TV Guide Update

It's been a while since I've posted an update on my TV guide application.  There are now two versions: one in Qt for desktop systems, and a second in Java for Android 2.2+ devices.  Both share some features in common:

• Built-in support for the free OzTivo guide service for Australian TV channels.
• Select a channel and date to show the programmes for that combination.
• Customise the channel list, both Free-to-Air and Pay TV.
• Create a bookmark for an episodic show to highlight it whenever it is on.
• Using web search engines (Google, IMDb, etc) to find details on a selected programme.

In addition, the desktop version can:

• Show multiple channels side by side in column form, similar to a paper TV guide.
• Export bookmarks in XML format, for copying your bookmarks to a mobile device running the Android version.
• Create groups of channels to reduce clutter when viewing multiple channels.
• "7 Day Outlook" mode that shows all of your bookmarked shows for the next 7 days - essentially this is your "viewing list".
• Searching all displayed programmes for certain terms, categories, actors, etc.

The mobile version also has some special features (and will get more of the desktop features as time goes on):

• "Bulk Download" of guide data to the SD card of up to 5 days worth of data.  Excellent for offline use, or to save money on 3G by only downloading when you have access to cheaper Wi-Fi.
• "Add Reminder" to add a showing to the mobile device's calendar application so you can be reminded 10 minutes ahead of time that your show is on.

The mobile version is the "new shiny" of course.  Android 2.2 is a fairly simple SDK to work with - the heavy lifting for the application was done in about 4 weeks .  It helped that I'd already spent 6 months refining the desktop version (many, many, blind alleys before getting the feature set right).

For a quick tour, here is the mobile version's opening screen:

Selecting a channel shows a tabbed view with the programmes for today and the next four days:

Press-and-hold on a programme pops up the item menu:

It's all pretty straight-forward after that.  The main feature that makes this more than a simple TV guide is bookmarks.  It really helps to organise your week's viewing and to be notified when your favourite shows move to another timeslot or return for a new season.  In the desktop version, I almost never look at the normal view.

So, play with it and let me know how it goes.  I use it every day and have not bought a newspaper for a paper TV guide in months:

• Source code: https://github.com/rweather/tvguide
• Download Android APK file: https://github.com/rweather/tvguide/downloads

For those who've never installed an APK before, the steps are fairly simple:

• Download an "APK Installer" from the Android Market (any will do).
• Check "Unknown Sources" under "Settings -> Applications" on your device.
• Mount your device via USB and copy the APK file to the SD card.
• Install the APK with the aforementioned installer and have fun!