I'm a long time TiVo customer and I'm testing Channels DVR. I've noticed that the Phone client lacks the ability to seek to any point on the timeline while this is not an issue on the Web Client.
Does the Android TV client behave the same limitation?
Is there fast forward and rewind that I'm not seeing?
Is fast forward and rewind available on the Android TV client?
I'm considering the following devices as my client:
Chromecast with Google TV
Firestick 4K
TiVo Stream 4K
What is your experience with the above devices as a client?
Should is is not can. One in about 10 times when I hold the bar and then move my finger it follows it. That's not acceptable. I handed my phone to my 25 year old son to see if a modern person could make it work. Same result and my wife the tried and agrees, it's very inconsistent. Too frustrating to be usable. Is there a trick to make i twork?
I have one android/firetv client that really struggles with seeking, while others are much more responsive. The one that has a lot of issues is a slow fire tablet. Better android tablets work much better. What model phone do you have?
My phone is a LG Stylo 5, a mid tier phone. It has handled everything else I've thrown at it.
As for the appletv, there is nothing in this household in the Apple ecosystem and I know the sucking sound Apple devices make to other ones. If I'm going to spend that type of money, it would be for a Nvidia Shield or just repurpus out old laptops
I had never tried on my Android phone before, but am seeing the same thing. I did find it seems to work a little better if you can "catch" it and then move your finger down off the bar. Then you can see it moving on it.
This doesn't seen to work at all. Also, if the "Skip Commercial" button is up, you cannot get the timeline indicator to come up either (and it takes many, many taps to eventually force the default phone bar to come up to get the back button). I'm permanently on the latest Android Beta all the time now.
The Android TV experience is VERY different, much more intuitive, especially to a former TiVO user. There are a few paltry things missing from TiVO that are totally worth the tradeoff for everything else you are getting.
I am with you in not wanting to introduce anything Apple into your household, so don't worry about it. The Google/Android TV experience is mildly behind the Apple one, but it will get there. If you are planning to use the default remote, the TS4K+ is your better option because the Channels integration is seamless. If you want slightly better hardware and better support, go with the CCWGTV. I recommend the latter because if you have Netflix you can get one (or 3 in a stack) that comes with 6 months of Netflix. If you subtract out the cost of Netflix, it comes out to about $8 for the stick. There are a gazillion threads here already to look though device recommendations and feedback (including ones you didn't mention like ONN and Shield), as well as for remotes, so not going to bother with all of that here.
Yes tapping the forward and back buttons on the phone work fine. Today I experimented with a Chromecast for Google TV and the client works fine with it. The remote is rather simple yet navigation is a synch. I have not moved my cable card from the TiVo to a HD Horne Run Prime yet the way my testing is going that should be fine. Need to work a few server side issues that I'm on top of and then will see if my wife agrees with switching. I think she will love the way streaming and content searching works on Android TV as well as Channels so I expect to switch once I get the OK and work out a migration plan. Currently taking content via Locast and TVEveryware (FIOS) and am impressed with the quality.
