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Freesat has pulled the plug on a clever Sky Q-like feature that allowed viewers to schedule recordings from everywhere in the world. The subscription-free satellite platform said “a change in our internal systems” was behind the decision to drop the functionality, which has been part of the Freesat package for years.
Before last month’s dramatic change, Freesat viewers could schedule recordings on their Freesat decoder from an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, anywhere via the Freesat mobile app. This is something that Sky Stream, Sky Glass and Sky Q subscribers have been able to do for a long time.
On the Google Play Store, Everyone TV still advertises the ability to schedule recordings remotely using the Freesat companion app as one of its benefits, despite this feature being removed last month
EVERYONE TV | GOOGLE PLAY STORE | GBN
Virgin TV 360 and EE TV – both popular rival set-top boxes with many of the same features – also allow viewers to schedule recordings remotely via a companion app on their phone or tablet.
The Freesat team explains the decision an update shared on her websiteposting: “Due to a change in our internal systems, we are removing Freesat ID accounts from our platform from mid-June 2024. As a result of this change, the Remote Record feature in Freesat Mobile Apps on iOS and Android will no longer work.”
The decision has consequences all Freesat models, including the latest generation of Freesat decoders with 4K Ultra HD released by Humax in recent months.
Furious Freesat viewers have flooded the listing for the mobile app with negative reviews. in the Google Play Storeone Freesat viewer wrote: “The app is now useless as it no longer sends recordings to your box or updates your recordings list. According to Freesat there was an update on 24th June which deleted accounts, making the app useless.
“Everything has to be done directly on the box now. So don’t download it and you might as well delete it from your phone, like I’m going to do. I don’t see the point of developing an app if you’re going to make it useless for its intended use.”
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Another expressed similar frustration, leaving a one-star review with the comment: “Freesat have deliberately removed the best feature from this app. The ‘record from app’ function no longer works and there are no plans to bring it back… WHY??? The app is now just a channel guide.”
Freesat viewers disappointed with the reorganisation have also taken to social media to complain about the remote recordings being removed.
@freesatadvice hi very disappointed with the removal of the record facility from the android and ios devices. It is such a backward step. I can’t believe you took that. Surely it must be high on your priority list to get the systems working again? Why did you take that?
— John Smith (@bogallan1) June 28, 2024
I totally agree with you Matt. I just spent £229 on a new box and in the box was this nice advert for the freesat app. What do you have to say about it? @freesat @freesatadvice ?
Should I return it and get a @FreeviewTV box? Or worse, go to @skytv ? photo.twitter.com/GdCZtHJhc1— Gavros2000 (@GavParf) June 26, 2024
If you want to schedule a recording for a specific program, TV series or movie, you have to pick up the remote control and press the button manually.
This comes as Everyone TV, the organisation behind Freeview and Freesat, backed by the UK’s major broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, launched a new free-to-air platform in the UK earlier this year known as Free.
Unlike Freeview and Freesat, this all-new proposition streams linear channels and on-demand boxsets over a wired or wireless internet connection. This is similar to solutions such as Sky Glass, Sky Stream, Virgin Media streamand the rebooted EE TV launched last yearIf you rely on a broadband connection, you can place your TV anywhere in your home that has a decent Wi-Fi signal, not where the antenna goes into the wall.
There are scathing reviews of the Freesat mobile app on the Google Play Store after the developers decided to remove the remote recording functionality
GOOGLE PLAY STORE | FREESAT | GBN
However, this industry-wide trend has led some experts to raise the alarm, saying that people without a decent internet connection may no longer be able to watch live television by 2040.
Freely is not available as a software update for existing Freeview or Freesat viewers. As it requires new hardware, you can only benefit from its new features — such as the ability to access all on-demand episodes through the program listings in the TV guide and the ability to restart a program from the beginning with one tap — when you move to a new television.
As it stands now, six different TV manufacturers have launched brand new smart TVs with Freely as the default way to watch free channels. However, Samsung remains the biggest absentee.