App is good but 1 thing
Love the app only hate screen dulls down if you fast forward/rewind so part of show hard to see for few seconds. Update 2026. Still no fix please remove the dull out when pausing.
Not for HDMI connected models
It would’ve been nice if the description said, “The legacy iPhone and iPad apps are not compatible with TV-connected Tablo models (Tablo DUAL HDMI & Tablo QUAD HDMI)”. Could save a lot of frustration and wasted time.
Worthless
Does nothing. Spinning wheel of death, never finds my device. Non-legacy app doesn’t work either.
iPad app is not good - Again
Update 6/13/25: The iPad OS app is now back to not being good again. Dropped 2 stars. Forgets where you left off in a recorded show and always starts from the beginning. Update 3/19/25: Some of the issues I described below have been fixed!! You can now see the entire recorded show when you press play so you can fast forward to a specific time. It also remembers where you left off in a show and does not start over from the begining. Fixing these two issues has raised my rating to 5 stars. Thank you!!! **Original review: I use my Tablo almost daily and the iPad app is the worst one out of my 3 devices. I have minimal to no issues with my Pixel phone and my Nvidia Shield TV. Maybe it’s a limitation of iOS compared to android but I’m not so sure. The iPad app forgets where you left off in a recorded show so it starts from the beginning and there is no way to fast forward to a specific time until it buffers the entire show. And then you start watching and the show stops buffering with 20 minutes left with no way to continue so you have to start all over again. Also, the way recorded shows are displayed is annoying. There is no way to select a specific season so if you have 14 seasons of a show recorded it has the newest season at the top and oldest at the bottom. This requires scrolling allllll the way down to the bottom. Who watches a show in reverse order?? The android apps have a way to select a season and a “watch next” button to start where you left off.
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No account required
Better than the new app because this legacy app does not require an account that can be used to track you.
App is good but 1 thing
Love the app only hate screen dulls down if you fast forward/rewind so part of show hard to see for few seconds.
iPad app is not good
Update 3/19/25: Some of the issues I described below have been fixed!! You can now see the entire recorded show when you press play so you can fast forward to a specific time. It also remembers where you left off in a show and does not start over from the begining. Fixing these two issues has raised my rating to 5 stars. Thank you!!! **Original review: I use my Tablo almost daily and the iPad app is the worst one out of my 3 devices. I have minimal to no issues with my Pixel phone and my Nvidia Shield TV. Maybe it’s a limitation of iOS compared to android but I’m not so sure. The iPad app forgets where you left off in a recorded show so it starts from the beginning and there is no way to fast forward to a specific time until it buffers the entire show. And then you start watching and the show stops buffering with 20 minutes left with no way to continue so you have to start all over again. Also, the way recorded shows are displayed is annoying. There is no way to select a specific season so if you have 14 seasons of a show recorded it has the newest season at the top and oldest at the bottom. This requires scrolling allllll the way down to the bottom. Who watches a show in reverse order?? The android apps have a way to select a season and a “watch next” button to start where you left off.
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Legacy Tablo 3rd gen dvr 2025 honest review
i own the 3rd gen tablo 4 tuner so i can record 4 shows at once
tablo allows you watch live tv + record
you will need antenna with high mile range
the difference between 3rd gen and 4th
4th gen has internet channels as a bonus feature
and loads faster
what makes gen 3 better option is TABLO anywhere you have to toggle on in the settings of legacy tablo app this will allow you to access your 3rd gen tablo from any 4G or 5G connection such as Live TV+recordings
i get like 30 channels in my city
i recommend this device for those leaving cable once you own tablo there is no fee
tablo allows you watch live tv + record
you will need antenna with high mile range
the difference between 3rd gen and 4th
4th gen has internet channels as a bonus feature
and loads faster
what makes gen 3 better option is TABLO anywhere you have to toggle on in the settings of legacy tablo app this will allow you to access your 3rd gen tablo from any 4G or 5G connection such as Live TV+recordings
i get like 30 channels in my city
i recommend this device for those leaving cable once you own tablo there is no fee
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Planned obsolescence there number 1 priority
I have had table version 1 and two for a number of years. The IOS app has always been terrible. It rarely works and I have to reboot the offending tablo delete the app and reinstall. This works for one or two weeks then rinse and repeat. They seem to want you to toss a somewhat working (it does record fine) and buy their latest and greatest device.
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iPad app is not good
I use my Tablo almost daily and the iPad app is the worst one out of my 3 devices. I have minimal to no issues with my Pixel phone and my Nvidia Shield TV. Maybe it’s a limitation of iOS compared to android but I’m not so sure. The iPad app forgets where you left off in a recorded show so it starts from the beginning and there is no way to fast forward to a specific time until it buffers the entire show. And then you start watching and the show stops buffering with 20 minutes left with no way to continue so you have to start all over again. Also, the way recorded shows are displayed is annoying. There is no way to select a specific season so if you have 14 seasons of a show recorded it has the newest season at the top and oldest at the bottom. This requires scrolling allllll the way down to the bottom. Who watches a show in reverse order?? The android apps have a way to select a season and a “watch next” button to start where you left off.
