Change channels without voice or search?

[Lolly52]

Is it possible to change the channel without using your voice or that little search box coming up? I know it’s such a little thing to complain about but I hate when I try to change the channel and instead of just changing, that search box pops up and waits for me to select the correct option before changing the channel.

I know the voice option is there, but I honestly don’t like using it. Is there a way to turn off that search feature and just have it go to the channel I type in?

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[ColdGranite · Accepted solution]

@Lolly52 wrote:

Is it possible to change the channel without using your voice or that little search box coming up? I know it’s such a little thing to complain about but I hate when I try to change the channel and instead of just changing, that search box pops up and waits for me to select the correct option before changing the channel.

I know the voice option is there, but I honestly don’t like using it. Is there a way to turn off that search feature and just have it go to the channel I type in?

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I will never understand how anyone does not like using the voice feature.

But if you insist...

... you have to realize that the "search popup" is more of a psychological thing than a "real" issue.

If you don't look at the screen, and just hit your channel: such as:  5 - 3- enter.... or 1-0-4-enter ... without pausing or looking at the popup... will that help?  That's not much different than digital where a 1 or 2 -digit channel number had to be followed by "ok" or else you had to wait for it to time out.  

But really... get used to the voice feature.  It is so much more convenient.  You don't have to remember channel numbers, just call them by name.    You don't have to point the remote at the at the box.  You can bring it close to your face, and you don't have to shout at it...  it will recognize a voice barely above a whisper.

[Don_Ca]

Short answer: No.

[57]

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@ColdGranite wrote:

That's not much different than digital where a 1 or 2 -digit channel number had to be followed by "ok" or else you had to wait for it to time out.  

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With digital cable it's possible to enter 0-0-6 or 0-2-4 and it would go to that channel directly without hitting OK.  There was also an option to display or not display the channel banner under Settings - System.  So, nothing came on screen to annoy, except the channel numbers as you're keying them in.  I'm not sure if with IgniteTV it's possible to avoid things coming up on screen.  I don't have IgniteTV.

[ColdGranite]

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@57 wrote:

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@ColdGranite wrote:

That's not much different than digital where a 1 or 2 -digit channel number had to be followed by "ok" or else you had to wait for it to time out.  

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With digital cable it's possible to enter 0-0-6 or 0-2-4 and it would go to that channel directly without hitting OK.  There was also an option to display or not display the channel banner under Settings - System.  So, nothing came on screen to annoy, except the channel numbers as you're keying them in.  I'm not sure if with IgniteTV it's possible to avoid things coming up on screen.  I don't have IgniteTV.

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Yes, with digital you had to hit 3 buttons to make a direct channel change, and with ignite, you have to hit 4.

If the 25% workload increase is too much, then all the more reason to use voice control.

[57]

Are there more than 999 channels on IgniteTV?  If not, then 3 presses should do until such time as the firmware can be upgraded when there are thousands of channels.

I believe that Bell Satellite had a similar 4 press issue due to their duplication of HD channels, etc.

[-G-]

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@Lolly52 wrote:

I know the voice option is there, but I honestly don’t like using it. Is there a way to turn off that search feature and just have it go to the channel I type in?

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Comcast customers have also asked the same question in the Xfinity forums.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to do this.  The search box is part of the system and I don't think that Comcast ever imagined that anybody would want to turn it off.

[jays77]

🤔  What's with all the button pushing with digital TV.  If I want channel three I push the number 3 and it immediately switches to channel 3.

In any case, as a non techie, the more I read about Ignite, the more complicated it seems.

[-G-]

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@jays77 wrote:

🤔  What's with all the button pushing with digital TV.  If I want channel three I push the number 3 and it immediately switches to channel 3.

In any case, as a non techie, the more I read about Ignite, the more complicated it seems.

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Ignite TV is definitely DIFFERENT.  It's made by a different company.  (The Digital TV cable boxes came from Scientific Atlanta, and have evolved during times when the company got acquired and parts of it divested.  Ignite TV is based on the X1 platform designed and developed in-house by Comcast.)

