DISH Anywhere Reviews

by Sick-of-crashing

This is the worst functioning streaming app. I’m very disappointed, because I like to use my satellite service when I’m away from home, but DISHAnywhere is incredibly unreliable. When I open it and choose a channel, it begins streaming, but most of the time only streams for about 15 minuets, then has fits of stops and starts and freezes. I then have to close DISHAnywhere , reopen it, choose a channel then go through the whole process again. Over and over. It happens every single time I use it, unless I’m in my house, basically right next to my receiver, in which case, well, I might as well just watch it on my tv.
I switched to Dish from Directv last year, and I constantly wish I hadn’t. When I had Directv, I used their mobile app daily (like I TRY do so with this one) and it always worked seamlessly, including in all of the same locations that I TRY to use this one. The contrast is stark and undeniable.
If you’re thinking of switching to Dish from Directv, and like to use your satellite service on the go, DON’T DO IT! I can’t wait until I can go back to Directv.

by Bnath

After the update, using DISHAnywhere through my DV Adapter (to a TV) no longer works. It shows up with no issues until you start live view and then just says “loading” on the TV. It plays the audio through the TV, but no video. I’ve had no issues doing this in the past and would frequently use this function when traveling so I could watch my home TV no matter where I was. Navigating the guide also takes far longer with only 5-6 channels showing up at a time (easily twice that before). Also, not a giant issues, but some of my Favorite channels were removed causing a new setup to be done.

**Update**

Quick response from the developer which I appreciate. I have sent the requested information. However there are now additional issues including more than half of my channels now missing completely and the loss of being able to navigate channels from within Live view. I’ve added this to my email as well. I hope to see a fix soon and will be happy to update my review accordingly.

by Slangy_Girl

The old Dish Anywhere app was fantastic! I never had a problem with it, the interface was intuitive and the picture was as good as when watching my tv. This ‘new’ app (it’s not really new anymore) is ridiculous. Anytime I want to use it there are problems— missing recordings, low-quality video or programming that won’t load at all—that I often simply give up trying. I just spent 38 minutes on the phone with Dish because I couldn’t play any recordings (black screen with pause bars in the middle). We solved that issue (yippee?) but the picture is still awful (barely SD and skipping) even though I am three feet from my modem.

I have no idea why Dish had to redesign/engineer the Anywhere app (to crack down on theft?). But for paying Dish customers this is a TOTAL step down from the previous version. And the few times I’ve called for technical help I hear, “We’re working on it”. Great. When’s it going to be done?!?! Because I’m fed up paying for Dish Anywhere and never being able to use it.

Finally, the customer service rep I spoke to was an arrogant jerk who would not listen to me, talked over me and, as a result, the call probably took longer than it needed to. Here’s a news flash—when the customer calls and is explaining the problem it’s usually a good idea to LISTEN as that will speed up the process of solving the issue.

by Cardshark75

I am so frustrated by DISHAnywhere. I am repeating what others have already said. Missing recordings, It will tell me I am not connected to the internet, not true. I will get off DISHAnywhere, go to my HBO max app to test this, no problems at all. So I have to turn my tablet completely off for it to work. Very annoying. If I am watching something on demand, it will stop. I will try to go to resume watching ,sometimes it works, many times it doesn’t. I shouldn’t have to start it at beginning to be able to watch something. This can happen multiple times for 1 program I am watching. I will usually get frustrated and give up trying to watch what I was already watching. I agree with others who have stated THE OLD APP WAS FINE!!
Any improvements you may have made negates all the issues your customers are having. This has already been going on for what 2 plus years . For the amount of money we spend every month, I expect much better than this. Please don’t respond to this review trying to give me helpful hints on how to fix the “bugs” I am experiencing. I don’t have this issue except for DISHAnywhere. So there is no problem on my end for these issues. Very disappointed, I do not recommend DISHAnywhere in its current state!!

