Name: HDHomeRun
Rating: 2.52877 (365 reviews)

User Reviews for HDHomeRun

2.53 out of 5

365 Ratings

7 years ago, NineSevenZero

A Good Start

The most glaring shortcoming is the interface. I find it to be confusing and unintuitive especially compared to Channels or Plex (which aren't free). The app is pretty zippy with the delay between switching channels taking maybe 2 seconds. Interface shortcomings aside, I also like that I can browse channels while watching a program, which is something lacking in other apps. It would be nice if users could disable channels that don't work, or create a favorites list. It would also be nice to see a grid schedule similar to what's found on pretty much every TV interface device since TV Guide. I guess the most compelling reason to download HDHomeRun over something like Channels, is that it's free. It's not a bad app at all, and if I had not already bought Channels, I'd be content with this.

2 years ago, Mr. Evil

5/5 Hardware Infrastructure… 2/5 Application UI

The hardware setup is truly outstanding. You do need to go to their site and download their downloadable app from their site to either max or windows. This app… the desktop player, they didn’t mention, is what does the firmware upgrade. I hooked it up and it simply worked. Incredibly well. You don’t have to program it for channels or get it to scan anything. It literally just worked. Outstanding job on the hardware side. Everything is able to instantly see the home run device on my network. (Multiple AppleTVs, mac, pc, iPhones). Easiest 5/5 rating I could have. Then there’s the App UI That’s a different story. It does work, but it isn’t quite obvious on how it expects you to work with it. That took some patience to figure out some type of ideology that was used to dream up how to navigate the thing. Great hardware, clearly made by great hardware people… who are trying to do an app. Give ‘em some time, I’m guessing it’ll get better. App: 2/5. Fantastic buy for me. Brought as their hardware works with multiple apps as a standardized network service. So even if I couldn’t deal with the app (not the case though) I would be able to use another app. For me though, this works just fine.

2 years ago, famiclone

Bugs persist and annoy

It’s a very frustrating app to use on an AppleTV! Whenever you return to the app you must force close it before it will start streaming a channel again. You can also crash the app using the newer Apple TV remote by scrolling to the right to see what’s next on a channel and scrolling left “too far.” Many times a signal blip will freeze the channel, and you’ll need to close the app or change channels to get it unstuck. The interface is very unintuitive with the remote, when scrolling down a very long channel list it may auto close the menu before you’ve picked a channel. You also won’t get firmware update notifications like you do on the MacOS version. It also seems like a missed opportunity to not have a way to simultaneously stream multiple channels, or even have a TV guide like interface while the current channel still streams.

2 years ago, acrisis

When it works, great, but

They really ought to fix the fact a) that the app will not work right, when it was open in the background. It will say fail to load, won't switch channels, have to force close every day. And, b) allow the app to resize and comply with iOS multitasking. I am on an M1 iPad Pro. Why cannot I browse and view tv side by side? Or have a picture in picture type overlay? About the only time I'd "multitask" on the iPad is to keep an eye on weather, news or maybe a tv show here and there.

4 years ago, why~

Not bad at all.

I haven't watched TV since 2002. I got the antenna and HDHomeRun device for my mother, helped her cut the chord. Nice not having a cable TV bill. This is a great idea and a worthy investment. I find it astounding that AppleTV doesn't have a built in tuner and OTA HD antenna port. So SiliconDust took responsibility, and I, for one, appreciate it. I realize SiliconDust is support the same app across multiple platforms. I appreciate that there is a version for iPadOS, and that it was updated as recently as a month ago. But the app stands out from other iPadOS/iOS video apps in that it has no picture in picture mode, and that there is no presence in settings. It is almost a crime for the HDHomeRun app to monopolize an iPad when running, so here's a vote for those things.

