Comparison

TiVo vs SBB TV

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

SBB TV

Stream live and on-demand TV content from your favorite channels. This service offers cloud DVR, replay TV, and an advanced interactive programming guide. Available on various devices for Summit Broadband internet customers.

Highlights
  • Live TV streaming
  • On-demand content
  • Cloud DVR
  • Replay TV
  • Interactive programming guide
  • Mobile and Smart TV access
Read full description

SBB TV, powered by TiVo is a premier streaming subscription TV service available exclusively to Summit Broadband High-speed Internet customers. Enjoy live TV and on-demand content from your favorite channels, anytime at home or on the go using your favorite mobile device, Smart TV or streaming box. Features include: * Cloud DVR, Replay TV, On Demand, Advanced Interactive programming guide, and more. Learn more at summitbb.com or contact us to learn more about this Streaming TV subscription service.

Screenshots

TiVo4 screens
SBB TV4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SBB TV at 3.4 against TiVo's 2.0. SBB TV also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 11%) and device support (4 vs 2). TiVo's advantage is monetization model (free vs subscription) and ratings volume (3.3K vs 5). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

SBB TV 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 5, 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 50% of SBB TV's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TiVo ships an update every 4 months, SBB TV every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
TiVo versus SBB TV: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTiVoSBB TV
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.0 (3.3K ratings)3.4 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews10.7% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.3K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS18.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size164 MB38 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperTiVo Inc.TiVo Platform Technologies LLC

Customer experience

TiVo

All ratings3,289 ratings
Positive19.9%
Neutral6.4%
Negative73.7%
Written reviews159 reviews
Positive10.7%
Neutral7.5%
Negative81.8%

SBB TV

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

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

SBB TV

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

TiVo

No in-app purchases

None

SBB TV

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TiVo free?
TiVo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SBB TV free?
SBB TV is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TiVo or SBB TV?
SBB TV is rated higher. TiVo averages 2.0 out of 5 from 3.3K ratings, while SBB TV averages 3.4 from 5 ratings.
Do TiVo or SBB TV have ads?
Neither TiVo nor SBB TV shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TiVo or SBB TV?
TiVo ships an update every 4 months, and SBB TV every 5 months. Most recently, TiVo was updated on October 26, 2026 and SBB TV on October 25, 2026.

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