Streamfab has become a waste of $$

mobriskie

I've been a DVDFAB since December 2010 when I bought my first license key. I got the ALL IN ONE and since then have paid more here and there to add on other modules through the last 12 years. I picked up StreamFAB back in January of this year as I made my transition from having cable TV to streaming services.

When I first got SF it worked pretty good. Some streaming providers restricted to 720p while others you could get 1080p or even 4K. Downloading of subtitles worked well. If there was something I really just wanted in higher quality but could not get that via SF then I'd go back to the old torrent lookup (like others have noted as well).

But I feel there has been a steady decline through this year. More stuff only downloads in 720P (HBO) joining Disney+ and Hulu and there are other things where I can't get subtitles (Paramount+).

Every new version that comes out I get my hopes up that one of the fixes will be something I care about but it turns out it is just fixes or add-ons for other stuff. My main goto is Youtube, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, and HBO. I don't care about Crackle, FOD, Funimation, Joyn, peacock, tubi, pluto, CW, etc and if you do that is great. I'm not against a broader support of more services but for me the most important services were what I see as the "main streaming services" and I have seen nothing but a steady decline in the ability to download content from those services with no real fixes. The "competitor" as some politely refer to seems to have fixes for many of these things but I'm not going to go out and spend another few hundred dollars on yet another program that also has shortcomings.

I'd like to see a solid focus on getting back quality downloads from the main providers in a minimum of 1080P with 5.1 / 7.1 / ATMOS quality sound and subtitles instead of all this branching out to support another 50 streaming services while abandoning fixing the main ones.

Since 2010 I have probably paid upwards of $700 in all the licensing and add-ons. Looking back, I should have stuck with torrents.

AceDaMack

I've been a DVDFAB since December 2010 when I bought my first license key. I got the ALL IN ONE and since then have paid more here and there to add on other modules through the last 12 years. I picked up StreamFAB back in January of this year as I made my transition from having cable TV to streaming services.

When I first got SF it worked pretty good. Some streaming providers restricted to 720p while others you could get 1080p or even 4K. Downloading of subtitles worked well. If there was something I really just wanted in higher quality but could not get that via SF then I'd go back to the old torrent lookup (like others have noted as well).

But I feel there has been a steady decline through this year. More stuff only downloads in 720P (HBO) joining Disney+ and Hulu and there are other things where I can't get subtitles (Paramount+).

Every new version that comes out I get my hopes up that one of the fixes will be something I care about but it turns out it is just fixes or add-ons for other stuff. My main goto is Youtube, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, and HBO. I don't care about Crackle, FOD, Funimation, Joyn, peacock, tubi, pluto, CW, etc and if you do that is great. I'm not against a broader support of more services but for me the most important services were what I see as the "main streaming services" and I have seen nothing but a steady decline in the ability to download content from those services with no real fixes. The "competitor" as some politely refer to seems to have fixes for many of these things but I'm not going to go out and spend another few hundred dollars on yet another program that also has shortcomings.

I'd like to see a solid focus on getting back quality downloads from the main providers in a minimum of 1080P with 5.1 / 7.1 / ATMOS quality sound and subtitles instead of all this branching out to support another 50 streaming services while abandoning fixing the main ones.

Since 2010 I have probably paid upwards of $700 in all the licensing and add-ons. Looking back, I should have stuck with torrents.
mobriskie

100% agree, highly disappointed with the HBOmax service with the lack of 1080p with good audio quality downloads.

Mike_M

1. I feel there has been a steady decline through this year. More stuff only downloads in 720P (HBO) joining Disney+ and Hulu and there are other things where I can't get subtitles (Paramount+).

2. Every new version that comes out I get my hopes up that one of the fixes will be something I care about but it turns out it is just fixes or add-ons for other stuff.

3. My main goto is Youtube, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, and HBO. I don't care about Crackle, FOD, Funimation, Joyn, peacock, tubi, pluto, CW, etc and if you do that is great. I'm not against a broader support of more services but for me the most important services were what I see as the "main streaming services" and I have seen nothing but a steady decline in the ability to download content from those services with no real fixes.

