X1 Shortcut button not working

[WindsurfMaui]

My OPINION is that they had planned to use the B button for this function from the beginning.  It was not done to "shut this board up".  I'm surprised there have been 500+ posts to this thread when there are millions of X1 users.

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There used to be a rule of thumb that for every phone call complaint to a vendor it represented 100 other customers who are having the same problem but who just don't call in, and a complaining letter represented 1000 other customers who have the same complaint who didn't write. So a company who wants to keep their customers happy usually pay attention to those who actually contact them. I don't know what the ratio is for customers who post to a community Forum.

[Beerzz]

My wife is a Comcast employee and overall I am really happy with xfinity service and X1 box and remote. Terrible decision to remove the B picture in guide. And for them to say no one uses it is so absolutely wrong. We use it ALL the time. Once a week or so, I manually scan guide through movie channels and it takes a while to do. When I do that, now I can no longer have a small pic of what I’m watching and can only hear it, which blows. The small pic in guide feature has been so useful and it’s seruously a massive dusappointment that it’s now gone, in place of voice features that only a tiny number of people need or use (SAP, voiceover descriptions, etc). They are accustomed to going into settings to use their voice features. Now you’ve just removed a useful feature completely. And replaced it with a feature you can now access in two different ways. Massive error in judgement. Bring back the PIP in Guide.

[spacecadet57]

Competitor has up to 4 PIP and Comcast eliminates the one that they have.  Really big mistake.  Please bring it back or make use of the D button which is not being used.  Comcast really doesn't seem to take customer feedback into account for anything.  Decision they made for changes on the touchscreen for the Home Security were equally poorly planned and they removed several very useful features.

[JohnnyJT]

Well I Always used the B Botton so I guess I DON'T COUNT.

[Acoyote85]

Please restore the B button back to the way it was. The information they have on the B button is worthless. 

[Linkdead62]

Another example of Comcast's infamous un-customer service.  10 minutes of my life troubleshooting due to their lack of even basic communication.  Stupid.

[gjmmail]

I think we should all weight in on this subject again and again.  I want my B button "Mini Video" function back.   Move the accessibility settings to the "A" button where they belong or somewhere else.

If you agree keep posting messages saying so...

[OldTVGuide]

Well now I actually use the "D" button to clear out my cache of shows/channels I've already watched. But, since I'm not really into sports that much I hardly ever use the "C" button - just once in a while to see how bad the Dolphins are losing.

[Chayodog1]

There is no small picture when in search or mee mode

[RobertWy]

The B button is now used for Settings

[Sissy98057]

Please restore the feature of having the scaled video appear when the full guide is displayed.  After reading Xfinity’s rationale that this feature wasn’t utilized makes me question why it was an option to begin with.  It should be a fixed feature similar to other providers and smart tv features.  Such an important feature for the customer viewing pleasure that makes no sense to remove. 

[Rustyben]

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@Sissy98057 wrote:

Please restore the feature of having the scaled video appear when the full guide is displayed.  After reading Xfinity’s rationale that this feature wasn’t utilized makes me question why it was an option to begin with.  It should be a fixed feature similar to other providers and smart tv features.  Such an important feature for the customer viewing pleasure that makes no sense to remove. 

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Comcast reassigned that button for direct access to the Accessibility Settings Menu. I moved your post to the mega-thread about the subject.

[g107]

That's all well n Good but for those who aren't limited in their communications skills bring back the PIP..!!!!

[Rwsrws]

563+  Replies      21,482+ Views on this thread. This does not mention the subscribers that were unhappy but did not take the time to respond. 

Obviusly “lack of use” is a term Comcast needs to define. Either that or they need to explain the REAL reason the PIP function is not available with the B button or anywhere else. 

Does this his have something to do with advertising?

Kek

[Ejb0303]

Just another example of xfinity being stupidly user hostile. Not unlike the channel guide with channels randomly sprinkled here and there for no apparent reason. Actually makes me nostalgic for Directv, which I had to give up when I moved to a condo which had signed with xfinity.

