Calling the new Genie menus controversial is a bit of an understatement. Our review of them has been the most read article on our new blog and it’s also the most commented article of all time for us. So I get it, you all aren’t happy.
I’m a little surprised by the sheer amount of venom out there, but I’ve heard it from a lot of different people. Many of you find the menus hard to read, the text too small and too thin. I’m here to tell you: they hear you.
I’ve been lucky enough to see some proposals for the latest version of those new Genie menus. I can’t show them to you just yet (although I suspect it will be soon.) I understand they are out there in pilot form. What I can do, is describe the changes to you.
The text is bigger
It’s not much bigger, but the text actually gets a pixel or two bigger in a lot of areas. It doesn’t sound like it would make a difference but it does.
It’s also bolder
Overall, the menus have switched back to a bolder version of the same font. It’s actually the same font that was used in the old Genie menus but in its incredibly thin form, many people found it hard to read.
Channel logos are gone from the guide
Instead of channel logos on the left side (which can be hard to read or tell apart from each other) the short form of the network name (like DSCHD or WXYZHD) appears pretty much the way it used to. This has the side effect of making the guide faster.
Some of the “fades” are gone
Some of the fadeouts that accompanied some menus have been removed. The big grey fade behind the progress bar is still there.
There’s a little more contrast
The white is whiter and the grey is darker in a lot of menus. Not a lot, just enough to make a difference.
These little tweaks have the effect of making the menus a lot more legible. Taking out the channel logos makes them seem even more grey, which I’ll admit I don’t like. I do like the extra speed though, especially on the client boxes.
There have been complaints about the “floating blue box” which shows the selected item, as well as some mention of missing features, but those things haven’t changed as of the prototypes I’ve seen.
Want to post a picture?
I understand there are some people who have actually received these revised menus. If you want to post pictures, you can post them here, but I have a warning: If you are part of an established testing program where you’ve opted in to receiving new software, or if the software version you have is not a national release version, please don’t post them. I would have to take them down and report you to the known testing sites. Don’t make me be the bad guy. If you’re just a “regular Joe/Jane” who all of a sudden found things got a little better, I’d love to see your screen captures. As I said, I can’t post pictures of what I’ve seen.
Good things:
–there are no channel logos and it makes a huge difference in the speed of the guide menu
–the font on the guide is bold and it helps a little
Bad things:
–I see no difference in size of the font in the guide; above the guide where the show description is located, I still find it necessary to squint (even while wearing glasses) to read the show description
–that HORRIBLE, GIGANTIC blue box that takes up 1/3 of the screen when you scroll to a show on the playlist is still there; they should make this the same as the guide where the show name you are on turns blue BUT STAYS THE SAME SIZE
–this new interface is a huge downgrade from the old GUI when it comes to recording; go ahead–TRY to schedule a series from a single channel–YOU CAN’T DO IT! Try to schedule a season pass (first run only) of a show like The Goldbergs on ABC–soon your “to do” list will be overloaded with scheduled recordings of The Goldbergs on ABC, NIKeast, NIKwest, POPTV, and the CW. When you choose a season pass on ANY program, you will notice above the choice for “first runs only” it says “This will record episodes across all channels.” I DON’T WANT TO RECORD A SERIES ACROSS ALL CHANNELS, I want to record from a single channel and never had this problem with the old GUI.
–let’s say you have a scheduled recording of a show like “The Terror” on AMC and you have it set to record a very late airing (4AM) instead of the normal time because you don’t want it to interfere with other viewing/recording. But then you change your mind, so you cancel the 4AM recording and instead record the earlier showing. Then around 10PM you decide to watch the recording and then delete it when you’re finished. Guess what? That 4AM recording that you canceled? IT STILL RECORDS ANYWAY…
–in the old GUI if you were in the playlist and had a program highlighted, over on the left you could just choose “Upcoming Airings” and get a full populated list of all airings, in order, of that show. NOT ANYMORE! If you do this on the new GUI, it only shows upcoming airings OF THAT EPISODE. If you want to see all upcoming episodes, you now have to choose “All Seasons” first, then choose “Upcoming Episodes”.
–I still see screen fades all over the place and haven’t noticed any that have gone away; on this version, when you press the “pause” button, the faded progress bar disappears pretty quickly now but it’s definitely still there when fast forwarding or rewinding. Go ahead and press the “info” button while watching a show–a full THREE QUARTERS of the screen is taken up by gray fades. It’s ridiculous.
–I absolutely hate the depressing gray colors. Make it like Windows OS–let me choose what colors I want.
–ever since I received the new guide, OnDemand always says “currently not available” on every channel, ESPN app doesn’t work, yet I know I’m connected to the internet because the Scoreguide and Weather apps work just fine! I’m connected via ethernet cable (200mbps up/18mbps down), and when I run a Genie internet speed test, it always lands on 4K speed.
–since my OnDemand hasn’t worked since this fiasco I can’t speak to this problem but I have read others saying that season passes have been downloading the OnDemand episodes rather than recording via DVR. Since the vast majority of OnDemand shows won’t let you skip the commercials, is this going to be the new normal to FORCE you to sit through ads? When cable first started the deal was that the commercials paid for the TV shows. Now for years they also charge ridiculous retransmission fees so they’ve been double dipping forever.
Wanna know how many people despise the new GUI? Go take a read of the THOUSANDS of posts on the ATT Directv forums. I’ve been a continuous customer since 1996 and am getting frustrated to the point that I may just have to pull the plug and find other ways to watch TV.
I feel so sorry for older customers that had no problem navigating the old GUI and no problem reading the text. They must be so frustrated at this DOWNGRADE. Why does it now take 6 or 7 remote button presses to do what the old GUI did in 1 or 2?
Bottom line is this–TV is for TV watching. It’s not a phone. It’s not a laptop. It’s not a tablet. IT’S A TV and it should work with little effort to find, record and watch what you want. This GUI is sorely lacking in all of those areas.
That ain’t half the stuff they broke. This sucks.
ONE QUESTION: WHEN WHEN WHEN
ONE QUESTION: WHEN WHEN WHEN
I saw all the discussion at AT&T. We just got the “improved” menu yesterday, and are switching back to DISH. I am and older customer, and simply cannot read the #()%)# thing, it’s atrocious. I can’t believe they released it without any thought or concern for those with eye problems, let alone all the many other concerns people are raising. By going back to DISH, we are saving money, getting the ability to watch WAY more shows, and we can make the fonts bigger if we need to, which sold me right away. Bye, bye, Direct.
I rather like it. But as my wife asked, where are the other episodes? I said, right there honey, just under that big blue box. What? I didn’t even see them.
The short of it, in addition to font changes, they need to fix the Playlist, (blue box) and reintroduce sort options, though I never used them.