Pause problematic

Hi @bluedvl. We want you to enjoy your favorite channels without interruptions. Keep in mind pausing your Live TV only pauses (buffer) for around 90-180 seconds, depending on the device type. If Live TV is paused for around 90-180 seconds, you are returned to Live TV:

• The live point of the program they were watching.
• Or the next scheduled program within the current time period.

Please don't hesitate to contact us in case of troubleshooting is needed, we will be glad to help. Luna, DIRECTV Community Specialist.

We are using a DirecTV stream box and having same issue. We used to be able to pause live TV or recorded shows for 15+ minutes. What happened?  We’ve been doing this fir 20 years on several different systems. Very frustrating to go backwards in capabilities. 

I agree.  I also was able to pause for a much longer time as well.  This last update seems to have several new problems. 

Another problem is with the builtin Chromecast.  With the latest box update the audio does not stay in sync with video.  If I pause they generally resync but then go out iof sync again.  Very frustrating.  My other Chromecast devices work fine, so it's the builtin Chromecast.

The app does not have these problems and it works on several platforms: FireTv, Android and Hulu.  The box is based on a modified version of Google TV.  Since the box has 16GB of RAM there should be plenty of space to do the "pause buffering".

My assessment is that DirecTV is focusing on the streaming app and then migrating the updates to the box platform without much testing.  

Sorry box is based on Android TV.

I just found this on the DirecTV Stream support site: 

https://www.directv.com/support/stream/article/KM1222544/

Tip: You can pause and rewind live TV for up to 60 minutes – available on DIRECTV STREAM accounts on the DIRECTV STREAM device, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Roku. (Amazon Fire TV coming soon).

So the earlier answer of 90-180 seconds of pause from customer support is crap!

If you need to be away from your tv for a while----just hit the record button

I am having a similar problem. I thought it was an issue with the device so I sent them back and still have the same issues with the replacement devices. I have sent 3 back all with the same issue. 

I am seeing a somewhat similar issue that only started a few weeks ago (stream box). Often when pausing a recording, it now boots me out of the recording after a minute or so, back to live TV.  It does this on multiple boxes and different locations. Never did this before. Very annoying. 

Same here. Going to cancel if it's not fixed

It's literally the whole reason I have this service 

Hey I've got an idea.   Since Android TV is open source, if DirecTV would make the box software open source the community could fix these problems. 

2 issues:

1. I watch a recorded show. I place it on pause and soon after the channel takes me to prime video.

2. We have 2 Directv streaming boxes. My wife watches ID all the time. Many times, especially overnight, I will turn on my TV and it has changed to ID although the previous night I had been watching a local news channel.

This sound like a firmware/software issue with the Directv streaming device.

I have no idea what the first issue is - I've never seen anything like that.

However, the second issue is "by design".  The service currently has no "profiles", either by user or by device.  Things like "last channel watched" are associated with the account, not the device, so the last channel anyone watched is noted in the account as the last channel, and that is what will come up when you start a new session.

Jrandomuser,

May be by design but this is not consistent. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. I understand that there are no profiles, which there should be. Provide a different device ID then software to recognize ID to Channel relationship.

As a software developer I can tell you that this has a high probability of being a firmware/software issue.

Be nice if we could actually get a developer (hardware or software or both) to enter into some of these discussions. They may but I have not encountered them yet (admittedly short forum user).

Thanks for the response.

If you are having an issue with the most recently used app popping up on pause-----just hit the "apps" button the remote---then highlight the app----hit the 3 dots on the remote and "force quit" It's a known software glitch. I reported it to them on reddit. The glitch is fixed though if u force quit apps.