1 year ago, d'Elaphant

Interface is a mess

The May 2023 update for AppleTV fixes some problems with fast forwarding and rewind, but the user interface is completely broken. When you play a recorded video, you can’t FF or REW at all - but go back to “live” tv and you find that the recording continues to play. At this point FF and REW do work, but how exactly? Do you need to tap or click the remote? Will that pause or FF or REW? Or bring up the menu? Will pressing the menu button bring up the menu or exit the app? I can never figure it out. On the positive side, this does work better in the iPad and iPhone versions, (but still with the weird, nonstandard interface), it’s a just the AppleTV app that is nearly unusable. Fortunately there are other apps that support the HDHomeRun hardware and work great - and use the standard video controls that almost every other app uses.

6 years ago, SFGUYFOR20

Promising, yet disappointing

I love the idea of severing my relationship with my TV provider and gave this application an honest attempt. I’m surprised that Silicondust hasn’t developed an application version for AppleTV... It’s worked fine on my iPhone, iPad, and MAC, however, I found myself often just getting frustrated with being forced to use a third party application, channels, to use my HDHomeRun device and watch OTA TV... It seems that the regardless of which, as I tried several, third party app I tried, I have nothing but problems with freezing... Now with the addition of optional channels from the cable world I’m still paying my provider as I can’t depend on this product in conjunction with a third party app to watch local channels... You’re loosing revenue ignoring the Apple TV community... as I’d happily switch over...

5 years ago, bippy_b

A Very Good App.. missing only one key feature

This app (along with the hardware it controls) made things even easier for me. I only had to have one good antenna in my house and everyone in the house can be watching something different at the same time. The interface is so easy I even taught my 8 yr old how to use it to watch PBS. The one thing it is lacking though is the ability to play the broadcast in the PiP window like other apps can do (HBO, ESPN..etc). This is a feature built into iOS/iPadOS so it is a bit baffling as to why this feature is missing. Adding that feature would definitely make this a 5* app!

6 years ago, Works a lot

Restart WiFi with iPod. [Solved]

App works as intended. May heat up the iPod a little. But my biggest problem is that you have to go into airplane mode then back in order to the app to find a tuner. Would be nice if I could manually enter the IP address to my tuner so that I don’t have to turn off the WiFi and turn it back on every time I start the app. Update: After customer service contacted me about this issue, it finally works as intended. The problem was with the iOS. Once version 12 came out, there has been no issues. Just had to update.

7 years ago, SwankPeRFection

Bad Lag

App has really bad lag when changing channels or scrolling channel list. Video playback completely stops sometimes and you just have audio. You can easily get it to lock up the video by just tapping on the screen to show or hide the channel bar. Sometimes the app never catches up with video playback and sound sync because of this and the only fix is to change channels or restart the app. That’s just bad and needs to be fixed ASAP. At least it’s free... but that’s no excuse, especially when it doesn’t yet support DRM channels, which needs to happen like yesterday!

4 years ago, Spmmmenot

I love my he homerun prime and this app

Let me start by saying this app may be free but it does require a subscription for everything to work. The app is easy to use and fairly intuitive. I usually use the ‘live’ and the channel guide. The ‘discover’ page is useful for finding best shows and movies currently showing. ‘Recording’ and ‘task’ pages shows what’s recorded and scheduled for upcoming recordings. All of these features have led me to love this app. I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking to expand their home entertainment on their iOS devices constructive criticism: -filters needed - I wish there was a quick filter for separating out favorite channels, unsubscribed channels, hd vs sd. -tv guide - is there a way to view a list of all shows for current and next 2hrs, and be able to search for channels or shows? If it’s there it should be more apparent. If not, we desperately need it. This feature is avail in all tv receivers and even the channel app.

3 years ago, JDM012

ATSC 3.0!

I am very excited to see ATSC 3.0 stations! I am still not totally sure there are 4k broadcasts yet but maybe if we are lucky, we will get 4k for the up and coming Super Bowl. My issue with this app on the Apple TV is the audio, although finally available, is coming through my 5.1 receiver as stereo. When I use the Channels app, the audio is distributed correctly. Looking forward to more improvements!

4 years ago, Damehunter

This product has seen great improvements

I’ve owned this for 2-3 years, and liked it at first. But then it stopped working on both IOS and Windows. So for over a year I was not using it. But now it works great on both. I would like to see an enhancement to “favorite” channels, or to be able to filter out the channels with poor reception, much like my TV does. Too may times I select the channel with poor reception rather than the good, thus I become frustrated finding a good channel.

