a time to find it before I missed the beginning of it... this was before I realized you could switch it to the grid guide.


FYI - When you use the TiVo Live Guide, the date & time are shown on the left side just above the 8 channels, but you'll also notice that to left of the date & time is the Rewind symbol and to the right is a Fast-Forward symbol. So you can use those buttons on the remote to move forwards or backwords in 30-minute increments. So for instance, early in the day, I bring up the TiVo Live Guide and start hitting fast-forward until it shows 7:00pm and then the left side shows me all of the prime-time shows. Also, if you look at the bottom right of the TiVo Live Guide, it shows that you can use the Instant Replay button or the Jump Forward button to move to the previous or next day. Very convenient for scheduling recordings.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

SrLANGuy said:


> FYI - When you use the TiVo Live Guide, the date & time are shown on the left side just above the 8 channels, but you'll also notice that to left of the date & time is the Rewind symbol and to the right is a Fast-Forward symbol. So you can use those buttons on the remote to move forwards or backwords in 30-minute increments. So for instance, early in the day, I bring up the TiVo Live Guide and start hitting fast-forward until it shows 7:00pm and then the left side shows me all of the prime-time shows. Also, if you look at the bottom right of the TiVo Live Guide, it shows that you can use the Instant Replay button or the Jump Forward button to move to the previous or next day. Very convenient for scheduling recordings.


And what about shows not on the half hour?

No one can convince me that the Live Guide is better.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

TonyD79 said:


> And what about shows not on the half hour?
> 
> No one can convince me that the Live Guide is better.


You're moving the guide forward 30 minutes. It still shows you what is airing at that time. So if say you advance the guide to 7:30 and the channel you're on has something airing from 6:00-8:00 it will still show you the 6:00pm show. If you advance to 8:00 then that show will go away and whatever is on at 8:00 will be at the top of the list.

The TiVo Guide is much, much, better for setting up recordings for future shows. Especially for movie channels. It allows you to pull up that channel, switch over to the right panel, and then you can use channel up/down to scroll through pages at a time. With grid you can only use left/right arrows to move one program at a time on a single channel.

Although if you're using the guide to actually watch live TV I could see how the grid might be better for finding something to watch. But I never watch live TV so that functionality isn't useful to me at all.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> ....... The TiVo Guide is much, much, better for setting up recordings for future shows. Especially for movie channels. It allows you to pull up that channel, switch over to the right panel, and then you can use channel up/down to scroll through pages at a time. With grid you can only use left/right arrows to move one program at a time on a single channel. ......


I thought you could use the *-->|* button to jump like 12 or 24hrs ahead in the grid guide?


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## JolDC (Dec 21, 2001)

HarperVision said:


> I thought you could use the *-->|* button to jump like 12 or 24hrs ahead in the grid guide?


Yes. FF skips ahead two hours and skip to tick skips ahead 24 hours.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

HarperVision said:


> I thought you could use the *-->|* button to jump like 12 or 24hrs ahead in the grid guide?


*Advance and Replay *jump the Grid Guide *1 day ahead and back*.

*FastForward and Rewind *jump the Grid Guide *1 page forward and back*.

Regardless, the Grid Guide doesn't provide as clear a view (i.e. easily readable and digestable) of the current and upcoming programming. Using Dan's example, on any one page of the Grid Guide, you might see 1 or 2 movie titles for a given channel, and 1 of them is likely truncated. You'll need to scroll right to see any additional titles. Compare that to the Live Guide, where you'll always be able to see 8 titles in the right pane. (That said, I always use the Grid Guide.)


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

I am not sure why any cares which guide someone else likes or uses. Just for reference I like the Live Guide better. But as others have said I don't use the Guide much as I don't use it find live TV to watch as I don't watch live TV.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

I really like the Live Guide in theory (as I've already stated) but I'm a manic TV watcher and generally watch 4 tuners at once. I tune to one or two news channels, a sports channel, a movie premium and Smithsonian or Science or something similar.

I'm generally pausing on the news channels to build up enough buffer to skip commercials (oh, if we only had a 60 minute buffer!) and I swap through the tuners.

Grid Guide is easier for me to tune to something else when one of my four tuners is tuned to something I'm no longer interested in swapping to. 

