TV recording comes to Apple TV

Consumers can soon look up a TV guide, set recordings and play them back from Apple TV.

DVBLogic program guide on Kodi

Apple’s TV does many things; until now recording and watching TV wasn’t one of them.

But consumers soon will access a TV guide, set up recordings and later view them all using a Generation 4 Apple TV attached to a display, and a new app being built by DVBLogic.

“I am glad to confirm that we are working on AppleTV 4 DVBLink app as a part of our new DVBLink version 6,” a company spokesman said.

“This new version is scheduled to be available in April 2016 and, among other new things, will feature lean-back apps for Android TV and AppleTV platforms,” the spokesman said.

“These apps will offer full DVBLink functionality, including a TV guide, recording management, live TV and recorded viewing.”

Apple’s action to build an app store for its TV is letting developers build diverse applications such as a software-based personal video recorder.

But consumers will have to attach a storage device such as an external hard drive or use a NAS box to store TV recordings. And they will need a device on their network that houses a TV tuner. So DVBLogic effectively is providing the front end of a PVR (personal video recorder) setup for Apple TV.

Nevertheless the company has gone a step further than what is offered to-date.

Apps such as Plex let you use Apple TV to watch TV recorded on another device, but it doesn’t come with a program guide. You can’t initiate the recordings from the screen.

Alternatives are to use Apple AirPlay to stream from another device to Apple TV, or, if you’re willing to take a risk as some had, install a PVR front-end on an older, jailbroken Apple TV.

It’s possible already in the US at least to initiate and watch live TV on an Apple TV using an HDHomeRun tuner box and an Apple TV app called Channels.

DVBLogic, a Netherlands company, specialises in live and recorded TV solutions and its DVBLink software handles 4 types of TV sources. They are free-to-air TV received by an antenna, cable TV, satellite and TV streamed across the internet (IPTV).

DVBLogic software already runs on Windows, Mac and Linux computer systems, the tiny Raspberry Pi, and network attached storage (NAS) solutions by Synology, QNAP, Asustor, Western Digital and Netgear.

DVBLink will stream TV output to phones, tablets and displays connected to a home network and, when configured, to a user from across the internet.

But with the popularity in Australia of streaming services Netflix, Stan and Presto, people have less time for watching free-to-air programs. Users can access much of what they need to record through TV catch-up services. Still, a free-to-air recording is often better quality than the version streamed through a catch-up TV channel.