My 18month Plusnet tv contract started today and was active 1hour before this... Plusnet dont have an app and the BT one needs BT TV. Brilliant... I used remote record literally every day :-/
With all the talk about BT, TalkTalk and retail, Plusnet seems to have been forgotten about.
FAQ 13 on the their website says that Plusnet TV customers will be able to use the YouView TV app, which presumably is untrue.
BT own Plusnet, so perhaps they will allow Plusnet TV customers to use their app.
i have one humax box and one bt box you can't download 2 bt apps on the one phone but you could have bt app and yv ,its a pity you can't put 2 boxes on the same app . i think soon a lot more extra channels will disappear and go behind the player apps so you will have to pay even more and the yv brand will disappear altogether and i think that is a real shame
This appears to be a very sad turn of events indeed!
It is hard to read anything in to this but that BT will (largely) soon be (effectively) in control of YouView. Given BT will also now charge to keep a box at the end of a contract it appears they are potentially hiding behind a positive message of responsible recycling when in fact a key benefit to them will be to substantially reduce the number of people who may be using a YouView box in a non-subscriber mode. What began as a project with 7 equal partners, serving the widest practical user base, seems to have found itself taking a number of diversions: BT and TalkTalk first muscled into the front seats and relegated others to the back, now BT seem to have both hands on the wheel, TalkTalk are potentially being bundled out the passenger door (or perhaps they will be constrained in a trailer), and those in the back appear to have likely found themselves on an ejector seat
When YouView launched it felt like there was an ethos of a system for all, available at a one off cost via retail, but also competitively priced via ISPs as a subscription model giving access to additional content. The system was far from perfect but brought with it some key new features and an optimism that development would be agile and customer focused. Whilst there have been slips along the way, some notable improvements were made; many worthy improvements request were sadly not. Nevertheless YouView is arguably still a great system today for current subscription users, those with boxes out of subscription but still delivering the bulk of the experience in line with retail, and then the very small but significant portion of people who have gone the retail route. That it seems is evidently drawing to an end soon.
Trying to look at this from a commercial perspective of YouView one might see a case that the subscription model is taking over from outright ownership, and this is just another example of that - if you keep up a subscription you can keep access to the service but let it lapse and there is no permanent license/free ride. I though would argue that retaining a freemium model adds more than it costs the company to support - keep on allowing the boxes to work after a subscription lapses, keep offering the core functionality including the app (for which there is arguably negligible overhead to do so for these additional users), use this to keep and raise the positive profile of the product and its benefits, and then draw people on to the paid service with the additional features. If really necessary one could cut the app from the core free service but charge a one off fee via the app stores - for those that find it highly valuable perhaps they would gladly make a one-off payment of £5 to get access to the app? Clearly thought that is not something YouView wish to entertain.
Following the previous closure of YouView's own customer support centre coupled with the message that ISP customers should seek support through their ISP, this new development would seem to suggest there is (almost?) no place now for anyone but active ISP subscription YouView users, and with that it would seem there will really be no place for this community forum. I rarely post here now as the limitations of the forum system made it impractical to continue maintaining the consolidated list of updates and changes about a year ago, and the limited developments of note meant there was little worth doing with the consolidated list of improvements and feature requests. I do still thought get emails of all the posts and thus keep abreast of what is going on and the wonderful support that others continue to give through this community forum. YouView will be much the poorer for the absence of, and lack of access to, such excellent advice and support.
I would like to hope that my interpretation above is incorrect and that YouView will offer some ray of light to illuminate a different more positive and inclusive interpretation of the information. Should that not be the case though, could the last person out please turn off the light
We've put together some information to clarify a bit more with what's happening regarding YouView and the mobile app.
We are not pulling support for non-subscription YouView devices. These boxes will continue to function and receive software updates for features and improvements (as long as they are connected to the internet) as well as get access to new apps as and when they are on-boarded. Whilst we are no longer pushing out features for the T1000 devices, these are still in use and retain their core functionality of watching and recording content and using the available players and apps.