What I stated above is how I watch TV when I'm not watching a recording, where I totally focus on that recording, and don't care what's on the tuners (although they're generally still tuned to a channel I'd want to be on when I'm done watching recordings, and can rewind any of the 4 tuners by 30 minutes). 

Based off of everything everyone's said about Live Guide, I'm gonna give it another shot today. 

And yeah, I have issues.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> You're moving the guide forward 30 minutes. It still shows you what is airing at that time. So if say you advance the guide to 7:30 and the channel you're on has something airing from 6:00-8:00 it will still show you the 6:00pm show. If you advance to 8:00 then that show will go away and whatever is on at 8:00 will be at the top of the list.
> 
> The TiVo Guide is much, much, better for setting up recordings for future shows. Especially for movie channels. It allows you to pull up that channel, switch over to the right panel, and then you can use channel up/down to scroll through pages at a time. With grid you can only use left/right arrows to move one program at a time on a single channel.
> 
> Although if you're using the guide to actually watch live TV I could see how the grid might be better for finding something to watch. But I never watch live TV so that functionality isn't useful to me at all.


But why would you want to limit yourself to one channel for the future? TCM maybe. But HBO is several channels. Most of the movie channels are. So you miss what is on hbo2 because you are focusing on HBO.

Besides if I want to see movies, I can search for them and not limit at all. With live guide you are limiting what you see because you are assuming what you want to see is on a specific channel.

There is a reason why everyone uses a grid. Almost every DVR. Newspapers. Webpages.

The fact is that the live guide only exists because TiVo didn't want to pay the fee for the guide. Not because it is better.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## series5orpremier (Jul 6, 2013)

FitzAusTex said:


> I really like the Live Guide in theory (as I've already stated) but I'm a manic TV watcher and generally watch 4 tuners at once. I tune to one or two news channels, a sports channel, a movie premium and Smithsonian or Science or something similar.
> 
> .....
> 
> And yeah, I have issues.


Sounds normal to me.


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Can we get back on topic? This new UI has nothing to do with a live tv guide. Arguing about which one is better seems pointless.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

How did this thread deteriorate into an argument about which guide is better? Can't we just all agree that most of us hate the idea of tiles and wish to continue to use the guide of our choice?


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

Personally, I think the tivo UI is due for an update.
Not sure if this is the right way to go with it (not until it arrives) but at least they are doing something.
Hopefully a new way of combining local recordings and streaming services works better than the hack job they did with onepass. To me, it has always seemed clunky and episodes always seem to appear on hulu days before they show up in my onepass. Its a chore to navigate to recordings where there are hundreds of episodes available to stream with the current interface.
My guess is the screenshots you are seeing with the large tiles will be a sort of shortcut for the predictive stuff they mention, and mostly limited to the main tivo central screen and a few other areas. Most likely you will still be able to browse shows in a more traditional style interface if you so choose... or we can hope anyway.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

lpwcomp said:


> How did this thread deteriorate into an argument about which guide is better? Can't we just all agree that most of us hate the idea of tiles and wish to continue to use the guide of our choice?


I do not think the Guide will change, but other content will migrate from lists to art.

I picture the My Shows list be be similar to Plex, where you can view the content as poster art with an option to display as a list.

I think the UI is due for a change and I am keeping an open mind.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

Whatever they do it has to be snappy and quick to do common tasks, or nobody will like it. And if we have to buy a Bolt to get acceptable performance, that's going to suck.

I accept that the HTML 5 interface to the streaming Apps is going to be clunky, but they'd better not do that to the entire UI.


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## tlc (May 30, 2002)

atmuscarella said:


> I didn't buy a TiVo to watch the UI, I don't care what it looks like. All I care about is how easy it is for me to get down what ever it is I am trying to get done.


*This.* Text is best. Images don't help. I haven't gone back to the SD UI, but I've completely tuned out the Discovery Bar. I only notice it when I accidentally navigate into it.



Dan203 said:


> Someone posted a link in another thread to a press release from TiVo explaining that they did a research study showing that Millennials will pay money for a system that allows them to search, or get suggestions for what to watch, across providers. I assume TiVo is attempting to tap into that potential market.


Searching/suggesting across multiple providers is fine. Just present the info better.

And give me suggestions when I ask for them, not every screen.

