Woohoo! Downloads are here!

Channels DVR Server
#1

I sometimes complain about Channels, but honestly, they are BY FAR, the most responsive SW company out there.

I mentioned a few months ago that one remaining serious omission in functionality was downloads (eg to fill up your iPad with content when you go flying or camping or otherwise off the grid) and, what do you know, today we get that functionality :slight_smile:

Hearty thanks to everyone involved!

[So what's my next complaint? Someone needs to look at the UI's for comskip!

The basic functionality is great BUT

  • the iPad UI allows you to see the "beginning/middle/end" images blown up; the web UI does not allow that, all you get is the small thumbnails. (At least, on Safari, when I click them they do not expand)
  • the time stamps displayed in the web UI are content-0 based, that is the one minute (or whatever) before the "official" start time of the content is counted as negative time. But the times used in the compskip files, eg video.ffsplit are absolute-0 based. This seems like an unnecessary distinction, and it's always tripping me up if I have to manually edit the video.ffsplit
  • in a PERFECT world (of course this is a lot more work...) I would not have to manually edit the video.ffsplit because there'd be a kickass editor built into the web and iPad UIs...
    As, at least, a first step towards that, it would be nice if the sorts of coarse modifications that the web/iPad UI provide (toggling segments on and off) were to propagate to the set of comskip log files, rather than just being stored in Channels internal database. ]
#2

So excited about Downloads! Question - If a download is a show that was recorded as a result of a Series Pass, will follow the same retention rules as the pass? For example, if I keep only the last 1 episode per the Series Pass setup, will the downloaded show be deleted from my device after a new episode is recorded?

1 Like
#3

At this point, we do not automatically delete any Downloads from your device. Even if the recording is deleted on your DVR, it will still be on your device until you manually delete it.

1 Like
#4

Good to know. Thanks @eric! Not sure how hard it would be to implement, but it would be a nice future enhancement to add the ability to choose whether it would follow the Series Pass rules or be retained until manually deleted.

Use Case: I record NBC Nightly News daily, and keep only the most recent episode per the Series Pass setup. It might be nice to tell my Channels app to always keep a local copy of the recorded episode. I would not be interested in any previous episodes; only the current one.

Just a thought! Otherwise, this is super awesome!

#5

We definitely have the desire to do more automated stuff like you are thinking about. Having the last "N" unwatched episodes of your favorite shows always on your device would be something we would like to do.

First up is bringing Downloads to Android, but after that, we'll work on more automation to make your life even easier.

6 Likes
Returning from the Wilderness
No option to download shows?
#6

:grin: :grin: :grin:

2 Likes
#7

Is there an option to download transcoded versions?
Or are the original files the only ones downloaded?

(thinking lower resolution mobile device use here)

#8

There is no transcoding options. That decision was made based on the fact that hardware transcoding maxes out at about 2x realtime. That would mean that while you would have smaller files, your transfer would take a REALLY long time.

We'd like to solve this in different ways.

1 Like
#9

Any update on Android offline downloads?

1 Like
#10

Is downloads for Android moving forward?

#11

We haven't made progress yet, but it's still something we plan to do.

#12

Last word was from a year ago.

Any update you could provide would be appreciated.

1 Like
#13

Are there any updates available? Thanks in advanced

#14

Nope. Nothing yet.

#15

Has there been any progress on Android downloads?

It would be an incredibly useful feature as android tablets are significantly cheaper than iPads, making them more suitable for children. Having the ability to access media offline for times like holidays or car journeys would be very valuable.