TWCable iPad App revised - what's new in 2.0

On 7 July 2011, Time Warner Cable released its second version of its popular and within-the-industry controversial iPad app.  The app take some major steps forward adding significant functionality, but seems very much like a work-in-progress rather that a polished piece of software.


The first noticeable change in the 2.0 TWCable TV iPad app is that its splash screen is now purple, unlike the avocado shade of 1.0 (my review here).  Branding people will note that TWC's web site is blue with a white logo, some of its trucks are painted with a lime-colored logo on a white field and this app has a white logo on a purple background.

The second change is the semi-persistent navigation below offers 4 choices:  Live TV, Guide, DVR and Settings.  Previously, the only function was Live TV.

Starting with the most mundane, Settings has 3 choices:  Favorites (your list of your favorite channels -- which starts out empty), Devices (which set top box do you want to control via the iPad) and Sign Out.

The Guide button adds new functionality -- the ability to use the iPad app as a remote control for a set top box.  The guide is the familiar scrolling electronic programming guide (EPG) from digital cable.  It launches on channel 1.  It is not the guide for the channels on the app.  When a channel is touched, the user is given the choice of "Watch Now" or "Add to Favorites".  The guide does not require that you look at all 1000 or so channels on the system, it gives a choice of 3 views:  All Channels, Favorites (more on this later) or just the HD channels.  One missing choice, that would seem to be an easy addition would be the list of the channels to which the users subscribes; this would also be much more useful than "All Channels".

DVR also adds new functionality -- the list of Scheduled Recordings on the connected cable box, but not what has already been recorded (and, there is no way to play those recordings via the iPad).  This functionality is provided on TWC's website.

Live TV works much as it did in 1.0, except that users have lost the "Last Five Channels Viewed" navigation option from the previous version.  That's a step backward -- it was one of the innovative navigation features (i.e., something other than a scrolling guide and channel up/channel down).  The Favorites list does not apply to Live TV viewed via the app, only to the set top box guide.

There is significant latency in switching channels.  The app also seems buggy, it crashed twice on me in a short period of time.

There are 15 new channels on the app:  Africa, Cooking, Discovery Health & Fit, DIY, ESPN Classic, Gol, Gospel Music, Great American Country, Jewish Life, Mav, Shop NBC, Smithsonian, Tennis, Universal and Word.  Seven of these are SD, the other eight are HD.  Live sports events have been beefed up with Gol and Tennis, previously only Golf was in that category (ESPNews and ESPN Classic don't show live events).

In terms of new programming ground, the app now contains HD-only services (Smithsonian and Universal), the previous version did not.  The other broad categories of what is not carried continue to be:

• any broadcast channels
• any premium channels (e.g., HBO, Showtime, Starz)
• anything from Viacom (e.g., Nick, MTV, Comedy, Spike)

Channel list in the order they appear in the app is below (which is slightly changed from before).  By my count there are 83 channels.  For those scoring at home, 22 are SD (at least 3 of which are carried in HD on the system - Bloomberg, Cooking and Sundance).  Time Warner Cable is claiming that there are more than 100.  The reason for the discrepancy might be that some of the channels are not available on my system and that I do not subscribe to some of the channels (although I get most everything TWC offers in Northern Manhattan).  I have confirmed that TWC only provides access to services which the subscriber receives on TV. The new additions are in italics:

