New Scaratings

The owner of Buzztime announced on Buzztime's Facebook page that "at some time in the near future, Buzztime-provided tablets and blue boxes will be retired."

When that happens, that means you will have to use an off-the-shelf phone or tablet to play Buzztime, even when you go to the location. Any location.

This change has upset people, including those who don't know what they have to do to keep playing Buzztime.

If I have learned anything in the last four years, it is how to set up devices to play Buzztime. Since the BT Facebook page is no place for discussions on this topic, I thought it would be a good idea to create a topic at a public forum where people can get information and ask specific questions about buying and setting up a device.

Ideally, the first post will contain general information (and will likely expand over time as more questions get answered), and later posts will mostly contain individual questions and answers.

This is not the place to complain about change; this is the place to learn how to change.

1) What is the change and why are they changing?

Sometime soon, there will be no more Buzztime boxes/tablets in any location. You will probably have to bring your own device (or maybe the location will buy some to let patrons use, but don't count on that) to play. The reason why they are changing is because Buzztime has lost about $150,000,000 over its life largely because its costs were too high to justify the amount of business it generated for the vast majority of locations. Example: Over 1200 BWWs had the game when it was mandatory to have it. When the requirement was removed, a whole six places kept the game. This is a last-gasp attempt to revive the company by dropping the price and hopefully getting many more locations.

2) What is a "device"?

For 99.99% of you, a device will either be a smartphone or a tablet. A flip phone is not going to work.

3) Will any smartphone or tablet do?

No. At a minimum, that smartphone or tablet will have to be running Android 8 or higher (or if you have an Apple, iOS iPadOS 13 or higher). As a general rule, newer is more future-proof. The latest versions are Android 15/iOS 17.

4) How do I figure out what version of Android/iOS I have?

Different devices have this information in slightly different places, but for Android, you would go to
Settings, then either the About or System settings. For Apples, it is Settings>General>About

5) How do I figure out what version of Android/iOS is available when I am shopping for one?

The best way to find this out is to go to a website that provides the specifications for these advices. For Android, I use https://www.gsmarena.com/ . For iPhones/iPads, use https://everymac.com/systems/apple/iphone/index-iphone-specs.html or https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipad/index-ipad-specs.html .

6) My regular cellphone meets the criteria. Can't I just put a Buzztime app on my regular phone and be done with it?

You could, but there is a good reason why you shouldn't. If someone calls you in the middle of a game, the phone can't do two things at one time. If that bothers you, then it would be better to have a different device meant mainly for Buzztime.

7) I'm not going to pay for two phone lines just to play Buzztime!

Neither would I. A phone without a cellular link can still use WiFi. Tablets usually just have WiFi. Most locations have WiFi. You would have to get the bar password to use their WiFi and put it into your device, but that isn't hard and you could probably ask someone at the bar to do it for you. In a pinch, if the WiFi isn't working, a working phone can be set up to serve as a WiFi transmitter for your device (that's called a wifi hotspot), but that gets a bit technical.

8) OK, I'll get another device. What should I get?

Do you have an older phone you replaced with a newer one? If you do, definitely try that first. Again, it may be deactivated for phone calls, but it can still use the Internet and play apps with WiFi. (You can do the same with "burner phones.") If you don't like playing on that, you've lost nothing, and now you know what to avoid the next time. If it's too slow, get a heftier device next time. Hard to read or to press to answer? Get a bigger screen.

Only have your working phone? I don't recommend marrying it to Buzztime, but you can arrange a date with it. If you find it OK, get something similar, if not, get something that addresses what your working phone lacked.

Buzztime apps don't require a lot of processing or graphics power to operate decently, so choosing a device is more personal preference than anything else. If pressing answers on a phone doesn't cramp your style or fingers, a phone will do. If a small phone is a little too small, maybe a bigger phone would do. Not big enough? Tablets have bigger screens, and have been getting bigger over the years. Personally, I have no problem with phone or tablet size, but I do find either easier to press to answer than a Buzztime tablet.

Brands? Plenty of phone brands. I've seen people happy with $20 burner phones. You probably don't want to be quite that cheap, but you don't need a stellar phone to do this. If the regular reviews of the phone are decent, the device is probably OK enough.

Tablets? Not so many brands. Apples are Apples, and there are plenty of Samsungs and a few Lenovos, but Chinese generics are taking over the lower end of the market. Again, you don't need the latest and greatest to do this. I would be more concerned about screen size than anything else. Bigger isn't better here; it just makes you move your arm around more. 8" or 9.7" diagonal screens are fine. Here's a couple current models that aren't too expensive and would be OK for this: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, Lenovo Tab M9

Please note: I am assuming you're mainly going to use this for Buzztime. If you're also going to do more demanding activities like watching videos or gaming or high-quality photography, let those activities determine the type of machine you get.

