My elderly mother has a hard time navigating interfaces. With the Roku “Live TV” app (channel), she is comfortable opening up the app which starts showing the last TV channel she was on and then using the up/down arrows to navigate and surf channels. This would be great if the Tablo can do the same and just bring up the last channel she was watching when she last closed the Tablo app.
Can there be a setting that allows users to choose between the default home screen or the last live channel viewed when the Tablo app is launched?
Hello @rdtab, I’m sorry your mother is having a hard time navigating interfaces. I don’t know if this solves your request, but I can think of two possible workarounds - 1) use the down button on the remote to see the current shows along the bottom ribbon, complete with thumbnails, she can then scroll right or left to see what else is on; 2) if you have an HDTV that can tune the channels and the TV remote has a channel up/down button, then connect an antenna directly to the TV and surf channels using the channel button as desired.
I hope you find a suitable solution. I found that simplifying television watching for my aging parents was helpful for them.
For #1, having to “search” for something to watch based on thumbnails, versus channel surfing, is a different model and I can see how it can appeal to some that prefer to have thumbnails which could trigger memories on what the show is about and give an idea on what is on that channel at the time. Personally, I would use it myself sometimes, but the font is just too small to read and the thumbnails can be ambiguous compared to what a few seconds of video can show. If the thumbnail showed a short video preview of what’s currently playing, that could be more helpful then the static images/logos of shows. Some, including myself at times, prefer to just quickly jump around until they see something they like and are in the mood to watch.
#2 is a possibility for my mother and I’m considering it as an option. I would have to teach my mom how to get out of HDMI mode on her TV (that her Roku is attached to) to go into TV mode, and then how to get back to HDMI mode. I don’t want to teach her many different ways of doing things though unless necessary because she forgets. I figured I’d make a bunch of suggestions first, here on the Tablo forums, to see if I can make a difference in the app.