TV Guide - 7 day epg

[Anonymous User]

Is the Freeview and now TV program guide on the now TV Smart box going to be updated to support a full 7 day program epg?

Also it would be good to add reminders to TV programs within the guide so you don't miss them.

It's very annoying just being able to see just now and next on freeview and on now tv

[Anonymous User]

Just got a NOW TV box with freckles, and have been very impressed. However, we have been very disappointed in the TV guide. Just having the "Now & Next" programmes available seems far to simplistic. Every other set top box or TV guide we've used displays a week of, if not more programming information AND the ability to set reminders for programmes we want to watch later in the evening/week. I realise that you'd rather we use the NOW TV side of the box more than the LIVE TV side, but we like to use both equally, and think the guide for all Live channels (NOW & Freeview) is lettingan otherwise greatly useful bit of kit down greatly. Will we be seeing this improve in near future updates? Or should I send it back and stick to Now TV via my chromecast and live TV on my TV?

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

Welcome to the forum.

It's something that has been asked for quite a lot on the forums, but unfortunately NOW TV don't really announce improvements ahead of time so we've no idea whether this is something they are looking into or not. Given it has to fit in with the Roku interface it may not be an easy task to achieve. If you have your box in the same room as another Freeview box, or your TV has a better user interface for Freeview then personally I'd connect the aerial up to them and just use the NOW TV box for the apps, as you'd get a better overall experience that way. That's what I do, although in my case, I use a Freesat box for free-to-air channels. Alternately, as you say you already have a Chromecast you may decide the smart box isn't really offering you enough to keep hold of it, but that's your choice.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the welcome, I'm surprised they don't offer a suggestions section like ITV hub! Was hoping to catch there eye on here I guess. The TV guide is such a let down, and quite frankly pretty old hat, for what otherwise is a pretty good piece of kit.

[Anonymous User]

Haha just seen the typo for freeview... Now TV with freckles, now that's a future suggestion lol

[ClockEnd]

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@Anonymous User wrote:
Will we be seeing this improve in near future updates? Or should I send it back and stick to Now TV via my chromecast and live TV on my TV?

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@Anonymous User  I doubt there will be any significant upgrades regarding now & next as Now TV don't make any money from freeview.  The way I see it is it is it was a feature to entice those with older HD ready TVs into getting movie/ents/sports passes.  I suspect future boxes will drop the freeview tuner and provide the capability to handle HD and 4K streams.

As the new Now TV box is the best way of watching Now TV, especially sports with the 50Hz frame rate and the 30 minute buffer, then I wouldn't send it back. Also if 1080p streams ever arrive this box will have no issues with them. 

In conclusion, it is not a fully fledged Freeview box.  It does come in handy for accessing channels not available on older freeview TVs but the real benefits are in the Now services.

As an aside, it's a shame these boxes don't have TV player like Amazon Fire TV as that would make the freeview tuner obsolete.

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

There is actually an Ideas Board on the forum, but you can't post directly into it, the NOW TV Team instead choose which ideas go in. I'll tag @Simon-J from the NOW TV Team and if he agrees he'll add it to the Ideas Board.

https://community.nowtv.com/t5/Ideas-for-NOW-TV/idb-p/My_Ideas

[Andy]

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@Anonymous User wrote:
Haha just seen the typo for freeview... Now TV with freckles, now that's a future suggestion lol

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A NOW TV box with freckles could be a great idea, we've already had a NOW TV box with penguins so who knows ...

[Andy]

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ClockEnd wrote:As the new Now TV box is the best way of watching Now TV, especially sports with the 50Hz frame rate and the 30 minute buffer, then I wouldn't send it back. Also if 1080p streams ever arrive this box will have no issues with them. 

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The Chromecast also does 1080p and 50Hz though. Not knocking the NOW TV Smart Box, but it's not automatically the best option for everyone given their needs and other devices available to them.

[ClockEnd]

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Andy wrote:

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ClockEnd wrote:As the new Now TV box is the best way of watching Now TV, especially sports with the 50Hz frame rate and the 30 minute buffer, then I wouldn't send it back. Also if 1080p streams ever arrive this box will have no issues with them. 

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The Chromecast also does 1080p and 50Hz though. Not knocking the NOW TV Smart Box, but it's not automatically the best option for everyone given their needs and other devices available to them.

@Andy 

I primarily use a Roku Stick these days as it has Amazon Prime, Google Play, Wuaki and Netflix . Convenience outweighs the quality (which is only applicable to live channels) especially as I only have 2 HDMI inputs on the TV.  I use the Smart box for Sports because of the 30 minute buffer and the 50HZ output being superior.  I would say overall the Smart box is the best overall in terms of functionality and picture quality if all you do is watch Now TV.