Sky Glass - Am I missing the point?

[LMac2023]

Hi. I'm in Ireland.  It would seem that Sky Glass only works for Sky channels and even doing that it is very unreliable. I was given demos of Sky Glass in 2 shopping centres, both Sky employees told me that although it didn’t record locally to the box, shows added to the playlist would be available to watch any time. They didn’t say that it only worked for certain shows/channels or that it played recordings through 3rd party media players. BBC doesn't work at all through playlist and RTE shows just open the RTE player. 

Also, puck & TV keep hanging or playing sound only, no picture. 

Am I missing the point here? Is it really just a link to 3rd party media players? That comes free with every modern smart TV. What exactly am I paying for?

I contacted Sky and they said that it should let me add any programmes to the playlist and watch the through Sky whenever I want, without using iPlayer, 4OD etc. They are going to replace the TV and puck, I'm not sure there's any point in doing that. 

Anyone else having the same experience? Thanks!

[CardiffMan1992]

@LMac2023 

Sky Glass is more aimed at catch up and does use others apps for access to content that it doesn't have the rights to it's more like a collector of content so you can see where it all is. You are paying for access to the Sky Content which some is properly cloud recording others specially sport seems hit and miss. 

[Paul+Boland]

@LMac2023 

Sky Ireland is different to Sky UK in regards to available channels and Apps in Republic of Ireland and UK

BBC iplayer is not available in Republic of Ireland

There is though instead a limited access to BBC on demand content for playback in Republic of Ireland

First time BBC on demand has been made available

Amount of BBC on demand is very limited at the moment 

It's BBC who decide what on demand content is made available for Republic of Ireland

Majority of BBC broadcasts in Republic of Ireland you will have to watch live

Only content that is listed in BBC on demand section will list as available for playback in playlist and some will be only available for 30 days 

BBC on demand can be accessed from home menu

Click TV Shows

Scroll down and you will see a BBC tile

RTE majority of content you add to playlist playback will be from RTE Player

It can take 24 hours sometimes for playback of episode to show up in playlist and might look as  be missing some  episodes

RTE Player itself though will have all the episodes for playback even if it looks as playlist is missing some

Crimecall that's broadcast on a Monday each month will not be available as on demand playback with RTE player you have to watch live and been this way for years

If you got any more questions just ask

[TimmyBGood]

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@LMac2023 wrote:

Am I missing the point here? Is it really just a link to 3rd party media players? That comes free with every modern smart TV. What exactly am I paying for?

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Television apps typically don't permit access to live subscription television channels.

[Aiden.]

It's not great for use in Ireland. 

Im sending mine back, it's being collected on Monday.,

[LMac2023]

Thanks, appreciate that. I just wish the Sky people were more honest about what the system can and can't do. 

[LMac2023]

@Paul+Boland 

Thanks for that, think I'll have to send it back, not really fit for use in Ireland. 

[LMac2023]

@TimmyBGood @Thanks, not really sure I understand what you are saying though. 

[Jporch316]

@LMac2023 

You don't get the sky full live tv guide with a standard smart tv 

[TimmyBGood]

@LMac2023 

Sky television platforms carry hundreds of live television channels.  By itself, a television cannot receive the majority of these, no matter which apps it hosts.  That's primarily what a Sky subscription gets you.

Whether a particular channel carrying content of interest to you is on Sky, particularly as delivered in the RoI, is different, and you have to judge the value of such a subscription in your own particular circumstances.

[CardiffMan1992]

@LMac2023   Not sure I can do a better job then  @Jporch316 @TimmyBGood did but the reason I pay for Stream is because I want access to a full IPTV system that gives me all the main stream channels and that allows me to also watch PayTV content like HBO and Sports. Yes I could get most of this via other means like a mix of Now and apps on my TV but it wouldn't be a full set up. 

[LMac2023]

@CardiffMan1992 @TimmyBGood @Jporch316 @@@Thanks for taking the time to reply. I do understand that we get live TV but the guys selling it and the people on Sky support will not say that you are limited with what you can and can't watch on the playlist, they are either severely lacking in product knowledge or are being told not to discuss the limitations of the system. I'm with Sky a very long time, always first in the queue to get the latest system but Sky Glass feels like a massive step backwards, from a recording/playlist point of view. I know I can get cheaper TV but I'm happy to pay extra for Sky as it has always been the most convenient/user friendly option. 

We can add BBC stuff to the playlist but can't watch it, RTE stuff takes 24 hours to be ready to view. Perhaps is all works ok in the UK but it's not working in Ireland at all. 

This is the conversation I had with Sky support on Thursday -

Can I add shows from BBC, RTE, C4 etc to the planner and watch them when I want to without using 3rd party apps? This is how the system was sold to me in 2 locations.

*David*
Yes you should be able to add programmes from those channels to your playlist liam.

And watch them through Sky and not Apps? And confirm that BBC shows can be viewed through the playlist in Ireland? Thanks.

*David*
Yes that should be the case but it could be there is an issue with the actual Tv this why we need to get this looked into and why i can not trouble shoot to see what is going on. 

[CardiffMan1992]

@LMac2023 

Im not sure how it's supposed to work in Ireland sorry but in U.K. for certain FTA providers except channel 5 is all App based and all playlisting does is make a link to that content in the apps. Only Channel 5 properly cloud records. Some Sky sports cloud records some doesn't and it's impossible to know which does and doesn't. If you want proper full garuanteed recording and not worrying about apps I would stick with Sky Q. 

[TimmyBGood]

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@LMac2023 wrote:

 they are either severely lacking in product knowledge or are being told not to discuss the limitations of the system. 

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Quite possibly.  It's worth noting that Sky apparently lost a large part of its RoI-specific information when the support operation there was merged with that in the UK.

[Jporch316]

To be fair everything I've playlisted I've been able to watch although some shows are sometimes not available until the next day 

I watch all my sport live as this can be an issue with glass. 

in all honesty I think you would be better suited to sky q if you are recording and watching within a set time 👍