I have left out one major player in the tablet market: Amazon Fires. If you are less than technically inclined, I would recommend against buying one. Yes, they perform decently enough (though I would stay away from the 7" one) and are a bargain during sales, but getting them to install Buzztime apps is a bit of a problem. You see, Amazon Fires are not quite 100% Android. They do not natively run Google Play Store, instead, they have an Amazon Appstore. Buzztime apps are not found in the Amazon Appstore, while they are in the Google Play Store.

Can you get the Google Play Store installed on an Amazon Fire tablet? Yes, you can. Here are some instructions: https://www.androidauthority.com/install-google-play-kindle-fire-tablets-1139366/ . I didn't find them difficult to follow, but I'm used to doing this kind of stuff. If you half-believe these devices are inhabited by malevolent demons hellbent on giving you a preview of their home, these instructions may fill you with fear rather than info. If that's the case, and you can't find a kid to do it for you, maybe you should skip Amazon Fires.

What about used? How lucky do you feel? I personally buy from eBay, but while I get lower prices, I end up sending a few back, and a few are not-so-bad-to-go-back-but-not-so-good-either. You probably don't have my tolerance for risk, so you'd probably be better off paying more to somebody like Amazon Refurbished.

This ought to do for a start. Questions, please.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

Will we have to wait until the next morning to get scores from around the nation, as we have to wait for yours now?

_________________
Merkin

Thanks for all that info Stro. I hadn’t seen this new message from Aram the BT owner.

Everything you said holds true for what we have going at Stained Glass with only 5 decent blue boxes. We have a few older IPads we use to keep our regular phones free for every day life. You definitely don’t want to use your regular phone for more than a 1/2 hour or so.

We have a couple iPhones never traded in and found older iPads on eBay for about $40. They must be able to support the BT app. I will get the spec details and post on what we use tomorrow.

merkin - if you use iPads or phones at old network bars as Stained Glass is the scores show. But not the scores from streaming bars. They only seem to show at other streaming bars.

Thanks for starting this thread. I wonder what “in the near future is”?

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

No, you won't, because you will then be using our version of the Buzztime feed rather than the older one you are now using. What has become clear at a BYOD is that Buzztime is using multiple parallel versions of their game feed. The game you see at Teaser's is a little different than the one you see at Bull's Eye which is a little different than on the Buzztime Entertainment app which is a little different than on the Buzztime Trivia app. Coordination must be a nightmare.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

Well, per an answer to a question I assume you asked over at FB, "it won't be in the next few months."

It's just so sad seeing people essentially saying, "I'll give you my box when you pry it from my cold, dead hands." Such a misplaced loyalty over what seems to me to be a trifle compared to the changes I've been through the last four years.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

Here are some cheap possibilities in the Apple line of older devices that we use. They can be found freshly refurbished and in excellent condition on Walmart.com, eBay and Amazon. These all run on bar Wi-Fi, no need to for a monthly phone plan of any kind. These are used with the Buzztime entertainment app which is the older app. They do work on the the new Buzztime trivia app as well.

2012 IPad 4 running iOS 10.3.3, 9.7” screen, $40 to $60, relatively big, easiest to read. Works great on iOS 10. <<UPDATE June '25 No longer works for the BT app that needs iOS 15.6 which this old Ipad can't get>>

2015 iPad 4 mini running iOS 15.8.2, 8” screen, $100 to $120, more compact, better battery and easier to carry than the 4.

2015 iPhone 6S Plus running 13.5.1, 5.5” screen, $60 to $90, phone size screen so not very big. This phone will truncate and cutoff long possible answers on the new BT app. It happens maybe once per CD game. No problem with older app. <<UPDATE this old phone was updated to iOS 15.8 and is ok for now, can't get any more iOS updates, no more truncated questions>>

2016 iPhone 7 running 15.8.2, 4.75” screen, $70 to $100, this one does not cut off long possible answers.

They all will last 5 plus hours on a full charge using nothing but the BT app with the 4 being the 1st to need a charge. They all use the same apple charger cord.

Be careful to not get a very old iPad with old iOS system, there is a cutoff where the app will not work. I will have to re-read the threads on here. It may have been only the iPad 1s that don’t work. I wouldn’t get anything below a iPad 4.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

From https://apps.apple.com/us/app/buzztime-trivia/id1539592841 for Buzztime Trivia

Compatibility
iPhone
Requires iOS 13.0 or later.
iPad
Requires iPadOS 13.0 or later.
iPod touch
Requires iOS 13.0 or later.

They said they would be retiring the old app shortly, so it would be a bad idea to buy something that couldn't run the newer one.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

It has dawned on me that the best way to find out when Buzztime will pull the boxes/tablets is when they stop charging bars for them. Might be a short delay until they collect them, but that will be a sure sign of the End Times.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

That’s a good thing to try and watch for. That be difficult, my bar owner is hard to track down. Not around as much as he used to be.

The real sign of boxes getting retired soon will be when Showdown and Spotlight show up on the new app. I think that’s all that’s holding BT back from pulling the plug.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

Consider this: Buzztime is going to have a considerable drop in revenue when they pull the plug on boxes along with the wailing and gnashing of teeth. Yes, Showdown will come first, but pulling the plug may not come right away.

