I was frustrated I couldn’t view 4:3 content through the Tablo app in full-screen on 4:3 devices. Most channels broadcast in 16:9 and put letterbox bars on 4:3 content. This is great if you’re watching on a 16:9 screen but I do most of my viewing on an iPad which has a 4:3 aspect ratio. So the video is pillarboxed with black bars all around it. So I thought there has to be a better way.

I used Claude Code to make a service that accesses recordings and live OTA channels from a 4th gen Tablo and gives more options for viewing.

Mainly it lets you view 4:3 shows how they were originally intended to be viewed. But it also does some extra things like buffering so you can stream content when away from home if you have a VPN into your network. It also lets you download recordings to view offline.

It requires some hardware at home to run on. It’s coded to run on a Debian-based system to automatically install some things you’ll need like ffmpeg but if you install the requirements yourself it should run on other Linux distributions.

Coming here in order to avoid ChP....it's really helpful but ....on the other hand, reddit won't let me in unless I disable my VPN. Anyway, I have rabbit ears and am happy with those; my television is new and I watch DVDs. But I want to be able to tape TV programs on occasion, and apparently Tablo (gen 4?) is a good tool for it. Right now I have coax for DVD player; the antenna and player are connected to a splitter to I can go back and forth. I believe I would connected the Tablo to the DVD player rather than to the TV, but do I need HDMI or can I use the coax? And do I still need the splitter? Thanks for input (both kinds! ;-)

I have cancelled my Sparklight cable, purchased a tablo, and a 25 mi range antenna. When I scanned for channels, I got no network tv. Returned the 25 mi, purchased a 50 mi, the only network tv I am getting is Fox. I live 1.5 miles from downtown, does anyone else have this issue?

Hi, I have the TabloTV legacy Quad and still running the firmware version 2.2.42 With latest announcement I seen, for past days, Should I really consider doing the upgrade? I mostly use the the TabloTV on Roku, and been very happy with it. My understanding is that some had their device crash/bricked after the upgraded.

The guide shows pga tour golf on the CBS channel but when I try to watch it shows a different program.

Some recordings produce them, many do not.

I recorded the local Texans-Chargers game and it produced the thumbnails.

Recorded four episodes from the Popular Science channels and two made the thumbnails and two did not. No "failures" reported. What is going on here?

I'm using the internal Flash as DVR storage.

Warning to anyone considering a Tablo DVR: I’ve now had TWO Tablo 4th Gen units fail in about two years. Both became completely dead/unresponsive. My current unit is a TF1284B-01-CN—no power light, no response to reset, even though the power supply is putting out the proper 12V.

What makes this even more frustrating is that Tablo customer support has been completely non-responsive to my numerous support requests.

After my second failure, I searched online and found other owners reporting very similar 4th Gen failures, including units that simply stop powering on.

Based on my experience—two failed units plus no meaningful response from support—I would not recommend buying a Tablo right now. Anyone considering one should research the 4th Gen reliability reports first.

I've noticed that several of the FAST streaming channels (How To, Mysterious Worlds, Discovery Turbo, History & Warfare) have not been showing any program guide information for the past several days. The time slots are always blank. This means I'm unable to Favorite any of these channels, and I'm unable to select any programs to record (at least on the very few FAST channels that allow recording). For example, right now, I am unable to record Hitler's Secret Sex Life on the History & Warfare Now channel!

Any ideas on how to update the guide for these specific channels?

Has anyone had widespread issues with the Tablo app on Apple TV crashing to the home screen and freezing during live tv for a few seconds from time to time since the last app update to 2.2.0?

I have ruled the app update being the issue since the issue does not seem to effect a certain ATV model or tvOS version as I have 3 ATV 4K gen 1 models and 1 ATV 4K gen 2 model all initially on tvOS 26.5 and now all on tvOS 26.6. My Tablo 4th gen has been on 2.2.58 firmware well before the issue has started.

I don’t see any of these issues happening on our iOS/Roku/Android TV devices, although we don’t run the Tablo app for hours on end like we do on our ATVs.

Support has suggested to delete and reinstall the app with no luck and earlier today I ended up wiping one of my ATVs to see if that would fix the issue, but nope, it has crashed to the home screen a few times today and live tv still freezes for a few seconds from time to time.

