Just unboxed Tablo Gen4 from Amazon delivery tonight. Plugged in power, ethernet, and antennae. Installed app on ipad, appletv and fire stick.
AppleTV
numerous app crashes
Can’t watch a recording while it is still recording, same on iPad app. Play recording goes live and no rewind.
Audio and video got out of sync during recording playback, from a second to over 30 seconds.
10pm news continued to be recorded at 11pm
Lots of trouble trying to skip back or forward in recordings. Even after stopping recording and playing recording, 10pm news started at the very end and would not start at the beginning or skip back.
Hitting Add X Channel to Favorites takes 21 seconds to refresh the setting that it was set
No way to record episode while watching live show
Can only record episode from ipad
7 button clicks to shortcut to record series, 12 to get to recording options
Recording playback no way to control speed for skip forward, either 10s or push and hold, can’t choose 1x, 2x, 3x.
App crashed turning on captions during recording playback
Very poor interface for controls on show when you click down for the menu. Instead of giving dvr options, there is 20% empty space next to Pause and Captions, then a menu for channels, recordings, up next and Info, making that 6 clicks just to get to show options, yet still no record episode. Wasted space, lost function and unrelated content falling off screen.
Captions for Seinfeld are “hdhdhdhhdhdhdhdhhdhdhdhdhhd”
Hitting Record All for Seinfeld gave no confirmation or selection update for 10s but resulted in error message Playback Failed.
Fire Stick
app crashed
Was able to watch recordings while show was still recording
10s skip or accelerate fast forward, no control over speed and you must click play after skipping forward, no auto play.
No preview for skipping on recordings — missing at first, after delay show but are in square aspect ratio smashing widescreen aspect ratio
Same poor menu options while viewing show as on AppleTV
Connection to Tablo lost error
General
used ethernet but wifi settings are very poor. Even if I wanted to use wifi its a buggy process and stuck. No reason to enable location services either to setup wifi. Should just be able to choose ssid. Wifi settings are broken. Its some multi step process and ends with device not on network. Correct settings would have ipad connect via bluetooth, select ssid, done. See Fire Recast.
no channel up or down
Slow channel change, takes 7 seconds or hangs, Playback Failed errors after choosing station.
no way to edit recording defaults
UI engineers need immediate meeting to move drv controls on first level after you click down right next to captions, pause, live controls - add record episode option next to rec series, remove Info control and simply move series record and series info to first level of controls, should not take 7-12 clicks to record a series and there is no option to record single episode, thats the most basic feature and its missing,
Thats just after an hour. Broken AppleTV experience so its going back. The idea was to stop using Fire TV Recast (solid for years but in Feb the guide data went bad and won’t record non local series, unclear if it will be fixed) and consolidate on AppleTV but its a buggy unfinished product so its going back to Amazon.
I use mine with a variety of Roku devices. While I won’t pretend it is problem-free, I have relatively few troubles with mine.
One thing I will say is that it seemed like mine took a few days to “break in.” I know that doesn’t seem to make a lot sense, but it really did smooth out after a few days…fewer delays, more reliable guide, more stable connection. Now mine is very stable. The Roku app almost never crashes.
I will completely agree that the interface needs to be improved so that common functions don’t require so may clicks. Just deleting a program you just watched can take six or eight. But, they do keep pushing out improvements. There is a new Roku update expected in the coming weeks.
It suits my purposes, and for the price, I really can’t complain.
Unfortunately, our Apple TV and mobile apps can’t play in-progress recordings from the beginning. However, you should still be able to watch and record a program at the same time. This article has the details.
I use the Tablo with an Amazon Fire Stick and while I do have a couple of minor issues, I am very happy with it. I also was previously using the Amazon Recast, and I think the the Tablo is better is just about every way, except for the program guide.
I agree with KGBnut, it doesn’t seem logical, but things seemed to improve after a couple of days. Also, it took me a few days of using the interface and asking questions here, to find some of the interface functions that were not obvious. Overall, I have found it to be very reliable. It has not missed one recording, and the picture quality looks slightly better than it did with the Recast.
Also, with the Fire Stick, there are no preview thumbnails for skipping while the show is still recording, however, after it has recorded the show, the thumbnails appear.
