IceTV ipad update?

Started by mitty, June 09, 2010, 11:53:59 AM

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mitty

Just wondering if the iceTV iphone app might be updated for the ipad?  the iphone app works fine but obviously it could be made universal to take advantage of the bigger screen size on the ipad.  Hoping this happens soon :)

Vortical

Can't you just view the icetv webpage using the browser on the ipad?

pszilard

I agree with Mitty. It would be good if the app was rewritten to use the full screen of the iPad. As it is I prefer to go the web interface.

renmiester

Agreed! Bring on the iPad app!!! :-)


grampus

BeyonWiz, T3

Fester

Just bought an iPad, the IceTV iPhone application is useless, web browser is far superior. If I am going to go big screen I want to use all that real estate!

Daniel Drysdale at IceTV

I understand your frustration and appreciate your patience.

We are planning on developing an iPad app but unfortunately we have limited development resources to spread around.

I can only reassure you that what you want is definitely on the TODO list.

In the meantime perhaps some suggestions on what you would like to see in an iPad app and how you would like us to fill the extra space.
Cheers,

Dan
Software Manager @ IceTV

Jammer

I just got an iPad 2 and one of the first apps I installed was IceTV.  I agree that an iPad version would be awesome if/when resources allow for its development.  As far as space utilisation goes, I think that the upscaling factor (i.e. larger fonts/icons etc) will probably mean that there won't be a lot of additional space to fill anyway.

Daniel Drysdale at IceTV

I'm not so sure about that, I don't know that there has to be a lot of upscaling moving to the iPad.

My plan is to start with "basic" iPad support in an upcoming version, essentially providing all the current functionality but in an iPad layout rather than an upscaled iPhone one.

Once the basic iPad functionality is done then we would look to find better uses for the larger screen size in future updates.

The biggest issue, aside from resources, is securing legal content to fill the extra space. We can't just scrape websites for reviews, images etc like some other apps you see around the place, everything must be our own content or properly licensed (at our expense).
Cheers,

Dan
Software Manager @ IceTV

markb

Why do ipad users want a specific app? Why not use the standard web site? The iphone is a little special because it is screen constrained compared to a PC but that is not true of an ipad.

I'd rather ICETV devote their meager resources to improving the standard web site which would benefit everybody, including ipad owners. They need at least to fix the obvious bug (discussed on these forums again today) that you can't set a timer for a specific channel (only network). BTW, as a developer myself, surely this is an absolutely trivial addition?

Also, I personally really would appreciate IMDB, metacritic, and rottentomatoes links added like has been done for the iphone app. Improve the consistency between iphone app and web site. The diagnostic facilities need to be improved so a user can see the last EPG, and last timer fetch, on his account, etc. Preferably provide a history log of such fetches. etc ....

Daniel Drysdale at IceTV

Hi markb,
I appreciate your feedback and while I agree that iPad users can make use of the website there is certainly a case of an iPad app as well.

To address your concerns, we are planning on a serious revamp to the whole interactive site to make it more "app-like" and in general a smoother and more pleasant experience in general. We will certainly consider IMDb, Metacritic & Rotten Tomatoes links as they are just as applicable to the website as the iPhone.

As for the "bug" regarding timers locked to a channel, the news is not so good. This is not a bug but an intentional design choice, we used to have the channel setting but we were constantly receiving feedback from users  suggesting that it was not particularly useful and that the current Network + quality method would be better. Of course this was when the networks were still providing SD + HD simulcasts, now with the multi-channel no HD simulcast situation the channels method would probably be better.

Unfortunately reverting back to a channel based system would require changes across the board and updates to APIs used by third parties, in short a hell of a lot of work, so we certainly have no plans to do it any time soon if at all.
Cheers,

Dan
Software Manager @ IceTV

grampus

Quote from: markb on March 31, 2011, 02:56:59 PM
Why do ipad users want a specific app? Why not use the standard web site? The iphone is a little special because it is screen constrained compared to a PC but that is not true of an ipad.
I think its nice to have a dedicated App on my ipad, which one would hope may cut my bandwidth useage down, and
I rather like one of the nifty features on the Ipad presentation.
The "my week"  shows all your devices instead of having to reload "my week " for each device.

Hopefully that will get to the website as a feature.
BeyonWiz, T3

Jammer

Quote from: markb on March 31, 2011, 02:56:59 PM
Why do ipad users want a specific app? Why not use the standard web site? The iphone is a little special because it is screen constrained compared to a PC but that is not true of an ipad.
Haha, spoken like someone who doesn't own an iPad!  I'm not having a go at you, Mark.  I don't think a specific iPad app is being asked for; rather, a universal app....and a lot of iPad apps are now universal.  That's why I was saying that perhaps the upscaling factor might take care of the additional screen real estate i.e. the font/icon size for the iPhone app could easily be tripled in size without being too large on the iPad.  But I'm speaking as someone who really has no idea about these things and if Daniel says that it's not a feasible idea, then that's good enough for me.

In any case, I've said my 2c and will let the experts make the decisions  :)  I just thought I'd add my vote to this thread.

markb

Quote from: Daniel Drysdale at IceTV on March 31, 2011, 03:23:28 PM
Unfortunately reverting back to a channel based system would require changes across the board and updates to APIs used by third parties, in short a hell of a lot of work, so we certainly have no plans to do it any time soon if at all.

Daniel, of course I am aware that you used to have timers set by channel and that you improved this by allow them to be set by network. That is, in general, a better option and I WOULD NEVER suggest you take that away! All I am suggesting is that you provide an option for a user to set by specific channel if he occasionally wants to, as an addition the present functionality and api's etc. There just are some cases where setting by network is too coarse (as others around here have recently complained).