iPhone App Development Timeline?

Hello!

I have my Tablo system set up and running, but it appears I overlooked the fact that there is not a native iPhone app. This is really preventing me from full implementation (whole home and cabin) short of buying another iPad. I know there are a lot of Android/Roku users here, but I’m an Apple guy (Plex works, but it is definitely a stop gap) and am really hoping the iPhone app is set for release prior to the fall TV season.

Any updates on this?

Also, the web app is not really a good solution, either :frowning:

@thebellenir - Native phone apps are something that we’re definitely considering but will require some time and effort so I don’t have an ETA to share right now.


Why are you not happy with using the web-app on your iPhone? I find it works quite well and we’ll actually be doing a blog post on tips & tricks for using the web-app on a smartphone tomorrow. I’ll post it here when it’s up. 

@TabloTV Please listen to your user community which is asking for native phone apps. I would suggest you perform a survey so you can truly come to understand why this is such an oversight.

@thebellenir Keep the ball rolling and explain the heartache.

I’m an android 4.1.2 user, here is my heartache:
1) video player, slider and skip controls just don’t function (and no one cares)
2) it takes 25 seconds or more for the web-app to connect and list the default view (often longer)
3) interactions in the web-app often take 5 or more seconds to complete or sometime even indicate they functioning (the play button is the worst offender, rec buttons, switching views, loading show episode lists)
4) phone cache and memory limitations… android chrome beta with my.tablotv.com runs around 50mb, netflix and youtube apps each run around 25mb of RAM usage… chrome beta is always the first app to crash on my phone… leading to frustrating “blank white” pages in my.tablotv.com
5) #2 & #4 mean that switching apps on a phone (multitasking) isn’t really an option with the Tablo web-app (but it seems to have become abit more forgiving with the constant Tablo reconnect/loading… kudos)
6) ideally, the notification bar would be utilized via a native app… just like the current chrome beta chromecast feature does when casting from my.tablotv.com (I really like this feature BECAUSE it’s designed for a phone)

My parting comment. Phones are the primary personal computing device as they’re kept on ones person, nearly at all times. Tablo is about having ones TV available to them at all times. In practical terms this means… I really want to watch Tablo TV while I’m on the can. I need a phone app so I can do that.

@TabloTV I agree with Thumbs that I experience similar issues using the web-app on iOS. Long connection and syncing times, controls don't display correctly, overlapping with other buttons on the screen, etc...

Outside of this, if I am using the webapp on my phone and utilizing Airplay to my Apple TV, once the phone locks (either automatically or via power save settings) you lose the stream. A native app would allow you to keep streaming to a large screen once you lock the phone to conserve battery life, the web app does not allow for this.

I had already planned on buying another Apple TV for the upstairs bedroom to complete implementation, but to to truly get this "wife approved" a better experience on the phone is needed, because as @Thumbs stated, these are already devices that we own and are carried around everywhere with us.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. 


We know that this is a VERY popular request but as stated it’ll require some effort. We have doubled our OS dev team and are looking to add an additional body for Roku & Chromecast so they can focus even more on Android & iOS. 

As soon as we knock some critical features out, we can start looking at bigger tasks like this. 

Thanks for your patience. 

Soooooo…Looks like I’m getting another iPad :slight_smile:

If you don’t want to pick up a second iPad, you can also connect HDMI-enabled computers/laptops to your TV and use the web-based app. If you already have the hardware it’s easy to do and I find the load times quite quick. This is what I do at home.



I have to add my 2 cents here, the chrome app on my Galaxy S5 only has the play or pause button, but I cannot rewind at all or go forward on live tv at all. If I hit back and try to continue it causes me to back out all the way and retry. So I agree it is pretty hard to use. Plus you cannot move the 30 seconds forward, etc. A native app would make it much easier :wink:


So I would just change the title of this thread to Smartphone App development :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah, I would continue to maintain that native smartphone app development should be a priority, especially as the use of phablets begins to continue on an upward trajectory. It sounds as if it is coming, but we’ll just have to be patient. Hopefully in the next 6 months or so. 


Until then, our setup is as follows: 

Living Room: Apple TV with iPad + Native App

Bedroom: Apple TV with iPhone + Plex App - The web-based app doesn’t allow for the phone to lock and conserve battery or for multi-tasking, so it really isn’t an option. I previously stated the Plex app isn’t a solution, but I’ve tweaked some things and it seems to be a lot better. I’d rather just have one app, but this will work until a native app is developed. 