I believe that it true with every platform. When a recording completes, the Tablo performs some ‘close out’ functions on the recordings, one of which is building the thumbnails.
Did a deep dive into OTA DVR in the past day to get up to speed so here is a recap for those coming in sideways.
Fire TV Recast -
Series recording for national shows like world news and regular broadcast series besides local news stopped working in the beginning of Feb 2025 and there is no fix from Amazon for over a month. The shows appear in the guide data and you can set to record, but it does not record.
ATSC 3.0 -
This is the new OTA broadcast standard since the original ATSC 1.0 that we’ve been using for years. It has caused a mess between TV and tuner manufactures and broadcasters centered around encrypted DRM. In San Francisco, Sutro Tower went live with ATSC 3.0 and subsequently turned on DRM in 2023 for 4 of 6 ATSC 3.0 channels. The channels are multiplexed on RF 7. NBC has been infamously unreachable in SF due to transmission on a tower further away. It is now multiplexed on RF 7 from Sutro Tower so in theory SF can get NBC now on ATSC 3.0, although reports show the resolution is still 720p/1080i on the main broadcast channels not 4K as ATSC 3.0 supports. ATSC 1.0 is broadcasted with ATSC 3.0 and will be until 2027 but given ATSC 3.0 issues it is unlikely ATSC 1.0 will be turned off then. ATSC 1.0 broadcasts MPEG-2. ATSC 3.0 broadcasts HVEC H.265. Apple TV (and iPad) hardware does not support MPEG-2, it supports H.265. Fire TV Stick supports both MPEG-2 and H.265. This is why Tablo does not work as well on Apple TV, it uses a non-native player to play MPEG-2.
HDHomeRun Flex 4K -
This is an OTA streaming DVR to other platform apps that supports ATSC 3.0 but not DRM making it unfeasible.
Zampam -
This is an ATSC 3.0 OTA DVR that connects via HDMI and thus satisfies the DRM requirement but is not a streaming DVR to connect to another platform via an app. It has its own remote. To also satisfy the DRM requirement it must be connected to the Internet. So now you have 3 devices, your Apple TV, Fire Stick and OTA DVR with its own remote and subpar UI, instead of consolidating them on Apple TV.
So basically it’s 2025 and we’re still figuring out how to record world news over the air.
Although Tablo says it supports Apple TV, it seems the key here is to use a platform like Fire TV Stick that supports MPEG-2. It did record world news today (unlike Fire TV Recast) and able to playback while recording on Fire TV Stick so while not perfect it’s reasonable for the price, especially if you buy refurbished. If Fire TV Recast doesn’t come up with a fix this may be a replacement but unifying under Apple TV may have to wait.
Just be aware that for ATSC 3.0 DRM, there is still no official support for any device not DIRECTLY connected to a TV. Also, the DRM is based on Google technology, so only Android-based devices support it. Roku and Apple wouldn’t work.
A3SA DRM is currently based on Googles Wide Vine. Wide Vine exists on platforms other then Android. But these platforms may not allow all the mechanisms needed for A3SA DRM to work.
Not to mention how many patent trolls are out there ready to pounce if it becomes popular. Most companies bundle patents into FRAND agreements, but some greedy ones want to spoil it for everyone. LG stopped making ATSC 3 TV’s after losing one court case (but is appealing.) Most everyone else is playing it safe and limiting it only their high-end sets.
I got an email from Tablo for $40 off on a Gen4. I have a Legacy that’s worked flawlessly for years. I’ve read so many complaints on here about the Gen4. So, my question is which one is better?
I have a Legacy that’s worked flawlessly for years. I’ve read so many complaints on here about the Gen4. So, my question is which one is better?
If you have a Legacy Tablo that you’re happy with, I see no reason to get a Tablo 4, except possibly for the ability to record (some) streaming channels. I have enjoyed recording anime shows in HD and fast-forwarding past the commercials.
If you have a legacy with a fully paid subscription, the only real benefits to the Gen4 are the FAST channels, and somewhat better sports quality on 1080i channels. You lose the ability to watch the Tablo outside your home, on your computer (unless you add an emulator), and you also get a worse experience if you use AppleTv.
The Gen4 really is best in households that have never had a Tablo, since there are no subscription fees and is significantly cheaper than the legacy Tablos.
