Sling TV's new redesigned app is a huge upgrade — we went hands-on

Sling Idiot box's new redesigned app is a huge upgrade — we went hands-on

(Epitome credit: Henry T. Casey)

Sling TV is redesigning its app — finally — and we got to see it for ourselves. While this app isn't out on devices at the time of publishing, I got to give it a examination bulldoze on a Burn Tv stick that Sling sent over.

Overall, the new Sling Idiot box just looks a lot cleaner and fresher than before, with bigger art and less empty infinite between buttons. It delivers some big changes to the Guide and DVR interfaces that were long overdue, enough to go along it in our all-time streaming services list, but Sling has still left out i feature that I promise to see in the time to come.

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Sling Telly app: What'south new

Sling TV new app - search — (Epitome credit: Sling TV)

Of course, the new Sling Tv app's biggest changes come with its new home screen. The "MY TV" screen (a grid with your channels, recordings, recommended content and popular content) is gone, and in its place is a screen that promotes a "Meridian Channel Option." In my case, it was pulling from TBS, recommending the shows that were on at the time: Friends and (later) American Dad.

Upward next, more than Top Channel Picks, showing what's on popular networks. First, information technology'south The Leap on ESPN, then CNN Newsroom, Chicago P.D. on USA, Return to Amish on TLC and Chopped on Food Network. This row had 15 recommendations in total, and I somewhen landed on a South Park episode.

The about interesting change so far comes in the side by side row, which displays your most watched channels. Of the home screen sections so far, this is probably the all-time manner to find something you might actually want to watch. Then, y'all get content by category (sports, news, shows, movies and kids), your recent recordings and a Go on Watching section. If I had to make any changes here, I'd move Keep Watching upwardly a little bit, since it'southward a little more personalized than the Tiptop Channel Picks.

Sling fixes the Guide screen

Sling TV new app guide — (Epitome credit: Sling TV)

But the best modify, if you ask me, is on the Guide screen. Now, it'due south super piece of cake to marker a channel equally a favorite, as there'southward a niggling center on the far left column of each channel row.

Filtering down to just your selected favorites is like shooting fish in a barrel, because there'south a Favorites tab right at the top. It would be great if you could manually sort your favorites, as the but available selection is to let Sling sort them alphabetically. "But what if I scout more on USA than AMC?" I wondered to myself during testing. Guide has other tabs: A-Z, Recents, Sports, News, Movies and Kids.

DVR gets its own tab

Sling TV new app DVR — (Paradigm credit: Sling TV)

This is 1 of those "no brainer" changes. Over the last few years, Sling has been integrating DVR capability to its organisation, expanding how much infinite you go, and catching up to everyone else.

So, at present that DVR is where it should exist on the service, it makes sense that Sling has a unified DVR department. It'south right below Guide on the left rails, and has a little bar graphic for how much space you're using, followed by art for each of your DVR'd programs.

This is the kind of change you wish didn't wait for a big update, but it's welcome nonetheless.

What's left for the Sling Tv set app?

While user profiles may non sound like an app feature — and more similar a service characteristic — the lack of multiple user profiles means that Sling tin can nevertheless get more cluttered than it should. This could allow you to take a more than personal DVR or Favorite Channels list, and enable more personal recommendations.

This is annoying especially for Sling Blue and Sling Orangish + Blue subscribers, as they get 3 and 4 (respectively) simultaneous streams, only anybody still uses the same DVR and listing of favorite channels.

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Henry is a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past half dozen-plus years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He'due south too covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other manufacture veterans.