iPad/iPod/iPhone application: TiSageTV

[brian89gp]

Cool. Just an idea, I am sure you know the best way to go about it.

I can honestly say that I can fully see myself using this app more and more and eventually never touching the remote control again.

[JohanDW]

I have bought the application a few days ago and I am running it on my iPhone 3GS. I can do everything that it should do (browsing recordings, TV guide, remote control); only thing that fails every time is streaming video. I can take any recorded TV show and try to stream it. The ios player comes up and crashes immediately. After that you can continue to work in the TiSageTV app.

All ports are set correctly & the firewall on the server is even switched off.

I attach my log file. The attempts are done in the last 20 mins of the file. Note that I can stream via the media streaming services of jreichen...

Johan

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by JohanDW

only thing that fails every time is streaming video.

If you try it locally through wifi (i.e. server's ip of the type 192.168.x.y) it should work. To do it from outside your network (3G or such), you will need to wait for version 1.10 and the "Added a Stream in Safari for iPhone/iPod access outside the server's network"...

[Bagal]

Have you thought about releasing a 'lite' version at all, so that people can try it out first or do you think that would be too much hassle?

The main reason I ask is that even though I have no problem with the price point, I'm not sure how much I'd actually use the app, so I'd rather not spend $30 on something I might only use once a week, if that, hence a 'lite' version to try may convince me otherwise

Alternatively some videos of the app in action might be nice (I did have a quick look but couldn't see anything...), while the screenshots are great I don't think they can give you a good feel for how you interact with the app.

Thanks for listening!

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Bagal

Have you thought about releasing a 'lite' version at all, so that people can try it out first or do you think that would be too much hassle?

The main reason I ask is that even though I have no problem with the price point, I'm not sure how much I'd actually use the app, so I'd rather not spend $30 on something I might only use once a week, if that, hence a 'lite' version to try may convince me otherwise

Alternatively some videos of the app in action might be nice (I did have a quick look but couldn't see anything...), while the screenshots are great I don't think they can give you a good feel for how you interact with the app.

Thanks for listening!

To me $30 is a steal of a deal compared to other automation options. You remember apple takes a huge cut of the top.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Bagal

Have you thought about releasing a 'lite' version at all, so that people can try it out first or do you think that would be too much hassle?

Well, the Android version does come with a trial mode until registered, but we don't really have that option with the iOS applications... Currently the application is changing too much to be worth the hassle of creating a 'lite' version...

Alternatively some videos of the app in action might be nice (I did have a quick look but couldn't see anything...), while the screenshots are great I don't think they can give you a good feel for how you interact with the app.

Well, if you look on the TaSageTV wiki, there is a video for it. I'll try to make one for TiSageTV, though I know that the program I used for the other expired.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Bagal

Alternatively some videos of the app in action might be nice

Try this:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/408295/TiSageTV.avi

I probably should have reduced the frame rate and size, while increasing the quality, but oh well, that should give you an idea...

EDIT: I have updated the video, it looks better than the previous attempt, but not as good as the real thing...

[Bagal]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

To me $30 is a steal of a deal compared to other automation options. You remember apple takes a huge cut of the top.

As I said, I have no problem with the $30 cost IF I know I'm going to use the app, otherwise it's wasted money....which unfortunately is why so many $1 apps do so well because it's a purchase you don't really have to think about (and yes, if you take Apple's cut and realise that Fonceur only gets $21 of that $30, it suddenly seems a lot more reasonable).

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Well, the Android version does come with a trial mode until registered, but we don't really have that option with the iOS applications... Currently the application is changing too much to be worth the hassle of creating a 'lite' version...

Yeh, I figured it might be...

Originally Posted by Fonceur

I have updated the video, it looks better than the previous attempt, but not as good as the real thing...

Many thanks for this, it's really appreciated
The video does show it off much better than the screenshots and I think if more people see this they'll be inclined to purchase....as for me, well, I'm still on the fence, my inner geek is saying 'buy, buy, buy' but my head is saying 'you don't need it', usually the inner geek wins eventually

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Bagal

(and yes, if you take Apple's cut and realise that Fonceur only gets $21 of that $30, it suddenly seems a lot more reasonable).