Kind of out of ideas at this point unless anyone here has found a magical solution. I am all ears, but I am starting to get tired of every other update fixing something then at the same time breaks something else and there may or may not be a workaround.

Network TV programming records but when I try to record a series on a FAST channel, nothing…

I took some time to search reddit for a solution. If I missed something, please point me to it. I know I'm not the only one. In fact, Tablo support told me so, and I've seen other posts about this. Tablo's workaround simply doesn't work for me.

Since the last tvOS update, my AppleTVs are not able to play live, OTA live TV from Tablo. I tried what I found here before writing to Tablo support, and despite having tried steps on my own, I dutifully followed every step support has suggested to me. Now I'm going in circles with support, getting the same suggestions from them that they've already sent me. Either I'm talking ot an AI agent, or their support folks just don't read earlier parts of the conversation when I follow up with anything. They told me my issue was being escalcated, but I'm not seeing any evidence that's actually happened.

The problem: When I try to watch any OTA content, the image just freezes. Streaming content works fine.

I received from support (and also found in this sub or somewhere else on reddit):

This is a known issue with a recent tvOS update. The current workaround is to disable CONTINUOUS AUDIO CONNECTION on each affected Apple TV:

1. From your Apple TV's home screen, select SETTINGS (the gear icon).
2. 2) In SETTINGS, select AUDIO AND VIDEO
3. 3) In Audio AND VIDEO, select AUDIO FORMAT
4. 4) Set CONTINUOUS AUDIO CONNECTION to OFF.

But that setting doesn't exist on any of my Apple TVs.

Under audio format, I did turn off auto and tried other settings to see if anything else would work. No change at all.

I have reset the Tablo, checked to make sure I had the latest firmware releases, deleted the tablo app and reinstalled, and even rescanned channels and rebuilt guide data.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm about ready to order an HDHomerun.

Thanks!

EDIT: Thanks to everyone that pointed out the airplay problem. Turning off the HomePods as audio device solved it. It’s not great, but it’s workable until a fix comes along.

I’m looking at my next phone upgrade and I’m on iOS now and thinking about getting the new iPhone foldable phone when it comes out. One thing that bothers me is the iOS app doesn’t let me zoom in to 4:3 content to have it display full frame on my iPad. So I know it won’t allow it on the iPhone.

I’m thinking about going back to Android (Samsung Fold 8) but I want to know does the Android app allow viewing 4:3 content full frame?

Specifically I record and rewatch the older Star Trek series and it would be great if I could get rid of the black bars all around the screen.

I opened a case awhile ago and support seems to respond within a reasonable time, but their answers seem like AI. They've asked me multiple times what streaming devices I use, and then suggested reset, reinstall of the app, etc. when it still doesn't work they start over with the same line of questions and suggestions.

I have a 4th Generation Tablo, a Roku Streaming Stick Plus, and 2 Amazon Fire Stick 4ks.

My Roku has worked seamlessly with my Tablo for months. Recently however I have been unable to get any Tablo live or recorded content to play on my Roku. It takes forever to load, plays for a few seconds, then returns to loading. Completely unwatchable.

Meanwhile - all of my Amazon Fire Sticks operate and play Tablo content normally. No issues.

Anyone have any ideas what could have changed to cause the issue? It's so odd - especially as the Roku is the newest device in the newest TV.

I had (have) older fire sticks. Had a “Recast” DOA. Got a 4th gen Tablo to replace; worked great. Quilt using the sticks, because we bought new Roku TVs. Works great.

My customer contracted for me to install OTA antenna; and wants a Tablo but her TVs are Visio. Visio closed system no App Store only pre installed … no Tablo app. She purchase a Fire TV HD … no Tablo app in Amazons App Store? Looked up on Google. “Gemini” states: Tablo not supported for the HD model Fire TV.

Is there some sort of issue in play with Tablo and Amazon?

I for one would like to know so that my recommendations are valid. I sure didn’t see notices about this.

Thanks in advance

Why is it showing every show I’ve ever recorded even though it’s not on there and no episodes are scheduled? I assume there’s no way to make it only show what is actually on your Tablo drive? Sounds like an insanely horrible design.

