Recordings "Up Next" vs. "Shows"

Beta Community DVR Beta
#1

When I go into Recordings on the Apple TV it defaults to “Up Next” and then I normally just switch to “Shows” since I do not like using “Up Next”.

Here is an example:

I have 8 episodes of Arrow (from CW) which I have not watch any yet. Waiting for the season to finish.

If I go into Arrow from Up Next I see no episodes (unless I go into more episodes) to watch but when I go into it from Shows I see all of them with the most recent on the left. If Up Next defaulted to the More Episodes view I think it would be much better.

As a early use before Up Next was added I felt Shows was perfect. My input would be to DROP Up Next or have an option to drop it. But maybe someone could explain what I am missing and why it is better then Shows.

Maybe the Up Next thinks I have already watch all of the episodes because they have been there for a while and we had problem with this early on so kind of ignored the watched feature.

#2

That’s because you’re looking at an episode, not it’s show group.

Up Next attempts to utilize your watch state to give you suggestions on what to watch next. Rather than having to browse shows with so many clicks and decipher yourself which episode to watch next, Up Next uses watch state to just tell you which episode to watch next.

It orders these episodes based on when you watched them last. It will show you the oldest unwatched episodes. So as you watch these shows, the next one pops up. It’s like an automatic queue, saving you all the browsing time.

You can also optionally, via the web admin, tell Channels DVR that you watch a certain show in the opposite order. This is useful for news programs. So Up Next will always show you the MOST RECENT unwatched episode.

We understand that Up Next is a bit confusing right now since it lives in the same hierarchy AND presents with the same UI as the hierarchical shows.

We also haven’t communicated much about what Up Next is, but hey, Public Beta!

The idea behind Up Next is that in a world where we have 9000 choices of things to watch, it’s nice to have a good starting point with a curated list that tell us “hey, these are the next things you might want to watch”.

#3

It got me too. I like it, but when I go to recordings, I would expect the sub menu to pop under the recordings menu to provide the context of the show icons below.

#4

I can work with it but just saying I prefer to the Shows Menu because it show me the most recent shows that were recorded and not based on my habits since sometimes that is based on MOOD. It would be helpful if you could have a BADGE on the Group Icon show how many shows have not been watch. When I go into the Group it shows the most recent show on the left and either I will watch that one or maybe I am not current and need to watch an older one. Of course this gets more complicate if my wife and I watch the same show. We would not know which one of us watched the episodes but I mentioned this before.

Anyway, I am just giving you some feedback to consider.

#5

Yah. Thanks for the feedback. Hearing about habits like this are always helpful.

We’ve been doing this stuff for a long time with our private media server software and its HARD. lol. Everyone has different habits.

#6

I would also very much prefer the default recordings tab to enter the shows tab instead of the up next tab. My wife and kids hate this because the up next tab does not always have every show in it. They search for their show, can’t find it and then have to go back up and switch from up next to shows.

#7

maybe im just old fashioned, but i would prefer there to not be a default that makes me bounce down then back up, but rather just pop a new sub menu. hierarchical menus are so 2010 i guess.

#8

Maybe the app can remember the last section you were in and default to that.

1 Like
#9

I think part of the problem is I am not confident that On Next shows the next episode that I have not personally watched. I think maybe combining On Next with Shows would be ok. Now I go into On Next and then have to go into More Episodes or start from Shows from the beginning to see all the episodes I may want to watch.

With the new Beta showing On Next on Top Step it was showing correct but when I selected a show knowing for sure there was an episode to watch it did not work. Later I tried again and it worked. Maybe part of the problem was the episode I wanted to watch had not completely finished recording.

I prefer the Shows display of all my episodes with the more recent on the left works best for me.

#10

I like the shows option, and the movies and sports options too. But I also like to have the Up Next to quickly interface to the next episode.

So I vote to keep it as it is.

#11

Maybe the app can remember the last section you were in and default to that.

Like the sound of that. Persistence. Similar to HTML cookies.

#12

The point of Up Next is that it specifically does NOT take you to the Show view. It’s a list of episodes that are your next to watch episodes. Done well, you shouldn’t even need to dig down deep into your shows (for serialy watched shows). As you watch episodes, the next one will be right there waiting for you. This way you’re not spending all of your time browsing, picking, etc. It’s a list of suggested things to watch.

That being said, we’re not doing it that well right now. It’s super confusing because a grid of SHOWS looks the same as a group of EPISODES right now. So it’s not clear that when you pick one you’re going to be taken to a recording’s view, vs a Show’s view.

The other thing is, right now we’re being too conservative with marking recordings as watched automatically as you watch them. This leaves lots of recordings as “unwatched” which keeps them in Up Next and creates some confusion. We’re going to get a little more aggressive with marking as watched automatically as you watch to help make sure Up Next is more reliable.

There’s also the issue with the UI being confusing. It’s still early days, we have lots of work to do.

#13

Yeah, this is a bug, and you caught it. Thanks! I’ll be fixed soon.

#14

I agree that that would help, but i still don’t like the fact that the Up Next/Shows menu is hidden. but i’m obviously the only one, since this is the 4th time i brought it up.

I hope this doesn’t mean that if a specific percentage of a show is watched and then exited, that it wont remember my position. i have seen other streaming apps that do something like 5% left, they call it watched and then when i re-enter to complete the episode, it starts from beginning instead of asking if i want to resume or start from the beginning. I would much rather answer that quick prompt more often, than trying to scrub to my point near the end.

and its not that i dont love your software. i actually bought my 2 HD Homeruns and bought the 2 apple TVs just for your app last year. its just the time to make the voice heard before you pull the beta tag.

#15

Me neither. Having to swipe down and then back up is frustrating.