We are not removing the YouView community forum as this is a key resource for users looking for help and for us to collect feedback. We greatly appreciate and value the input and time that users have given us over the years and we hope this continues in the future.
YouView is transitioning from a B2C (business to customer) model to a B2B2C (Business to business to customer) model so our focus has moved to delivering and supporting the needs of our business partners; BT, TalkTalk, Humax and Sony. Since we are moving away from 'direct to consumer' products, we have made the decision to remove the YouView app and move resources around to better suit this new model. We have quite a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment here at YouView and we are excited to share more about these over the course of the 2020.
We will be updating the comms linked in the original post to clarify that only BT subscribers will be able to use the BT TV app instead of the YouView app.
TalkTalk have released some information regarding their TalkTalk Planner App. This can be found here.
Hmmmmm Sarah 😉 Looks like you're a little outside the loop from what I'm hearing. Regardless, Youview have shot themselves in the foot by releasing a partial statement which has caused anger among some formerly loyal followers.
"Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth"
@Sarah instead of dancing round the subject let's ask and answer the right questions.
I'm outright asking has BT purchased youview effectively turning it into a subsidiary or has the remaining parties shareholding / amount of money there putting into the business been reduced. I have to say if you avoid answering this question I will come to the conclusion BT own it. Because it seams funny a key function of the box is now bt exclusive. You can't even get a bt if without having some sort of service with them. Plusnet customers can get a bt id by taking BT sport's for one month and registering the BT sport app. Every one else seams screwed by this change. I highly doubt Humax will bother spending cash on developing there own app for a small fraction of retail customers who have purchased a box.
@david1 youview seam to want to go back to the 20th century for retail and talktalk customers. Yes I was very loyal to the brand but even I can't condone the changes. Next they will be trying to convince us Freddie Mercury is still alive.
I'm using the mobile app on Android. It's telling me a new version is available and giving me the option to click the 'get update' button. If I let it update the app will I lose functionality that I have today? I know the service stops on the 31st March, but no point losing that functionality today if I don't have to.
Utter, utter nonsense. Love the remote record function. Really annoyed by the clown that decided this. I often forget to record while using the box and remember half way through the day. What’s next, removing software support for DVB-T2? Or perhaps playing the national anthem at the end of the evening and disconnecting all broadcasts? You know, just for that complete backwards step towards black and white. You could try and tell us that there’s an exciting new soap coming out called “Eastenders”? That’s mid 80s, so not far off your future innovations.
The YouView mobile app, was the main reason, I got YouView when it first come out. Now no reason at all to have it! My guess, is that all the iPlayer etc, will be the next things to go... Since it never got YouTube, like just about every box, knowing to man has. Even Sky has it! It's the start of the end of YouView.
Now shoot me down for this BUT, surely removing update support for the app, doesn't necessarily mean removing the functionality altogether ??? ESPECIALLY for retail T2000 boxes and TT customers !!!!
As a retail customer as well as a TT one. On the retail T2000 boxes I still have no Amazon Prime app with HUMAX blaming both TT and YV !!!
As a retail box customer, I suppose that I should consider myself "lucky" to have used the App on a daily basis for some time with no extra charge. Unfortunately BT has nothing whatever "extra" to interested me to mitigate the cost of a new Youview box and 18-month BT contract (mandatory with Plusnet). If anyone comes up with a reasonable alternative that includes remote recording, please post it here.
I can't tell from @Sarah what actually happens after the 31st March. If you have the app already installed, am I right that this just won't talk to my T2100 to schedule remote recordings? Is the server being switched off?
Even if I get a BT ID, will this then let me schedule remote recordings?
Are Freeview or Humax going to take over this functionality?
As I said before, I don't really care which app supercedes the Youview one, I just want it to work with my box - ideally without a subscription!
