# Channels: Whole Home DVR — user reviews > 81 indexed App Store user reviews of Channels by Fancy Bits, LLC, rated 4.70/5 from 567 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/channels-whole-home-dvr/id1405359767/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/channels-whole-home-dvr/id1405359767.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 484 · 4★ 38 · 3★ 18 · 2★ 7 · 1★ 20 ## Newest reviews (13 of 81) ### 3/5 — Not great on a Mac *2026-07-25* Because the app is native to iPads, and thus touch control, it’s poorly constructed for mice. Scrollbars don’t respond to mouse clicks or drags, which means you have to open the primary window large enough to accommodate any popup menus fully extended. ### 4/5 — Excellent *2025-02-27* Does what it says on the tin. I have been using this now for over 12 months and found it easy to use and very reliable. It would have gotten 5 stars if the guide search was improved. If I want to pick a day a week ahead I have to troll through day after day until I get to the day I want. ### 3/5 — Still a bit buggy *2024-08-26* The Apple TV app gets into a state where it is stuck on a show from the “TV Shows” sidebar. I finally figured out how to force quit the app to restart it, instead of rebooting the Apple TV, but it is still quite annoying. I suspect there is a memory leak. If the app was rewritten in Rust (at least the parts that could be), the issue of memory leaks might go away. ### 4/5 — Great Single App for everything *2024-08-10* I was hoping this app could be the one and only app for all Contant although it is fantastic and it is my go to app or watching personal content. The streaming is still questionable when away from home constant transporter errors and it can only stream for five seconds. if you are local, everything works perfectly. I was trying to see if this could replace Plexes and so far it’s doing very well, but there are reservations that keep me from fully moving over to this app. ### 4/5 — Still no recordings on ipadOS *2024-03-04* Been using this for years and although it works well on tvOS and using a browser, the iPad version still does not allow you to watch recordings (library is always empty). Apparently, this was fixed in a test (beta) version last year however it still hasn’t been released to live. New features are great but lets get the basics working first. ### 4/5 — Works well for the most part *2024-01-16* I am using it on my Apple TV 4K with a Synology server. Wish list: - HEVC channels should be listed under HD, or better yet, add an HEVC tab - display the channel recorded in the description of the recorded show. - allow selection of HD only when setting a series pass. - when creating a series pass, default to the current guide channel if the channel option is selected - allow multiple channels to be selected with a pass, it is currently one or all (this is somewhat related to allowing the specification of HD-only, but HD-only should include HEVC) ### 3/5 — Better than HD Homerun DVR *2023-11-11, version 5.7.5* Works a lot better than the stock app with HD Homerun. I have much better success with using the app on FireTv than Apple Tv. Apple Tv app keeps crashing and I get the " can't connect to server" message making it unusable on that platform. ### 2/5 — Maddening *2023-05-20* I lose track of the number of times the app stops playing and spins and spins until the error message says the tuner is inaccessible. ### 5/5 — Amazing developers *2023-03-14* I had a slight problem and wrote about it in their forums and the developers responded within the hour. The problem was on my end, but they were able to help me get it resolved that evening. ### 3/5 — Better than Jellyfin…but not by much. *2023-02-20, version 5.5.11* I like Channels. But, for a subscription product, it has an odd stubbornness to it. For example, you cannot forward the guide by date because the devs believe that search is better. TiVo, the gold standard in DVRs, elegantly enables managing the guide by date. In addition, ATSC 3.0 live playback from Silicon Dust network tuners can take either less than a second or up to 15 depending on whatever Channels is doing. When there are both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 simulcasts available, there’s no obvious way to prefer the 3.0 broadcast when creating a pass. Pass management is also stubborn, like guide management, with fewer recording options than the one provided by Silicon Dusts DVR, which nobody should use. I also wish it was possible to pause live playback on one Apple device and resume it on another. Still, playback quality is good and other than being stubborn, Channels is pretty reliable. I’d place it above SD’s DVR and Jellyfin bit below TiVo. ### 5/5 — Better than cable! *2023-01-17* Hardest part of setup due to pc-nas security issues. Other than that pretty much plug-n-play. Works great on firestick. Highly recommend. ### 5/5 — Great addition to streaming *2023-01-14* I put a small antenna in the window, hooked it up to an HD Home Run 4 channel tuner, hooked that to my Mac running ChannelsDVR and I’m in business. I can watch live TV on all of my devices no matter where I am as well asDVR all my favorite shows and all of this for $8 a month. Best $8 I ever spent. I highly recommend using ChannelsDVR as part of your OTA solution. ### 5/5 — Excellent *2023-01-08* Easy to use. A little tech knowledge helps get the whole house server going. