Review of the Dish Anywhere App
I've been a long time user of Dish Satellite Television services. I used it from 2003-2007 and took a short break from 2007-2010 because the townhouse homeowners association would not allow a satellite dish to be-speckle an otherwise perfect fascia. But returned again from 2010 and still have it today. Fortunately in recent times Dish has joined the smartphone apps game and with the debut of the Hopper, they're actually leading the pack when it comes to TV tech.Initial Setup
Before you get anywhere with the goodies in this app, you must of have the Sling Box add-on device. Sadly, the first generation of the Hopper does not come with Sling built-in. The separate device may have been an afterthought or there just wasn't enough room for it in the initial design. Fortunately the Sling Box add-on does not take up a great deal of space and can support weight from above. But if you do own other equipment, the USB cable isn't very long, so you may have to squeeze it between the Blu-ray and the Hopper. The Sling Box add-on comes at a $50 one-time extra charge.Guide
By selecting any show from the guide, you are presented with an information screen that is similar to the "info" overlay in the receiver's guide. At the bottom of this screen you will see two options; watch and record. The "watch" option will only show up if the show is currently running. Selecting "record" however will take you through the steps of scheduling the show now, all episodes, or just new episodes.
Across the top, on the right-hand side of the guide you will see a button for "Live TV" which will give you whatever is playing on the primary TV, or whatever channel was last being viewed. It should be noted that, unless your Hopper has multiple tuners (it has three), if you attempt to change the channel when watching "Live TV" and someone is already watching, the channel will be changed for that viewer as well.
My DVR
(Note: If the DVR is in standby mode, you will get a warning that it is not available when selecting this feature. But don't worry, a little bit of gentle nudging on the "refresh" icon will wake the device)The view of the DVR through the app is also quite different from that of the Hopper's guide, it's more compact and simple. Like the guide, you will find filters across the top of the screen for channel, genre, title and date. Selecting any one show will take you to a screen identical to that of the guide, displaying show info, and the buttons across the bottom for "watch" or (in this case) "delete".
If you select a show that has a number on the right-hand side, you'll see a list of episodes and more filter options, this time for "original air date" or "date recorded". Further delving into a particular episode will give you access the info and watch or delete options.
On Demand
Like the title says, these shows are accessible when you want them. But unlike the shows that are live or recorded locally on your DVR, you may have to pay extra. Everything that is available via the On-Demand feature in the Hopper is available through the app. There are shows and movies provided through Dish directly and through their recently acquired subsidiary Blockbuster Video. There are literally thousands of shows and movies available, but the quality and price may not always suit your needs. Depending on the service package that you currently have, will determine whether you have access to these features.Video Controls and Playback
At this time in history I do not believe that it is possible to give you any great hopes for good control over remote playback. A phone or tablet with unlimited LTE data and a Hopper / Sling Box on Google Fiber might be the only exception. My advice is to get used to long delays or just watch the playback without fussing with fast forward or rewind. You will not be able to view how far you've gone forward or back and constant skipping is a painstaking process. For the convenience I am grateful I can do just about everything that is possible with the remote in front of my TV. But the technology just has not caught up to live controls over current wireless signals. Search
Of all the functions available in the Hopper Sling Box, Search is the most simple and easiest to use. I actually prefer to search from the app than from the remote, primarily because the keyboard is easier to use from my phone. Although, depending on the size of your TV, the search may be easier to see, search in the Dish Anywhere App is snap. Selecting shows to watch live or record uses the same interface as the guide and DVR.Settings
There are slew of settings for the Dish Anywhere App and to simplify I have provided a list below
- My Receivers
- If you have more than one receiver, this is where you can switch between them. Personally I have one Joey (the remote unit for the Hopper), but it doesn't count as a receiver. However, if I had more than one Hopper, I could choose between them here.
- On Demand
- Display Locked Content
- In the On Demand section, unless you have the correct service plan, you will see shows with a pad lock icon in the upper left-hand corner of the included image. These shows are locked content. If you'd rather not see that, uncheck the box
- Parental Controls
- Managed only from the website, will take you there if you choose
- Closed Captioning
- If you want to see the closed captioning text on screen in the app when viewing video, check this box
- Send Feedback
- Gives you a large space to write your opinion about this app. Please do, the more feedback Dish gets, the better the app will become.
- Recordings (Be sure to hit save before leaving this screen, if you made any changes)
- Priority
- How important is this show to you? There are two options, High and Low. If there is a conflict with the shows you want to record, priority will determine it.
- (Note: When a receive is offline, all new recordings will be set to the highest priority by default)
- Start Early / End Late
- If you've ever experienced the annoyance of having the prior show cut off part of the show you were trying to record or that the end of your show ran beyond the end of the hour, this option will help you to remedy that problem.
- Max recording
- 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,15,20,25, or All episodes
- Keep Until
- ...I Delete
- ...Until Space is Needed
- Video Settings
- Show Control Bar on Connection (check box)
- Enable Low Bandwidth Message (check box)
- If the outbound bandwidth at the location of your Hopper receiver is too low, the video will not play. I recommend at least 300 kbps. Cable internet providers can get this up to 5000 kbps, DSL tends to be closer to 1000 kbps
- Video Quality
- Auto, Standard, or High
- Logout ( Hit this and your session is over )
- Privacy Policy
- Has a check box if you'd rather opt-out of being anonymously monitored
I did not use this app nearly as much in the past when the upload bandwidth at home was poor. But since I installed a DropCam, I had to upgrade the out-bound data speed. With this change came the ability to stream HD video on the app. I highly advise against using your cellphone data plan to stream anything from the Hopper. You will blow through your 2GB of data so fast it will leave you gasping. Find a local free WiFi, most hotels and many restaurants provide it as an incentive for your business. But stay away from Starbucks as you will not get enough bandwidth.
I can't say enough about the coolness factor of being able to watch satellite TV anywhere. Dish really does have a good idea and they are setting the standard for entertainment on-the-go. Now if I could just get it to work on the airplane...
Check out the App on the Google Play store or the Apple App Store
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