6 years ago, OneGuyInCA

So Close.... But So Far...

Have tried InstaTV Pro... didn’t work. Crashes often and couldn’t get a stable stream. Found this app... looks promising. It’s free and developed by Silicone Dust. Plus it’s free! Works very well on my iPhones (6 and 8) and not on my 2017 iPAD Pro? Come on really?!?! Streams smooth on some channels but freezes all too often (once every 5 seconds or so) on others. Audio is fine but the video just freezes. Even tried factory restoring but same thing. My setup at home is more than sufficient. Homerun Primes (2 of them) are connected to a Gigabit Network. Wireless access points (Ubquiti AP PRO) is 2.4 plus 5Gz... combined of 1200Mbps. Any thoughts on troubleshooting Silicon Dust???

3 years ago, klayanderson

Gets Worse and Worse

I have their tuner and I have always used other apps to watch OTA. I watch on iPads, I watch on iPhones, and with Plex—all good with *other* apps. This is their own app and despite all of the trumpeting, it’s terrible. Let’s just boil it down to watching a TV channel. Lip-sync gets further and further out, the picture goes in and out, changing the channel is terrible. Drains the battery like there’s no tomorrow. Stupid interface. None of these issues with Channels. I doubt the developer has ever even used this app. Channels: This Is The Way.

2 years ago, PhilJSmith67

App crashes on iOS 15.4.1 when changing channels

On iOS 14 and prior, I never had a problem changing channels. Now, after upgrading my iPad Pro model MLMV2LL/A to iOS 15.4.1, this HDHomeRun app crashes when changing to most of the 720p channels such as my local ABC station. Once in a while, maybe 10% of the time, it will tune the channel and stay put, but 90% of the time the entire HD app just disappears and I have to launch it again. I don’t believe I’ve ever had it crash on a 1080p or 480i channel. Back on iOS 14 I would have given this app 5 stars.

6 years ago, Moops86

Won’t Change Channels

I use the Plex app which works very well with HDHomeRun hardware. However, because Plex is a full video suite, and automatically starts recording live TV, it is a bit sluggish. I use the HDHomeRun app on my Samsung Smart TV and it’s very simple and snappy, so I thought I’d try it on my iPhone. I was able to tune in the first channel fine, but if I try to switch to another channel, I get audio only or a black screen with no audio and no response to touch. So, basically, this app doesn’t work at all on my iPhone 6 Plus running the latest iOS.

7 years ago, specialpersonX

Doesn’t work with IOS 11 update

I went to the developers website and in the forums they acknowledged they are testing a beta now of an updated version. No timetable given for release. Until the iOS update it worked great. I think I’ll return my box to bestbuy until the developer gets a working version for iOS 11 out there. 4 stars when working. UPDATE: its now working. Thanks for the update. I recommend this app.

3 years ago, Homerll

TV on my phone!

Dead simply and so cool. It’s a TV and/ or cable tv tuner that wirelessly displays all your channels to all your TVs, computers, iPads and smart phones. This company is still supporting my 2007 HDHomeRun dual, their very first product. Now that is what I call great customer service, not to mention high quality products. Keep up the great work HDHomeRun team!

4 years ago, Xank6941

Finally an Apple TV app

Have loved and used this tuner since 2011 and it worked great with windows. Now that Microsoft no longer supports windows media center, I‘be been patiently waiting for the Apple TV app. And it works great. It’s fast and quickly switches to the right channel and even gives you a rudimentary guide. Thank you guys for making this app finally!!

3 years ago, Product manager

Impossible to explain performance

As a veteran of HDHomeRun devices - yes MythTV, it’s hard to understand why all of the HDHomeRun apps eventually stutter or have out of sync audio. The key feature to get right is to play video without error. My poor AppleTVs, iPhones, and IPads Pro fail to keep up. Recording and playing back works fine, it’s the live tv that eventually gets on your nerves. It’s tough to write this but after years of devices and performance problems it just must be said.

