Comparison

TiVo vs Slacker Studio

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

TiVo

Control your TV experience from your mobile device. Discover new shows, schedule recordings, and stream live or recorded content anywhere. Search across multiple services to find exactly what you want to watch.

Highlights
  • Out-of-home & in-home streaming
  • Download recordings for offline viewing
  • Personalized 'What to Watch' dashboard
  • Remote recording scheduling
  • Mobile search across TV and streaming services
  • Integrated remote control functionality
Read full description

The free TiVo App for iOS is the ultimate entertainment app serving up control, discovery and a mobile place for viewing. Watch live or recorded TV via your TiVo, find shows and schedule recordings and browse content via the guide, by genre or category, explore the cast and crew, and even see where the content is available whether it be through cable TV, Netflix, Hulu PlusTM, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video, through VOD in certain markets and more. 

 “What to Watch” combines real-time viewing data, recommendations and personal preferences to create a custom dashboard presenting the exact content you want most every time you sit down to watch TV. This feature allows you to categorize by content that is on TV now, starting within the next 30 minutes, or on later tonight. Categories include: Popular on TV, Sports on Now, Powered by Thuuz, Movies on TV, Kids, Favorite Channels, Viewer’s recorded TV, Shared by Friends. TiVo Roamio Plus, TiVo Roamio Pro, TiVo BOLT and TiVo Edge users can seamlessly stream live or recorded programming to their iOS devices. Download recordings while at home or away via WiFi or cellular to watch when you have no connection. TiVo Stream users can stream live or recorded content to iOS devices within their home network and download shows to go. 


 Features of the TiVo app (some features are only available to TiVo Premiere or TiVo Roamio DVR customers): 

 > Out-of-home & in-home streaming: watch your live or recorded shows remotely anywhere you have Wi-Fi 

 > Out-of-home and in-home downloading: download your content to enjoy anywhere so that low bandwidth or lack of a Wi-Fi connection never slows you down 

 > What to Watch Now: no matter where you are, TiVo’s second screen dashboard provides instantaneous personalized recommendations the second you pull up your TiVo app, providing you with available content options to watch now, in the next 30 minutes, or tonight. 

 > Remote scheduling: browse and view the programming guide, manage recordings, check your To-Do List or set a Season Pass® any time – no matter where you are 

 > Mobile Search & discovery: figure out what’s on whether you’re in the office or a hotel and enjoy the same browsing tools you have with your TiVo at home (including the TiVo editorial Collections and show, cast and actor information) 

 > Use a TiVo remote control replica or our intuitive, gesture-based remote control 

 > Search across TV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video & Hulu Plus – and get integrated results on what you’re looking for 

 > Explore cast and crew while watching a show 

 > And much more 

 Having troubles finding or connecting to your TiVo DVR? Try one or more of these steps:

 * Restart your network router by unplugging it, waiting 30 seconds, and plugging it back in 

 * Restart your TiVo DVR by following the instructions in the TiVo menus under Settings & Messages > Help > Restart or Reset System > Restart the TiVo Box

About

Slacker Studio

Discover a unique listening experience by blending your favorite music stations with the voices of people you follow. Create and share your own audio "Breaks" with friends, adding a personal touch to music streams.

Highlights
  • Blend music stations with follower voices
  • Follow interesting people to hear their voices
  • Control music-to-voice mix ratio
  • Broadcast 30-second audio "Breaks"
  • Add custom images and comments to Breaks
  • Attach intros to songs for sharing
Features
Read full description

The music you love, blended with the voices you care about. Pick your favorite station and start listening. Find some interesting people to follow and you'll hear their voices between your songs. Want to listen to Today's Hits, but hear the voices of your best friends pop in after a few songs? You can do that. Want to listen to classical music but hear ABC News headlines and podcast comedy clips pop in after a few songs? You can do that. Want to hear mostly music or mostly talk? Yeah, you can do that too. YOU control the mix of songs and voices. Broadcast your own voice to your followers, and they'll hear your unique personality right alongside their favorite songs. Record up to 30 seconds of audio in Slacker Studio (we call that a "Break"), add custom images and comments, and then publish straight to your friends' streams. Want to share some music? Record an intro, attach it to a song, and broadcast it to fellow Slacker Studio users. Our Facebook and Google login options are for verification only. We won’t share or collect your data or post to your social apps unless you tell us it’s OK, and we promise we’ll ask your permission first.

Screenshots

TiVo4 screens
Slacker Studio3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Slacker Studio at 3.4 against TiVo's 2.0. Slacker Studio also leads on review sentiment (42% vs 11%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). TiVo's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (3.3K vs 56). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Slacker Studio holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TiVo has 3.3K ratings behind it against 56, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 11% of TiVo's written reviews are positive against 42% of Slacker Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TiVo ships an update every 4 months, Slacker Studio every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
TiVo versus Slacker Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTiVoSlacker Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (3.3K ratings)3.4 (56 ratings) — better
Positive reviews10.7% of reviews41.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.3K — better56
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size162 MB76 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperTiVo Inc.Slacker, Inc.

Customer experience

TiVo

All ratings3,256 ratings
Positive19.8%
Neutral6.5%
Negative73.6%
Written reviews159 reviews
Positive10.7%
Neutral7.5%
Negative81.8%

Slacker Studio

All ratings56 ratings
Positive60.7%
Neutral3.6%
Negative35.7%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive41.7%
Neutral12.5%
Negative45.8%

Bugs and requests

TiVo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Constant need to re-login
  • Streaming and downloading failures
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Picture-in-picture support
  • Improved remote control functionality
  • Easier episode and recording management

Slacker Studio

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

TiVo

No in-app purchases

None

Slacker Studio

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TiVo free?
TiVo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Slacker Studio free?
Slacker Studio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TiVo or Slacker Studio?
Slacker Studio is rated higher. TiVo averages 2.0 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while Slacker Studio averages 3.4 from 56 ratings.
Do TiVo or Slacker Studio have ads?
Slacker Studio shows ads; TiVo does not.
Which is updated more often, TiVo or Slacker Studio?
TiVo ships an update every 4 months, and Slacker Studio every 3 months. Most recently, TiVo was updated on October 16, 2026 and Slacker Studio on October 13, 2026.

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