As I write this column, I’m downloading dozens of flicks from streaming providers reminiscent of Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access, and Peacock.
But as an alternative of utilizing the built-in obtain operate in these providers’ cell apps, I’m utilizing a program referred to as PlayOn to make recordings of every video. That means I can maintain the recordings indefinitely, switch them to virtually any system, and feed them into my whole-home DVR.
Jared Newman / IDGWith PlayOn Cloud, you possibly can handle recordings by way of the iOS or Android app.
It’s a neat thought, however as I wrote final June, the execution is a bit clunky. There’s no built-in solution to manage your library, and downloading big video recordsdata to your telephone or streaming field can rapidly result in house constraints. While you possibly can have PlayOn retailer recordings on-line till you’re able to view them, this requires an additional subscription on prime of the roughly 14 cents PlayOn fees per recording.
That’s the place the brand new tie-in with Channels DVR comes into play.
With Channels, you arrange a house media server utilizing a PC, NAS field, Nvidia Shield TV streaming field, or Raspberry Pi mini-computer, then plug in a tough drive with ample storage. Channels can file video from a rising variety of sources, together with over-the-air TV tuners and sure dwell TV streaming providers, and you need to use Channels’ apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, or Apple TV to view the recordings. If you will have the technical wherewithal, it’s a wonderful solution to roll your individual whole-home DVR.
The integration with PlayOn Cloud simply provides much more content material to that setup, together with the on-demand catalogs of Netflix, Disney+, and the like. Whenever PlayOn completes a recording, Channels will robotically obtain the video to your media server, so you possibly can stream it to all of your different gadgets. That means you don’t have to make use of PlayOn’s apps to view the recordings or pay PlayOn for further storage.
Jared Newman / IDGWith Channels DVR, recordings from PlayOn will present up in your library robotically.
(As of now, Channels’ PlayOn help is in beta. You can allow it by long-pressing the “check for update” button at my.channelsdvr.web, then utilizing the “Add Source” button to attach your PlayOn account. Support within the steady model of Channels ought to arrive subsequent week.)
Why trouble with any of this, particularly if it entails added time and expense? As I’ve written earlier than, I hear from a whole lot of of us who nonetheless need the simplicity and dependability of a cable-style DVR, together with the power to look at offline, at any time, all via one menu. While the variety of streaming sources retains rising, providers like PlayOn and Channels try to drag issues again collectively once more.
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