4 years ago,

Enterprise class?

Seriously? Having a second router in your home to boost WiFi signals does not make your home network enterprise-class. If I can point an open-source video viewer at the HDHR on a different router, then you at Silicondust can make your product’s viewing software find the box as well. All you need to do is include the ability to directly enter the IP of the tuner in the software. I posted the instructions for using VLC player a few months ago, but it seems to have mysteriously disappeared. You’ll sell more tuners if people can actually watch them...

8 months ago, Libertyforall

ATSC 3.0 info by channel? Out of State? Apple Watch App Needed!

How do I check the video resolution of the signal coming in? ATSC 3.0 is in the Chicagoland area now but watching the Super Bowl I don’t see a way to check to see if I’m getting 4K or not?! Where is picture in picture Support?! An Apple Watch app would be of use to change channels... Does this work if you were in a different state, if your HT home run box is in say Illinois and you’re using the app in Florida, will the content come across?

7 years ago, usernickname

Doesn't work on all tuners

On iPad Pro 9.7, ios 11.2.5, and the current app version it just hangs forever on the splash screen. It says it detects my HDHomeRun but never proceeds past splash screen. Edit: After several attempts over a long while, I finally got an answer to the problem from SiliconDust (maker of HDHomeRun). They say that if you have an old Dual as I have, you must first perform a channel scan, and that can only be done from a computer running Windows. If you don't have Windows you're out of luck. Apparently newer tuners do not have this limitation

5 years ago, Shock-monk

Getting Worse

Update April 26th, latest update appeared to fix the picture issue. So far so good so I updated to 3 stars. I love the HDHomeRun and the Channels app on my Apple TV. Works flawlessly, however the HDHomeRun iPhone and iPad Apple leave something to be desired. Latest update made the app even worse. Intermittent connectivity issues, crashes sound with no picture made this app useless on both my devices.

2 years ago, yopyopyop

Needs Picture in Picture for multitasking for iPhone

Love it, been using HD Homerun hardware with an antenna and an Apple TV to watch broadcast local channels. Great interface. But one thing I’d like to see is the “Picture in Picture” for a floating video when switching to another app so you can keep watching while reading something else.

3 years ago, Libchiak

Quickly fixed

Thank you for your hard work fixing the app after the recent iOS update. It is working again. Excellent job. I wish that you also make recording option available on appleTV as well. I hope it will be soon.

4 years ago, Wzonk

Broken on TVOS 14

I bought a HomeRun Connect Quatro to share an OTA antenna between 5 Apple TV’s in our house. While the iOS app works amazingly well, the reason I bought this device was for use on TVs. The Apple TV version has echos, freezes, doesn’t pulse audio, and is so buggy that it’s unusable. I need an easy way for visiting family and friends to access OTA programming from our Apple TV’s without having to stream from a phone or tablet. Hopefully SiliconDust will release an update for TVOS soon, otherwise, their device is not useful with Apple TV.

4 years ago, Ssmadey

No audio when using HomePod with Apple TV

I occasionally have issues with the app not finding the device, but that could also be due to network issues, even though no other devices seem to be affected. My biggest criticism is that I cannot get audio through my HomePod when using the Apple TV version of the app.

5 years ago, Andy_M.

Not working with iOS 12.2

Update & response back to the developer below: Silicon Dust has acknowledged that there is a problem with the app and the most recent iOS 12.2 update but has not pushed a update to there app in 3 weeks since the iOS was released. It seems like they just don’t care about the users of their products and apps. I wish could rate it lower. So I got a response back from silicon dust. “12.2 was released 14 days ago, as of this post. The breakage Apple caused with this release is significant and has required us to work directly with Apple to resolve it. We'd love to already have a fix out, and we are working as hard as we can on the issue, but we are unfortunately constrained by what is possible." Maybe you should work with VLC. I can view the video using there app. They made it possible.

7 months ago, nr11133

Great product, no issues.

This makes it convenient to watch local channels on my Apple TV by just clicking the app and it works every time right away. No annoying overlays or promotion pop ups like spectrum.

