Michal Ždanský Slowly it seems as if there is no interest in the Czech entertainment section in the App Store at all. The ČSFD application is limited only to an overview of cinemas. O2TV or Seznam TV have not seen updates for a year. The application should clear the stagnant water FDb.cz, which draws data from the portal of the same name.
FDb.cz is a kind of combination of cinema overview, TV program and the Czech version of IMDb, all under one roof, or rather in one application. It's definitely not a bad idea.
The application has a fairly simple interface. On the main screen you see several menus divided by TV or cinemas, then at the very top you have a search bar. Below it is a pointlessly placed link to the service portal, which will not open in the integrated browser, but instead redirects you to Safari. However, you will find more illogic in the user interface in the application.
For example, the TV overview is divided into two offers - either you go to It's playing on TV right now, or Favorite TV. The first menu contains only a list of Czech stations with the current program and an indicator of how many of the programs have already been broadcast. However, the list cannot be modified in any way; there is no way to hide stations you are not interested in or add some from abroad that you watch via satellite or cable TV.
This should be solved by the Favorite TV menu, where you can choose only the programs you are really interested in, while the menu includes most of the programs that you can tune in via O2TV or UPC. I will leave the inconvenient setting aside for now, but above all it bothers me that compared to It's playing on TV right now I only see a blank list without any overview of current programs. The only option is to open the menu of a particular channel, but rather than looking for what they have to offer in this way, I prefer to launch Safari and find it on the Internet.
You can open a specific show or movie in the channel menu to find out more detailed information. This personally strikes me as the strongest point of the application, as it draws data from its extensive database and shows you a list of actors (+ director) who appear in the film or series, and when you click on it, you will be taken to the profile of a specific personality with a list of films in which he played. Practically the same system as you can find on IMDb. For films, there is also the display of comments and ratings from Czech viewers.
The same system can be found in the overview of cinemas. This is generally a bit more successful than the TV offer. In the tab Premieres in cinemas you will find a list of current films that have arrived in cinemas or will appear in the menu in the coming weeks. In the upper bar, you can then switch which period the new films should cover.
Of course, there is also a list of cinemas in which you can search by region and city. The search engine itself is not exactly the best solution, but it will fulfill its purpose. You can then save cinemas to your favorites in the list, which you can then use in the last menu of the application. The cinema detail contains a list of the films shown, including the rating from FDb and the screening time. You will also see the address of the cinema in the header. However, I am missing the option to play the trailer, although you can find this option on the website.
Although the application has great potential, it lacks one essential thing, and that is a capable designer. The user interface is the Achilles heel of the whole venture, and all the pros of the application do not compensate for the cons of the appearance and control of the application. Fdb.cz was developed by a company for the portal AVE Soft, which mainly deals with business applications for Windows and iOS, apparently does not have much experience.
The application uses a minimum of its own graphics, and iOS elements are arranged in some cases in a not very attractive way, a good example is the cinema finder. However, the biggest minus in terms of appearance is the complete absence of graphic elements for the retina display, which I absolutely do not understand for a new application that was created less than two years after the launch of the iPhone 4.
Other unfinished business can be found in the application, such as poor optimization, when the movement in the lists is significantly jerky, the gem is the button Done in the cinema search engine, which is eye-catching not only in appearance, but also thanks to the English translation. FDb.cz is halfway to becoming a good application, but a lot of work will be needed to reach the end of the road.
[app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/fdb.cz-program-kin-a-tv/id512132625″]
Yeah, I've had this for a while now... ;)
Hello, does anyone know the answer to the question why there is no TV program app for the iPad these days? Thank goodness for an iPad 3 that can at least use O2TV decently!! "stretched" apps for iPad 2 and below are a complete tragedy and it always made me feel embarrassed that I was willing to pay 15000 for something like this