Sept 2020 Fios DVR and Guide Update

[Scott804]

This week Fios pushed out interface updates for their TV services. After nearly 3 hours in chats, I was finally told that there is no way to roll back updates once loaded and they base new update options based on posts in the forum. Below are my complaints that they will only fix with enough support on here, if you have the same issues, please mark the post. 

1. They removed the chapter function for recorded programs on the dvr (the up arrow that would allow you to move to any 10 min marker in a program).

2. The new Now and Next function causes latency when switching channels. Even after setting it to 0 seconds. 

3. They removed the ability to view a single channel lineup in the tv guide. In the past I would just hit guide a second time to see the next 5-10 shows on a single channel. 

4. Finally, I just find the prettier guide view harder to actually read and process. Not sure if it is the number of channels,  dark screen, or just that it is too busy.  Turning off the background video helped a little, but not much. 

[raschwar1]

For some reason my guide did not update until 10/6. I guess I'm lucky that I had the old guide longer than many. The new one is terrible. Not only is it hard to read, some of the voice remote features were changed. For example, I used to be able to push the upper segment of the nav. ring to get an onscreen popup menu including, among other things, the closed caption selector. That convenient feature is gone and instead the next available channel in the guide is shown on the bottom of the screen. I know I can use the "voice" feature but sometimes I don't feel like talking to my TV. Previously, if I wanted to see the channel guide I could do so and still see the program I was watching in the upper left corner. Now it's just some image. So you took away two useful features and replaced them with nothing of value (to me).

Like everyone else here I DO NOT like the channel guide appearance. the old display was much easier to for me to see.

This was a needless update that doesn't seem to have made any feature better and some worse. Did Verizon consult any customers/users? Verizon, if you do actually respond to this forum please, please rollback this update!

[Renzo11]

I agree with all of the NEGATIVE comments.  

This upgrade is the ABSOLUTE WORST.

The objective of an upgrade/improvement is to make something better but this so-called upgrade has done the exact OPPOSITE.  It's soooo stupid, confusing and slow.  

The consumers who use your product and pay your salaries should have been consulted and allowed the opportunity to solicit our thoughts, ideas and opinions regarding this change.

This change is AWFUL...!!!  PLEASE, PLEASE change it back ASAP...!!!

[Changeitback]

Absolutely terrible “upgrade”. White writing on black background the worst combo for reading. Print is much to small to see. No banner on bottom of TV when changing channels. No color coding in guide. Who came up with this?  Who approved it? Please change it back. 

[RichmondUser]

Agree with the stream below!  The new guide is cumbersome, and the delays are very frustrating.  The guide uploading when the unit is turning on prevents entering new channels.  I'm spending a lot of time just trying to clear out of it.  The pictures and tiles in the new guide are not a positive change and take up too much room on the screen and bandwidth.

Please bring back the old guide!

[Golfhokie]

300 negative reviews!! I hate new guide too.

[Psihawk1]

My god.. I had to chime in here.   Only posted a few times before that I remember but this new guide.  Horrible!  Everyone in my house hates it.  All one color is the biggest complaint.   Harder to find things and the chaptering gone isn't going over well either.

There is no way someone approved this and thought.. this is better.  I only wish I could work for Verizon and be as incompetent as the people/team that created and released this {please keep your posts courteous}. 

[Newguideconcern]

Absolutely awful! We seniors can’t see the channel numbers as well any more! Why take the color coding away? Remember another new guide and they had to fix the colors because they were muted. What a big horrible wast of time and our money!

[Orcinus2]

I agree with most of your complaints and the complaints of everyone else on this forum.  The new guide system is absolutely awful.

1.  Guide is ugly because it's too busy and lack of color coordination makes everything look the same.  Having the video play in the background made it look 100x worse but thankfully I turned that off.  Still is very cluttered looking

2.  Now and Next menu causes latency and is unnecessary

3.  Guide is difficult to read and process because of so many channels on one screen and everything looks the same

4.  Icons showing tv shows and movies on guides are unnecessary and make the guide even more difficult to read

5.  No option when looking at guide to continue having your current show play in a small window.

6.  No option to switch between half screen guide and full screen guide

I don't like being negative, but this really is an atrocious update.  I've tried it out for a little while and I don't think I have any positive things to say about it.  The now and next banner isn't a bad idea but again it doesn't look good.