1 year ago, Numbur5

Wish list for AppleTV and all versions

1. Why can’t we set our favorites and delete channels we find want from this app’s AppleTV version? I can already do this from the Settings menu in the iOS version. C’mon! 2. Wish there was a program guide. Don’t the OTA broadcasters send 3–4 hours worth anyway? If my TV can together a rudimentary guide from OTA data, why can’t the HDHomerun?

11 months ago, Pearldrummer992

Decent at what it does, but it could use some work

Interface is relatively intuitive, but it’s missing a few key features: -Pretty much every modem video app, and even browsers support PIP on iOS. This does not -App does not connect when network accessed via a VPN. This is the only device I’ve ever had this issue with.

2 years ago, JH112233445566778899

Returning purchase

Installation of hard2are was easy…app picked up the signal and scanned for channels right away, got everything I expected. However, nothing ever transmits continuously on any of my devices. Hisense TV with built in Roku, freezes a few minutes in to watching. HDHomeRun app on my iPad, freezes for “unknown playback error.” This was going to solve my problem of not having coaxial outlets in each room of the house where there is a TV, but yet it falls short on execution.

5 years ago, MichaelA007

Cannot delete recordings

The app shows a delete button but does nothing when you press it. You will have to connect with a different device to delete recordings. Also there is no way to advance the recorded show other than skipping 30 seconds at a time. Both of theses issue show a lack of programming skill, planning or both. The app feels more like an pre-release then production. If you are looking for a solution to cord cutting you might want to consider other options.

2 years ago, TFD44

WHO COULD NOT LIKE THIS DEVICE❓

Setup was smooth as silk. I always appreciate when something is well engineered❗️ I have the app downloaded to an iPhone 12 Pro and an 13 Pro Max along with multiple iPads. ALL local channels can be viewed, PERFECTLY‼️ This device and it’s app are awesome‼️

6 years ago, bozobus

FINALLY!

Glad to dump those expensive apps like Eyetv (worst), Channels, and InstaTV. Have had NONE of the problems reported in other reviews, works flawlessly and seamlessly on my phone, ipad and desktop Macs. Simple, elegant, and easy to use. Recommend highly as is the perfect counterpart to my 2 SiliconDust HDHomerun wifi tuners.

7 years ago, MikeRahn

Broken Since iOS 11 Update

Updated to iOS 11 on the 19th and the app stopped streaming. It doesn’t crash, just neither picture nor sound. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling and found no joy. Issue is the same on iPad Air 2 and iPhone 7 Plus. Update: While the update did get the video back, it stutters severely, which it never did before. Close but no cigar.

6 years ago, JohnnyUSA🇺🇸

Great Device Terrible Apps

Both on iOS and Mac I can’t figure out why I get “NO CHANNELS / SCAN REQUIRED “, the website doesn’t offer any clues, looked in the faq’s to no avail. Instead, I continue to use the app called INSTATVPRO (costs $12 and worth every penny) and have nothing less than a fantastic experience using it with my HDHomerun device; furthermore, this app (hdhomerun) requires iOS version 10.3, where the INSTATVPRO app runs on my older devices way down on iOS 6 on iphone and 5.1.1 on my iPad first edition. Am I missing something?

3 years ago, GeorgeL71

No audio on ATSC 3.0 channels on IPad

App does as intended but will not play audio on any ATSC 3.0 live channels or recordings. Works on ATSC 1.0. Very frustrating. Contacting silicondust says that app codec needs upgrading by Apple for the app to play ATSC 3.0 audios. Does this app have same problem on Apple TV 4K (2021) which I hope to purchase soon? ATSC 3.0 audio plays on google tv and Fire TV.

7 years ago, Marks s

Great app for HD Homerun users

The app works great to view channels and is free and requires an HD home run device of course which helps save me money by not needing to pay for cable boxes and using a cable card instead and my AC router and streaming devices. The only thing I am anxiously awaiting is support for DRM protected content channels.