by Jackiemhous12

I have given about 4 different feedbacks about this upgrade that totally changed the Dish Anywhere interface. I use to love DISHAnywhere and had very few issues. Now I hate it!!! I’m constantly having issues. The new interface is not very intuitive and very clunky to use. I’m constantly getting message that I’ve lost signal from receiver and need to close which I have to do numerous times. It takes much longer to load when fast forwarding than older version. I’ve reported there is no way to watch via SD vs HD. Some of my channels I need to view in SD. In the older interface there was an option to view SD and HD. As I said it is not very intuitive as It took me 2 days to figure out how to pause the recording. The interface needs to match up to what we see on our receivers now not something totally different. Now my Dish Anywhere app is not uploading my recorded programs timely and is still showing shows that I have deleted from my receiver. I have deleted my app numerous times to see if it fixes the problems with no luck. This new interface appears to have gone backwards instead of improving DISHAnywhere . Please rollback to the previous interface which was a hundred times better than this one.

by Roseumi

Update 3-Still can’t play transferred shows on my iPhone 7 Plus. Says it can’t connect STILL. My memory is full but I am unable to even delete a transferred show because it can’t connect so it says I have none but the transferred setting says I have 407 transferred shows. Just can’t access them and haven’t been able to most of my years with dish. Even if it is briefly fixed, the same problem comes back right away again.

Update 2-still not fixed. I downloaded lots of shows for a trip. Now my phone is full and apps crash because I can’t even get into the transfers to delete them. Still says can’t connect. This is f$&@ing ridiculous! For what we pay and the amount keeps going up, the quality goes down. I assume you could hire someone with a little programming skill.

Update: As I expected, STILL not fixed! I have sent my info in many times. Not doing your work. Don’t put out a new update until you have tested it! Seems pretty simple to me.

Every upgrade I can’t see my transferred shows and I complain a dozen or so times an it gets fixed until the next update and same thing. I can’t count how many times this has happened. Save yourself grief and don’t choose dish. Cost keeps going up but they can’t hire programmers with half a brain. Same canned responses but it STILL isn’t fixed but prices going up and DISHAnywhere is getting worse and worse. The only reason we stayed with dish was DISHAnywhere

by OldV

1. App fails to set recording. When trying to set a recording I see “Would you like to record. This event is on multiple networks.” There is a red circle around a red dot…but clicking it results in nothing. 2. Link here on App Store for dev. website is broken. 3. Often I get nothing but a gray screen after I select “watch.” When that happens There’s nothing for it but to close DISHAnywhere and reopen. I have tried deleting and reinstalling. DISHAnywhere deserves ZERO stars. I noted “developer’s response” to another review tried to hide behind the claim that “we provide DISHAnywhere for free but…” As though we aren’t paying for a service that includes DISHAnywhere. Dish costs a pretty penny. The tech should work.

Update. Connection TV repeatedly (and erratically) results in DISHAnywhere freezing and returning an error message inviting me to try again or, in the alternative, to dial a 1-800 number. So, sure, rather than watch the one game a week I want to watch, I’d rather work through an automated phone system where after interminable waiting I’ll finally talk to a human who will ask me to repeat all of the same credentials that I entered into the automated system and then try to upsell me on new equipment.

by Fpjprp

I’ve read through many of the reviews regarding the issues with DISHAnywhere. I have been a long time customer and have refused to change providers because of the ability to use DISHAnywhere anytime I wanted. I was on a trip to Canada in October and it worked fine. Since last November or so, DISHAnywhere has stopped working. I have deleted it and reinstalled it several times with no luck. I saw that there was a new version as of 5 days ago so I updated my version. Still getting same error message now with a different number. It did get to the loading page, but then after a few minutes I get there was a problem connecting this video on your set-top box. My receiver and my device are set to the same internet WiFi so not sure what this means. A few months ago I contacted DISH support and they said they have not heard of my problem before which I find hard to believe after reading many of these app reviews. They said they would log my issue with DISHAnywhere team, but did not sound very hopeful that it would get resolved any time soon. Is anyone really working on these issues or should I just switch to another provider?

by Werdoates

My personal experience with the update has been awful. I find that as I am trying to select a show to watch the play button doesn’t always show up. I have to exit out of the show or app altogether, then go back in before the play button will appear. I can’t connect it to the tv through an adapter anymore. The dish app is the only app this won’t work with. Not all of the shows have the option to rewind or fast forward, like DISHAnywhere had, previous to the update.

There were some features on DISHAnywhere before the update that were frustrating to deal with, but the update not only failed to resolve those issues, there are now twice as many frustrations to deal with.

