A number of people at the enthusiast sites are reporting missing icons. They’re saying the info bar no longer shows logos. See how the image above has the PBS logo? They’re saying logos are missing from there, and from places like Quicktune.
Not the most important thing…
No it is not the most important thing in the world but still. It’s a part of the user experience and if you’re used to it, it’s very noticeable when it’s gone. In the 2017 Genie user experience update, logos were used even more extensively:
As you can see the logos were used in the guide as well and the channel names were quite a bit smaller. That wasn’t a popular move and the logos were actually removed a few months later to give the guide experience you see today.
Why are some people reporting this?
I have a theory, and it’s just a theory. There’s a group of diehards over at iamanedgecutter.com who test weekly builds of the DIRECTV software. They’ve been at it for coming on 13 years actually, and they’ve been responsible for identifying some really impressive bugs.
In order to participate over there, you agree to enable certain data reporting for your devices. This data reporting switches you over from one set of “network assets” to another. I think the people who are complaining, have downloaded beta software but didn’t change the way their device reports data.
It’s not easy to figure out what data you’re using, so I can’t give you a way to test.
What do you mean, “network assets?”
Some of the information you get on your DIRECTV equipment comes from the satellite. This is essentially guide data and basic search stuff. A lot more comes over the internet. This includes logos, the “posters” that identify each TV program, and the TVApps content you get when you press the right arrow. This information tends to change a lot but it’s not super-critical, so sending it down over the internet makes more sense than constantly loading it and unloading it over the satellite. DIRECTV equipment has done it this way for a lot of years.
What about you?
Do you have all the channel logos and images you’re expecting to see? Or do you not even notice that sort of thing when you’re watching television? Leave a comment below. I know there are several members of AT&T’s engineering team who watch this blog and I bet they’d like to know more.