Man Cave: Mac mini + Chrome & Chromecast - This is working quite well, actually. 
@TabloTV - Yup, really didn't want to pick up a second iPad, so gonna make do for now with our phones using the Plex app, which is better after tweaking my setup. Please continue pushing for native smartphone app development as soon as possible. 

I seem to have a lot of trouble with the web-app on my iPhone not connecting remotely.  Mostly in Safari.  It just keeps disconnecting and retrying.

@NapMan - Thanks for the feedback. Can you let us know which version of iPhone you have so we can attempt to re-create the issue?


As promised, here’s the link to the blog which may make using the web-based app on your phone easier: http://www.tablotv.com/blog/tablo-on-your-smartphone
@NapMan - Thanks for the feedback. Can you let us know which version of iPhone you have so we can attempt to re-create the issue?

As promised, here’s the link to the blog which may make using the web-based app on your phone easier: http://www.tablotv.com/blog/tablo-on-your-smartphone

I have an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.1.2 (the latest version). This only happens remotely.  I don’t have any problems connecting when I’m at home.  Today I tried it with Chrome (remotely) and it took a while but it did connect.  In Safari I just get "connection could not be established…Retrying in 5 seconds"

I have not problem connecting remotely with the iPad app


Thanks for the details! We’ll have @matb33 check this out.

Soooooo.....casting from a chrome browser from my Mac Mini downstairs to the Chromecast is not working all that well any longer. The stream just freezes up after a couple of minutes on a consistent basis. I know this feature is in BETA, but iOS from the web or native app or OSX to Chromecast via the web app just seems to cause issues, and maybe its really just Chromecast, since there are quite a few other examples in other threads where other mobile OS and devices seem to not play well with Chromecast.

I could connect my Mac Mini directly, but that is my primary in house computer, so that really doesn't work. Maybe I'll just purchase a third Apple TV :-) This is starting to get expensive, but at least the Apple TV is a known, working commodity and just $100 additional dollars will get me to a whole home solution for HD broadcast television. I'll be $730 in but I'll make that up in 6 months after I disconnect DirecTV this weekend :-) Then I'll just wait patiently for a native iPhone app.

. @TabloTV any updates on this iOS native app for the iPhone? I’ve been reviewing home dvd solutions and it seems that your solution is what I’m looking for, however, I don’t think I can make the jump to purchase Tablo until there is an iPhone app ready to go. We have an iPad, but it’s my wife’s and it’s not always present in the home. And I’m not confident based on the other user comments and other reviews I read that the web app on the phone is reliable. Any thoughts? I’d like to become a customer.

. @TabloTV any updates on this iOS native app for the iPhone? I've been reviewing home dvd solutions and it seems that your solution is what I'm looking for, however, I don't think I can make the jump to purchase Tablo until there is an iPhone app ready to go. We have an iPad, but it's my wife's and it's not always present in the home. And I'm not confident based on the other user comments and other reviews I read that the web app on the phone is reliable. Any thoughts? I'd like to become a customer.

If you use PLEX you can add a tablo plex channel which is what I do right now to let me view content on my iphone without using the the webapp which IMHO is ok but its not an ideal solution. it does have some limits like no airplay support (crucial if you use appleTVs … and the startup “sync” can be rather slow and unlike the ipad native app you can’t do anything while the web app is “syncing” which can be a long process if you haven’t synced in a while)… its definitley NOT an ideal subsistute but I would still encourage you to get the tablo anyway as its a really amazing device.  The developers are responsive and listen to their customers, this topic has come up before (and I even raised it on another thread myself) and I do believe eventually they will have a native app that runs on iphones and ipads.

. @TabloTV any updates on this iOS native app for the iPhone? I've been reviewing home dvd solutions and it seems that your solution is what I'm looking for, however, I don't think I can make the jump to purchase Tablo until there is an iPhone app ready to go. We have an iPad, but it's my wife's and it's not always present in the home. And I'm not confident based on the other user comments and other reviews I read that the web app on the phone is reliable. Any thoughts? I'd like to become a customer.

Bump.  I just bought the Tablo and may return it because it seems borderline unusable with my chromecast.

@thinkshawn We’re developing new features and functionality at a rapid rate, and it’s a very exciting time for us. However - we want to bring everything we’ve got to an optimal level before we start developing for additional platforms.

We still intend to do this at some point, so stay tuned.

@Seth We’re addressing a few of the issues our users have been seeing with some Chromecats and a few of the Roku models in our newest firmware release which you should see within a ~week or so (as always, release is subject to change…)
I’m confident that if you tested your results with the new firmware, your results would improve.