The guys from immedia have released thier 2nd iPhone app, which is an awesome app that allows you to view a TV schedule from all the DSTV channels.
The app is called the ZATV guide, and I have had a chance to play with the submitted version for the last 2 weeks.
Overall the app is clean, and simple to use. Once the app opens you are presented with a “My ZATV” screen, where you can chose to keep a list of your “Favorite channels” or “Favorite TV Shows” The next screen is “All Channels”, which allows you to view all the DSTV channels, and you can click through to see what is on each channel. You can search by either Channel Number or by A-Z of the channel name. 
Once you have gone into the channel, you can then add this channel to your “Favorite Channel” screen on the home page. You can also select a specific programme, which will allow you see what is happening in that specific episode.
The 3rd Screen allows you to search for a specific show or Series. This will then show you when the show is showing and on which channels, as well as give you detailed information on the series. You can then also add the show to your ‘Favorite TV Shows” on the home screen
All in all this is a well rounded app, that is simple to use, and is going to be very useful when deciding what movie to watch on a Sunday night.
The app can be downloaded from the iTunes store for Free from here – > Download
10 replies on “ZATV Guide iPhone app”
Hi Marc,
What is the difference between this guide and the DSTv one that was released?
B
Hey Barend,
As far as I can tell, this one shows a lot more detailed information on the shows as well as allows you to search and set favorites. I will try and see if I can get one of the guys from immedia to give a more detailed breakdown
Cheers
Marc
Quite a cool app. For some bizarre reason though, it won’t let me add CSI and CSI: New York to my favourite shows…
@Barend – the main differences are that you can search for shows and add your favourite channels and tv shows to your “My TV” screen for quick access. The ‘popular’ shows like Prison Break, Big Bang Theory etc, also have more details on the show itself and offer a season/episode breakdown.
@Pete – thanks for the feedback! We’ll definitely look into that…
I hate to be the stirrer of the pot.
DSTV owns the right to all the guide information, and are currently in a small legal battle with tvguide (orsome.net) to get multichoice guide data off the iphone app ($1) tvguide.
However my views are slightly different to that of DSTV’s and I believe in healthy competition. The correct path for this guide side of things to follow is for DSTV to launch an upgrade to their app with zaguides features and more.
Wether that will happen or not is up to certain legal entities.
-eel
What both apps are crying out for is some kind of alarm function so that your phone can warn you 15 mins before a specific show is about to start. I may even pay for that!
Great comment Blake, I was thinking the same thing!
That would require the app to run in the background. Which we all know is not possible, because the iPhone can’t run apps in the background…
Not so. You can use the push notification service that was launched with Version 3.0. I already have this on a Birthday Reminders app I have installed – works great.
Got to play with an augmented reality iPhone app developed in Stellies University. Very cool !
On the guide, The best way to do the reminder thing is to Write directly to the Calendar and put a reminder in, however this is a security risk, and there is no current API to do this.
SMS is the other way to do a reminder (costly) and then the obvious push mechanism which requires a reminder engine built on the sever side to talk to Apple’s push notification service.
What is needed in these apps is a link to movie trailers on YouTube. IMDB ratings, and some PVR interactivity,