Ignite TV also provides a very different TV watching experience.  Digital TV was designed for a TV world with hundreds of TV channels and later evolved to serve on-demand content.  Ignite TV takes all that and also aggregates content from streaming services, such as Crave, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Tubi.  There can be a MASSIVE amount of content at your fingertips.  I currently have 28,754 movies available in On Demand / Movies / Free To Me.  Also, if I were to ever want to binge-watch a TV show from the beginning, Ignite TV allows you to do that by pulling together episodes that are available on-demand from the networks, restart/replay/lookback content, and streaming services.

Doing simple stuff can require an extra button press:  Switching to channel 3 means that I need to press 3 and then press OK/Select.  Pressing a number button also brings up a search box, so you also spell out and search for a tv network name, movie, tv show or actor, VERY quickly.

You can also find content by using Voice Commands, or see recommended content based on your viewing history, if you have that functionality enabled.

However, if you are like me and like to browse the Crave on-demand catalog to look for a movie or TV show, it is PAINFUL scrolling through content.  (Fibe TV offers a "list view", which is MUCH faster to browse than a Netflix-style tile view.)

DIFFERENT can be good or bad, and is often both.  There are many, many things that Ignite does very well, and there are some things that Ignite could do MUCH better... and because some functions work differently in Ignite TV, it can take some getting used to, especially if you have been using another system for a long, long time... and it can be frustrating if you do not like change.

[57]

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@jays77 wrote:

🤔  What's with all the button pushing with digital TV.  If I want channel three I push the number 3 and it immediately switches to channel 3.

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I doubt that it goes immediately to channel 3, otherwise you wouldn't be able to enter 34 or 345.  It waits a second or two to see if you're going to enter another number and if you don't, then digital cable switches to that channel.  I'm not sure what happens on IgniteTV if you "wait".  With digital cable, I usually enter all 3 numbers because that's easier and faster than entering OK or waiting the few seconds for the firmware to realize I've finished after one or two numbers.  After 3 numbers, it should switch immediately, unless there are more than 999 channels.

You're right though that some of the firmware decisions are not very customer friendly.

[ColdGranite]

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@57 wrote:

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@jays77 wrote:

🤔  What's with all the button pushing with digital TV.  If I want channel three I push the number 3 and it immediately switches to channel 3.

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I doubt that it goes immediately to channel 3, otherwise you wouldn't be able to enter 34 or 345.  It waits a second or two to see if you're going to enter another number and if you don't, then digital cable switches to that channel.  I'm not sure what happens on IgniteTV if you "wait".  With digital cable, I usually enter all 3 numbers because that's easier and faster than entering OK or waiting the few seconds for the firmware to realize I've finished after one or two numbers.  After 3 numbers, it should switch immediately, unless there are more than 999 channels.

You're right though that some of the firmware decisions are not very customer friendly.

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On Ignite TV,  "pressing a number" is not at all like "changing a channel" on Digital.

"pressing a number"  only brings up a "search panel".

If you do not press "enter" to "complete the search", that search panel will stay up until a time-out, and it just disappears and nothing happens.

So if you want to change a channel to, let us say, channel 3....

...then you press "3" to bring up the search panel.  The channel 3 will be the top item on the search list and will be highlighted.   

... then you press "enter" to "select" that item (channel 3), and Ignite will go to it.

But there are a lot of OTHER items on that search panel. 

You have to option to scroll through ... and/or select ... any one of them.   That list includes current and future programs on that channel and on related channels, etc.  You may choose any item on that list, and not channel 3 at all, if you so desire.

The ignite paradigm seems to drift away from "channels" a little bit, and give you more option to surf "programs collections".  You can still switch channels directly, as described above, but you also have a much greater ability to search directly for "programs", "program genres", etc.  

[User3998]

try getting a 77 year old to figure out how to click the OK button that isn't really a button. or to hold down the voice button at the same time as saying the number, with an accent. this is a REAL usability issue

[Lurker_Returns]

So all technology should stop advancing because old people can't figure it out?

Seriously - they've made it to 77 - they can handle a minor change like this.