TV-Guide UK
by Plain Old Neil
May 18, 2010 9:34 AM –
Install
TV-Guide UK. Fast and easy TV listings for the UK market. Quickly get an overview of what’s on right now – the shows, the movies and the sports events. The TV-Guide team is constantly adding more features and channels – keep sending us your feedback and suggestions.
Price: Free, $1.99
AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Get UK TV Guide while mobile
- Very easy to use
- Fast Scrolling with no noticeable lag
Cons
- No programme info for the coming week
- Bumpy set-up process
- The app icon is HORRIBLE
Features:
The TV-Guide UK app seeks to compete with a number of other apps out there doing exactly the same thing. The only way that they are obviously differentiating themselves from the competition seems to be by charging for an ad free version. Tempting!
On start up you choose the channels you are interested in from what seems like a pretty impressive list ranging from the channels you will very obviously want (BBC) and those that might charitably be considered to cater to the niche market (Bomerang – Whatever that is). There is even programme information for the Adult Channel. The idea of a regular watcher of the Adult Channel needing to plan his (or her’s) viewing of that channel really is very creepy indeed.
Once you have chosen your favoured channels you will be directed back to the app home screen which by default displays all your channels in a list format with their currently showing programme highlighted, in addition to the subsequent two programmes. From the same page you can filter these channels with the tabs along the top to show only your sports or movies channels. This is a nice feature but does not allow for user defined filtering which would have been awesome.
A click on a channel brings up a drab, vertically scrolling page of that channel’s schedule for the day. Not even a thumbnail of the channel’s logo is used to punctuate the vast swathes of boring text assaulting the eye. From here you can set notifications by long pressing on a programme and choosing from the predefined reminder intervals.
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TV-Guide UK Home Screen
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TV-Guide UK Channel Screen
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TV-Guide UK Add Reminders
Usefulness:
This app works pretty well as far as it goes. The scrolling is smooth and everything works intuitively. You will not need any instructions or to visit any forums to get the best out of this little guide. Unfortunately, there is no channel info for any day other than today. This has been a pretty critical factor in my evaluation of its usefulness. Also, what is the purpose of setting a reminder 6 hours in advance of a programme airing? Do people really start a 6 hour long build up to a new episode of Doctor Who? Very strange.
Ease of Use:
The app took a little while to bed down on my HTC Hero with lots of crashing and incredibly long load times at the beginning. Once the app was set up and I began using it however I found it to be incredibly easy to quickly navigate around the app.
Frequently Used:
I really like to know what’s going to be on TV so I expected to use this app a lot. Unfortunately the lack of channel information for the week to come meant that I used it pretty infrequently, preferring to use competitor’s apps.
Interface:
The interface, on the whole, is really nice with clean white backgrounds and fast scrolling text. Unfortunately it is let down here and there by a few issues already mentioned. Just gimme a thumbnail or something on the channel schedule page, come on.