BringBackTheApp, I think you have won the award for the best quote this week! You have summed up the whole situation in one sentence! You might win a free Remote App . . . Until 31st March! Just remembered . . . Welcome to the Youview forum! Sorry its a bad week. Hopefully Youview will announce some good news soon. (Not sure what yet) John L
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
I love this quote from TalkTalk - "As
part of our commitment to meet the evolving needs of our customers, the
TalkTalk TV Planner App will be phased out by 31st March 2020."
In what way does removing the app meet the needs of their customers? In a world where more and more people own smartphones, this is the complete opposite of keeping up with the times.
Agree with a number of comments on here, just renewed my PlusNet broadband for 18 months, with Youview and BT SPort - I use the app. frequently to set recordings, no way to do that, unless Youview make it available through the web-site, then at least could use browser on my 'phone as alternative to the app!!
Comments
Whats your take on this?
In order to deliver the most innovative TV experience, we are refocusing development away from ‘direct to consumer’ [RETAIL] products.
what dose this mean for customers like me who bought my box 😢
Nothing. It will continue with its current full box functionality. Its the mobile app retail users will be losing, nothing more.
I'm not happy losing the mobile app but at least box will still work I was just getting abit worried
and i think that is a real shame
We've put together some information to clarify a bit more with what's happening regarding YouView and the mobile app.
We are not pulling support for non-subscription YouView devices. These boxes will continue to function and receive software updates for features and improvements (as long as they are connected to the internet) as well as get access to new apps as and when they are on-boarded. Whilst we are no longer pushing out features for the T1000 devices, these are still in use and retain their core functionality of watching and recording content and using the available players and apps.
We are not removing the YouView community forum as this is a key resource for users looking for help and for us to collect feedback. We greatly appreciate and value the input and time that users have given us over the years and we hope this continues in the future.
YouView is transitioning from a B2C (business to customer) model to a B2B2C (Business to business to customer) model so our focus has moved to delivering and supporting the needs of our business partners; BT, TalkTalk, Humax and Sony. Since we are moving away from 'direct to consumer' products, we have made the decision to remove the YouView app and move resources around to better suit this new model. We have quite a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment here at YouView and we are excited to share more about these over the course of the 2020.
We will be updating the comms linked in the original post to clarify that only BT subscribers will be able to use the BT TV app instead of the YouView app.
TalkTalk have released some information regarding their TalkTalk Planner App. This can be found here.
Thanks,
Sarah
I'm outright asking has BT purchased youview effectively turning it into a subsidiary or has the remaining parties shareholding / amount of money there putting into the business been reduced. I have to say if you avoid answering this question I will come to the conclusion BT own it. Because it seams funny a key function of the box is now bt exclusive. You can't even get a bt if without having some sort of service with them. Plusnet customers can get a bt id by taking BT sport's for one month and registering the BT sport app. Every one else seams screwed by this change. I highly doubt Humax will bother spending cash on developing there own app for a small fraction of retail customers who have purchased a box.
If I let it update the app will I lose functionality that I have today? I know the service stops on the 31st March, but no point losing that functionality today if I don't have to.
I've been waiting for one of these. No it wasn't.
It was, at the time, I had been looking at Freesat, back then they did not have a mobile app, so went for YouView instead.
Unfortunately BT has nothing whatever "extra" to interested me to mitigate the cost of a new Youview box and 18-month BT contract (mandatory with Plusnet). If anyone comes up with a reasonable alternative that includes remote recording, please post it here.
Even if I get a BT ID, will this then let me schedule remote recordings?
Are Freeview or Humax going to take over this functionality?
As I said before, I don't really care which app supercedes the Youview one, I just want it to work with my box - ideally without a subscription!
BringBackTheApp, I think you have won the award for the best quote this week! You have summed up the whole situation in one sentence! You might win a free Remote App . . . Until 31st March!
Just remembered . . . Welcome to the Youview forum! Sorry its a bad week. Hopefully Youview will announce some good news soon. (Not sure what yet) John L