W7KBX
January 5, 2018, 8:56pm
21
TabloInTheCity:
So sorry to hear that Amazon VoiceView is so bad. That’s the kind of thing that the maker of Echo and Alexa really should get right. I hope they really improve it soon for those who come after. And it’s very useful to have your review of this for others.
For others and perhaps you, on the cluttered UI though, there is a simple solution, as mentioned earlier. If you long-press the Home button (looks like a house, middle button of first row just below the wheel), a screen pops up with a few options. The first one is Apps, so you just press OK (the center of the wheel), and you are taken directly to the simplest of UIs - all your apps in a simple grid.
(You can arrange the apps in any order you like by pressing the Menu button - the three horizontal lines button immediately to the right of the Home button - and selecting Move. Once arranged the apps stay as you set them, so you can easily memorize which one from the top left on is Netflix, Tablo, Plex, etc.)
It’s slightly boring having to long-press and click OK to change or select apps, but in practice it’s just about as fast as Roku’s Home button and takes you to an even simpler UI than Roku - no ads. Thankfully this way we avoid the chaos and clutter of Amazon’s default screen. (We never look at that except when we are selecting an Amazon Prime Video, and it’s just as easy to long-press the Microphone button and speak the request for the desired Amazon video, which then appears on screen.)
Not trying to push one device or another, but just want to be sure the good and bad are all out there. Important for those picking the right device for them.
I hope when/if and when you’ve tried the Apple voice system you’ll report its pros and cons versus Roku too. Eventually, it would be great to have a Forum FAQ/wiki on all of those comparing aspects of different devices in general and specifically in regard to Tablo.
If it wasn’t for the janky accessibility of the Fire TV, I’m sure we could have gotten used to the UI and the workaround. If they improve the VoiceView guided access, I may give it another try. but it is hard to get real news about such improvements. Oh well. It is what it is.