Tablo DVR users just got a feature they’ve been waiting years for

As they suffered through yet another service outage that left them unable to access their locally stored TV recordings, many Tablo over-the-air DVR users were asking themselves—and Tablo—one question: When will we finally get an offline mode? 

The answer, it turns out, is today. On the official Tablo blog, Tablo manufacturer Nuvyyo announced that it’s rolling out a long-promised feature that allows users of the fourth-generation Table DVRs to watch live TV with an antenna and stream previously recorded over-the-air TV shows even when their internet goes out or Tablo servers go down. 

Tablo’s new offline mode comes a few weeks after Tablo DVR users endured a pair of server outages that briefly locked them out of live and recorded over-the-air TV streams and temporarily blanked out their electronic programming guides. 

There have been plenty of other Tablo outages in the past too, enough so that Tablo owners have long been asking for an offline mode that would allow them to access live TV via an antenna, as well as their recorded OTA shows when Tablo’s servers are inaccessible. 

The new offline mode (first reported by Cord Cutters News) has some quirks, including the fact that it can’t be activated manually. Instead, your Tablo DVR will prompt you to enable offline mode if it detects your internet is offline or the Tablo service is down or spotty.  

Also, your Tablo must be online and able to retrieve the current time from your ISP prior to going into offline mode. If, say, your Tablo reboots during an internet outage, the offline mode won’t work. (Tablo says it’s “working on a solution” to this limitation.) 

Finally, your home router must be powered on and working to connect the Tablo DVR to client devices, including TVs and streaming players. 

For now, Tablo’s offline mode is working only for Amazon Fire TV and Android TV versions of the Tablo app; it will be available “later this week” (it’s Friday as of this writing) for Apple TV, iOS, and Roku. Users of the Samsung, LG, and Android versions of the Tablo app will get offline mode in the “coming months.” 

Tablo DVRs in offline mode will only have limited features. Live streaming channels from the internet won’t be available (of course), nor will you be able to browse the Home or Guide screens for upcoming shows.

And while you’ll have access to up to 14 days of “basic” programming guide information, you won’t be able to schedule new recordings. 

Even with those limitations, it’s good to hear Tablo users won’t be blocked from watching over-the-air TV, live or otherwise, when their internet conks out or if Tablo’s own servers gives up the ghost.

This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best over-the-air DVRs.