At YouView our mission is to combine cutting edge technology with Live TV and On Demand television to deliver a brilliantly smart TV experience for our customers.
In order to deliver the most innovative TV experience, we are refocusing development away from ‘direct to consumer’ products and toward delivering best in class TV technology services direct to our customers BT, TalkTalk, Humax and Sony.
This is the first day YouView have officially announced they have become BTs subscription baby. The thin end of the wadge wedge. The next 'cutting edge development' will be the announcement of cessation (ending) of the sale of retail boxes. Its an absolute disgrace and a sad day. But BT don't care about that. Not happy but expected.
The official statement doesn’t really explain anything to your average customer outside of the industry. What does that mean even?
Are we Youview retail customers being shown the door? Should I be optimistic that they mentioned Humax, and Sony, or is this the writing on the wall for Youview retail?
We could do with a straight forward explanation from Youview. Is retail Youview being phased out?
Hi Joe, I too am stunned. It really doesn't give you an impression of confidence in technology. Yes, I appreciate things become outdated but seems rather an oversight. Hopefully Youview will still support their boxes, write the software still? The question is where do the non subscriber/retail customers stand? John L
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
That's not so good as I at times use the Youview mobile app. I also have the BT TV mobile app but like the look and feel of the Youview mobile app better. I agree that this is a step back as Sky and Virgin have mobile apps and have improved on them over the years. Its going to affect retail Youview customers the most. As some like my sister use Youview retail box on TV in her bedroom but is not a BT or a TalkTalk customer. Will miss the Youview app as I have found it to be a little better lakes out then the BT TV app.
Well this is really sad. I was a big fan of youview and used to recommend it to everyone as a free alternative to Sky. The app was impressive and I loved the ability to send remote recording. I guess it was only a matter of time for youview to go behind some kind of paywall (being BT owned). I'm also guessing BT will be announcing a 'reboot' of their TV service soon and it makes sense for them to destroy youview as it stands. Why would they want to keep it as a free competitor.
I really like the Manhatten Freeview play box, but kept youview mainly because of the app, but now I'm going to jump ship. RIP youview
I'm hoping BT don't do a "full EE" and turn my Humax/BT T2100 into a doorstop, like they did with the EE TV box if you don't take out a subscription. I'm not interested in Pay TV!
Please keep the app in some form going. I don't care if it's TalkTalk, Freeview or even Humax themselves, as long as I can set up recordings remotely.
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 :-/
I am really annoyed about this. As a retail customer of Youview it's one of the most useful features for me and is now yet another feature of the box that I paid good money for, removed, starting with all downgrades/bugs/changes that "nextgen" brought about.
I assume there is no technical reason for this, and it's simply a huge "up yours" to previously-enthusiastic customers such as myself, from whom Youview have already extracted all the money they're going to get?
I beg to differ, there is a reason for this and its purely commercial. BT are obviously going to rebrand their tv subscription packages probably when now tv get on board so it makes sense to offer those that pay access to the app. Which obviously makes the overall packages more appealing.
I don’t know the reason but it obviously costs money to support an app and probably the back end servers that are the middle link between the app and the box. It is a bit unfair to blame BT as I would expect YouView itself has probably run out of commercial funds to support anything more and BT will be funding its development for its own service only (of which retail might benefit from standard interface updates). If there is no other funding to support other retail features that is hardly BT’s fault. I presume BT will be using its own backend hardware (as the BT app supports ip channels also and the software was always delivered from a separate place to retails).
Good morning. This from what I can see is going to affect Retail/nonsubscribers of Youview, that includes myself. So everyone is going to have different views, but whether or not Youview have run out of funding etc, consumers have purchased boxes, maybe even only recently. It clearly advertises Youview features on the box branding. So they technically giving incorrect information to the consumer before purchase? Hopefully Youview will provide a solution to enable users to continue with the remote feature without any additional cost. John L.
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
In order to receive continued delivery of the most satisfactory TV experience, I will be refocusing away from ‘YouView’ products and toward obtaining best in class TV technology services from other sources, such as Freeview Play, NowTV, Amazon Video and the like.
I have been a YouView customer since practically Day One, but now, with a stroke of the pen, I am apparently no longer such.
As such I will no longer be continuing as a YouView user either, and instead will support those providers who will, in turn, continue to support me by providing functionality in their various branded TV products and apps.
No doubt I do not need to add that I will be leaving the YouView Community, as no doubt the YouView Community will be leaving me, with indecent haste, as the same time as, or shortly after, support for the App ceases.
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
@roy I honestly seen your reaction coming a mile off. Very sad day when a long-term user want nothing more to do with the platform or the forum saying that at the rate things are going I wouldn't be surprised to see the forums closed before long. Youview clearly only have a interest in pleasing ISP customers as present in my opinion. It really is disappointing that a very important function is been removed from retail customers. Anyway all the best for the future Roy.
Yes, I’ve been a happy user since the trial before the official launch of Youview. I’ve inputted a lot of feedback into a product which I thought was worthwhile over the years. Not sure where this leaves us Retail users? Remote record functionality, is expected these days with a premium pvr product such as Youview. This is a sad day for Youview retail users.
