I discovered PlayOn not long after they began. I was one of those people who actually contributed cash towards development. I have a lifetime membership and have enjoyed PlayOn for most of that time. When they came out with the Cloud app, I was on board and regularly bought credits to the point that I still have over 400 anytime credits. But, over the last few years, PlayOn has become less and less satisfying. Just keeping the desktop functional is a challenge. As the numbers of channels has dwindled, the logins to some of the most often used channels (Amazon, HBO Go, et al) fail more and more often. I spend hours trying all the recommended exercises, then I give up and fall back to the Cloud downloads. After a few weeks or months, I find that I can once again download from Amazon on my desktop. So, keeping my foot in the door with the cloud app is my safeguard against problems on the desktop. But, now, I'm finding even the cloud is becoming a problem. I find nothing helpful online, and trying to get help through customer support is more frustration. I am forced to wonder what is happening with PlayOn. At this point, I cannot even download the videos I've recorded from the cloud ... the links don't work. Nothing on my end have changed, with the possible exception of some Windows updates being slipped in automatically. Otherwise, I'm at an impasse. Am I watching my favorite app in its death throes? I hope not.
3 comments
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Debra Kuhn I have nor been able to download from Amazon Prime for months on my desktop. Can anyone who is able to download from Amazon tell me if there is something I need to change in settings to do so?
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Robert Moody Ms. Kuhn,
I'll start with a stupid question .. are you on the current version of PLayOn desktop ??
I am at 4.5.23.24615 and I am not having any issues with Amazon Prime, CBS, HULU or Netflix. The only real issue I have is with DTV Now and more to the point Hallmark and Hallmark Movies and Mysteries having any available content.
Bob
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Sheila Vose I downloaded the latest version and even updated Chrome, Flash player and anything else I could think of. This is not a new issue. It is a recurrent issue. I think the problem is that the PlayOn programmers are trying to manage too many variables and simply can't keep up. I am stuck with ATT Uverse, which in itself is a bit hit and miss and as ATT grows and evolves, as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and so many others are constantly adjusting to enhance their own products, I suspect that there are just too many moving targets for PlayOn's staff to keep up with. PlayOn started out as a great idea and progressed through the first few years. I had a sense then that they were getting ahead of themselves, as existing issues were not being addressed while new development continued into PlayOn Cloud. I was all for their ambitions, but as a retired programmer myself, I worried that they were trying to move too fast. I did contribute to their funding and learned to be patient when problems arose. I felt then, as now, that there was simply not enough effort being made to help their customers (us) to resolve issues. The documentation has changed very little over these last few years, and it has never been very helpful. I suspect that my current problem is mostly from ATT, if only because they are expanding and redirecting their goals, but not totally. I expect Uverse to be dropped in the near future, forcing DTV onto current Uverse customers. But, as they are making their own adjustments, so too are Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, etc. Throw in the updates from a myriad of security systems and Windows/Microsoft, it is little wonder that PlayOn can't keep up. However, my frustration comes with the simple fact that PlayOn's customer service doesn't seem to care if their customers are having trouble. It says a lot about PlayOn's CS when the best advice can be found from fellow users, but as Robert Moody's question demonstrates, what works for him clearly does not work for us all. I fear that soon, the chaos will overtake the PlayOn staff, and the entire enterprise will fold like a house of cards. I will hate to see that, but as my own access dwindles, so too does my hope. I am tiring of the hunt for answers, for as I find a resolution through trial and error, another arises. I am also tired of expecting CS to help.