How long do we have to wait for un-delete ? This is something TiVo has had since day one, I have asked for this “feature” several times but no response from the developers, come on how hard can it be.
I am subscribed with the yearly option, but if the developers cannot add this simple feature then I guess I need to delete channels and go back to a real dvr service.
What is your use case? Shows you've manually deleted that you regret doing, or Channels DVR's auto cleanup that has removed a show you wished to have kept?
Also, I am not sure threats of deleting the software will effectively convey the need for changes.
Well I have been a user for almost 2 years have asked for this multiple times and so have others, so yes I am not happy, I am not sure who you are to respond that way, unless you are one of the developers keep your option to your self.
As a paying customer why cannot I express my dissatisfaction?
You can express your opinion but you don't need to attack a fellow community member who is doing what the community is for...
I too would like an undelete function.
Everyone makes mistakes and deletes things by accident, so an undelete option would be welcome. However @qkriel 's attitude is certainly not welcome. For a team of two, these developers have done amazing things and are far ahead of the competition when it comes to DVR software on streaming boxes. There are several features I'd love to see implemented, but I trust the developers to prioritise additions based on their own plans and feedback from the entire community, not just mine.
A well-made undelete feature -- one that ensures that space taken by recoverable recordings can be quickly reclaimed if needed -- likely requires platform-specific implementations for various platforms that the Channels DVR server runs on. It would take a lot of development work and ongoing QA that is time consuming to do manually and time consuming to automate.
Your best bet is probably to just buy a larger hard drive for your DVR so that you don't have to delete recordings as often to begin with. Keep in mind that individual TV show episodes are also typically very affordable on services like iTunes and Amazon Video, in case you deleted an episode that you really want to get back.
I have been reading this out of curiosity since I do not use the DVR much. But my wife does. My first thought was that people delete so they do not see them anymore and watching. Then I thought the way I do it on Plex is to simply Mark as Watched if not already marked which means I do not see them in my unwatched section. Then I looked and notice that there is a Mark as Watched in Channels DVR as well (at least in the Web UI). Maybe an option that says if I Delete just Mark as Watched with maybe a delete after nn days? This is assuming there is an option to say delete after so many days and also the Mark as Watched would "hide" them.
Just a couple notes on this. Auto-delete on 'watched' shows may be a good feature for a single viewer, however, if there a multiple users/viewers in the home, 'watched' by one may not be an ideal condition for automatic deletion.
As far as un-delete, I thought I would point out that there is another request to go the opposite route as the current deletion process can be deemed cumbersome depending on the viewer...it's hard to please everyone!
In this case it’s not hard to please everyone. A trash can system like on other dvrs and computers makes it easy to recover items accidentally deleted while also allowing you to remove the “are you sure” prompt since you now know they won’t be gone forever.
Also programmatically the concept of a trash can isn’t that complex or difficult to write code for. You simply move the “deleted” items index from the list of reg recorded shows to the index of the trash can items. If at any point the HD fills up it goes to the trash can list and finds the item that is oldest (first in first out) and frees its memory and uses it to record. If that free memory isn’t enough it does this pruning step again until enough space is free for the new recording. This means you end up maximizing your recording abilities while also maximizing the lifespan of deleted recordings to be recovered.
I do think the issue/question here isn't necessarily complexity, but rather something more simple: why should the developers prioritize this over other features? Why is it more important than adding TVE? Why is it more important than the other features they haven't even told us about? Answer that, and perhaps then you can convince them to work on it.
This would not be high on my list of requested features.
I don't want such a feature. Even an option for it kind of goes against the simple and intuitive Channels interface. Some people don't want to click delete, click the confirmation, go to trash can, and delete file again.... just to take a show off the DVR. It used to be simple, then the delete confirmation was added. Now people are asking not to actually delete after the confirmation but just put in a trash can. And then maybe even have another trash can for the first trash can. Eventually, you might have to spend a whole evening just trying to completely remove a few shows.
Totally agree.
Totally agree.
A reversible delete function is just in essence hiding the file(s) from the user list and “lying” about the amount of disk space available by adding the size of the hidden files to the true available disc space. That works fine for a dedicated DVR machine like TiVo as it is not used for anything else. If Channels is on a computer/NAS that is used for other storage then it doesn’t work so well.
Yep. And the last thing you would want is your operating system not downloading a 4GB software update because Channels has decided it only needs to keep 2GB of your disk free.
This is a problem that needs platform integration to fix without creating even more problems.
Simple solution: Channels adds an option to configure the max amount of space it's allowed to use, eg 500 GB of a 2 TB drive.
No, that's the wrong way to go about this.
If you want to limit what an app can access on a device, OS-level options abound. You have ACLs, quotas, partitioning, etc. These problems have already been solved, it's just up to the user to make use of them.
I agree. I have Channels set up in its own partition. But not all users are that knowledgeable, and it may be more difficult to set up on some platforms vs others.
There still needs to be application controls in place, because DVR will crash and break when partition/quota is filled. I have enough storage that I have not experienced this, but I have heard experiences from other users.