Video: DirecTV’s App Store leaves a lot to be desired

3 Comments

by Matt Burns on September 22, 2009

I know the DirectTV app store has been out for a bit, but I watched this video and was shocked. It seems that DirecTV added these apps or widgets just to be cool and hip like everyone else. They seem like an afterthought and not a well-developed platform. Now, like Dave Zatz points out, it could be that the system has so much lag because of the crappy DirecTV house brand DVR, but don’t you think the developers would code for their hardware? Any DirecTV users care to chime in about the TV Apps? Are they really this bad?

Tweet This

Adam Jeffery - September 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 pm GMT+5

I had access to them for a few hours about two months back on my HD-DVR and to be honest they are slow and useless just like the software running the HD-DVR

reply
drdrew - October 1st, 2009 at 9:42 pm GMT+5

Slow, yes. Almost a minute just to get the apps to load *after* you call for them. It almost as though they don’t connect, update, or even activate until you trigger them. Once they load, it’s actually pretty cool and a nice addition to tv without the need for a “media center”. There obviously needs to be a lot more integration with the web. I want an app to pull up imdb and be able to schedule upcoming movies based on actors, genre, etc based on what I’m watching or be able to do something as simple as buy a book that’s being plugged, if I so choose. As it stands now, I can get scores, horoscopes and weather (with a few *minor* exceptions). What more could you ask for! I see a lot of potential here if they open it up. Otherwise, it’ll just be another crApple store…

reply
steve - October 12th, 2009 at 7:34 pm GMT+5

Any idea how to write your own apps?

reply