TELUS TV Feature Updates - Ongoing

[Optik-Kate]

Dear Neighbours, 

We’re experimenting with different formats to assure you we’re listening and working on improvements to the TELUS TV platforms. We have frequent releases designed to tackle the platform's immediate and long-term stability, and we’ll do our best to keep this thread up to date with each new release to celebrate our wins together.

Please note this is not an exhaustive list; minor customer-facing fixes and non-customer-facing backend work are not included. (Note: Previous updates removed due to character limits on post)

Q2 2025 (WIP):

• TELUS TV+ app is now available for download on Amazon Fire TV
• Sports channels upgraded to 1080P at 60 frames per second
• 40+ new Free Stream TV channels
• 4K HDR now available for On Demand content

Q1 2025:

• Firmware Update:
  • Dolby vision & HDR support that enhances video quality
  • Auto dynamic range adjustment to match the content frame
  • Picture-in-picture previews in guide
  • Find my remote by holding down the pairing button on the box  for >4 seconds
  • Advanced audio controls such as normalization of loudness for all content and disable/enable surround sound format
  • Privacy & accessibility:

• Customization of microphone and camera permissions
• Adjust text size on-screen with new text scaling options

Q4 2024: 

• Zoetrope Previews: See exactly where you're skipping on Live TV, recordings, and On-Demand. Enjoy fullscreen previews when fast-forwarding or rewinding, so you never lose your place. (Thumbnail preview coming soon)
• Fast Forward and Rewind Speeds: Control your scrolling speed with ease:
  • 1x: Scroll at 2x speed.
  • 2x: Scroll at 8x speed.
  • 3x: Scroll at 24x speed.
• Picture Quality Improvements: Most non-sports channels now stream in 1080p (high-definition) for sharper images, with a backup at 720p. Sports channels now uses 720p at 60 frames per second (fps) to keep fast-moving content smooth and prevent display issues—further picture quality improvements to come.
• Recovery After Internet Outage: Your digital box will now automatically resume live TV content as soon as the internet connection is restored.
• Improved Guide on Apple TV: Navigate your TV Guide effortlessly with enhanced performance and no freezing issues.
• Automatic Playback for Recordings: Binge-watch your recorded content with ease as the next recording in your playlist automatically starts playing—no need to press a button!
• Enhanced Restart and Lookback Logic: Enjoy seamless transitions between Restart and Lookback programs for uninterrupted viewing.

Q3 2024:

• Bulk Delete for Recordings: You can now delete multiple recorded episodes simultaneously, making managing your recordings easier.
• Episode List Access: When playing a recorded episode, you can see a list of all other episodes from the same series directly in the player.
• Binge-Watching Made Easy: Enjoy seamless binge-watching of recorded episodes, as they now play sequentially without any interruptions.
• Order Cloud PVR Directly: You can now order Cloud PVR service directly from your set-top box for added convenience.
• Start from the Beginning: Easily start recordings and VOD (Video on Demand) content from the beginning, even if you joined late!

Regards,

Your Friendly Neighbourhood TV Product Development Team.

[KHR]

There's no accounting for taste - some people prefer the Apple TV ecosystem, some prefer Fire TV, some Android TV; that is why we've developed the TELUS TV+ app for each of these. If the set-top box fulfills your specific needs and your Fire TV Stick is redundant, great. Some folks don't want a set-top box at all so the app for Fire TV fulfills their specific needs.

The feedback on recordings is noted, and the team is working on solutions for things like sports team recordings, recording events across channels and changing the end times for non-sports programs. When there are updates to share, you will see them here (or even better with contextual help tips in the user interface). Unfortunately, the problem of broadcasters changing the schedule predates the VCR and there isn't a whole lot that TELUS can do when something like the schedule of an F1 race is improperly listed.     

I would love to know more about the 'favourites' and 'remote form and function' comments. If there's specific favourites or remote functionality that you're looking for, please share, as it may already exist, be programmable or have a bug the team isn't aware of. The form factor for millions of remotes isn't as easy to change quickly.

[Optikal_Speak]

Fair enough. 

The only access to favorites is with the remote "guide" button.

When viewing with My Favorite Channels selected the (2) biggest remote pet peeves are:

1) Channel up↑ and down↓ buttons default to All Subscribed Channels 

2) In the Ok button wheel the Up↑ and Down↓ also scroll thru All Subscribed. 