There's not enough room for text in these images.
I hope that's just the top screen and "My Shows" is like normal. I don't want to have the useful part of the UI limited to that upper left hand corner.

AND DO I SEE GREY ON BLACK TEXT ??? Come on!

If it's as bad as it looks, I hope it doesn't reach the Premieres.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

tlc said:


> AND DO I SEE GREY ON BLACK TEXT ??? Come on!
> 
> If it's as bad as it looks, I hope it doesn't reach the Premieres.


If the UI was designed by the same people who put the following web page together, we're in trouble...

https://forward.tivo.com


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

krkaufman said:


> If the UI was designed by the same people who put the following web page together, we're in trouble...
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com


 What the heck was that!?!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

krkaufman said:


> If the UI was designed by the same people who put the following web page together, we're in trouble...
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com


There is a video at the end and it shows something about FanTV. Maybe Harpervision is right!


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> There is a video at the end and it shows something about FanTV. Maybe Harpervision is right!


Well, if you would've read my darn post where I spell this out, you would've already known! 

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10997140#post10997140


HarperVision said:


> .........
> *TiVo is bought by Rovi:*
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com/#
> ...


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Your post was to long.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Short attention span there, Dan?

You don't have to read all the website articles that I quoted. You can just follow the links at your leisure and peruse them and see the flow, history and facts that pop out. To me the biggest is the fact that of the four major players lately in the "vision" they all seem to mention (Rovi, FanTV, TiVo and Evolution Digital)........three of the four of them are now *ONE COMPANY*.....the new TiVo (but actually the old Rovi as parent)!

I'll go back and maybe make the long website quotes into "spoiler tags" so you only have to see and read if you choose to. I'm sure that'll enhance the readability. Sorry, my brain thinks "technically" and I'm not the best writer nor good at putting what's jumbled in my brain into a clear and concise form in writing. In my mind it all comes together and makes sense.


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## brandenwan (Nov 6, 2015)

HarperVision said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Like a Borg...


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> If the UI was designed by the same people who put the following web page together, we're in trouble...
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com


I HATE those websites designed around parallax scrolling.
It's become a fad now, and I can't wait to see it die.


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## puterart (Nov 12, 2015)

I'm a software developer who puts a TON of emphasis on the UI/UX of apps and I am so saddened to read the comments in this thread. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". SERIOUSLY?! I purchased my first ever tivo just a year ago and I was sorely disappointed by the UI/UX. It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy. A new interface is always scary and I don't think tivo attempting a new one should go without criticism but let's not resist change simply because it's change. I applaud tivo for attempting to enter the 21st century with a new interface.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Having got a TON of flack about the new UI in VideoReDo v5 I know what it's like to be proud of something and then have someone crap all over it because they liked the old one better. But our changes were mainly cosmetic, this looks to be a pretty substantial change to the way you use the UI, so I'm going to reserve judgement until I actually try it out.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

It's an awful change to increase the Discovery Bar experience "advertising" shows it tries to put into your face (yeah, that has to be another revenue stream for TiVo: pay us and we'll promote you on our Discovery Bar). And the text portion that is to be the menu options seems purposely designed to seem far more bland than the pretty pictures. Guess where they eye is drawn to. Yeah, the Discovery Bar experience can be turned off, but I am certain the vast majority of Joe Blows, Joe Sixpack's, and Suzi Q's will have no idea that it can be turned off nor no how to turn it off. Those poor souls would have to drill down through the menus to do it and plain folk just don't do that for fear of messing up stuff.


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

Some of us have been using computers every day for 30+ years. Developers are always pushing GUI's but Rarely are they improvements. Fashion changes do not impress us.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

Now I don't know if this is true or not, but one of the TiVo booth folks at CEDIA said the new UI wasn't coming for quite a while -- like 8 to 12 months.


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## steinbch (Nov 23, 2007)

DigitalDawn said:


> Now I don't know if this is true or not, but one of the TiVo booth folks at CEDIA said the new UI wasn't coming for quite a while -- like 8 to 12 months.


That doesn't surprise me at all. At the earliest would be in January for CES, but even that would just be an announcement and not a release. I'm guessing we see it release sometime in the summer months of next year and be a Bolt exclusive. The Bolt and Roamio can both handle the latest HDUI pretty similarly, but I think the new UX will be built to take advantage of the added power of the Bolt processor.


