December 11, 2011

TiVo on the iPad - US App works...kinda...

Thanks to Richard for the following:
The US TiVo app can be made to work on the VM TiVo but needs a few tricks and a PC or mac set up running a piece of software that tricks the Tivo iPad app into thinking the VM tivo is a US Tivo. For those who want a sense of what is possible with the ipad/phone app, there is a great posting on Cable Forum with some brilliant people contributing more than a simple few words, but actual coding and testing time.
BUT BE WARNED, the Tivo app was never designed to work on the VM Tivo so sometimes crashes because the responses are not what it expects.
If you look at Post #241 and #242 which are the replies to sn00p where he posts the PC and Mac files, you will see both the link to the files and the replies where people are testing and say it works.
I’ve been using the old versions of the ‘hack’ and this version and they all work fine(ish) this latest version is definitely more stable and easier to use to use and less of a problem for IT illiterate. Thanks to sn00p we have this app.
So 3 things…
1. YOU USE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Do not critisie people for things not working and do not flame or slam people for this contribution. It was a hack to show the US Tivo app.
Do not criticise VM or TiVo for the iPad app. This app was never designed for the VM product and is in no way supported.
Do not ask for support, this is a hack for people who know what they are doing not for the masses who don’t know how to spell ‘IP address’
Don’t start if you don’t know what you are doing and do not get upset if you have problems, you used at your own risk.
2. You need to know how to get a US only app from itunes for free.
Don’t ask, use Google it is well documented .
3. You need to do all the network setup on the TiVo and put in the right settings. Read the guide from Jason on his Virgin Media TiVo blog site. 
Richard added
"The app does crash, usually when you are trying to select from the 'my shows' area. This is because the VM TiVo is sending back info the ipad app doesn't understand and so 'bang' the app closes. However, the ability to browse, set recordings, manage seasom passes etc without stopping what you watch is brilliant. The speed is really quick. I've not tried on the iphone, but it should work on there."

I asked my old friend Scottivo to give this a look (I just knew he wouldn't be able to resist) and here's what he wrote back
"Downloaded the Mac file and had it working in less than a minute, once I'd got the Media Access Key code from the TiVo menu. Looks very impressive. Changed channels, then played the start of a Modern Family ep from My Shows but when I pressed Stop it took me to the Media Access Key page again and wouldn't let me out. I had to reboot the box. No pics showing so far but EPG is all there."
So it is probably worth waiting for the real thing to launch, but for those who enjoy playing, Christmas has come a little early...

2 comments:

Alexei said...

Can't wait for the App! No date yet?
Alexei

Mark said...

I've used Tivo Commander on my Asus Transformer Android tablet and it worked really well.