# DirectTV Android App for Tablets Updated



## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

*DirectTV's Android App for Tablets Updated*

Version 3.1.6 adds:

Free Movie Filter: Now you can easily find FREE movies by selecting the 'Free' filter .

Recently Watched On Demand: Can't finish a show that you're watching On Demand? Now you can pick it up right where you left off, on the go! Resume watching from your tablet, mobile phone or computer, no matter where you are.

On Demand Streaming Module: Get quick access to all of DIRECTV's newest movies and TV shows available to stream to your device.

Links to all DirecTV Apps Here


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Thanks for the heads-up. I haven't downloaded it yet.

It's come a long way since it first rolled out, but there are still some tweaks I'd like to see. My biggest complaint is that setting up your favorite channels in the app guide is a chore. I would love to see integration between the DIRECTV web site and the tablet, so if I configure my channels in one place the change shows up in the other. After all, I'm logging in with the same account, so hopefully this is not too much of a pipe-dream...


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## mrdobolina (Aug 28, 2006)

Just in time for my new Samsung Galaxy Tab S!!!


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## Jasqid (Oct 26, 2008)

For the love of God, update the windows phone app. Its been almost 3 years since last update.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Jasqid said:


> For the love of God, update the windows phone app. Its been almost 3 years since last update.


Perhaps it has to do that only 4 out of the 23 folks with Windows OS have DirecTV®? :rotfl:


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

peds48 said:


> Perhaps it has to do that only 4 out of the 23 folks with Windows OS have DirecTV®? :rotfl:


He isn't talking about Windows OS, he's talking about Windows PHONE OS. There's a big difference.

You're just trying to be cute, I get that.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dualsub2006 said:


> He isn't talking about Windows OS, he's talking about Windows PHONE OS. There's a big difference.
> 
> You're just trying to be cute, I get that.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


And that is EXACTLY what I meant. I know there are not 23 Windows OS users, but there are that many Windows Mobile users. But thanks for trying!


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

peds48 said:


> And that is EXACTLY what I meant. I know there are not 23 Windows OS users, but there are that many Windows Mobile users. But thanks for trying!


ok

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## mrdobolina (Aug 28, 2006)

Perhaps someday "soon" they will fix the GenieGO Android app so it works on KitKat (4.4.2) tablets. I just got a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and, while I can download the app and it sees my DVRs and I can set shows up for preparing, it will not actually download the shows to the device. Their website says anything over Android 4.2 is not supported. Android 4.3 has been out for over a year. 4.4 has been out since May. No sense of urgency on DirecTV's part.


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

mrdobolina said:


> Perhaps someday "soon" they will fix the GenieGO Android app so it works on KitKat (4.4.2) tablets.


I just put all of season 8 of Weeds on my Nexus 7 2013, and I just finished Shipping Wars on my Nexus 7 the other day.

I don't love my Genie Go, but even on Kit Kat 4.4.4 is one thing that it excels at.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## dazed&confuzed (Mar 10, 2008)

mrdobolina said:


> Perhaps someday "soon" they will fix the GenieGO Android app so it works on KitKat (4.4.2) tablets. I just got a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and, while I can download the app and it sees my DVRs and I can set shows up for preparing, it will not actually download the shows to the device. Their website says anything over Android 4.2 is not supported. Android 4.3 has been out for over a year. 4.4 has been out since May. No sense of urgency on DirecTV's part.


OK that explains the problem I'm having. I can prep a show but not download it to my Samsung tablet. At least the app loads now... For over a year it would not even load on the tablet. Thoroughly disgusted with the support on this app.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

dazed&confuzed said:


> OK that explains the problem I'm having. I can prep a show but not download it to my Samsung tablet. At least the app loads now... For over a year it would not even load on the tablet. Thoroughly disgusted with the support on this app.


No reason to be disgusted on app support. . . what if you had to program / test for 50 or so (lost count) different models of phones and tablets?

At some point, you have too many employees testing for a free app or you run out of time testing.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dennisj00 said:


> No reason to be disgusted on app support. . . what if you had to program / test for 50 700 + or so (lost count) different models of phones and tablets?
> 
> At some point, you have too many employees testing for a free app or you run out of time testing.


Right on! Although I made a "small" change...


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

peds48 said:


> Right on! Although I made a "small" change...