One of the reasons why I subscribed with dish was because of DISHAnywhere and how great it was. As someone who uses it quite often as I travel, I feel it is safe to say that Dish has lost its edge on Directv in this category. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed with an update to an app, as I have been with this one.

by Boymomma47

DISHAnywhere is awful now. It used to work so well before they decided to redesign it over a year ago. Now it is extremely glitchy—if I pause a show and the screen goes into sleep mode (even for a minute) it restarts the show and I have to watch all the ads again; the sound is doubled (only way I know how to describe it) about 50% of the time when watching anything on demand; if I fast forward or rewind it takes probably 10-15 seconds JUST to load (this never ever happened with the old design), so it’s kind of pointless to fast forward through commercials because it can take longer and is extremely annoying. Honestly, I can only watch on my iPad 95% of the time because of my kids so I’m going to be cancelling my subscription. It’s not even worth the headache because 50% of the time I just give up trying to watch after dealing with all of the issues. When the redesign first came about I assumed the glitches would be fixed, but it’s been over a year and they’re all still there, if not worse. It’s hard for me to believe Dish can’t do better than this.

by Meeee15438

Every since dish has updated DISHAnywhere. It has not worked right. I give it a one star, just because I can not give a (no star). The audio stops playing when the video keeps running. Then when the audio comes back, the video stops. Then the audio and the video both stop. Today I. Watched a one hour show, that took me over three hours to watch. Just so I could see and hear the whole program. 🤦‍♂️ This has gone on for over many months, that goes to shows dish had no intention of fixing DISHAnywhere . And just keeps telling its customers the technicians are coming out with a patch soon. Again I had been told this for months. When the fact of matter is, they have no intention of fixing DISHAnywhere . Just as the have said they will be getting HBO back soon. B. S.

Plus. The Close caption keeps turning on my itself. I do not turn it on, but keeps coming on. Even after I turn it off, it still keeps coming on. I do not have no problem hearing. And if I needed to have Close caption on, I would turn it on myself. I find it very insulting that a app would imply I can not hear. Again BS.

by Meree1891

If I could give DISHAnywhere zero stars, I would. The update made using DISHAnywhere beyond frustrating. Loading...loading...always loading. The placement of the rewind and fast forward buttons means I’m always accidentally x-ing out of the show because they are right next to each other. Then there’s the message that my show has ended when I’m not even half way through and then I have to find where I was before the message so that I can finish the show. I spend more time just trying to get through a recording. It’s wasteful. I’ve been with Dish for years and DISHAnywhere alone has made me consider going with another company. I never sit to watch tv. I’m always watching on my phone while I move around my house getting stuff done. Dish Anywhere should be renamed Dish Nowhere. I never reviewed the previous version but it was SO MUCH BETTER than this newer version. I’ve waited before reviewing hoping the developers could work out the kinks. I’ve watched other people review it and I know I’m not alone. Please figure this out, Dish.

by Rach120591

Dish anywhere should be called dish NOT anywhere. DISHAnywhere no longer allows you to watch transferred shows when you do not have WiFi. It used to but they took it away. Plus I was told by a dish rep that support and updates for apple products are low priority. He said that I should buy a different tablet. After spending $700 on an iPad Pro that is not what a customer wants to hear. They gradually have made DISHAnywhere worse over time. Just like the hopper does not let you search the guide for movies by genre. It used to but they didn’t/ don’t want you to easily find things to record. They want you to pay pay per view instead. They tell you to look at dish on demand that lets you search by genre. But the free ones are LOADED with commercials that you cannot fast forward through. Dish and Dish NOT Anywhere keep getting worse and worse for the customer. I gave it 2 stars because you can watch transfers with WiFi.

by Chizlr

I used the “Old” app with my 722k receiver and had no issues, until YOU decided for me that I must upgrade to the Hopper to use it. So I did upgrade and installed the New App on my iPhone. A very sad sad application. I have no problems watching my recordings while I am on the road. The problem is with watching Live Tv. The guide that pops up only has a few channels on it. So I delete app and reinstall, all channels are now there. Now I click on channel I want to view and it is not Live Tv, but some sort of a recorded loop. Shut it down and restarted, same result. Got frustrated and quit. Next day restarted app, now I have only a few channels again in my guide. Uninstalled and reinstalled again, all of my channels are back. I can actually watch Live Tv now, however I am at home and do not need to watch on my iPhone. There are no issues with my home network and I have more than enough Mbps to power my Hopper when I am not at home. While on the road I have full bars and great Wifi. Have you ever thought about using dedicated servers for your Dish Anywhere services, instead of my at home receiver. You are behind the power curve on this technology, time to rethink your strategy for the future. In the meantime , for me I guess I will uninstalling and reinstalling DISHAnywhere everyday until you do something about it.