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

puterart said:


> I'm a software developer who puts a TON of emphasis on the UI/UX of apps and I am so saddened to read the comments in this thread. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". SERIOUSLY?! I purchased my first ever tivo just a year ago and I was sorely disappointed by the UI/UX. It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy. A new interface is always scary and I don't think tivo attempting a new one should go without criticism but let's not resist change simply because it's change. I applaud tivo for attempting to enter the 21st century with a new interface.


I'd say if it ain't broke don't break it. That's what so many of these improvements do. Yes they make things look modern but they typically result in laggy loads and/or hard to navigate screens. The same is true for websites apps and device ui. I will say I loved the sd-->HD upgrade. That improved the look and usability IMHO. I'm not asking for a barren list of text in menus, I just don't want important information several screen down presses away or in submenus.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

puterart said:


> I'm a software developer who puts a TON of emphasis on the UI/UX of apps and I am so saddened to read the comments in this thread. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". SERIOUSLY?! I purchased my first ever tivo just a year ago and I was sorely disappointed by the UI/UX. It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy. A new interface is always scary and I don't think tivo attempting a new one should go without criticism but let's not resist change simply because it's change. I applaud tivo for attempting to enter the 21st century with a new interface.





senorgregster said:


> I'd say if it ain't broke don't break it. That's what so many of these improvements do. Yes they make things look modern but they typically result in laggy loads and/or hard to navigate screens. The same is true for websites apps and device ui. I will say I loved the sd-->HD upgrade. That improved the look and usability IMHO. I'm not asking for a barren list of text in menus, I just don't want important information several screen down presses away or in submenus.


From my point of view how a UI looks is only important in regards to how it affects my ability to get done what I want to get done. Anything to do with making it look "modern" or change for the sake of change is, from my point of view, at best annoying and if it ends up making it harder to get done what I want to get done, a complete disaster.

I understand that lots of creative types don't get this point of view, but as I have said many times, I don't buy TiVos to watch the UI, the UI is simple a tool and I don't really care how it looks only how it works.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

People are making a lot of assumptions about how the interface will work given only a few screenshots. 

Without having a demo or user guide to confirm your worst assumptions, how about giving TiVo the benefit of the doubt on building a UI.


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## puterart (Nov 12, 2015)

jth tv said:


> Some of us have been using computers every day for 30+ years. Developers are always pushing GUI's but Rarely are they improvements. Fashion changes do not impress us.


Developers don't push GUI's, designers do (though when developers do that's when you get something ugly and horrendous to use). I think you may have highlighted the issue though in your one sentence, 30+ years. I think the die hard tivo users just might be too old. I kid . . . sort of.

Maybe you're right. Maybe GUI's are rarely improvements. Sure, GUI's aren't even actually necessary; we could do everything from a command line if we desired. I recall my mom hating the early iterations of Microsoft Word because she used WordPerfect from DOS and just found Word too confusing because instead of all of these text menus items were obfuscated by these newfangled thingamabobs called icons. Thank God we ditched icons and never used them again. That's what a lot of people on here sound like right now without even USING the interface.

https://winworldpc.com/res/img/scre...c7cd465e0ce76fc149-WordPerfect 5.1 - Edit.png

That's a picture of what WordPerfect is and Tivo's current interface is not far from being that compared to newer UI's. It's tough getting old.


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## mschnebly (Feb 21, 2011)

I think Tivo should just roll out the new UX moving forward with the new stuff. That way the older grouchy Tivo users don't have to "suffer" something new.  New users will enjoy the new UX and find it similar to literally every other device they now use.


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## puterart (Nov 12, 2015)

mschnebly said:


> I think Tivo should just roll out the new UX moving forward with the new stuff. That way the older grouchy Tivo users don't have to "suffer" something new.  New users will enjoy the new UX and find it similar to literally every other device they now use.


Amen.


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## puterart (Nov 12, 2015)

krkaufman said:


> If the UI was designed by the same people who put the following web page together, we're in trouble...
> 
> https://forward.tivo.com


Yikes! I agree, that page is terrible.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

DigitalDawn said:


> Now I don't know if this is true or not, but one of the TiVo booth folks at CEDIA said the new UI wasn't coming for quite a while -- like 8 to 12 months.