1. A&E HD
2. ABC Family HD
3. Africa Channel HD
4. AMC HD
5. Animal Planet HD
6. Bio HD
7. Bloomberg (still SD)
8. Boomerang (SD)
9. Bravo HD
10. Cartoon Network HD
11. Chiller (SD)
12. CNBC HD+
13. CNBC World (SD)
14. CNN HD
15. CNN International (SD)
16. Cooking Channel (SD)
17. C-SPAN HD
18. C-SPAN2 HD
19. C-SPAN3 HD
20. Current TV (SD)
21. Discovery Channel HD
22. Discovery Fit & Health (SD)
23. Disney Channel HD
24. Disney XD HD
25. DIY HD
26. E! HD
27. ESPN Classic (SD) - this service is not on the WatchESPN app
28. ESPNews HD
29. EWTN SD
30. Food Network HD
31. Fox Business HD
32. Fox News HD
33. FX HD
34. G4 HD
35. Galavision HD
36. Gol TV HD
37. Golf HD
38. Gospel Music HD
39. Great American Country (SD)
40. GSN (looks like HD)
41. Hallmark Channel HD
42. HGTV HD
43. History HD
44. History International HD
45. HLN HD
46. Home Shopping Network HD
47. Hub HD
48. IFC HD
49. Investigation Discovery HD
50. Jewelry Television by ACN (SD) -- the weird branding continues
51. Jewish Life TV (SD)
52. Lifetime HD
53. Lifetime Movie Network HD
54. Lifetime Real Women (SD)
55. Mav TV HD
56. Military Channel (SD)
57. MSNBC HD
58. Mun2 (SD)
59. National Geographic HD
60. National Geographic Wild HD
61. NY1 News HD
62. NY1 Noticias for Time Warner (SD) -- odd "for TW" branding continues
63. Oprah Winfrey Network HD
64. Ovation (SD)
65. Oxygen HD
66. Planet Green HD
67. QVC HD
68. Reelz Channel HD
69. Science HD
70. Shop NBC (SD)
71. Sleuth (SD)
72. Smithsonian HD
73. SoapNet (SD)
74. Style HD
75. Sundance (still, oddly SD)
76. SyFy HD
77. Tennis Channel HD
78. TLC HD
79. Travel Channel HD
80. TruTV HD
81. Turner Classic Movies HD
82. TV Guide HD
83. TV One HD
84. Universal HD
85. USA HD
86. WE tv HD
87. Word Network (SD)

No longer on the app -- Wedding Central, which was shut down on July 1, 2011.  This review is of the Version described in the iPad Settings section as "Developer Build", for reasons that are unclear to me.  It is Version 2.0.0 in iTunes.

TWCable iPad App Review

I recently got an iPad, primarily to better understand the multichannel TV and over-the-top video apps that have generated so much discussion in the video business.

One of the biggest public disputes has been over the iPad app from Time Warner Cable, artlessly called TWCable TV.  Discovery, Fox and Viacom sued over the inclusion of their channels in the app.  While Discovery and Fox appear to have settled their issues with TWC, the Viacom services are still missing from the app.  The app works only in your home and only if you subscribe to both cable TV and broadband service from TWC.

The app is simple, good-looking and intuitive.  It is a fine start.

The app launches with a splash screen of a TWC logo on an avocado green background.  I have never seen that color associated with the company previously.  Much like the app's name, one wonders if the  branding people approved it.  [Addition:  I have since seen this green -- or a more lime-ish tint -- on TWC trucks, but the website graphics are blue, the color I had always associated with the company.]

It feels new.  This is not the clunky navigation from the set-top box ported to a new platform. It does feel like an iPad app.  It is a limited functionality app.  You can only watch live TV and only of the handful of channels that they have provided.  When you leave the app and return, it returns you to the last viewed channel, just like a regular TV

Sign up is via the TWC username and email that you need for programming your DVR from their website (which, by the way, doesn't work that well) and other account management functions.  Blessedly, this only needs to be done once.

The app only works in landscape orientation.  The guide is a translucent list of channels that appears on the left side and starts when you launch the app.  If you tap on on the screen on the right side, it goes away and the channel you are watching expands to fill the iPad's width (preserving the aspect ratio).

The guide fits eight channels at a time and displays the channel logo (small, not always that clear), the title of current show, one line of description about the episode and the start time and title of the next show.  When the guide comes up, a a translucent bar at the top also comes up that provides 2 buttons.  On the right is "Channel History" which which shows and provides one-click-access to the last four channels that you have viewed.  This is an interesting interface choice that adds some functionality to the ubiquitous "last channel" buttons on TV remotes.  On the left is the "Log Out" button, although I can't understand why anyone would ever do so in normal use.

The guide and top bar will disappear on their own after a short while.  To bring back the guide, tap on the screen.  There is significant latency switching between channels.  This is not a dream device for ADD channel surfers.  The video generally worked well.  I had some experiences of waiting for it to reload/buffer video when I was not switching channels.

There is no way to reorder the channel lineup or bookmark favorite channels.