[RobertWy]

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@Rwsrws wrote:

563+  Replies      21,482+ Views on this thread. This does not mention the subscribers that were unhappy but did not take the time to respond. 

Obviusly “lack of use” is a term Comcast needs to define. Either that or they need to explain the REAL reason the PIP function is not available with the B button or anywhere else. 

Does this his have something to do with advertising?

Kek

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It was mentioned previously that of the millions of X1 users, only a fraction were using the B button.  No mention of how they arrived at that conclusion. 

[Rwsrws]

Might be enough if they told us how they arrived at that conclusion. 

[GoldenVine]

I was angry that the feature was missing, but there is a solution...

Press the right arrow button on the X1 remote and VOILA!!!  The picture moves to the left of the screen and the guide comes up on the right side of the screen. Scroll through the guide as usual.  While in this mode, if you want to see a specific channel's listings, arrow (up or down) to the desired channel then press the right arrow button again.  To return to full screen mode, press exit.

The picture is much bigger than the small version that used to appear in the lower right corner of the screen. I like the bigger view of the screen much better. 

[Shank2886]

I no longer have the option for the little picture box to watch tv while in guide mode

[Rustyben]

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@Shank2886 wrote:
I no longer have the option for the little picture box to watch tv while in guide mode

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Hi, I moved your post to the PIP B-button mega-thread. They reassigned that button to the accessibility menu. The feature is no longer available at the moment.

[Rwsrws]

No, it is not as useful. You cannot move though the guide as before and see all stations at a certain time. And you could use the right key to access the mini guide before the removal of the small PIP B button function in the full guide. 

[Rwsrws]

-duplicate-

[Rwsrws]

-duplicate-

[Rwsrws]

Is their an employee that you could contact that would actually respond to these matters? Calling customer service yields little encouragement, contacting “Tom K.” seems to be a black hole. Boilerplate responses in every case. Still like to know of the lack of use determination.  

[jbow52]

Good idea

[RickGr4]

Look folks,

If anyone needs any further information on issues like this, please read the Wikipedia article on Comcast. Pay close attention to the comments where Comcast ranks in regards to customer service and how many complaints that have been made towards them.

I have had X1 service for slightly more than four years. X1 has been available for over 4.5 years now. I have said this many times before and I will say it again. Comcast isn't listening. The are devolping X1 as best suits them. X1 is not a cutting edge entertainment experience. It is a watered down product that is intended for the masses and to reduce service calls and truck rolls.

[VickM]

Why would Comcast take away the B program button, pic in pic is a must.?

[RobertWy]

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@VickM wrote:

Why would Comcast take away the B program button, pic in pic is a must.?

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I found that the right-arrow to be an acceptable substitute.

[Mattyjac]

Bring back the B button and don’t call me about an alternative by using the right arrow key

[djcz]

RobertWy,

That's all well and good that YOU find the right-arrow an "acceptible substitute"... talk about being condescending. It's quite obvious from the opinion of the masses, that the right-arrow is NOT acceptable. It baffles my mind that Comcast removes such a useful feature that basicaly EVERYBODY uses and replaces it with useless settings functionality that can be accessed elsewhere. And then, to have the nerve to come out and publicly say that the reason for the removal is because the function isn't used. As usual, Comcast doesn't give a rat's patootie about their customer base. I've been so fed up lately with how many commercials we end up watching during the course of an evening and am toying with the idea of dumping Comcast TV service and just going with a streaming service instead. This is just one more reason to do so.

[mikeelkins133]

Bring that feature back it was extremely useful

[Stokes17]

+1 (really 100+ per ratio mentioned)

Please bring back the PIP function with the remote “B” button. Pressing right button is not adequate. Thank you.

[AdXfinitum]

What junk... can’t you tell by all the questions that folks like PIP. Bring it back!!!!!!

[RobertWy]

24500 views 454 replies and counting.

[BiggJ]

There are many good arguments in this thread for why the PIP shortcut (picture in picture on the grid guide) needs to be restored.