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So much promise, so many issues
Tablo in theory is great. However the execution is very poor for some very basic features.
App is missing Picture in Picture so you have to leave app open to watch anything. This is super annoying.
App does not prevent phone from locking when airplaying, and if phone does lock airplaying is paused. Also super annoying.
Phone locks if video buffers for too long. Annoying
Streams sometimes just randomly stop every 2 minutes. Annoying.
Streams ransoming just don’t star. Annoying.
This app is so close to being great but is so flawed that it ends up being aweful.
App is missing Picture in Picture so you have to leave app open to watch anything. This is super annoying.
App does not prevent phone from locking when airplaying, and if phone does lock airplaying is paused. Also super annoying.
Phone locks if video buffers for too long. Annoying
Streams sometimes just randomly stop every 2 minutes. Annoying.
Streams ransoming just don’t star. Annoying.
This app is so close to being great but is so flawed that it ends up being aweful.
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Needs background capabilities and more
It works fairly well, but needs a couple of things fixed. First, it needs background capabilities. I hate restarting an hour long show because this app decides to restart when I briefly do something else on my phone.
Second, it needs the ability to remember where I stopped watching during my last session, like the Roku and Apple Tv versions do. Ex: 43 min into a 60 min show.
Third, the playback volume is always very low compared to every other app on my phone. Some bluetooth speakers need to be turned up all the way in order to barely hear playback.
Second, it needs the ability to remember where I stopped watching during my last session, like the Roku and Apple Tv versions do. Ex: 43 min into a 60 min show.
Third, the playback volume is always very low compared to every other app on my phone. Some bluetooth speakers need to be turned up all the way in order to barely hear playback.
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No Picture in Picture
This OS feature from over 5 years ago still hasn’t been added, so I’ve returned my Tablo. What a strange feature to exclude from a video app.
Samsung Platform
After buying a Samsung Smart TV, came to realize Tablo is not available on the Samsung platform. Very disappointed - I like Tablo a lot and have been with them for a while. Now have to look for other options. :(
Amazing performance for the price
I went from paying over $110 per month for cable with Comcast to $4.99 for free OTA with Tablo. Yes, Comcast DVR is better but not $105 better. Only issue is streaming remotely while a program is still recording can have some latency and buffering issues, but for $4.99 per month can’t really complain. I get 80% of my programming and functionality vs Comcast for 4.5% of the cost. Very easy to set up too. Tablo reported that they are working on getting their legacy dvr’s on their new app which has zero subscription fee!
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Does not support iOS 17
I use my Tablo 4 tuner DVR often and love the dvr function and ability to stream OTA TV to all my screens at the same time. While Tablo is quirky and I’ve had to deal with odd guide issues, overall it has worked very well and tied with $25/mo Philo has been way better than paying for cable.
Unfortunately with the latest iOS 17 the Tablo app no longer functions properly. Please update this app asap before your customers leave for other arguably better options.
Unfortunately with the latest iOS 17 the Tablo app no longer functions properly. Please update this app asap before your customers leave for other arguably better options.
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Fix Apple TV App
The Apple TV app hasn’t worked well since around rhe time that the new 4th gen Tablo came out. Stop treating long term customers with your legacy product so poorly. Not sure how much longer I’ll wait for a fix before switching to another service.
Does not work with Apple tvOS 17
Could not figure out why I could watch Tablo Live TV and Recorded TV using my older Apple TV in the bedroom, but not using my newer Apple TV4K in the living room. After trying several resets and deleting and reinstalling the Tablo legacy app, I realized (thanks to the other reviews) that the problem is that my older Apple TV is simply not able to update to tvOS 17 because it is too old and that is why the Tablo works fine on that TV. My newer Apple TV4K is in fact running tvOS 17 and will not allow me to watch more than 23 seconds of live or recorded shows with out stopping, trying to buffer and then just cutting to a grey screen altogether. Wow, this is not Ok!! I probably haven’t even been a customer for more than 5 months and was previously so happy with this company. Not sure I will continue to be a customer and I certainly won’t recommend Tablo if this isn’t resolved soon.
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Does not work well on IPhone
Slow to load with lots of pixelation. Only good for administrative tasks, not for viewing.
Channel guide keeps locking up
Like others have mentioned recently, this app isn’t playing well with tvOS 17. Guide is locking up when you scroll half way through.
Doubt it will be fixed because they’re focused on the 4th gen Tablo for every platform except Apple TV, and it looks like the 3rd gen is going to be abandoned.
Might be time to get something else if Apple TV is not going to be supported anymore.
Doubt it will be fixed because they’re focused on the 4th gen Tablo for every platform except Apple TV, and it looks like the 3rd gen is going to be abandoned.
Might be time to get something else if Apple TV is not going to be supported anymore.
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