by None135

It seems DISHAnywhere is different than it was a few days ago. For one thing it stopped working since yesterday, Nov 5th, 2019 for me. I tried all the usual tricks, mainly rebooting hopper and all. Finally today I called Dish and was told that sling adapter is no longer compatible with my old hopper and I need to replace it with a newer unit. I have a lot of saved programs, which I can loose, but being able to watch dish programs remotely is more important. So I consented to get the new hopper, which has sling adaptor built in. Oh yes, the agent tried to make me pay for the new hopper or extend my contract by two years. After some discussion, she decided to change her mind and drop that requirement. May be it’s because, I wanted to speak with a supervisor? All of a sudden the Dish Anywhere App started working, after a few hours, but it is not the same. Many old features are missing. I will have to see how it works with the newer Hopper, if it works as used to. At the least. Only two stars because missing features on DISHAnywhere.

by AhwahneeAngel

In my opinion is very poor. In the beginning it was good. Things obviously have changed it’s not consistent has a hard time staying on has a hard time connecting has a hard time just playing video. I’ve called customer service numerous times they tell me just to reinstall it I reinstall it and the same stuff happens. Very disappointed I was really looking forward to having DISHAnywhere and I’m not going to get rid of it because I do use it quite often it’s just too bad that they don’t stand behind their product and try to fix it. Sometimes I get the excuses that it’s my Internet ( which is kind of funny because I travel and I use different Internet so it just can’t be my one Internet because it’s multiple Internet ) sometimes I get excuses that it’s my equipment (which mind you they won’t admit that there’s anything wrong with their equipment either when it comes down to it). So I guess were stuck until maybe somebody in corporate has the same issues and gets a little frustrated too.

by Kitkat3041

We’ve been considering dropping dish and going to all streaming and the constant issues with DISHAnywhere are just steering us more in that direction. It was nice watching on the go or being able to set recordings if I was away from home and forgot. The added ability with chromecast was also a bonus. DISHAnywhere used to be great but it buffers frequently. None of my other apps do and my internet connection is fine. Now today our channels are all missing. I have like 7 channels showing. I deleted DISHAnywhere and reinstalled but it only added a handful of channels. There are no channel numbers either it just shows the network name and it has mostly Spanish channels as well. This is so frustrating to say the least. A couple of weeks ago I had my locals missing and I was away from home and wanted to catch the news. Get it together dish!!

by Carl In Houston

I have used dish anywhere for several years. And I have been dismayed by the quality for the last 2 releases. A couple of years ago I had no issues with it. I used it on my iPhone and occasionally on my PC.

The iPhone side has lost quality and not kept up with the hopper 3 interface. I use my iPhone in landscape mode and the progress bar in that mode is completely useless. It never shows the information correctly. The bar is set as I start it up and never changes to fit landscape. The times are not correct either.

The tool also does not let me use folders in a way similar to the hopper 3. Very dissatisfying.

On my pc there are simply too many buttons to push to get it started. And sometimes you have to guess how to get there.

It also is not smooth. Even when I have been watching for a while it will simply pause for a few 10s of seconds and then restart. Gets pixely as well.

Finally when using the guide on my iPhone the buffers are not working well. After using it on several different shows the guide starts disappearing on the grid. Just goes gray

I have worked in the software industry and suggest that if you are not already doing so you should employ an agile approach. Works wonders.

by Phillier23

DISHAnywhere was perfect before. Now jumping forward or backward while playing is torture.

When you push on the 30sec forward arrow to jump through the commercials it will freeze playback, these little red squares start blinking in the middle of the screen letting you know that “it is doing something” and then it will freeze and you have to push the PLAY arrow again. If you have to do this thru 3-1/2 minutes of commercials, 7 times, it is frustrating. Sometimes if you hit the forward arrow “just right” you can stack up the pushes and get it to jump forward 90 seconds. The touch area to activate jumping forward is way too small - I do not have big fingertips.