If you are viewing 100, 200 ,400 or 900 series of favorites and you hit up or down it's a pain in the butt when channels you're not interested in pop up. That habit over decades is hard to break. Honestly, how tough is it to capture that function. 

Telus' tagline is "Heart ❤️ it and Watch it" not "press remote and go AhhCrap"

[Rocky3]

@Optikal_Speak have you scrolled thru fav with the up/down of the circle? That is what I do

[KHR]

@Rocky3 @Optikal_Speak 

I'm not sure I'm following, so here's what I can tell you.

1. There are 2 places to access your favourite channels: the home screen (see screenshot) and in the guide, with the filter set to favourites. There was a bug some months ago where this filter wasn't persistent from session to session, but this was resolved awhile ago. You should see 'My favourite channels' in the top left of your guide view when the filter is active.

2. When in the guide, tapping the d-pad (or wheel around the OK button) up or down moves the focus on the guide cell up or down one cell. Tapping left or right moves the focus left or right one cell. Pressing and holding has the effect of fast-scrolling. Programming a double-tap is complicated timing-wise, as users have different tapping speeds and some might want to jump 6 while others might only want to move 2 cells. This will help some and make it worse for others.

[KHR]

c'td:

To page up/down (jump 6 cells at a time), you can use the channel up/down button. Skip back/skip forward (circular arrows on either side of the apps button) will jump you forward/back 1 day in the guide. We currently load 11 days into the future and 30 hours into the past (for restartable programs). If the channel up/down button isn't paging forward or is resetting the guide filter, you want want to check your app version, the latest should be 1.25.4.300 (updated from 4.200 over the last couple of days).

[Optikal_Speak]

@Rocky3 

Thanks for the detail. My app version 1.25.4.300 is current. Creating, editing and navigating as you described is understood and functional.

So, question...you have to press Guide button, as the only means,  to access (activate) My Favorite Channels list and navigate from that point? 

I'll try to be more specific and clear. In My Favorites the only 800 series channel I have ❤️'d is 815 BNN Bloomberg . The next sequenced favorite is 900 TSN. All the other 800 series channels I have not set to Favorites. Yet, when viewing 815 and pressing channel up (not hitting Guide first) it changes to the next All Subscribed channel list in my case 819 and so on.

Additionally, if I choose the up button on the Ok wheel a "mini" guide appears again with All Subscribed channels in sequence.

My expectation (ask) is that once Favorites are set one should not have to press Guide to activate/initiate, as the only means, to stay in/with Favorites w/r/t the remote's functionality. 

Once My Favorites is created and "locked in" any of the remote navigation or scroll functions should operate thru the My Favorites list...no?

[Rocky3]

@KHR 

I would love to know more about the 'favourites' and 'remote form and function' comments. If there's specific favourites or remote functionality that you're looking for, please share, as it may already exist, be programmable or have a bug the team isn't aware of. The form factor for millions of remotes isn't as easy to change quickly.

This remote has already used a button for multiple purposes and it is a matter of learning without looking.

Therefore the "ch" up/down should already be adaptable to the chosen guide, the favorites, the subscribed or the all channels. It should go up or down on the chosen guide and not jump to subscribed. 

The rec button, one press records one time, two quick press and records series, press and hold brings up all recorded shows.

The "OK" button has so many jobs

Pressing the guide while watching an app returns to the TV guide, actually to your chosen default guide.

So @Optikal_Speak is asking for a simple programing to make the up/down channel button scroll up or down in the displayed guide. While your tech is in there make a double tap change pages not just line at a time.

[Rocky3]

@KHR thanks for the mention of (now) the ch up/down moves 6 channels and stays in favorites. It no longer goes one at a time and jumps to subscribed. I did not see a feature update on this and of course have muscle memory to use the 'D' or round the OK to surf the guide.

[Rocky3]

@Optikal_Speak GREAT, now I am again not up to date. I have 1.25.3.300 or you made a typo.

I just checked and my favorites step up/down one at a time with the wheel and 6 at a time with the 'ch' up/down.

I press the guide button to exit prime/Disney or any app to get back to TV guide and from there look at recorded shows. It is a shortcut instead of back back back and then OK to exit.

Additionally, if I choose the up button on the Ok wheel a "mini" guide appears again with All Subscribed channels in sequence.