Welp, there goes my theory! 

Or maybe they're revamping their crappy UX they designed themselves for the last couple years and now that they're part of one company with FanTV/Rovi, they're redesigning it into.......yes........*FanTiVo*, as predicted! 



mschnebly said:


> I think Tivo should just roll out the new UX moving forward with the new stuff. That way the older grouchy Tivo users don't have to "suffer" something new.  New users will enjoy the new UX and find it similar to literally every other device they now use.


Hey you young whipper snapper, get off my forum's lawn!!!


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

ah30k said:


> People are making a lot of assumptions about how the interface will work given only a few screenshots.
> 
> Without having a demo or user guide to confirm your worst assumptions, how about giving TiVo the benefit of the doubt on building a UI.


You may be right and I hope you are.


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

mschnebly said:


> I think Tivo should just roll out the new UX moving forward with the new stuff. That way the older grouchy Tivo users don't have to "suffer" something new.  New users will enjoy the new UX and find it similar to literally every other device they now use.


I guess 40 is the new old


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

mschnebly said:


> I think Tivo should just roll out the new UX moving forward with the new stuff. That way the older grouchy Tivo users don't have to "suffer" something new.  New users will enjoy the new UX and find it similar to literally every other device they now use.





puterart said:


> Amen.


Except most people buying new TiVos are not more likely to be young or new to TiVo.

When TiVo rolled out the last UI update back in 2010 on the Premiere line they allowed people to pick between the new UI and Old UI. Which makes allot of sense as many people have more than one TiVo in their homes and having to use completely different UIs is a pain for lots of people.

In the end all that matters to me is how well a new UI works for me. I don't mind having to spend some time learning it as long as the ends results are I have a UI that works as good or better than the old one.

No matter what TiVo does on the UI front (including doing nothing) some people will not like it and pretty much everyone already has or will have a list of changes they would like.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

puterart said:


> https://winworldpc.com/res/img/scre...c7cd465e0ce76fc149-WordPerfect 5.1 - Edit.png
> 
> That's a picture of what WordPerfect i̶s̶ was [fixed it for ya] and Tivo's current interface is not far from being that compared to newer UI's. It's tough getting old.


Thanks for that trip down memory lane. FWIW, I'm *still *using WordPerfect for my legacy documents (and OpenOffice for everything else) and have never bothered much with Word. Different strokes and all . . .

I also much preferred MSDOS over Windows. Having mastered most of the commands, I felt I had more control over operations than users who were limited to those drop-down menus or silly icons .

Man, am I old.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

puterart said:


> Developers don't push GUI's, designers do (though when developers do that's when you get something ugly and horrendous to use). I think you may have highlighted the issue though in your one sentence, 30+ years. I think the die hard tivo users just might be too old. I kid . . . sort of.
> 
> Maybe you're right. Maybe GUI's are rarely improvements. Sure, GUI's aren't even actually necessary; we could do everything from a command line if we desired. I recall my mom hating the early iterations of Microsoft Word because she used WordPerfect from DOS and just found Word too confusing because instead of all of these text menus items were obfuscated by these newfangled thingamabobs called icons. Thank God we ditched icons and never used them again. That's what a lot of people on here sound like right now without even USING the interface.
> 
> ...


Both my mom and my wife complained about the change for YEARS! If I were to bring the topic up again I am sure I could get either of them going again!


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

bradleys said:


> Both my mom and my wife complained about the change for YEARS! If I were to bring the topic up again I am sure I could get either of them going again!


eh, gotta save that for when the distraction would be more advantageous.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Series3Sub said:


> It's an awful change to increase the Discovery Bar experience "advertising" shows it tries to put into your face (yeah, that has to be another revenue stream for TiVo: pay us and we'll promote you on our Discovery Bar). And the text portion that is to be the menu options seems purposely designed to seem far more bland than the pretty pictures. Guess where they eye is drawn to. Yeah, the Discovery Bar experience can be turned off, but I am certain the vast majority of Joe Blows, Joe Sixpack's, and Suzi Q's will have no idea that it can be turned off nor no how to turn it off. Those poor souls would have to drill down through the menus to do it and plain folk just don't do that for fear of messing up stuff.