Then if you jump too far forward and want to back up, the 10-seconds back arrow
Is right next to the “X” which quits the page. Genius. So now half the time you want to back up 10 seconds you accidentally quit the whole playback because the “X” area is much larger and too close to that too tiny arrow.

These arrows used to be prominent and centered near the bottom of the screen with the PLAY/PAUSE toggle between them. It was intuitive and easy to jump to and fro.

Please please fix it. It is so frustrating to have your show stop and have to reload or push the PLAY button then try to jump
30 seconds again repeatedly thru commercials. So unnecessary when you had a great set up before. I wish I could use the old app. Sigh.

by Clay4

I still love DISHAnywhere, however the one thing I really like about DISHAnywhere has gotten worse. It constantly ask for you to log in. And what is worse, if you have no WiFi or internet connection, you are out of luck. I mainly use my app to store TV shows I have recorded so I can watch them when/wherever I want. Now if I can’t get internet or WIFi, I can’t even get INTO DISHAnywhere to watch what I have stored!! Log in should use have a memory so you could have the ability to check if you would like the phone to remember it. It should also be using the face recognition so you don’t have to constantly type it in...AND it should only require you to”authenticate” your service one a billing cycle instead of every time you open DISHAnywhere !!!

Also, developers might want to rethink where to place the ↪️▶️↩️ buttons on the bottom of the iPhone’s that don’t have a Home button. It makes for a clunky experience. It could easily be fixed by moving them to anywhere else, instead of where the digital home button resides.

Please work these items out so I can give it the 5 stars it truly deserves!!!

by Maicole

Downloaded latest updates for iOS and the dish app. Now instead of lame and buggy experience that sometimes lets me watch shows in a frustrating way, I get the launch screen with the spinning donut and let it sit there for minutes before giving up. Entirely useless experience identical on iPad and iPhone. Deleting and reinstalling DISHAnywhere changes nothing.

I only resorted to using DISHAnywhere in iOS after abysmal issues using dish anywhere via a PC in the chrome and Firefox. Time to ditch Dish all together based on this failure. The sling experience for remote viewing of dish programs once upon a time was that somewhat decent. It’s gone downhill for years and gets worse it seems by the month though at this point I don’t see how to get much worse. Beware!

by Dishizzle

DISHAnywhere is so trash! It rarely connects. Everything is super slow. The UI and design layout is from 2010. I’m literally sitting in front of the receiver which works fine with the TV but not with this janky app. I have ultra high speed internet and every other app that streams video works fine. You need to start this development effort over again with a full rewrite. If the technology is so complicated and this is the best you can release then better to just not release anything. Literally fire everyone who was responsible from UI design, development, feature management, release approvals...everyone should be fired. It’s an extremely irritating app. DISHAnywhere is like something developed offshore as a collaboration between Indian and Chinese developers managed by someone in the Netherlands. Start over and release an enterprise quality solution or pull DISHAnywhere from the market.

by Caro_byera

DISHAnywhere is absolutely horrible. They have to read all these reviews and put into consideration how frustrated Dish customers are with DISHAnywhere . Even after I have updated the IOS on my iPhone and deleted DISHAnywhere and downloaded it again I’m still having issues with DISHAnywhere saying “no internet connection” being that my internet is very strong and I’m using it mostly at home with WiFi. I would have to close it and open it again, I would have to start the show all over and have to watch all the commercials again just to wait to fast forward where I left off and after I fast forward I would have to go through the commercials again. Then I still get the same issues of no internet connection. It’s the absolute worst app there is out there. Dish please fix this issue, please do not just reply to our reviews to make us feel better but actually find a better tech company that can actually make your app even better. Thank you!

by Pammyj55

I’m going to be very grateful to get finished with my contract with this company this summer. I cannot stand DISHAnywhere. As a visually impaired customer, you did what you had to do to make the hardware accessible to me Per federal law. For that, I’m grateful. However, I’m an app person just as much as I am a TV person. Any service I’ve had prior to this one I have been able to flawlessly use DISHAnywhere . Apple has guidelines that will allow you to make your app accessible if you so choose to take the time. However, by the grace of God goes my contract and my loyalty to this company due to your unwillingness to make my experience a whole experience just as you would my cited counterparts. It’s not a free game in DISHAnywhere Store. It’s a part of a service I’ve paid for for almost 2 years. Shame on you DISH!