@Sarah we need to know what’s happening to the platform we’ve invested in. Not just vague statements
Yes, Andy, before I forget, welcome to the Youview forum. The Panasonic has one, not sure how reliable, but they do have one for their pvr. Freeview have an Freeview App, to be honest I don't know that much about it. Not sure if Humax have any plans to make one for their Freeview pvrs. I have only used the Youview one & it works well most of the time. Just needs a bit more developing to iron out a few minor bugs. I am just stunned at the announcement today. There is no real logic (well money maybe) but this is not forward thinking, you also have to not only plan ahead, but also look behind you at same time. John L
Just to say that I use a Panasonic HWT150 as well as 2 Youview units. Actually in the process of trying to phase out one of the Youview units.
The Panasonic app works well enough albeit quite slow as it connects directly to the box. It has additional features like deleting a scheduled item or an existing recording and manually setting a recording. Being that it connects directly to the box it's actions are immediate.What's lacking is the proper setting up of series recordings, otherwise it's perfectly acceptable.
Well to just add I have spent many hours helping support users with problems. I think I will no longer be able to help in future unless Youview Rethink their support for the hardware that/ consumersusers/investors in the product wanted. Very sad news. I'm still stunned with the news. John L
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
...no doubt the YouView Community will be leaving me....
Interesting point. As the non-paying community is no longer supported then the next announcement must be the end of this forum. So long everyone and thanks for all the fish info.
Also as long time Youview user and fan, it seems that the end is near. Effort to support a basic App must be minimal, so poor show - especially when it provides a key remote recording piece of functionality.
I'm surprised that everybody else is surprised by this. Once BT began to diverge from Youview and began handling its own functionality/update schedules etc this move was inevitable. It has been talked about for quite a while by those in the know (yes I have a close family friend who works within BT R&D on the TV end of things).
"Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth"
Disappointed - As an enthusiastic retail customer since YouView launched in 2012, I've always tried to support and promote the system. When the mobile App launched it added extra levels of functionality to YouView which are now integral to its daily use. Stripping this away for just your retail customers will result in YouView alienating them. (The cynic in me thinks that that is just what you want). So farewell!
John
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - George S. Patton
@Sarah two long term users so far saying there done. What a way to get rid of the forums you other staff have built up. This move has quite clearly had a negative impact. Are the forums going next because that's what it's looking like to us in all honesty.
@Sarah two long term users so far saying there done. What a way to get rid of the forums you other staff have built up. This move has quite clearly had a negative impact. Are the forums going next because that's what it's looking like to us in all honesty.
Nice to meet you Daniel at the Youview hq December 2018. Very sad to hear this news. John L
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
I'm surprised that everybody else is surprised by this. Once BT began to diverge from Youview and began handling its own functionality/update schedules etc this move was inevitable. It has been talked about for quite a while by those in the know (yes I have a close family friend who works within BT R&D on the TV end of things).
Hi Robotman, whatever has been discussed has not been informed to the everyday consumer/ user. John L
Can't wait for the day when Youview get rid of the dreaded darkened banner when using fast forward/rewind recordings.
TalkTalk TV is an award-winning marketplace for great TV, combining over 80 top channels with all the best On Demand players and streaming services including Netflix and Prime Video. 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.
After this change takes place customers can continue to enjoy flexible access to the very best entertainment, record TV shows and films, as well as watch BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and ALL 4 directly from their Set Top Box.
Comments
I too am stunned. It really doesn't give you an impression of confidence in technology. Yes, I appreciate things become outdated but seems rather an oversight. Hopefully Youview will still support their boxes, write the software still? The question is where do the non subscriber/retail customers stand? John L
I also have the BT TV mobile app but like the look and feel of the Youview mobile app better.
I agree that this is a step back as Sky and Virgin have mobile apps and have improved on them over the years.
Its going to affect retail Youview customers the most. As some like my sister use Youview retail box on TV in her bedroom but is not a BT or a TalkTalk customer.
Will miss the Youview app as I have found it to be a little better lakes out then the BT TV app.
Darren
I really like the Manhatten Freeview play box, but kept youview mainly because of the app, but now I'm going to jump ship. RIP youview
Please keep the app in some form going. I don't care if it's TalkTalk, Freeview or even Humax themselves, as long as I can set up recordings remotely.
I used remote record literally every day :-/
I assume there is no technical reason for this, and it's simply a huge "up yours" to previously-enthusiastic customers such as myself, from whom Youview have already extracted all the money they're going to get?
In order to receive continued delivery of the most satisfactory TV experience, I will be refocusing away from ‘YouView’ products and toward obtaining best in class TV technology services from other sources, such as Freeview Play, NowTV, Amazon Video and the like.
I have been a YouView customer since practically Day One, but now, with a stroke of the pen, I am apparently no longer such.
As such I will no longer be continuing as a YouView user either, and instead will support those providers who will, in turn, continue to support me by providing functionality in their various branded TV products and apps.
No doubt I do not need to add that I will be leaving the YouView Community, as no doubt the YouView Community will be leaving me, with indecent haste, as the same time as, or shortly after, support for the App ceases.
TalkTalk TV is an award-winning marketplace for great TV, combining over 80 top channels with all the best On Demand players and streaming services including Netflix and Prime Video. 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.
After this change takes place customers can continue to enjoy flexible access to the very best entertainment, record TV shows and films, as well as watch BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and ALL 4 directly from their Set Top Box.
https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/TalkTalk-TV/YouView-App-being-discontinued/m-p/2450874#M145524