The Channels app, which gives owners of HDHomerun networked TV tuners an alternative way to watch live TV debuted in the Amazon Fire TV appstore last month. At the time, it was only available for the Fire TV 3 because that was the only Fire TV model that supported native hardware deinterlacing. Channels has just released an update that adds support for the Fire TV 1, Fire TV 2, Fire TV Stick 2, and all Fire TV Edition televisions. The only device not supported by the app is now the 1st Gen Fire TV Stick. The app’s developers tell me they were able to support older models by writing their own custom deinterlacer that uses the GPU to perform the necessary deinterlacing process.
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Great However, $25 up front then $8 per month. CRAZY price!!!
I didn’t think you can use the $8 dvr service with the Fire devices?
We’re rolling out DVR support slowly but surely. You can read our plans for the roll out here: https://community.getchannels.com/t/channels-dvr-support-for-android-tv-and-fire-tv/4685/10
Right now, you can browse and playback all your recordings, and the full 21 days of guide data are available in the guides.
So you are saying I can playback my recording I made through the hd homerun dvr through your interface?
No, Channels does not support SD DVR.
Is the 8 dollar a month optional?
Would I still get the digital TV guide if I did not pay the 8 dollars?
If I purchase it, can I use it on all of my Fire TV devices for the one $25 dollar purchase?
If Yes to all of these questions, then I will retract my statement and make the purchase.
Yes of course. Everything you see in the website and Amazon App Store pages is what you get.
Channels DVR just adds the ability to do DVR’y things.It transforms the app into a DVR offering all of the features that you expect in a DVR.
Channels was designed completely stand alone as an app that lets you watch live TV in addition to all of your streaming apps. You can see what Channels does here: https://getchannels.com/firetv/
Yes to guide and all devices.
Apologies for the confusion, but there’s no recurring fee.
The Channels app is designed for live TV viewing with full support for pause, rewind, and fast forward. It’s a single $25 purchase for every Fire TV on your account.
The $8 subscription cost is only for Channels DVR which turns Channels into a full DVR. It’s an additional piece of software that you can choose to add on.
Nice. I didnt mind paying the 25. App code is cleanly written and alot less buggy than HdHomerun app. Pay attention to all the complaints about unable to stream issues in their forums. They constantly trim the posts to negate the issue and response has been we are working on it for 4 months. They need to hire Channels developer to fix their problems. But yes the 8 dollar a month Dvr fee is excessive
Good on him for putting in the effort.
I think I’ll stick with Kodi for LiveTV playback of my HDHomeRun and other OTA tuner. Price being one contributing factor. I do miss using Media Center and Ceton Echo for Live TV and PVR, it just seemed to work the best, but that was back during cable TV days. Now I just watch OTA stations for the most part and don’t record what I don’t watch live.
I’m going to bite the bullet and give it a try. I cannot stand the interlacing that HDHomeRuns app can not get around. It is so bad, it is un watchable. I e-mailed silicon dust with my issue and they said the FIRE TV 2 could not be deinterlaced because the chip was not strong enough but I know that was a load of c#@p because Kodi does it. I sent that reply to them and never heard back. lol.
What does the developer say bout proper h264 1080i deinterlacing? Is it utilizable on any Fire TV? The 3rd Fire TV should have great amlogic motion adaptive deinterlacing, but for MrMC for example it is not implemented in the Firmware
I did it. Just made the purchase.
I will let everyone know how well I like it in a few days.
I loved channels on iPad but at the time the devs were not interested in the amazon firetv. Now for me it is too little too late. Cancelled my cable tv and sold my HDHomerun tuner. I applaud the devs as it is an amazing app and SD with all their $$$ cannot fo better than this small team of devs.
Didn’t i read somewhere, that this only supports newer HD Homeruns, and not oldet ones like the HDHR3-US?
I had to buy a newer HDHomeRun to get Channels to work on my Shield and also to get Plex server to work on a Windows 7 box.
Silicon Dust gives you a discount if you currently own an old model. Just email them.
I bought this app yesterday and so far so good. The picture quality is way better than Silicon Dust’s HDHomeRun app. I can use the same $25 purchased app on all 6 of my Fire TV devices making my effective cost per device $4.17. The TV guide is good but for some reason only goes about 5 hours into the future (is this the way it is supposed to be?). Long program descriptions (more than three lines) ends with … (dot,dot,dot) making me think there is more of a description to be seen but I can not find anyway to view that extended description. Is there a users guide that explains the app or am I just supposed to figure it all out by trial and error?
I have been a long time Channels user and Channels DVR subscriber. Initially I had it on Apple TV which is the most mature platform. The FTV is catching up quick and the developers have made enormous progress.
If you but the app it will work on all your FTVs and need a HD homer I. To work with. The stand alone app uses guide data from the OTA signal which is about 5 hours. The app allows you to pause and rewind live TV.
If you subscribe to the optional DVR service for $8 a month you get a software package that you can install on an always on PC, Mac or a supported NAS or even Nvidia Shield. The full list is on their website. The Channels app then talks to this and the DVR service records onto the PC or NAS hard drive. Subscribing to the DVRvalso extends the guide viewable on the FTV app out to 21 days.
Currently you can browse and watch recordings from the FTV but not set them. That is coming. To set them now you either need the Apple TV or iOS app or use the web interface from the DVR.
Sorry for the typos above. The $8 DVR subscription mainly pays for the license for the 21 day guide data which is sourced from a third party company.