Helix - channel changing

[Joeit87]

How do I change channel without seeing channels I am not subscribed?

[MayaP · Accepted solution]

You can filter the program guide to only see channels you have access to, by pressing on "guide" one more time and choosing "Free Channels". But you can't use any filters (yet!) while switching channels with the CH buttons.

[JonPhillips]

Any idea when this will be available? I just got Helix a few days ago and it’s quite annoying that the CH buttons scroll through all channels instead of just the ones I have in my package...

[nancy85]

i agree it’s very annoying i prefer with channel buttons than looking on guide each time /when will this be available

[moczty]

New subscriber and yeah pretty annoyed in seeing the non subscribed channels. i change my preferences to free to me channels but when you hit the channel button on the remote it still does show non subscribed channel. please fixed.............. 

[CedrikS]

Hi moczty, we thank you for your input and we will foward it to the teams in charge. Have a nice day! 

[mariobout]

Its VERY annoying. Even worst, even if you programed the guide to show you, by default, only the channels that you subscribed to, this setting will constantly change on its own and the guide will start showing all the non-subscribed channels as well. I was told that this has been going on since 2019, when Helix was first introduced. I can’t believe that the problem has not been corrected in more that 2 years. I’m seriously considering switching over to another system. Can you check with engineering when the channel button will  work properly and scroll through the subscribed channels only??

[mariobout]

CedrikS, please give us an ETA for the fix.

[JulieL]

Hi Mariobout. There is no ETA for a change in this as this works as intended; the filter only affects the guide, and not the navigation through CH+ CH-. We do take all comments and forward them to our teams for future improvements. We cannot say however if nor when this would be changed.
Thank you
-Julie

[mariobout]

Thanks for your reply. If I may suggest, this should become a priority as it has been the main complaint of many customers for the last few years. To my knowledge, HELIX is the only system ( not Bell nor Dish,  Direct or Shaw. Not even Videotron Illico) that doesn’t filter the channel button. With today technology it should be an easy fix. Thanks again.

[topgun10]

Any updates on this problem. Just got Helix and can't believe i have to go through all the channels i don't have which is very tedious. If there is no fix to this i might turn around and go back to my old system.

[PatrickM]

Hi @topgun,

Unfortunately, we still don't have details on a change to be made for the CH + CH- button. As mentioned by JulieL, this is an expected behavior of the platform. That said, I take note of your interest in this improvement and will pass it on to the teams concerned.

A workaround that I can advise is to use the mini-guide function which also adjusts according to the program filter chosen. You can display it with the right directional arrow key on the remote control. Then scroll up or down the list and lastly use the middle button (Ok/Select) to change channels.   You could therefore configure the guide filter so that it selects the "Free to me" filter, or even "Favourites", if you would like to use a custom channel list. This will allow you to see the programming being broadcast on other channels without having to change channels position while still maintaining a good view of the current live channel being viewed.

Another good tip to know is to configure the schedule guide filter to always select the same filter. For this you have to use the Helix button then select the gear on the right. Then select "Preferences" followed by "General" and finally change the "Default guide view" option to whatever filter you need.

[Fernand100]

Just got Helix installed. Alas to my big disappointment, one cannot surf through only channels in my package. I have to go through ALL the channels including the ones not in my package, when using the CH button. How frustrating.  I see in the comments that there have been a lot of complaints on this issue but still nothing has been done by management to fix the issue.  Not sure if this is a sales tactic to get people to subscribe more channels… if it is, it is only irritating your customers.

[Fernand100]

Just got my Helix…I totally agree with you.. this is really ridiculous.

this a BASIC feature so it should be an easy fix.