TDS TV+

No ability to multitask on iPad, brutal oversight for a streaming app in 2023

I had dropped a service that I thought was really good for what I thought was even better. I was sold snake oil. Streaming is not possible if you are not connected to your home network. The app is useless. I was curious why they had to install a box on my tv when I said I have AppleTV and can stream from that. I was told it was necessary but could still use my appletv. This is true if I never leave the house. When signing in on AppleTV at my cabin, I get a location error and nothing plays including channels that are not regional. I will be going back to my old service.

By “TV Everywhere” - it means in your living area. If you are traveling - there is zero streaming capability. I even asked when setting this up ‘Can I access streaming when traveling?’ - was told ‘yes’. I’m not sure what the value of streaming is if you can’t take it with you. Why would I need to stream if I have a TDS box in my house and can just turn on the tv? It seems I’d be able to at least access my recorded programming whether I’m at home or across the country. I could do that with Satellite - and can do it with all my other services.

No problems whatsoever with connecting to our service and taking it with us. The app is fast and the navigation is easy to master.

My family decided to go out on a whim and switch from Spectrum to TDS because we where convinced it is better. It is FAR from it. It is almost unusable. There is no function to quickly switch between channels on your phone. It crashes constantly. The worst part is that it does not have Picture in Picture functionality. The spectrum app has all of these. NOT happy.

I should be able to use my computer to watch live TV if it's streaming over the internet. There is no *good* reason that it shouldn't be possible to access TDS TV live TV from a desktop computer. It's really fascinating to watch a supposedly forward looking company comit to backassward nonsense like this.

TV Everywhere is very misleading. I was told I would be able to stream when traveling using the app, however, the streaming only works if on your home network. What’s the point of that?

No issues, great functionality Good price

The app has stopped functioning with iOS 14 so now all of my Apple TV’s are non functional. I have spent hours talking to multiple support people to tell them what is going on. I had high hopes but I am close to canceling service with them over this.

The app does not consistently stream without getting errors. And, the Apple TV app doesn’t work at all because it claims my Apple TV is a jailbroken device, which it is not. I consulted with TDS TV+ support and they said to talk to Apple. Wonderful way to treat paying customers.

I think your pricing is getting out of hand, they’re is other internet services out there that are just as good but not as expensive

This has to be one of the worst apps I've ever used. It never works on MacOS. You might as well just remove it from the MacOS App Store. iOS seems fine for some reason.

I’ve been using this app ever since we started with TDS a couple of years ago... now it wants to pair with our receiver and says no receiver is found... and we must be TDS subscribers to use it. What? I”d give it negative stars if I could...

Only works on tds internet so don’t even think about trying to use it as a portable way to watch tv

Doesn’t matter where you are, you are always outside your viewing area!

The app says streaming not allowed outside of the TDS coverage area, however I’m at home when I try to stream on the app. 🤔

Won’t even start. And even if it did, doesn’t stream away from the home AP. Pretty much worthless.

Since the update, I cannot get the app to launch. Ridiculous.

Very similar to Dish anywhere

This app stopped working on iOS 14.3 on my phone and iPad. I have been unable to get a support response via chat, email or phone.

NOT LIKE DISH. Cannot watch “anywhere” only in your own home.

Streaming does NOT work if you are not on your TDS Wi-Fi. PIP also does not work

TDS is slow to update the app for new iOS or tvOS releases. tvOS 15 is currently broken.

Select a sports channel and app closes

Updated my Apple TV to new software, says jailbroken. Read another review on here, and TDS said talk to Apple?? NOPE, add support for TVOS 14 ya ding dongs.

Phone and Tablet only. Someday a real ISP will come to this market and BBB will be done!

Does not work on iOS 14

First I tried pairing a TiVo steamer remote via RF and that only worked for the usual buttons that are already on the regular Apple TV remote. So then I tried using the IR remote learning function on the Apple TV with an older TiVo remote and the Apple TV was able to assign remote’s media control keys (play, pause, fast forward, etc) to same functions but this app isn’t even listening for those. To the developer: Please try pairing a TiVo streamer remote via Bluetooth, find out what functions are supported by the Apple TV and add support for them to your app. As it is, this just isn’t living room ready.

Just got TDS+ TV. Went to their office in person to get some questions answered. I specifically asked about traveling since I saw the reviews here. I told them my wife is European and asked if she could watch something while visiting family. I was told absolutely!! Either I was flat out lied to, or the employee is totally ignorant, yet is totally fine stating “facts” that he doesn’t know or understand. If you could stream on cellular away from home, I was ready to rate this app as a 4 1/2 out of 5. Due to this crippling limitation, I rated it as low as possible, 1 star. They need to be more up front and clear with the capabilities of this app! It does state in the app description “from home” but I feel that is like saying something “under your breath,” basically hiding this fact. The big question is why? Why only have the ability to stream from home, including programs you have already recorded??!! I have looked and cannot find any answers. I can guess it has to do with licensing, but other streamers are able to stream most, if not all their content while traveling, like FUBO & YouTube TV. Doesn’t TDS have a big footprint too? They do business in many states. As stated in another review, how does this make any sense?! If I can only stream on my phone from home or watch my recorded programs, I would of course watch this from my bigger tv at home than on my phone. Maybe TDS means to say that you have the ability to stream from home even in the event that you have terrible diarrhea and are stuck in the bathroom for hours… or you are doing a colonoscopy prep, but now you won’t have to miss your shows! This is absolutely ridiculous on two points: 1- That TDS is not more upfront about this HUGE limitation and why (thus most of the negative reviews) 2- That they have an app for streaming that only works from home! Come on TDS… do the right thing… tell us why others can do it but you cannot, or fix this and let us stream while moving about, even if you have to put limitations on out of state or out of country travel! I just want to be able to catch some live sporting events in my own hometown while attending my kids sporting events… is that too much to ask??!!