4. I'd like to see a solid focus on getting back quality downloads from the main providers in a minimum of 1080P with 5.1 / 7.1 / ATMOS quality sound and subtitles instead of all this branching out to support another 50 streaming services while abandoning fixing the main ones.

5. Since 2010 I have probably paid upwards of $700 in all the licensing and add-ons. Looking back, I should have stuck with torrents.
mobriskie

(Above quotes numbered & edited for content for response by Mike)

*****

1. Yeppers. Apple+ at 480 is also an issue for some, but it's not on my list of subscribed Streamers and I only signup periodically after some series or something I really like is on it.

Same with Hulu, not subscribed right now. I was frustrated by having to logon/logoff and make multiple attempts many times to get a good connection with StreamFab and something on Hulu.

2. And many time fixes for Streaming services, introduces new problems. They really need a good script and rounded test scenarios that look at things their programming might have touched. Maybe also a second programmer reviewing and signing off on work?

3. Don't know if you left Amazon Prime off the list purposely, but that would be at the top of my list.

4. Yes.

5. Same here, have StreamFab with every module right now and DVDFab with a lot of them.

I have 9! licenses due to past purchases & only have one machine to use them on. :)

Lately I feel like DVDFab/StreamFab should issue a chart of what Streaming services are being worked on and which have outstanding issues every time they do an update.

They also need to fix some basic stuff:

1. Having to install from offline version (as administrator?) because in-program upgrade is quirky.
2. Uninstall from Windows not deleting stuff like logs/temp files and when testing versions/compatibilities we have to manually delete those.

I also have questions about what is being done with StreamFab.com vs DVDFab.cn since I recently ran into the issue of offline StreamFab installation from StreamFab.com installing in path StreamFab\StreamFab and causing some issues since DVDFab.com offline installs to DvdFab\StreamFab path.

Don't know what's going on with this divergent path.

But you can logon with your Account on either site (DvdFab.cn or StreamFab.com) for licensing/purchasing.

If you look at StreamFab.com it seems to be having a lot of activity, like it's guides, articles, VPN suggestions that I don't *think* are currently on DVDFab.cn

StreamFab.com guides
https://streamfab.com/guide/?trackid...enu2,headmenu2

A Google search of VPN and StreamFab that I did in last few days also took me to a page on StreamFab.com

Top 10 Best Netflix VPN Software in 2022

Also don't have a good feeling about the 17 hours of downtime of StreamFab servers about 2 weeks ago and it hosing downloads for everything due to having to communicate for DRM/Licensing with StreamFab servers.

Would feel a lot better if it was included in my "lifetime" software on my computer if it could be done even if it takes a lot of work to encrypt/protect it by DvdFab/StreamFab.

Mike

mobriskie

I did forget to mention Amazon Prime. I simply forgot as I was writing my post. I guess what I would like to see (beyond actual fixes) is at least what Mike mentions and that is an ongoing updated list pinned to this forum that outlines each of the issues and are they being worked and is there some timeframe. The lack of feedback with the exception of Mona giving the occasional mini-update is what is turning me off. The silence / lack of feedback.

If each SF user has at least paid on average ~ $350 USD / € 360 you would think it would at least warrant a running bug tracker.

Martin

phelings

Its got to the point where I don't like to update. I downloaded from Paramount + a while ago without a problem. Updated yesterday now every episode of Strange New Worlds downloads but messes up when you try and play it back. Apple at 480 is a joke and a waste of time.