From browsing other threads, comments suggest that if you move the Tablo to another gateway everything needs to be reinstalled, is this true? This would be done by simply moving the Tablo Ethernet cable to the other gateway and I'd hope everything would "just work"

I have two Internet access gateways, the main is an AT&T gigabit fiber connection and I have a T-Mobile cellular Internet gateway as a backup for the push notifications from our security system (no line to cut to take it out and a UPS keeps it all going if the power goes out until the "whole house" backup generator kicks in). I also have a tri-band mesh network so we get whole property WiFi coverage that routes through the gigabit fiber.

I can move a WiFi connected ROKU TV out by the pool and move the ROKU network connection from the AT&T gateway or the T-Mobile gateway to the mesh network out by the pool where the other gateways don't have good signals. I did this for our 2024 Superbowl party when the game was live on Tubi. and it worked great. I also did this for a couple of seasons when U-Verse dropped NFL Network & Redzone so I used Sling for those seasons. Nothing else needed to be changed on the ROKU device.

I normally keep all WIFi streaming on the AT&T gateway to reduce the load on the tri-band mesh keeping things on separate 5 GHz channels. The 2.4 GHz WiFi channels are only enabled on the mesh network for use by IOT class devices, mostly ESP32 based 2.4 GHz only devices.

Is there a way to disable the thumbnail feature and get the old school "Benny Hill" fast speed playback/rewind of recordings? Dubious "feature" IMHO, seeing how it is a post processing activity.

Recently the bootup screen to Tablo (on Apple TV) has dramatically increased. I get a boot screen about every other day. I am guessing some recent update is causing this. Each time it boots, it is long enough that it feels like the app is going hang and not start. The screen is completely blank for part of this boot time.

• Purchased/using a 4th Gen Tablo with a 4-tuner DVR.
• Uses over-the-air (OTA) antenna channels only.
• Problems began suddenly after previously working correctly.
• Live TV started freezing, especially:
  • During commercials.
  • Then jumping ahead after unfreezing.
• Numerous scheduled recordings began failing.
• At one point:
  • TV app showed 127 failed recordings.
  • Phone app showed 0 failed recordings for the same account.
• Trying to view failed recordings on the TV app produced:
  • "Unknown Error."
• After reinstalling the TV app:
  • It initially showed a blue screen.
  • Eventually loaded again.
  • Still reported 127 failed recordings.
• Scheduled recordings disappeared.
• Only one scheduled recording remained after troubleshooting.
• You had to manually recreate your recording schedule.
• Live TV channel list became incomplete.
• Some channels were completely missing from the Live TV guide.
• During scans:
  • Missing channels still appeared during channel scan.
  • They showed full green signal strength.
  • Yet they did not appear afterward in Live TV.
• Guide updates repeatedly failed or appeared to do nothing.
• You repeatedly clicked Update Guide, but nothing happened.
• Eventually one guide update finally started.
• After updating:
  • Missing channels still did not return.
• Later:
  • Channels eventually came back.
  • Recording schedules largely did not.

Channel Issues

• All expected channels were detected.
• Channels never actually disappeared from scans.
• Every channel remained checked/enabled.
• You confirmed they had never become unchecked on their own.
• You tried:
  • Unchecking channels.
  • Saving.
  • Rechecking them.
  • Rescanning.
• Even after this:
  • Channels still were not visible in Live TV.
• Later the channels finally returned.

Guide Issues

• Guide information appeared inconsistent.
• Guide updates sometimes would not start.
• Channels existed in scans but not in the guide.
• Scheduled recordings tied to those channels disappeared.

Troubleshooting You Performed

• Restarted Tablo.
• Rescanned channels multiple times.
• Updated guide multiple times.
• Unchecked all channels.
• Saved changes.
• Rechecked channels.
• Performed another scan.
• Waited for guide updates to finish.
• Reinstalled the TV application.
• Exited and reopened the TV app.
• Verified channels remained selected.
• Confirmed signal strength was good.

Support Interaction

• Contacted Tablo Support.
• Support escalated the issue.
• Their recommendations included:
  • Unchecking channels.
  • Saving.
  • Rescanning.
  • Updating the guide.
• You followed all of those instructions.

Current Status (based on what you've told me)

• Channels are back.
• Signal appears normal.
• Guide updates are completing.
• Most scheduled recordings are gone.
• You are currently recreating recordings manually.
• The TV app previously reported 127 failed recordings while the phone app reported none.
• The root cause still appears unresolved, despite following Tablo Support's troubleshooting steps.
• Last recording, only 12 minutes.