Technically, there is also the Tallus LLC owner taking another big chunk out of it...

The video does show it off much better than the screenshots and I think if more people see this they'll be inclined to purchase....

I will probably try to create another one with less compression (so the blue gradient doesn't look like color bands), and post it on our site. Anything it didn't address?

[broswift]

I can not get this to connect. I have tried it on 2 different servers. I am using wifi
servername: swiftserver
IP:192.168.0.101
port:9555 (I changed it when troubleshooting)

Client1 port 9260
hd300

client 2 port 9262
hd300

All settings match in the sage plugin configuration and my iphone 4

I enable logging but there is no file in the main sagetv folder. I restarter my WHS and reconnected my extenders and there is still no log. The plug in says it is enabled.

The little boxes next to the client and server names are always x. I have restarted the whs 3 times now and my iphone 2 times.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as this would be an amazing addition to the product, as I am a custom integrator and will be selling whs sage systems now in place of media center and I would like to include this app since all my clients have iphone/ipads.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by broswift

I enable logging but there is no file in the main sagetv folder.

Have you enabled both the SageTV and SageTCPServer logging, as those are different settings? On WHS, maybe the sagetv_0.txt gets placed somewhere else... If you did it by manually editing the sage.properties file, you have to make sure to stop the SageTV service first, otherwise the file gets overwritten.

Once you manage to get the logging working, zip up the sagetv_0.txt and sage.properties and I can have a look.

[PLUCKYHD]

How long does it take for the database to be updated with recent recordings? I noticed yesterday none of my recordings from the night before where showing up.

cheers

[Bagal]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

I will probably try to create another one with less compression (so the blue gradient doesn't look like color bands), and post it on our site. Anything it didn't address?

The only thing missing that I can see is remote controlling a client, but that might not be very useful anyway and I did see it in the Android video.

Is there anything in the iPad version that's significantly different? If so, it might be worth doing a video of that as well...

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

How long does it take for the database to be updated with recent recordings? I noticed yesterday none of my recordings from the night before where showing up.

On reconnection, the list of favorites/schedule/recordings are wiped and refreshed from the server. While the connection is maintained, those get automatically added (except Manual recordings which don't trigger any event).

If you don't see any updates, it sounds like the app is offline because it is set to use wifi and you are at work over 3G or such...

Now if you were to move those recordings to the Videos section, in principle they should update too, but I haven't actually tested it.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Bagal

The only thing missing that I can see is remote controlling a client

Right, I was stopping Live TV from the Remote in the previous one, but forgot this time.

Is there anything in the iPad version that's significantly different? If so, it might be worth doing a video of that as well...

The layout is different, so it will be worth making one too.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

On reconnection, the list of favorites/schedule/recordings are wiped and refreshed from the server. While the connection is maintained, those get automatically added (except Manual recordings which don't trigger any event).

If you don't see any updates, it sounds like the app is offline because it is set to use wifi and you are at work over 3G or such...

Now if you were to move those recordings to the Videos section, in principle they should update too, but I haven't actually tested it.

Wierd I don't use 3g (ipad doesn't have it). I will test again and see if i see it it was in the recordings section.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Wierd I don't use 3g (ipad doesn't have it). I will test again and see if i see it it was in the recordings section.

You can take a look at the various sagetv_*.txt at the time. If you were connected, you should see some RSL: messages being sent.

[rileydogmi]

Is there any easy way to show if the app is connected to Sage client/server or not? In settings, is there a way to show if the connection is made after I select the server/client? It would also be nice to see a status (maybe a green/red indicator) in the window titles or something like that.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by rileydogmi

Is there any easy way to show if the app is connected to Sage client/server or not? In settings, is there a way to show if the connection is made after I select the server/client? It would also be nice to see a status (maybe a green/red indicator) in the window titles or something like that.

That's what the wireless/X icons are for...

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Bagal

Is there anything in the iPad version that's significantly different? If so, it might be worth doing a video of that as well...

So here is the iPad version:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/408295/TiSageTV-iPad.avi

BTW, the 2 videos are from the beta version 1.16, while the version on the app store is 1.08 and version 1.10 is "In review". The blue theme is complete on the iPod/iPhone version, but there is more work to do on the iPad...