Or the down will bring up mini guide.

I am no longer experiencing 

My expectation (ask) is that once Favorites are set one should not have to press Guide to activate/initiate, as the only means, to stay in/with Favorites w/r/t the remote's functionality. 

Once My Favorites is created and "locked in" any of the remote navigation or scroll functions should operate thru the My Favorites list...no?

For several months now I have not lost the favorites as the default guide except when there is an update push it defaults to subscribed, but a quick choice to FAV and it stays there.

[Optikal_Speak]

@KHR 

Creating, editing and setting Favorites and having them "lock-in or hold" has not been an issue. Not to sound like a broken record, but accessing and scrolling thru Favorites is only available when you select Guide.

So again, Favorite radio button is hilighted thru the Press Options filter so Favorites are selected, set and ready to roll (scroll).

Will the function be programmed into the remote such that when you're watching a particular channel and you press Ch+ (NOT Guide) on the remote it sequences to the next Favorite channel in the list or vice-versa when you press Ch- (and NOT sequence to the next All Subscribed channel)??

Or in the case of the Ok wheel pressing  ↑↓ the mini menu will appear and default, ONLY, to Favorites and NOT All Subscribed channels??

Clear as mud now😉 otherwise I give up on phrasing the question or request. 

[Optikal_Speak]

@KHR, @Rocky3 

For further clarity, if the only access to Favorites list is thru Guide, I hold firm on my form and functions issues argument. 

IMHO...Guide access, ONLY , to the Favorites list is simply just a work around. 

[Rocky3]

---

@Optikal_Speak wrote:

@KHR, @Rocky3 

For further clarity, if the only access to Favorites list is thru Guide, I hold firm on my form and functions issues argument. 

IMHO...Guide access, ONLY , to the Favorites list is simply just a work around. 

---

Now you lost me. Where else do you want to see Favs

[Optikal_Speak]

@KHR, @TELUS_Support,

Last attempt to clarify:

The premise of the Favorites list is to hide the channels from My Subscribed and All Channels lists that are of no interest to the viewer.

Hence when channels of no interest are hidden the Favorites should dominate throughout the platform. For argument sake, let's pretend there is no Guide button. Now apply the Favorites list form feature to 1) the Ch ↑↓ button and 2) the OK↑↓ button functionality whereby changing channels, using either function, the scrolling of channels only applies to Favorites, as if all other channels no longer exist. "Out of sight out of mind"

The current form and function of hiding channels, such that, the Favorites list feature exists, ONLY,  in the Guide is a work around. Otherwise they're not hidden if they pop up in other remote scroll functions. It's a pain! 

I would argue, why have the  Ch ↑↓ or OK ↑↓ "mini-guide" buttons at all? Just let the Guide "be your guide", with a dedicated freewheeling button, for all your channeling needs. 

Kapeesh! 😎

[KHR]

So....customised channel surfing? You're watching channel 100 (one of your favourites), you don't like 101 or 102, you want Ch ↑ to jump you to channel 104, which is another favourite (as there is no 103)?

This isn't something the team has considered, but we'd need to understand the implications. Some people use the term "favourites" differently. I have favourite pants, but it doesn't mean that I never want to see or wear my other pants. We could also look at filtering the mini-guide as well, I will take this to our user research folks. 

As mentioned above, there IS another way to scroll only your favourites, which is the 'Favourite channels' row on your home screen. This has a listing of what's On Now and what's Up Next and you can scroll L to R in increasing numerical order.

[Optikal_Speak]

@Rocky3, @TELUS_Support 

Your pants analogy is too funny 🤣. In keeping with, one has the choice of pulling past favorites off the hanger or opening that drawer. Much like one has the choice to edit Favorites and ❤️ old/new ones into the list.

Thanks for the reminder of Favorites on the Home Screen. Call it old school, I rarely use that feature. 

That said, since the implementation of the Favorites feature dating back to Legacy gear, once set,  the Ch ↑↓ button, etc scrolled only thru what was set to Favorites. Old habits Die Hard😉.

I get advancement in technology, "progress", if you will. However, it shouldn't relegate tried and true form and function to the bone yard.

The streaming and apps form and function features for the most part present no real issues and are welcomed.  Yet, the TV side and recordings (as noted and under consideration) are in need of more work.

The humor is in jest of course. Your guys feedback is sincerely appreciated!