YouView Refocus Away from Direct to Consumer IPTV Products UPDATE
The YouView platform, which develops hardware and software to support the broadband-based TV (IPTV) services supplied via UK ISPs BT and TalkTalk (as well as retail set-top-boxes), has announced that they’re “refocusing development away from ‘direct to consumer’ products.” Say goodbye to their mobile app!
Instead the group intends to focus on delivering “best in class TV technology services direct to our customers” (i.e. BT, TalkTalk, Humax and Sony). The first casualty of this shift in approach will be YouView’s own stand-alone mobile app for Android and iOS (Apple) devices, which will see final support ending on the 31st March 2020.
Customer of BT’s TV service won’t have to worry about this as the ISP already offers a dedicated app that offers comparable functionality to YouView’s own app, although it will obviously be more of a problem for those ISPs and consumers who tended to rely upon YouView’s own app.
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YouView Statement
At YouView our mission is to combine cutting edge technology with Live TV and On Demand television to deliver a brilliantly smart TV experience for our customers.
In order to deliver the most innovative TV experience, we are refocusing development away from ‘direct to consumer’ products and toward delivering best in class TV technology services direct to our customers BT, TalkTalk, Humax and Sony.
As such we will no longer be continuing a YouView stand-alone mobile app and instead will support our customers by providing functionality in their own branded TV apps.
The big question now is whether or not their move away from “direct to consumer” products will eventually also result in Youview ceasing to serve the retail market with set-top-box devices too (excluding their ISP partners of course).
UPDATE 11am
Thanks to one of our readers, Jon, for spotting that TalkTalk has now confirmed that their own related TV Planner App will also be “phased out” next month.
TalkTalk TV is an award-winning marketplace for great TV, combining over 80 top channels with all the best On Demand players and streaming services including Netflix and Prime Video. As part of our commitment to meet the evolving needs of our customers, the TalkTalk TV Planner App will be phased out by 31st March 2020.
After this change takes place customers can continue to enjoy flexible access to the very best entertainment, record TV shows and films, as well as watch BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and ALL 4 directly from their Set Top Box.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Worth mentioning TalkTalk also have their own TalkTalk TV App?
The main app just seems like it links to other apps, although they also have a Planner app and I’ve yet to confirm if that is affected.
I think the all new bt box will be like the Humax freeview FVP 5000T that lets you record 4 programs at ounce but the new box from bt is supposed to have a bluetooth remote as opposed to the 5000T that i think has an infrared remote perhaps the box will be more like sky q but over the internet like virgin media
Don’t you just love corporate spin? “As part of our commitment to meet the evolving needs of our customers”. Yes, I’m sure many customer’s needs have evolved so that they no longer want a useful facility when there’s nothing else to replace it.
This points to bt tv relaunch on April 1st unless this is an April fool’s joke
Sounds like a BT takeover.
Will be annoying to loose the Youview app, as I find I use it quite a lot with the out of contract box.
What a nuisance, I use the Talk Talk app all the time to set up recordings when I am away from home.
I can set up and delete recordings on my Freesat box and this is free.
Don’t companies know what the public want.
Infuriating! I am with Plusnet and use this app all the time to record whilst away from home. Companies are really not interested in what the public want. Only try to convince us that ‘our evolving needs’ will be met! Rubbish
Hopefully, they will allow Plusnet tv customers access to the BT TV App or re-skin a version of the BT TV App with a Plusnet look.
Just before Christmas my original YouView box of several years died. I looked into the pros and cons of YouView vs Freeview Play. YouView was something I was familiar with, worked well and offered remote recording, a feature we valued and used often. Freeview Play had lower ratings and the Humax app has a broken remote record feature. I purchased a new YouView box.
I feel I ought to be compensated for the removal of a feature from a service I have just invested in which will now not be fit for the purpose for which I bought the PVR!
I’m on my 3rd Humax box. The first one died, the second one died, and I only got a 3rd one because my friend gave it to me. They’ve all had problems with locking up – the funniest was the original Humax remote record app, which told you it had a set a recording, but in fact bricked the box so it didn’t record anything until I pulled the plug and did a hard reset. A whole week’s worth of recordings gone, but at least I enjoyed the holiday. After this experience I haven’t tried remote record again, useful though it would undoubtedly be. When (not if) this 3rd one dies, I’ll consider a Windows PC with a TV card – that way the recordings won’t be encrypted, so I can do what I like with them (I pulled the hard drive and managed to save all the SD, but none of the HD, recordings from one of the boxes that said it had no hard drive), and I can remote in and set recordings in a very clunky way. If it lives long enough, maybe I’ll forget all about recording and just stream, I’m already watching more streaming than recorded TV.
Gutted.
I suppose this is all about money?
Just as most things are in the UK.
Just plain greed!!!
Talk Talk customer truly gutted now I will have to look at switching over to bt