I had no idea it was 700. . .100 or 200 would be a show stopper.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Not that it's an excuse, but the Galaxy S4 is one of the best-selling Android phones ever and the Play Store NBC app won't run on it. :nono2: Found this out recently while trying to put NBC on my hospitalized mom's phone.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Steve said:


> Not that it's an excuse, but the Galaxy *S4 is one of the best-selling Android phones ever *and the Play Store NBC app won't run on it. :nono2: Found this out recently while trying to put NBC on my hospitalized mom's phone.


Perhaps that has to do with this


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dennisj00 said:


> I had no idea it was 700. . .100 or 200 would be a show stopper.


I was short by only 3200 or so&#8230; See article here


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

peds48 said:


> Perhaps that has to do with this


The CBS and ABC apps work great on the S4. :shrug:

*Edited to add:* She has an S4, not a Note 4.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Steve said:


> The CBS and ABC apps work great on the S4. :shrug:


That's the problem of fragmentation. There is more "bad" than "good" to it.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

peds48 said:


> That's the problem of fragmentation. There is more "bad" than "good" to it.


Ya. What puzzles me is there could be 20 or 30 million S4s in use in the US, if not more. How can NBC afford to ignore them? :scratchin


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

Steve said:


> Ya. What puzzles me is there could be 20 or 30 million S4s in use in the US, if not more. How can NBC afford to ignore them? :scratchin


I think you have to realize that the programming staff(?) for these apps are 2 or 3 people (in the US or outsourced) on a good day.

How can you justify more resources on a free app?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

There's a bit of exaggeration with regard to how many Android devices need to be tested to update and deliver adequate support of Android apps. Most apps can be successfully delivered with testing against fewer than 50 devices, using a cross matrix that tests the processors (about 3 or 4 in use), screen resolution (high and low), and form factor (phone, tablet). Netflix famously demonstrated this back in 2012, and another tech site back then also addressed the issue.

Netflix Testing: http://techblog.netflix.com/2012/03/testing-netflix-on-android.html

The other blog: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/02/android-qa-testing-quality-assurance/

Google has introduced many new changes since 2012, creating and deploying a new Android Framework that is separate from the OS level, and which is updated every 2 months or so outside of carrier control, which tends to eliminate some of the issues with OS fragmentation. 

App developers also have tools to track which versions of both the framework and OS are used by their customers. This helps them optimize the app for their largest customer base.

By no means is Android app testing as straight foward as Apple, but it's also not necessary to test every model of Android device ever released to deliver a quality product.


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> By no means is Android app testing as straight foward as Apple, but it's also not necessary to test every model of Android device ever released to deliver a quality product.


But if you just bought the latest tablet and it doesn't run the DirecTV app correctly, whose fault is it?

I just know that in the change to IOS8, a couple of poorly supported apps crash and I'm waiting (patiently) for their update. Imagine if you were the developer for the 50 you say you need to test on Android.

Netflix may have demonstrated this in 2012 but it's not 2012 anymore.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Drew2k said:


> There's a bit of exaggeration with regard to how many Android devices need to be tested


Of course every dev can't test every single device out there, while the method covers the majority of users, it does leaves behind some.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dennisj00 said:


> But if you just bought the latest tablet and it doesn't run the DirecTV app correctly, whose fault is it?


And this is one of the greatest point of Apple iDevices, Apple itself makes sure that the new devices are backwards compatible out of the gate.

When I got my iPhone 6, out of my 500+ apps only a handful (6), would not run on the new phone. I also discovered that 4 of those apps had not gotten updated to support iPhone 5


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

dennisj00 said:


> But if you just bought the latest tablet and it doesn't run the DirecTV app correctly, whose fault is it?
> 
> I just know that in the change to IOS8, a couple of poorly supported apps crash and I'm waiting (patiently) for their update. Imagine if you were the developer for the 50 you say you need to test on Android.
> 
> Netflix may have demonstrated this in 2012 but it's not 2012 anymore.


DIRECTV's fault.