Per K

Its absolute biggest handicap in my openion, is the serious lack in being able to download in 4K at both Disney+ and Amazon.
Every Thursday and Friday i collect from my usual scene ripper source, episodes of Andor (Disney+) and LOTR: The Rings of Power (Amazon) in 4K.
I had so many hopes of StreamFab to download movies and shows from those two places in 4K, but the software is mainly only a big disappointment.

girdnerg

Disney has never been above 720p and I believe that streamfab is not even trying to get it to work better.

who is the competition? I'm ready to change. Tired of being a beta tester.

remmy90

Only scripts can get higher then 720 they have it browser blocked to 720 the competition is 720 so if you have your own keys and a script you can download higher then 720

artsunlimited

Disney has never been above 720p and I believe that streamfab is not even trying to get it to work better.

who is the competition? I'm ready to change. Tired of being a beta tester.
girdnerg

Disney and Hulu don't download for anyone, even the competition, above 720p - they never have AFAIK. But HBOMax is another story, and it's absurd that six months later StreamFab can't figure out how to get around a restriction that said competition cracked in a week.

artsunlimited

I've been a DVDFAB since December 2010 when I bought my first license key. I got the ALL IN ONE and since then have paid more here and there to add on other modules through the last 12 years. I picked up StreamFAB back in January of this year as I made my transition from having cable TV to streaming services.

When I first got SF it worked pretty good. Some streaming providers restricted to 720p while others you could get 1080p or even 4K. Downloading of subtitles worked well. If there was something I really just wanted in higher quality but could not get that via SF then I'd go back to the old torrent lookup (like others have noted as well).

But I feel there has been a steady decline through this year. More stuff only downloads in 720P (HBO) joining Disney+ and Hulu and there are other things where I can't get subtitles (Paramount+).

Every new version that comes out I get my hopes up that one of the fixes will be something I care about but it turns out it is just fixes or add-ons for other stuff. My main goto is Youtube, Disney+, Netflix, Paramount+, Hulu, and HBO. I don't care about Crackle, FOD, Funimation, Joyn, peacock, tubi, pluto, CW, etc and if you do that is great. I'm not against a broader support of more services but for me the most important services were what I see as the "main streaming services" and I have seen nothing but a steady decline in the ability to download content from those services with no real fixes. The "competitor" as some politely refer to seems to have fixes for many of these things but I'm not going to go out and spend another few hundred dollars on yet another program that also has shortcomings.

I'd like to see a solid focus on getting back quality downloads from the main providers in a minimum of 1080P with 5.1 / 7.1 / ATMOS quality sound and subtitles instead of all this branching out to support another 50 streaming services while abandoning fixing the main ones.

Since 2010 I have probably paid upwards of $700 in all the licensing and add-ons. Looking back, I should have stuck with torrents.
mobriskie

SO THIS. I also bought in January, but it was because they were able to resolve the DRM shakeup while the competition was still in the weeds. I loved that I could get a video thumbnail so I could easily identify one from another, while the competition still considers that to be frivolous because all HBO downloads should look alike or some damn thing.

I loved the product until April, when it became clear that HBOMax was NOT anyone's priority and we should just be happy with 720p, regardless of the fact that the competition cracked that DRM restriction in less than a week. SIX MONTHS LATER StreamFab is still "working on it." That's beyond pathetic.

It's clear that StreamFab's agenda is NOT to maintain the major streaming services to the standard it was at when I bought it 9 months ago, but instead to chase new revenue by offering streaming on every secondary, tertiary or below that service they can find, then not maintain any of those services beyond the bare minimum once they've tapped those markets. The first sample download of 3 I tried with Channel 4 lost audio halfway through the video - so much for sampling what *that* service can do.

They're now like a restaurant with 300 dishes on the menu - busily trying to rope in everyone's dollar by offering everything, but because there's no focus, it simply won't be able to do any of them well.

Only a company that DGAF can miss a 17 hours-long server failure because it didn't occur during business hours, and THEN think it's a great idea to follow up that fiasco by having its entire staff take a week off - followed by a weekend off, of course.
At this point, the software is NOT worth what I paid for it as regards functionality, and I can only hope that new buyers start demanding refunds, because only a direct hit to the wallet will make anyone pay attention. While StreamFab may only offer a refund within 30 days, banks have a much more generous window in which buyers can demand to reverse the card charge.

mobriskie

SO THIS. I also bought in January, but it was because they were able to resolve the DRM shakeup while the competition was still in the weeds. I loved that I could get a video thumbnail so I could easily identify one from another, while the competition still considers that to be frivolous because all HBO downloads should look alike or some damn thing.

