ConnecTV iPad App – Interactive TV Viewing

When asked to review the ConnecTV iPad app I jumped on board.  Entertainment is a big part of my life.  I love all kinds of TV shows and my DVR is usually recording two shows at a time all evening long.  For several of my shows I have built a community of friends online that are eager to discuss plots and twists for our favorite characters.  We love to predict what we believe will happen and see who is right.  Over the past week I have been using ConnecTV to clip parts of the live show I am watching to share via social networks.

ConnecTV is a social video network for TV fans of all ages. The application syncs to your TV and allows you to capture and share your favorite six-second moment. The company’s SocialTV Timeline™ syncs companion content and information to provide a richer social experience and help drive program promotion and tune-in to the show you are watching.

I first tested out the ConnecTV iPad app while watching Arrow on the CW.

I love the feature of adding text to the clip. You can move the text around on the screen so it doesn’t block the actor’s face.

After playing with the app some more I realized that I could change the font style and color of the text overlay. When I was using the app while watching The Vampire Diaries I had fun playing around with more of the features.

Before you click share on the clip you have the option of adding hashtags and a description. Then you can share to Twitter, Facebook, Email and Embed to Clipboard. I like sharing my favorite clips to Facebook featuring special moments within my favorite shows but I limit those shares since not all my Facebook friends watch the same television shows as I do.

However, I share all my clips to Twitter since I am able to find a wider audience of the show there. For any given show you can search the show’s hashtag on Twitter and find chatter. Sharing these clips brings the show to life on social networks.

If you want the hashtag to show up in your tweet then you must include it within the description of the clip on the app. I suggest writing out the full tweet there because once you share it will only show the link and what is in that box.

If you leave the description blank the tweet will show the link to the clip and the text you included as the overlay on the video. The area within the app that is specifically for hashtags is for use within the app. If you are looking for new people to interact with on ConnecTV then this area is extremely useful. It also makes finding new clips easy when searching online. There were other people clipping the same live TV show as me and it was interesting watching their clips with different captions as mine. It was also nice to see clips they captured that I missed.

The best part of ConnecTV is the app is completely free. You can have fun with it and share with your friends at no expense. The app is currently available on iPad and iPhone, with the Android app in the works.

There are a few things I wish worked differently. Since I record most of my TV shows on the DVR, even if I am watching live, it makes my TV program run a few seconds behind. This causes a delay in what I’m seeing compared to what the app is clipping. I wish there was a way to go back a scene or two. Especially during those “oh, darn! I missed it” times when I would have loved to had a clip saved but didn’t click the button quick enough.

I would also love to be able to clip scenes from some favorite movies or TV shows that I was not able to watch live but instead use my DVR hours later.

I do recommend ConnecTV and plan to use it more in the future. My teen also enjoys the little clips I am able to share after we watch our shows. I have even spent quite a bit of time just browsing the ConnecTV website and watching other clips of various shows that people have saved.

Full Disclosure: I love when fun opportunities like this come my way. Although, I was compensated for my time testing out this iPad app all opinions are 100% mine.