I don't want to turn off the Discovery Bar. I have discovered a bunch of programs because of the Discovery Bar. Without it I probably would have never looked at those shows. The Discovery Bar has come in very handy for me since it was introduced. The last thing I want to do is remove it.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Series3Sub said:


> Yeah, the Discovery Bar experience can be turned off, but I am certain the vast majority of Joe Blows, Joe Sixpack's, and Suzi Q's will have no idea that it can be turned off nor no how to turn it off. Those poor souls would have to drill down through the menus to do it and plain folk just don't do that for fear of messing up stuff.


I guess I'm no better than "the vast majority of Joe Blows, Joe Sixpack's, and Suzi Q's" since I have no idea how to turn off the discovery bar. Pray enlighten me as to the methodology for accomplishing this.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

There is no way to turn off the discovery bar in the current UI. You can customize what's shown in it, to an extent, but you can't turn it off completely.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

puterart said:


> Developers don't push GUI's, designers do (though when developers do that's when you get something ugly and horrendous to use). I think you may have highlighted the issue though in your one sentence, 30+ years. I think the die hard tivo users just might be too old. I kid . . . sort of.
> 
> Maybe you're right. Maybe GUI's are rarely improvements. Sure, GUI's aren't even actually necessary; we could do everything from a command line if we desired. I recall my mom hating the early iterations of Microsoft Word because she used WordPerfect from DOS and just found Word too confusing because instead of all of these text menus items were obfuscated by these newfangled thingamabobs called icons. Thank God we ditched icons and never used them again. That's what a lot of people on here sound like right now without even USING the interface.
> 
> ...


I get sarcasm. However, you do realize that Microsoft went back to menus mixed in with icons and things with Win 10 because Win 8 was such a disaster?


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

puterart said:


> Yikes! I agree, that page is terrible.


You just regained some credibility.


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## tomhorsley (Jul 22, 2010)

TonyD79 said:


> I get sarcasm. However, you do realize that Microsoft went back to menus mixed in with icons and things with Win 10 because Win 8 was such a disaster?


There is exactly one icon that was easy to recognize: The little envelope that represented mail. Designers said, "Hey!, Everyone can find mail easier with the icon, obviously everything else should be icons too!". That was when it went to hell, because no icon ever designed since then means anything to anyone except the designer.

Worse yet, they keep "updating" the style and icons and layouts, so if you did finally learn what the obscure funny looking blob probably meant simply because you used the interface so much, the "new and improved" interface will leave you with no idea what is going on once again .


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

IMHO, part of the problem is that too many people are obsessed with the G and forget about the U.


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## pig_man (Jun 4, 2009)

puterart said:


> I purchased my first ever tivo just a year ago and I was sorely disappointed by the UI/UX. It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy.


I agree, reading text is hard, let's go shopping instead!


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

tomhorsley said:


> There is exactly one icon that was easy to recognize: The little envelope that represented mail. Designers said, "Hey!, Everyone can find mail easier with the icon, obviously everything else should be icons too!". That was when it went to hell, because no icon ever designed since then means anything to anyone except the designer.
> 
> Worse yet, they keep "updating" the style and icons and layouts, so if you did finally learn what the obscure funny looking blob probably meant simply because you used the interface so much, the "new and improved" interface will leave you with no idea what is going on once again .


And they make them smaller and smaller and make subtle differences between them.

Apple just enlarged emojis (there must be 56 different ways of winking) in text messages so you can tell which damned one you just picked.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> IMHO, part of the problem is that too many people are obsessed with the G and forget about the U.


Amen! I want the U and I want the other I (information). I always change my view in Windows Explorer to "details" because I can tell so much more than a snap shot of a word document that I can't read anyway.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

TonyD79 said:


> Amen! I want the U and I want the other I (information). I always change my view in Windows Explorer to "details" because I can tell so much more than a snap shot of a word document that I can't read anyway.


I thought the "I" was for "Interface"?

GUI:
Graphical
User
Interface

No?


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

HarperVision said:


> I thought the "I" was for "Interface"?
> 
> GUI:
> Graphical
> ...


Yes...the "other I" he wants would be Information."


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

puterart said:


> It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy.