As an existing TDS customer, we hoped to find a solution for streaming our current service at our second home. We didn’t want two different providers and bills. We were planning to switch everything to Direct TV. They allow us to stream our home service through our devices at our lake house. Easy peasy. Instead, the TDS rep convinced my husband not to switch, because they had a similar product with the TDS+ app. We updated our primary home, lost the cable box and moved to streaming there on all our tv’s. We had to get Amazon Fire Sticks for everything but the main television, but that was fine. However, once we went to the lake and hooked up the Fire sticks and downloaded the app, nothing would work. We couldn’t access any programming via the app. “Streaming not permitted outside your regional viewing area.” What?!? The whole point of this is tv everywhere!!! That is what we were sold on, but outside of Madison we can’t watch anything. It is total boloney. Now we will have to switch everything to Direct TV. What a waste of our time and money. And talk about no customer service! Just a terrible experience.

This app works about 30% of the time and not well when it does. I’ve been a customer of TDS for 20 years plus, so I’ve experienced the downhill slide this company has been on, TDS+ is just the latest fiasco. They clearly do not understand their competition. If you sign up with TDS, the only way to communicate with them, make changes, basically anything, is to call and talk with a representative, who 99% of the time, you cannot understand. You will wait on hold for, in my experience, a minimum of 30-40 minutes just for the “pleasure” of speaking with them. YouTube TV, FUBO, etc., you sign into your account, make your changes and move on. Further, once they get you bundled into one of their packages, you will be charged/penalized for any change you make or any service you eliminate (and you will want to, trust me). They will invariably continue to charge you into the next month for services you cancel, which you will have to again spend half a day trying to get corrected. You will pay fees for set top boxes, sports network access fees, and any other number of taxes. Youtube TV, FUBO, none of this, same service, way cheaper. YouTube TV, FUBO no issues. Now, TDS latest policy is that they bill you a full month of service even if you make changes one day into the cycle. As a longtime customer, I know they have the ability to prorate their bills and I really question a company’s conscious decision to penalize customers (especially during this time) to enrich their own pockets for services they did not provide. TDS is clearly clueless when it comes to customer service and have somehow convinced themselves people will put up with this antiquated, poor service model at a premium price - keep driving customers towards cutting the cord and you will reap what you sow.

This review includes TV+ overall because I don’t know if it’s the app’s fault or the base service. First an app specific issue. This app is not supported on iOS 14 or TVOS 14. TDS support thinks they may have it working by 9/29/2020 which would be thirteen days after IOS 14’s general availability. I assume TDS did not bother to work with Apple’s beta program to be ready for the release of 14. TDS support acknowledges there are problems with TV+. I anticipated a few but saw it had been released out west for almost a year before I had it installed. I should have waited another year. In addition to lots of spinning circles (waiting like Windows old hourglass) below are a few of the errors I took screen captures of. Can’t stream show. V405 Temporary account error. C632 Information about your TV channels is not currently available Your box is not currently connected to the internet (it was the app not a box and it was connected) In addition to these issues and more since installing TDS TV+ my internet service bandwidth has dramatically decreased. I have TDS fiber service for internet, TV and landline phone service. I have bragged on them in the past. I am now extremely disappointed in TDS. This app seems to reflect the failure in general of the TV+ service. The app no longer works on IOS 14. It had problems prior to 14. Beware. Update 10/17/2020 I spoke with TDS support a couple of days ago which was four weeks after the iOS 14 release. I inquired as to an ETA on a working version of the TDS+ app. I was told they are continuing to work on it but they have no idea when it may be resolved. I am updating my beware advice to AVOID. Update 2021/03/12 The TDS app only works on your home network. It is not like the TV anywhere applications other vendors offer. Additionally I just got off the phone with TDS support discussing HD. Apparently TDS only offers 720p on a lot of channels and not full HD 1080p. I noticed a show viewed on Apple TV looked substantially better than the same episode via TDS. I hit the information button and in the show’s description it actually shows it is 720p. I asked TDS if I just needed to pay an additional fee but there is no option. It is what it is. I guess that’s one way to restrict bandwidth consumption and not have to build adequate infrastructure. They’ve also had two system wide TV outages this week (according to the auto attendant message when you called support). It seems TDS cannot handle there new TV service.