Killing the Buzztime Entertainment app should be a lot easier, let's see if that happens on time.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

Someone is reporting on Buzztime's Facebook page that first half and then all his location's tablets
became arcade only devices. I think this is a local problem, maybe a place that decided to go from full-service to
BYOD before the system change ahead of time, but if something like that happens at your location in the future, please report it here.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

I need to update this list of older Apple devices that work with the "new app".

The iPad 4 does not work with the new app, it needs iOS 13 to run the app but is maxed out at iOS 10.3 which was good for the old app. So now that iPad can get thrown away.

The iPad 4 mini running iOS 15.8 is fine for the new app. As are the 2old iPhones.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

Does anybody know the Topix topics for July??

Ray J.

Haven’t seen anything yet. It’s a holiday so BT will get them up on Fri. Nothing for Playback yet.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

Somebody's working at Buzztime.

7/4/2024 July 4th
7/11/2024 Gods and Goddesses
7/18/2024 Space Exploration
7/25/2024 Snakes

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

That will probably be the end of Buzztime at Angry Pepper. I can't even log in on my phone if I'm sitting in the place. Apparently because I enabled location spoofing on my Android I can never turn it off. I've tried disabling it in developer's mode with no success. I've also uninstalled location changer app and all other location-spoofing apps, but I still get the "Oops, something went wrong" when I try to log in. And I'm one of the more tech savvy players at Angry Pepper -- GRW, Higgie, et al will never figure it out. Buzztime will be committing suicide if they get rid of boxes before they fix all the bugs in the new app and make it easy for non-techies to play on their phones. Even if they do, non-techies will most likely stop playing.

Lumpy, that sounds strange that you get the Oops message. That’s on the old app that was turned off. You have downloaded the new BT app right?

The new app will let you in or it will say turn off mocking. Never seen the new app say Oops just on the old app after it was disconnected.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

I'm able to log in with the new app. I deleted fake GPS from my apps, but I don't know if that had any effect.

Some other weird things are going on. A number of long time buzztime players have tried and failed to log in at Angry Pepper with their usual handle and password. I recently visited the Sports Barn in Eagan, MN and could not log in as Lumpy on their tablets, but could be Lumpy if I logged in on my phone.

We've also noticed that most of our regulars no longer see their avatar when they log in on the tablets.

This only began a few months ago.

No, not the avatars! We can’t play without them!

Just went back in time for a moment to the old BT board.

I've noticed that for a few months now I can no longer log in as Lumpy anywhere except at my home bar and visitors to Angry Pepper are also unable to log in under their handle and must sign on as a guest. Do you think there's any relationship to the move to force everyone to the app?

First, just to be clear about this, we're talking about signing into an old-time box and/or tablet? Signing in under the app requires using the email address associated with the account.

Assuming that's the case, no, I greatly doubt that; they most likely made another change and broke that; that's happening fairly often these days. I now have doubts Buzztime is going to force everyone to the app because the owner in a promotional YouTube a couple months ago talked about providing a premium service with a new generation of boxes, but I can't find that particular video.

_________________
“When I see the right and the ability to do everything granted to any power whatsoever, whether it is called people or king, democracy or aristocracy . . ., I say: there is the seed of tyranny, and I seek to go live under other laws.” --de Tocqueville

>>First, just to be clear about this, we're talking about signing into an old-time box and/or tablet? Signing in under the app requires using the email address associated with the account.<<

Thanks I'll pass that along. I guess Buzztime just assumed we had ESP and would know that without being told. I'll see if that works tomorrow, assuming I can remember whatever email account I registered with Buzztime.

Lumpy you can see what email you have on file with Buzztime on their website. You can log into the website (or at least the old website) with the old username and PW, doesn’t have to be the email. You can check the email and use whatever it is it doesn’t have to be an active email. You can update your email there too.

Players.Buzztime.com, that will try to forward to the new website but keep trying and bookmark that old one once you’re in. The new one is terrible and I don’t look at it except for the Topix and Playback schedule.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!

So when logging in at a foreign site on a box or a tablet I should use my email address rather than LUMPY? I'll give it a try.

No buddy, it’s the other way. At a foreign bar when using their blue boxes or tablets you still use the old way: Lumpy username with password. At any bar, streaming no box or with boxes on the app you use the email BT has on file for Lumpy with the password. Now there has been trouble with BT recognizing passwords on the app recently. Opiee is stuck with that right now and can’t get a completed password reset from BT. Luckily the app is very good for keeping her info stored though she has no idea what the password is now, but she can play till app loses her log in. She can’t log into the website either.

So it is a mess at the moment.

_________________
BUD - Stained Glass Pub Silver Spring MD
OC BUD - Grotto Pizza DE near Ocean City MD

LET'S GO ....Orioles and the 9 and 5!!