UK iPhone

A little while ago I blogged about the Tioti TV iPhone app that lets you set recordings on Sky+ from anywhere, using your iPhone. Since then, Sky have released their own iPhone app, which more or less lets you do the same thing, and it’s free.

However, I still think it’s worth coughing up a couple of quid for the Tioti app, because the Sky app is not as easy to use. It tries to replicate the electronic programme guide (EPG) that you get when you press the TV guide button on your Sky remote, but this does not take full advantage of the iPhone interface. While you can scroll the listings sideways by swiping, the only way to move up or down is with the buttons at the top of the screen: this may replicate the Sky remote operation, but on the iPhone it’s far more natural to scroll down by swiping, and this is what Tioti does. I prefer it.

The stark blue and white of the interface looks a bit low-tech, whereas the Tioti one includes station graphics, multiple font sizes etc. It’s also possible to customise Tioti so that it only shows the channels you want to see, whereas the Sky app shows them all. Most annoyingly, it doesn’t have an HD menu item, meaning all the HD channels are interspersed among all the others, and doesn’t have any way to favourite or mark shows: Tioti has “My TV” which shows you all the shows you are recording or have marked as favourite.

Another annoying thing about the Sky app is that it doesn’t download details until you select something, whereas Tioti downloads everything in the background, so there is no annoying pause before you can see anything.

As they say, in life, you get what you pay for. So if you want to step up to Tioti:

Get Tioti TV on your iPhone!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 7:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.