by Abmael Silva

I'm am sorry for being blunt, but DISHAnywhere was not well maintained. It might have been a great app, once upon a time. I currently have the iPhone 8+ and it looks very bad on it. It was designed for a smaller screen, and when it's used on a big screens the proportion are off. There are countless bugs. If the control center is open mid on-demand playback, the play back stops, and to resume a lot of steps have to betaken and an add is shown. The UI is outdated, and it's hard to navigate DISHAnywhere . DISHAnywhere seems to be created on a cross platform framework, witch it's good to save money. But the developers must pay special care, and attention to detail when delivering DISHAnywhere to all devices it support, so it doesn't look off.
I wish Dish would realize that DISHAnywhere is a gold mine, and that the their competitors have apps that out perform this one.
It is really frustrating to use DISHAnywhere.

by TubeNation09

I’ve had DISHAnywhere for over 6 years. It has gotten better and worse at the same time. Constantly “loading” channels and it varies each time which ones. It is multiple channels at once as well. Half the time it is the channel I want to watch. The other really annoying thing is my “favorites”. I’ve had that set up since I started DISHAnywhere and it never fails to say at some point my favorites are not set up. Now I get to scroll through all the channels and they are trying to load as well. Just junk!!!! I just wish they would actually fix things before adding “new” features to DISHAnywhere. This happens on my iPhone and iPad. Does it on both. WiFi or just phone signal same results. I’ve written several times about this to Dish. When DISHAnywhere is working like it should It is awesome!! That is what makes the times it isn’t working properly such garbage. I use DISHAnywhere on a DAILY basis and it could be 5 stars if Dish could get these issues fixed. Over a YEAR this has been happening. This is not just the last couple weeks or month. With each update I was hoping this issue would be fixed. Currently nothing will load on the menu screen. I have the latest software update and iPhone 8 Plus.

by RZed

I’ve used DISHAnywhere for many years on my iPad mini, putting up with constant log in issues and other problems, even having to tether it to my phone. Since that device is getting old, I just started using it in my phone. The log in issue persists. I even get the “no internet” notifications while watching with good cell service. Other apps don’t have this issue and I wouldn’t expect it after transferring programs to DISHAnywhere . WHY IS THAT???

But a new, terrible problem just started on both devices. When restarting a program, DISHAnywhere opens it at the wrong playback location, usually several minutes LATER than where I previously stopped. This has happened several times.

App updates are great, when they don’t break the existing functionality. When an update is released and things are broken, that is sloppy development and falls on the developers. Please fix!!!

by Nikon720

The Dish Anywhere feature is great! I love being able to watch transferred programming when not connected. I do have 2 issues, tho. When I am watching transferred content and am not connected to internet, I keep getting a pop up telling me I’m not connected, even in airplane mode. Very frustrating to have to constantly be clearing that from the screen. Second, when I watch Dish Anywhere on my Mac Mini, I’m now getting a pop up that is telling me that DISHAnywhere will not work with future versions of macOS and needs to be updated to improve compatibility. Is there anything on the horizon to address this issue?

by Luap483

I travel a lot and DISHAnywhere was 5 stars for me because I could watch my shows wherever I was. I would hook up my HDMI adapter and hook it to the Hotel TV and it was just like watching my shows at home. Unfortunately, for whatever reason they have decided to disable that functionality. Since my eyesight is poor it just isn’t feasible for me to watch shows on the iPhone. So my rating is now 1 star. Outstanding way to improve your app... NOT!

Received an email from the developer notifying me that they fixed this issue with the latest update. I’m a happy traveler again! Five stars!

by Wlmrtdrvr

I’m not going to say DISHAnywhere is perfect, but it works and I use it almost daily. I am a truck driver and have to record a lot of the shows that I want to watch. As long as I have a good signal, I can watch my recordings while on break at night or occasionally catch them on live tv. In a weaker signal, it does freeze up occasionally and I get the “reconnecting to receiver” message a lot. The only thing I’ve found that needs some work, would be the fast forward and rewind buttons. They work most of the time, but are slow and cause DISHAnywhere to freeze up at times. Thanks!