I like text over pictures! I grew up, learned to read, and never looked back ...


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

puterart said:


> I'm a software developer who puts a TON of emphasis on the UI/UX of apps and I am so saddened to read the comments in this thread. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". SERIOUSLY?! I purchased my first ever tivo just a year ago and I was sorely disappointed by the UI/UX. It is extremely outdated and way too text heavy. A new interface is always scary and I don't think tivo attempting a new one should go without criticism but let's not resist change simply because it's change. I applaud tivo for attempting to enter the 21st century with a new interface.


This is exactly the attitude to which I object. If a new interface doesn't improve usability, why do it just because millennials think it looks better? "Way too text heavy"? What, are they supposed to design for the functionally illiterate?


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## senorgregster (Nov 12, 2005)

lpwcomp said:


> IMHO, part of the problem is that too many people are obsessed with the G and forget about the U.


What's a U?

I'm hope I'm wrong but I'm getting ready for lots of scrolling and selecting so I can look at glorious tiles.


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## Jed1 (Jun 18, 2013)

Tivo is going to use the UI that Cubiware came up with.
http://www.cubiware.com/cubiconnect-next-generation-middleware/
Here is a list of their partners and also TiVo owns them.
http://www.cubiware.com/partners/
http://www.cubiware.com/


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

TonyD79 said:


> I get sarcasm. However, you do realize that Microsoft went back to menus mixed in with icons and things with Win 10 because Win 8 was such a disaster?


Not really. They went back to the more familiar UI because they tried to force a touch based UI on non-touch devices. And it failed miserably. However, on touch devices, the UI worked quite well.


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## jonw747 (Aug 2, 2015)

The problem is our TiVo's aren't running the latest Core i7 with 8GB of RAM. If they try to shove too much down a Roamio's throat when we're already depending on it to record 6 channels at the same time, they can turn the device in to a dog.


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## Sixto (Sep 16, 2005)

The .5 UI on the Bolt+ is slightly different. More HD screens. Settings very different looking.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

rainwater said:


> Not really. They went back to the more familiar UI because they tried to force a touch based UI on non-touch devices. And it failed miserably. However, on touch devices, the UI worked quite well.


And why does a tile based system work for touch and not for remote? You are making my case for me. A tv remote is even less flexible than a computer mouse. Menus work better in both cases.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

The one situation I can see where large tiles are actually very helpful is when you have a small TV (for instance, a tivo mini in a bedroom). For a while I was using a cheap 24" in my master bedroom. Depending on what service we were using, sometimes it was really difficult to read text from a distance... things like netflix worked well in there.
We now have a 42" in there and its no longer a problem, but the small TV is in my daughters room.


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## tlc (May 30, 2002)

adessmith said:


> The one situation I can see where large tiles are actually very helpful is when you have a small TV (for instance, a tivo mini in a bedroom). For a while I was using a cheap 24" in my master bedroom. Depending on what service we were using, sometimes it was really difficult to read text from a distance... things like netflix worked well in there.
> We now have a 42" in there and its no longer a problem, but the small TV is in my daughters room.


A small TV would be a problem with tiles too, because it will be the same number of tiles that is (almost) readable on a large TV.

Also, tile images (often from BR covers that are meant to be read at arms length) often have their text mixed with the images.


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

Jed1 said:


> Tivo is going to use the UI that Cubiware came up with.
> http://www.cubiware.com/cubiconnect-next-generation-middleware/
> Here is a list of their partners and also TiVo owns them.
> http://www.cubiware.com/partners/
> http://www.cubiware.com/


if TiVo is going to be using them shouldn't they TiVo be listed on the supported devices?

when does this launch on TiVo?


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## TKnight206 (Oct 20, 2016)

I contacted a TiVo supervisor back in September. He eventually got a hold of someone higher up some days later. I got a hold of him (the original supervisor) and he told me that this has to do with Virgin Media in the U.K.


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## thyname (Dec 27, 2010)

Probably not the right thread to post this, but:

GCI Rolls Out Evolution Digital's 'eBOX' | Multichannel


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

From what we've seen it loks like perhaps the Mavrik is going to be the first TiVo device to use this new UI. Since it appears to be headless I assume this new UI will be used for the streaming device apps neded to access it.


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