The channels carried are a mix of services, with a decided preference for HD versions, which is a little odd given the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio.  The full list of the 73 channels carried is below; by my count 16 are SD channels.  The app originally launched with 32 channels.  It is unclear to me if the app's channel lineup can be revised on the fly or if TWC has to issue an updated version of the app whenever it wants to make a change.
What isn't carried:

• any broadcast channels (not even thinly-viewed digital multiplex feeds like ABC's Living Well)
• any premium channels
• anything from Viacom (e.g., Nick, MTV, Comedy, Spike)
• any of the HD-only services (e.g., Smithsonian, MGM, HD Theatre)

Given how sports-driven most subscription television marketing is and how crucial sports is seen for most early adopter video innovations, there is little sports programming in the app.  Golf Channel is the only full-time sports service in the lineup.  None of the New York regional sports networks are available.  The ESPNs are not, except ESPNews; they are available on the WatchESPN app.  Versus, MLB, NBA, NHL, Tennis, Big Ten, Gol, Speed, Fox Soccer...none of them are available.  Nor are TNT and TBS which have significant slates of sports.  In contrast, women-targeted services are very well represented:  3 Lifetime services, E!, HGTV, Food, Oxygen, WE, Style and Wedding Central.

My television subscription includes all of the 73 channels listed below.  It is unclear to me if TWC blocks out the digital tier or HD channels for customers who do not subscribe to them. Conversely, I wonder if some of the foreign language services that I do not see on the app are available to other customers who do subscribe to them.

There is no access to the recorded content on your DVR.  There is no closed captioning or SAP.  There is no-access to any on demand content.  The only "switch" in the settings panel is "Remember password".  This is version 1.0.2008 of the software.

In short, if you have an iPad the app is well worth downloading and looks like it will add some value to a cable subscription.  I'm not sure that I will end up using it that much given its limited functionality and the presence of more-fully-featured actual TVs in my household.

In terms of the business dispute, TWC is taking the position that because the app only works in the home, the iPad is essentially operating as another television and its rights to carry channels on it are covered by its rights in its regular affiliation agreements.  There is certainly a lot of support for the programmer's side of the argument that this is not another television (for starters, no must-carry broadcast channels are carried) and that these rights have to be negotiated separately.

The list of channels carried.  The name is how it appears in the top bar when selected (except for the comments in parentheses or after the dashes).  The numbers do not appear on the guide, that's just a function of this list.

1. A&E HD
2. ABC Family HD
3. AMC HD
4. Animal Planet HD
5. Bio HD
6. Bloomberg TV (oddly only in SD, however the Bloomberg HD feed just launched on this system)
7. Boomerang (SD)
8. Bravo HD
9. CNBC HD+
10. CNBC World (SD)
11. CNN HD
12. CNN International (SD)
13. C-SPAN HD
14. C-SPAN2 HD
15. C-SPAN3 HD
16. Cartoon Network HD
17. Chiller (SD)
18. CurrentTV (SD)
19. Discovery Channel HD
20. Disney Channel HD
21. Disney XD HD
22. E! HD
23. ESPNews HD (not ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU all of which are on the WatchESPN app, which does not have ESPNews HD).
24. Eternal Word Television Network (SD, although the HD feed is carried on the system)
25. FX HD
26. Food Network HD
27. Fox Business HD
28. Fox News HD
29. G4 HD
30. GSN (looks like HD)
31. Galavision HD
32. Golf Channel HD
33. HGTV HD
34. HLN HD
35. Hub HD
36. Hallmark Channel HD
37. History HD
38. History International HD
39. Home Shopping Network HD
40. IFC HD
41. Investigation Discovery HD
42. Jewelry Television by ACN (SD) -- weird to see such a lengthy name for an obscure channel
43. Lifetime HD (which launched the same day as Bloomberg HD)
44. Lifetime Movie Network HD
45. Lifetime Real Women (SD)
46. MSNBC HD
47. Military Channel (SD)
48. Mun2 (SD)
49. NY1 News HD
50. NY1 Noticias for Time Warner (SD) -- odd branding in the "for Time Warner"
51. National Geographic HD
52. National Geographic Wild HD
53. Oprah Winfrey Network HD
54. Ovation TV (SD)
55. Oxygen HD
56. Planet Green HD
57. QVC HD
58. Reelz Channel HD
59. Science Channel HD
60. Sleuth (SD)
61. SoapNet (SD)
62. Style HD
63. Sundance Channel (SD, although the HD feed is carried on the system -- a particularly odd choice for a movie service)
64. SyFy HD
65. TLC HD
66. TV Guide Network HD
67. TV One HD
68. Travel Channel HD
69. Turner Classic Movies HD
70. USA HD
71. WE tv HD
72. Wedding Central HD
73. truTV HD