My experience with Britbox so far

AlanX

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I started a free trial with Britbox a week ago. Content as expected, but user experience pretty poor.
I synced my TV using the 6-digit code as instructed, and everything was fine. But I have to repeat it with a new code every day or two. Why?
Now, since yesterday, when I want to view an episode of anything, it comes back with ERROR. No explanation, so not very helpful. Tried signing out and back in again (necessitating a new code), but still no joy. So I can't view anything at all (apart from that thrilling index, that is!)
Unless this comes good in the next day or two, my free trial period will have been blown, and I'll be cancelling. But there's another rub - I've read many reports of folk having problems with cancellation. They've had to go through the cancel process many times before it will 'stick', others think they've cancelled but still end up being charged.
Anyone else enjoying/enduring these issues?
 
I'm quite interested in this service but I'm waiting for a bit more of the less well known BBC material to appear before considering a trial. Your experience doesn't inspireconfidence. Have you contacted them regarding your issues? Surely they should be able to help and might extend your trial for any lost time.

Bri
 
Yes, phoned them this morning - surprisingly answered straight away, had expected to join a long queue. Got the usual tips: reboot the TV from cold, make sure the TV was on its latest update, sign out and in again on the TV, resync the TV.
Fortunately, that seems to have worked, at least for now - I can now view programmes without just getting 'Error'. Time will tell whether I'm going to be into daily resyncs. But at least I can now view stuff, and make an informed decision on whether to pay when the trial runs out.
 
But still no full HD (1080p), no multi-channel surround support (where expected), and nothing new, only repeats of stuff that's already been aired. So much for the new and exclusive content. Not worth the money at £5.99/month IMO.

Clem
 
Well, that was their remit - to make the back-catalogue available, most of which will be SD and 2ch.
There's plenty more out there if you don't like Britbox content. I'm on the fence at the moment: I'm interested in the content, but will have to wait and see whether I actually get round to watching any of it during my trial month. £5.99 a month with no contract is no big deal. Just get it for Christmas!
 
I had the free trial for a month, just after it launched, I had no problems with the app or cancelling it, I enjoyed some of the content but was disappointed with the lack of bbc back catalogue, I’ll most likely try it again in 6-12 months.
 
But still no full HD (1080p), no multi-channel surround support (where expected), and nothing new, only repeats of stuff that's already been aired. So much for the new and exclusive content. Not worth the money at £5.99/month IMO.

Clem

Its HD on the YouView platform, but no surround sound. This service has primarily been launched to view archive (old) content, not new. So just like you, it won't be for everyone.

Britbox will lose a lot of money in the first few years of its existence, which is normal. I recently read ITV's annual report which stated they had factored that in, in its launch and will need 1m subscribers to start breaking even. So its more in the Now TV range (1.5m subscribers) than the big boys like Netflix. A niche service, but they said that before it even launched.
 
My wife signed up for the 6 month free trial through EE so I looked at the options to get it on my TV.

Phillips TV less than two years old - no app.
Shield TV box - no app.
Roku NowTV Box - no app.
Panasonic UHD player - no app.
Tried side loading the .APK for the app to my shield - can only find the US .APK which installs but wont work in the UK.
Read that I can access Britbox as a channel under Amazon Prime - Nope, must just be for the US.

I might look at installing it on my old android tablet and chromecasting it, or even using another app to rip the .APK from my tablet and try side loading that, but I am losing interest now. How the hell do they expect this to take off when it is so bloody difficult to get on a smart TV?
 
I have Britbox free for six months with my phone contract so have been checking it out using the Amazon Fire Stick app. The app is fairly dreadful to navigate but there seems to be a good selection of shows of the 'you may have missed this at the time' genre: my wife is currently working her way through the entire Law and Order UK catalogue. The picture on those shows is really quite good (LG 49in TV) but some of the 'classic' films on the service have very poor sound. We watched The Tamarind Seed and Without a Clue and both films had a tinny soundtrack where the dialogue sounded like it was coming down a 1970s phone line. Is Britbox using films remixed for old mono TV sets or something? I have a Sonos Beam so don't expect surround sound, just something approaching normal TV audio.
 
My wife signed up for the 6 month free trial through EE so I looked at the options to get it on my TV.

Phillips TV less than two years old - no app.
Shield TV box - no app.
Roku NowTV Box - no app.
Panasonic UHD player - no app.
Tried side loading the .APK for the app to my shield - can only find the US .APK which installs but wont work in the UK.
Read that I can access Britbox as a channel under Amazon Prime - Nope, must just be for the US.

I might look at installing it on my old android tablet and chromecasting it, or even using another app to rip the .APK from my tablet and try side loading that, but I am losing interest now. How the hell do they expect this to take off when it is so bloody difficult to get on a smart TV?

Can you cast it to the Shield?
 
Is there anywhere that lists everything that is currently available on this service? I can't find a recent full list.
 
Can you cast it to the Shield?

Yes, I can cast to the shield from my Ipad but it is a bit clunky. The old android tablet I wanted to try would probably work better via chromecast directly to the TV, but I can't find the damn thing! I have stuck to watching it natively on the Ipad so far. If anybody knows of a .APK file for the UK version of Britbox that will install on the Shield, please let me know.

I think the lack of apps on smart devices could kill this service if they don't get it sorted.
 


This Reddit page links to an APK that maybe what you need, don't have a Shield to check sorry.
 
I've been binging loads of shows on Britbox, dissapointed it doesn't have the older back catalogue. There's a few TV shows I have missed and were on here which is good.

I've tried to tweet a few times and get a generic response where they'll pass it on and how it's a great show that I want on there 🤷‍♂️

I noticed over the last week they've added some shows but only one episode which is annoying to say the least, they claim it's down to licensing but the shows in question nate not available anywhere else so can't see why that would be a problem - Woof, Bernard's Watch, Catweazle and Murphys Mob to name a few.

The app is OK on the AppleTV box but I don't like the way they list Christmas specials seperate from the TV series that are part of.
 
I bit the bullet and signed up for a free trial. I'm not that impressed so far. It looks odd. Even my wife has noticed. I've got Our Friends In The North on at the moment and it's in 14/9. Also it sometimes plays with the menu options at the top of the screen. I've no idea why.

Bri
 
Is it just me or is it common to get the revolving circle and try again later message? I've had these problems every now and again on All4 and Prime but no where near as frequently as on Britbix. I don't think I've gone more than 10 minutes without interruption. Unless it settles down shortly I'll probably end my free trial.

Bri
 
I've been thinking about Britbox but to be honest it pisses me off thinking that the BBC is charging us again to watch programs that we paid for to be made in the first place. They've stopped repeating a lot of stuff I'd want to watch and I suspect it's because they're putting it on Britbox.
 

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