• It was a standard feature on the previous (older) platform and is available on most competitors' platforms...please don't discontinue what should be a STANDARD feature.
• The right button guide that some suggest is an "acceptable alternative" is useful for checking what is CURRENTLY on, but the grid guide makes much more sense when a viewer wants to look over program listings for several days or a week and quickly set recordings with the touch of a button on the grid guide. That takes some time...it's a real loss to not be able to view a PIP while doing it.
• The grid guide offers larger print for people like me who need it--the right-button guide does not--I have trouble reading it.
• The Accessibility Settings screen that is now programmed to the B shortcut button duplicates what we already could do quicker using the silver down arrow button--where we can toggle closed captioning on and off very quickly--AND while viewing our program. Most of what is displayed on the Accessibility Settings that comes up with the B shortcut screen is settings the user does not need to access over and over again--shouldn't SHORTCUT buttons be dedicated to the things a viewer does frequently?

I have already offered all these reasons/arguments elsewhere in this thread and have received kudos from posters who agree with various of my points. But I returned to this thread tonight for a NEW reason. After we lost the PIP on the X1 grid guide, I switched to setting all my recordings inside the Xfinity StreamTV app or the Xfinity TV Remote app on my iPad. Now that Xfinity has been forced by a legal ruling to remove the capability of setting recordings within those apps, I am now back to having to do it from the grid guide on my TV screen. That means I will be spending fairly long periods of time setting my recordings within that grid guide...but I will be doing it while NOT being able to monitor what I am currently watching via the PIP.

Comcast, I notice in the thread about loss of the recording capability in the mobile apps for the foreseeable future that your customers are (mostly) not angry--they appreciate the upfront honesty about why we have lost that feature for now. Well, here is a golden opportunity for you to please your customers by giving us back the PIP shortcut so that during the months when we must set recordings on our TV screen, we can have the benefit of the PIP while we are doing it.

Pretty please? It's such an easy way you can reduce the sting of losing yet another feature and make your customers feel that you want to please them and give them greater convenience in using X1 features.

Thanks!

[DanielFrom76]

Please bring back picture in picture "B" button functionally.

[Ruudi]

Another options is when watching a program press the center right arrow to bring up channel.

[racer930]

X1 Shortcut button not working

[RobertWy]

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@racer930 wrote:

X1 Shortcut button not working

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What is it not doing?

[WizNot2]

Button B used to display a scaled down video (of the channel you were watching)  in the bottom right corner when the Guide was on display.  Now button B activates a guide/accessibility settings screen.  

Is there any other way to activate a scaled down video of the channel you were watching when the Guide is on display?

[RobertWy]

Using the right arrow button is the only way now.

[trystep35]

Seems they never ask you or inform you of changes so what good is their notifications section for? It's so annoying and sneaky how these are done without telling you what is being updated and just implemented via daily updates.

The cloud-based dvr is so slow and unstable that it needs a daily reboot. The dvr is a step back, cloud based should only be for on demand shows. Next chance we get we're going back to directTV and transfer the phone number to google.

[Sarahmitchell]

How do I get picture in picture 0n my tv

[TDKttess]

You don’t get picture in picture. Comcast/Xfinity thought it would be a good idea to take that away from us. It wasn’t a good idea. It was a very very bad idea.

[Nextohel]

A very, very, very bad idea.

[Wardman]

XR15 remote....

Loved the ability to swap tuners as well, pausing one show while watching another (think two sporting events).  The remote is more streamlined, but lacks progamability.  Wish there was more there:

- Fav button

- Fave folders for me, my wife, my kids

- ability to jump days ahead on a channel for taping

Tannks

[CCAndrew]

The X1 remotes haven’t ever had a dedicated favorites button.

Press the guide button twice and arrow over to favorites

With the guide up, press Fast Forward to move the guide ahead 24 hours

[Wardman]

Thanks - guide advance is great. 

PIP or FAV was on the silver remotes and I used it a lot to swap between two live events or to miss commercials while watching another event (on the original anyroom DVR boxes)