2 years ago, moldythermos

I live in southern maryland and prefer baltimore stations

When i 1st got this hdhomerun i could watch wbaltv then it got restricted because comcast is my internet provider, i hate watching dc stations for news, this thing doesnt actually cut any cords if comcast restricts what you can watch dont waste your money buying this goofy device atsc doesnt give you anything extra nothing is in 4k its just a way advertisers can reach you better, doesnt help the consumer at all

7 years ago, SuperJoePardo.com

Updated to latest version..

And while the app opens up no channels actually display. Just the channel listing on the right. :( Update: it works perfectly now after updating to the latest iOS!

7 years ago, yachtsman14580

Crashes iPad Pro every time

Absolutely crap application. It crashes (literally, a hard reset is required to restart the iPad) my iPad every time I launch the application. This application needs serious work on stability and compatibility with Apple’s iOS devices. I purchased their tuner and wasted $100 on the hardware since the software simply does not work. Highly recommend that you don’t use this software or purchase their tuner hardware. No excuse for such sloppy programming.

7 years ago, toplavaman

Perfect

Just loaded app, nothing to set up, super easy and worked perfect right from the start. I did upgrade my router and internet service to handle all the extra devices. SD you knocked it out of the park with your devices and app.

4 years ago, revRocks22

Needs work

The interface leaves much to be desired. Works well on iOS (iPhone/iPad) but the recent tvOS release does not work with drm but does on iPad and iPhone? Just few other bugs to list in all. When it works, it is smooth but I prefer to use Channels or Plex. If SD does not want to do the work, how about they go with what google tv has done. Have Apple make a UI native and use their API to port the channels in.

5 years ago, OMPWebDude

Fails on all devices after iOS update...

App crashes constantly on my iPad Pro after recent iOS update. Also fails on my iPad mini and iPhone. Update HDHomeRun box with latest software and still no change. Basically it’s a useless device for me now. I’ve restarted all devices and no change,the app either crashes or times out. No app update in ages. Feels like they have orphaned this. Now looking for other options.

5 years ago, SoKatty

It sometimes works.

Tonight, I’m only getting the audio; no video. It took 8 tries from a freshly-booted iPhone to get that far. Sometimes it launches, displays the channels and goes to black. Other times it launches, shows a black screen, and nothing happens. Other times it launches, shows the channels, you see a split-second of TV, and then it crashes. Last week it was pretty much OK.

3 years ago, c_s_payne

Broken no more

Latest update has fixed all issues

1 year ago, Eachtohisherown

Update Fix Problem

Works going. Just wish there was more features like “last channel” so I can quickly switch between two channels.

Description

Watch, pause, and record Live TV with your HDHomeRun and HDHomeRun iOS app. This app requires iOS 11 or newer. * This app requires an HDHomeRun tuner present on your local area network * Update to the latest release The HDHomeRun app requires an HDHomeRun tuner to watch Live TV on your iPad, iPhone, or iPad Touch. REQUIREMENTS: • Compatible HDHomeRun device: HDHomeRun CONNECT, EXTEND, EXPAND, or PRIME Legacy model HDHomeRuns like the DUAL will support Live TV streaming; however, DVR is not supported. • Reliable high speed Wi-Fi network • iOS 11 or newer FEATURES: • Live TV (cable TV and over-the-air) viewing on your iPhone or iPad • Pause/FF/RW support to live TV. DVR not required to use this feature. • Supports HD channels • Cable TV and OTA. • No external player needed • Fast Channel changes • Intuitive UI and OSD to control closed caption, audio tracks, and zoom with a single tap • What’s on now and what’s on next guide data • Program images, show cards, and channel logos • Program progress bar • Consolidated list of channels (for user with both Cable and ATSC tuners). • Does NOT require an always on computer • Full 14 day guide data for DVR users / Non-DVR users get 24 hour guide data * Guide data and images are officially licensed by Gracenote * The HDHomeRun app does not work outside of your home network. Your iPhone or iPad must be connected to the same local network as your HDHomeRun tuner. For questions, concerns, bug reports, and feature requests, contact us on via email [email protected] or on the HDHomeRun forums: www.silicondust.com/forum