[NOTHAPPY91]

Agree with all complaints!  Watched maybe two hours of TV and found at least 5 features that I used ALL the time, were no longer there.

Can't use the bottom banner guide to access what's on another channel, without the channel now switching!

Can't go to the information page and have live tv still displayed in the top left corner!

Can't use the chapter function to fast forward-something I only found by accident a few months ago- as that has been removed!

Can't pull up the banner guide when watching on my DVR to see what is on live TV as that too has been removed!

Now we get to see the channel, such as 507 - looking even smaller than that.

The banner is too busy with graphics and too low on information.

My immediate reaction was to cancel FIOS if the guide, which as we all have said worked beautifully, is not restored back.  Too many options out there to stay with something which will not work for me and which is very expensive to boot!! 

[jlandis44]

Since it appears that Verizon takes feedback seriously, here's feedback.  This new guide sucks.  For all the reasons listed already and just the fact that it sucks.  My contract is up in November and this may be enough to finally push me into all-streaming to my smart TVs and being done with FIOS. 

[jimc7811]

Please roll back these terrible changes.  ty

[BlahBlah310]

AWFULL Removed Color coding - can see what channel I looking for

[ReginaS1]

The various lists of all the bad things in this update need to be addressed by the developers and it needs to be done sooner rather than later.  It appears that it was not tested with real people who use it every day. It would be nice if we were given a list of things they fix so we can check.One thing I did not see mentioned is the “last button” . It changed I. The previous update and began to show all the previous shows you had watched. Now it does not. I checked that it is enabled. If I change to disabled , use of the button will take you the last channel you were on. Enabled shows nothing .. feature does seem to come and go. The  changed how to select favorites and the new way involves the guide and is cumbersome at best.

[jtw10]

This is the WORST update ever!!! They claim it’s more user friendly. HA HA. One of the best things about the old guide was the color coding. Super easy to use. If I wanted to look for a movie that was on live tv I could quickly scroll the the guide only have to look at the “red” listings. Now I have to literally look at every listing. What a waste of time. Also why does the icon next to each channel just say “tv”? It would be more user friendly if it would list the network name. Instead you have to actually highlight the channel to see what network it is. This might be a bit extreme, but I’m so disappointed by this change that i’m considering cancelling my service. 

[taigrlily]

I agree with all of the above, regarding the guide updates.  But I especially hate that we can't have the small screen on the guide showing the current station.  Xfinity did this same channel guide update, taking away the small screen, and I hated it.  It's weird, but I loved that function, and when I switched to Fios, I was happy this still appeared.  What is it about having the mini screen, that it's seen as an "update" to not have it?   

[Rmarchini3636]

This is so bad I may switch services 

[RickGold]

There are so many elements in the new interface that are awful its hard to pick one. But there are plenty to choose from as a reason to get out of FiOS as quickly as you can. 

[k471]

Agree with all of the above.  Only a couple days with this new guide is dreadful.  One of the things I always love the FiOS was that their guide was so much better than anyone else. With the color coding, and easy to read, and the ability to find upcoming shows of the same show you were watching, etc.  Now, none of that is there.  Not sure how they decided on this mess, but it’s absolutely horrible.  There was very little wei with the previous guide.  Why fix what wasn’t broken?  I am hopeful that they listen to their customers and make some adjustments to this new guide to make it more user-friendly. Right now it’s not user-friendly at all.

[Jennifer1162]

Please bring back the old guide. This new one is terrible. Missing color coding, guide is way too difficult to read, banner display at the bottom when using dvr functions stays on way too long, lost the chapter function. This could not have been tested by real viewers. We are seriously considering switching providers due to these changes.

[Mo405]

I agree 10000% - I would take old version  back in a second! It’s much slower to move around the guide and the crap at the bottom of the screen is so annoying. I set to zero and it’s still there. Come on Fios admit you made a mistake and roll it back PLEASE!!!!

[FixGuide]

What are you doing Verizon? You see the comments! Who approved this hot mess? For starters just LOOK at the tiny channel font! I could go on but in short just return to the previous guide. You actually paid someone to screw up what was once a decent guide. FIX IT!!!