Beta: New and Improved On Later

Channels DVR Server
#41

This has frustrated me because I can't figure out why I get the results I do.
To troubleshoot I've set only 12 channels as favorites and the same 12 in Fine Tune.
Live TV>On Later>On Tonight only shows three items.

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None of them are from my favorite channels or Fine Tune On Later Preferred Channels.

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Barbarella (1968) is on channel 9042 "Pluto TV Sci-Fi"
Trainspotting (1996) is on channel 9020 "90s Throwback"
What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) is on channel 9135 "Kevin Hart’s LOL! Network"

What is going on?

#42

We can take a look at this, but as of now, Custom Channels have not been rigorously tested with this feature, as we’ve developed it mostly for our standard supported sources in mind.

As a reminder, custom channels don’t always have the same metadata included as those that are backed by Gracenote data.

#43

It’s also worth nothing, that airings are pulled from the whole database, not just the channels you selected. Airings that map to your preferred channels (and genres, etc) get boosted to the top of the results.

Airings are also only pulled when tagged as “New”. As the point of this is to show you new and interesting things that are on, not a list of reruns.

This is probably where the issues with Pluto come in. Episodic airings are never New.

#44

Thanks

I understand that, but it does contain Channel numbers.

Until this gets resolved I want to go back to the prerelease version before this was introduced. What version is that and how do I download it?
Channels DVR only saves six versions and my earliest is 2021.08.05.2222

#45

Yes, there are no Tags in the Pluto EPG.

#46

Wouldn’t it be easier to just stop using the beta version of the app? I don’t know about your environment but I just confirmed with my Apple TV, that the current version.does not display this enhanced beta feature.

#47

If you don't like the "On Later" feature, why not just turn it off, under Settings > General > Manage Navigation? Is there something more to this that would drive you to revert back to an older version? Seems kind of extreme.

#48

Geez. Don’t look at me. I’m a happy warrior with beta software.

1 Like
#49

If I need to explain...
I'm not using it with a client device.
The new feature works fine with my HDHR tuner and TVE sources and I run the latest prerelease there.

My issues was my DVR with just a Pluto source that gets max 12hrs guide data where I use the web UI to discover and schedule recordings. I reinstalled it using 2021.08.05.0710 and am waiting for fixes relative to Pluto/m3u before I upgrade that DVR.

Everyone happy now?

#51

The newest version of Pluto for Channels massages movie genres to include the top level popular genres we assume in Channels. This makes them show up better in On Later browsing.

4 Likes
#52

The even newer version (1.2.3) of Pluto for Channels massages series genres as well to include top level popular genres we assume in Channels. This makes them show up in the On Later TV Show browsing.

5 Likes
#53

We’ve got a dvr server fix we need to implement to make this actually work. Coming soon.

4 Likes
#55

Okay. It’s been an hour. Slackers.

1 Like
#56

Grab the latest DVR pre-release, then have it re-download your Pluto XMLTV to get Pluto shows showing in On Later browsing.

2 Likes
#57

Thank You!
So much easier to find what's on Pluto now.
I noticed On Later>TV Shows now works, displaying Series.

#58

Great! I'm still making some tweaks here and there.

#59

OK, the latest DVR pre-release shows more genres of shows in the On Later > TV Shows section, and these general genres have better mappings from Pluto now. You'll want to upgrade both pieces of software.

#60

This month marks the first time in my adult life that I don't have a cable/satellite subscription. But I have more content than ever to choose from. I currently have 558 channels where all but 136 (Locast/Philo) are free. I'm not a channel surfer so this new enhancement makes it a lot easier to find stuff to watch -- even for a crabby old boomer like me. But it makes me less crabby to know I am saving over $100 per month with no sacrifice. Great work guys!

8 Likes
#61

I don't understand the logic behind this "surface but never hide anything".
Maybe that's what some people want, but I find it useless. It means that, for example, when I scan the list of movies for things I might want to record, instead of seeing a short list of movies I see a list of 100+ movies -- most of which I will not record because either

  • they are in a foreign language or
  • they are on a channel that my antenna cannot adequately capture.

I have diligently marked all these channels in my Lineup as Hidden, and you, appropriately, indeed hide them when I am, eg, scanning the On Now page.
So I fail to see why you imagine that I would want to look at these under other circumstances like "what movies are showing next week?"

If you feel this is some sort of vitally important function for some users, can you at least hide it for the rest of us? Like maybe make each On Later "section" have three states not two, so eg
Action Movies has
state 0: just show a row of the top 8 (or whatever) action movies
state1: hit the + and see all the action movies from my (non-Hidden) channels [and the + turns to ++]
state2: hit the ++ and see all action movies on every channel

If you live in a metro like LA or NYC with hundreds of channels, many of them in foreign languages, many of them serving nearby communities and not really accessible by a normal antenna (and not worth making the effort for a better antenna) you are making a WORSE product for your users by forcing on it this tidal wave of irrelevant sludge!

#62

Oh, one more thing, the mechanism by which one chooses and sorts the order of channels in On Later (via Web Interface) is absolutely horrendous. Again, maybe it works in some town with four channels, but it is useless in scaling to 50+ channels. This UI really has to be redesigned.