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Apple TV app does not function at all *2025-12-15* No matter what option i choose, it can’t detect my location and “does not recognise” any postcode i enter ### 1/5 — IT IS NOT FREE TV ! *2025-01-20, version 6.1.2* You need to pay for a TV streaming service. This is misleading. Its not an app to watch free Live TV ### 1/5 — Continual problems *2024-12-09* Repeated error messages that file is corrupted. I continually report problems but nothing is done to correct the problem. Audio goes in and out. This has been a problem for weeks. ### 1/5 — Terrible *2023-12-27, version 5.7.5* Never works. ### 1/5 — Channels DVR *2023-08-06, version 5.6.5* This keeps on getting connection lost and tuner not available I moved my CDVR server to a NAS but still getting Connection Lost and Tuner not available ### 1/5 — Too Expensive for full version. *2022-11-14* Your service is way too expensive, I have changed to Plex and installed it on my Nass, does the same, play, pause record watch anywhere but only $40 per year, I paid for lifetime pass only $120. They are constantly introducing new products, Plexamp to play my music collection is just great also Plex Dash to monitor my system they are included with lifetime pass. ### 1/5 — Gross *2022-10-24, version 5.5.5* First off I payed $25 for the regular app but I don’t get the money’s worth on a regular basis. But asking me to pay $8 a month on top of NOT allowing me to use my own HDD is absolutely absurd!. I’ll be asking Apple for my money back. ### 1/5 — Customer service sub par *2022-09-05* Software works fine but customer support is not willing to work with clients which is very important for any apps that make it to the apple eco system. ### 1/5 — Can’t make it work. *2022-01-30, version 5.2.1* Can’t get it to work. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t include channels we downloaded it for *2021-01-30, version 4.4.0* Supposedly includes local channels. We signed up so we could record one show on one channel included with our basic cable, and Channels doesn’t include that channel—or any other local channels. Will cancel it ASAP. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Thanky ou for Multi-Device Support! *2026-06-30, version 7.1.1* I love this app. This has been a great platform for my home DVR having pulled the plug on cable. And being able to use the app on my M4 Mac Mini is just one more reason this app is a no-brainer. It’s stable, your site/community has great support, I simply have no notes. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Great piece of software *2025-05-04, version 6.2.3* I’ve been using Channels almost every day for years. This app has allowed me to get rid of two cable boxes, saving almost $30 a month. Admittedly the setup can be complex, but I am experienced in software. The main features DVR, pausing and rewinding live tv, and being a media server serve all my non streaming media needs. Plus in the years of using it, I have only encountered a couple of bugs. This company should advertise this app more. Everyone always talks about Plex and Kodi. I know they are not 100% equivalent, but they share the same space. ### 5/5 — Love it *2025-02-08* Everything is great except that I’m paying for this and my PiP is blocked by you guys having a “Rate our App” popup over the picture. Hopefully this goes away now… ### 5/5 — Amazing *2025-02-05* This is the absolute solution for an Apple tv device user that OS looking to combine live tv with personal collections and on demand apps. It is constantly updated with new features. Create your own virtual channels. Import your own media. Create collections. Download to devices. Integrate live tv from aerial and online sources. Deeplink content to apps you sibscribe to so content from Disney for example sits in your library next to your own content. So good. ### 5/5 — Better than cable *2024-10-18* This service is far superior to cable, satellite, or streaming services for watching and recording. It combines over the air with your other feeds for a truly seamless TV experience. ### 5/5 — Great product and company *2024-03-17, version 5.8.1* Product works great and support is terrific. ### 5/5 — BEST DVR server *2024-02-08, version 5.8.0* This is the BEST DVR server hands down and not to mention the developers are Top class! Thank you sooo much and keep up the great work. You guys ROCK! ### 5/5 — I’ve been looking for this for years. *2023-08-20, version 5.6.7* Fluid pause, rewind, fast forward. Can setup sophisticated DVR searches. Can handle multiple playlists flawlessly. I flipping love this software. ### 5/5 — Fantastic app and service! *2023-05-30, version 5.6.3* The Channels app and the Channels DVR service is top notch! The price is very reasonable. What an amazing job by the developers. The UI is slick and very easy to navigate. The app hardly crashes. The DVR does its job and records new seasons. It’s like set once and forget. It quietly and flawlessly does its job. Love it and highly recommended!!! ### 5/5 — Amazing App & Product *2023-03-25, version 5.6.1* The Channels app and DVR are amazing. It’s the perfect solution to bring cable channels into the 21st century. It enables me to get my favorite news, network and cable shows at home and anywhere else I want to watch. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*