You overlooked in my comment that since 2012 things have greatly improved for Android developers.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

peds48 said:


> And this is one of the greatest point of Apple iDevices, Apple itself makes sure that the new devices are backwards compatible out of the gate.
> 
> When I got my iPhone 6, out of my 500+ apps only a handful (6), would not run on the new phone. I also discovered that 4 of those apps had not gotten updated to support iPhone 5


This is not going to turn to that direction, is it? Let's try to avoid Apple to Android comparisons - they are not going to do anything but get fanboys on either side riled up.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Drew2k said:


> This is not going to turn to that direction, is it? Let's try to avoid Apple to Android comparisons - they are not going to do anything but get fanboys on either side riled up.


Well, let's hope not. But when talking about support for an app, is very difficult to leave behind the hardware they run on and the different process the Devs have to go through to make the app for a specific OS and how easy/difficult is to develop for for it.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dennisj00 said:


> I think you have to realize that the programming staff(?) for these apps are 2 or 3 people (in the US or outsourced) on a good day.
> 
> How can you justify more resources on a free app?


The NBC app is free, but the streaming content is ad supported. Their iOS app was done by BottleRocket, BTW. Same outfit that did the apps for ESPN, SHO, Food TV, HGTV, DIY, et al. That makes it all the more puzzling, since they are pros at this. Makes me wonder if Samsung is doing something to block NBC on the S4. When you try to download it from the Play store, you get a "not compatible with this device" error message. Maybe they're looking for a % of ad revenue from the content providers? :scratchin Unlikely, I know, but it is an explanation that fits the facts.


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

dennisj00 said:


> I had no idea it was 700. . .100 or 200 would be a show stopper.


Then they should go back and read the Netflix blog post about testing against a set of about 20 Android devices. Their app works consistently well on any Android device.

There are also now tools built into the development environment that automates much of the process for Android 4.0 and above devices.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

peds48 said:


> And this is one of the greatest point of Apple iDevices, Apple itself makes sure that the new devices are backwards compatible out of the gate.
> 
> When I got my iPhone 6, out of my 500+ apps only a handful (6), would not run on the new phone. I also discovered that 4 of those apps had not gotten updated to support iPhone 5


That's funny that you say that, because when I got my Nexus 5, none of my apps refused to run on it.

Same with my Nexus 7 when I upgraded to the 2013 version and KitKat.

Admittedly, I only have about 200 apps or so, and I was a few months behind release on the upgrade, but I didn't have a single app that wouldn't run and I didn't have a single phone app that had black bars because the app couldn't scale to the 5" screen size.

Not one.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dualsub2006 said:


> That's funny that you say that, &#8230;. I was a few months behind release on the upgrade,


That sums it up. The 4 apps I mentioned that do run on iOS8 were only updated to iOS5 (no wonder). The other two, are happily working now, after a week or so. You can't compared Apple (no pun intended) to Oranges


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

peds48 said:


> That sums it up. The 4 apps I mentioned that do run on iOS8 were only updated to iOS5 (no wonder). The other two, are happily working now, after a week or so. You can't compared Apple (no pun intended) to Oranges


I've seen the scaling issues that the iPhone 6 has. No thanks.

OK, back on topic.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dualsub2006 said:


> I've seen the scaling issues that the iPhone 6 has. No thanks.
> 
> OK, back on topic.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


As long as the app supports iPhone 5 and above, the iPhone 6 scales it pretty nice. Making the app use the extra real state on the bigger screens are a plus

but perhaps you want to comment on the issue you are seeing, cause I have not seen any and I have the iPhone 6


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## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

peds48 said:


> As long as the app supports iPhone 5 and above, the iPhone 6 scales it pretty nice. Making the app use the extra real state on the bigger screens are a plus
> 
> but perhaps you want to comment on the issue you are seeing, cause I have not seen any and I have the iPhone 6


No scaling problems here with the 6 or the Plus.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

dennisj00 said:


> No scaling problems here with the 6 or the Plus.


Exactly!


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## dualsub2006 (Aug 29, 2007)

peds48 said:


> but perhaps you want to comment on the issue you are seeing, cause I have not seen any and I have the iPhone 6


Not here I don't.

1. It's off topic
2. It isn't my phone, I've just used it multiple times
3. No discussion between us will make things any better.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Since two of us are not reporting any issues, we will leave as a fluke on the one you used. 


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> This is not going to turn to that direction, is it? Let's try to avoid Apple to Android comparisons - they are not going to do anything but get fanboys on either side riled up.


Great suggestion Drew!


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Drew2k said:


> Great suggestion Drew!


Agreed! Let's hope others can as well


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