I loved the product until April, when it became clear that HBOMax was NOT anyone's priority and we should just be happy with 720p, regardless of the fact that the competition cracked that DRM restriction in less than a week. SIX MONTHS LATER StreamFab is still "working on it." That's beyond pathetic.

It's clear that StreamFab's agenda is NOT to maintain the major streaming services to the standard it was at when I bought it 9 months ago, but instead to chase new revenue by offering streaming on every secondary, tertiary or below that service they can find, then not maintain any of those services beyond the bare minimum once they've tapped those markets. The first sample download of 3 I tried with Channel 4 lost audio halfway through the video - so much for sampling what *that* service can do.

They're now like a restaurant with 300 dishes on the menu - busily trying to rope in everyone's dollar by offering everything, but because there's no focus, it simply won't be able to do any of them well.

Only a company that DGAF can miss a 17 hours-long server failure because it didn't occur during business hours, and THEN think it's a great idea to follow up that fiasco by having its entire staff take a week off - followed by a weekend off, of course.
At this point, the software is NOT worth what I paid for it as regards functionality, and I can only hope that new buyers start demanding refunds, because only a direct hit to the wallet will make anyone pay attention. While StreamFab may only offer a refund within 30 days, banks have a much more generous window in which buyers can demand to reverse the card charge.
artsunlimited

This is basically what I was trying to convey but you put it better….that rather than focusing on the main streaming services (Hulu, D+, Netflix, HBO, Amazon) they went after all the small potatoes to make their portfolio look great on the website sales pitches.

I love the GUI interface but there is really nothing left behind the curtain.

I’m almost 90% back to torrents.

As I stated before I have used DVDFab for 12 years and I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of that product but after digitizing my Blu-ray and dvd collection I really do not use it unless I happen to get a new movie on disc. I thought SF would be something I’d use for years as well but in less than a year it has become a discarded product.

Sad.

LycanHD

Stop crying or go with the free route that rhymes with warrant but begins with a T.

artsunlimited

This is basically what I was trying to convey but you put it better….that rather than focusing on the main streaming services (Hulu, D+, Netflix, HBO, Amazon) they went after all the small potatoes to make their portfolio look great on the website sales pitches.

I love the GUI interface but there is really nothing left behind the curtain.

I’m almost 90% back to torrents.

As I stated before I have used DVDFab for 12 years and I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of that product but after digitizing my Blu-ray and dvd collection I really do not use it unless I happen to get a new movie on disc. I thought SF would be something I’d use for years as well but in less than a year it has become a discarded product.

Sad.
mobriskie

Thanks for the compliment, but I'm just riffing on your spot-on observations - you nailed it at the outset. In spite of the limitations I've mentioned, the competition takes their product seriously - when they've expanded to include another service, it's only when they can both do it well AND MAINTAIN IT. They don't overreach at the expense of the services they already support. It seems that StreamFab will have to learn the hard way that a grab for short money has already started to fail - and that greed will soon kill off what could have been a great long-term service.

I really expected that when StreamFab was up and functioning so soon after that massive DRM shakeup in December - and when I realized that they just couldn't be bothered to crack HBO's restrictions at the end of April because pushing a growing list of ersatz streaming services was now their priority, I was sorely disappointed.

Sad is exactly right - customer retention seems to be a concept they just don't - or can't - grasp.

Stebono

How true this thread is but this has been an issue with Fab products from day 1, they've always been last to get the fix. I have well over $1K in products and updates and it's very dissatisfying to now have almost all stream platforms either not working at all or extremely dysfunctional, HBO still crashes during DL's and you can't even get 720p downgrading from 1080p, you may get 544p SD quality instead, in some cases. PLUS on top of that you have Fab limiting you're usage of DL's in a given day, double-edge sword when you can't finish getting what you want because now the site has issues.

Now here is the good, at least they don't ban you when you verbalize your frustration, unlike what Slysoft did/does and Fab does do things well when they do get them working.

Fab, please slow you're expansion down and get what we do have working sometime very soon, please...

Thank you for letting us vent Fab.

Wilson.Wang

Hi all,

Sorry for this to trouble you.

For the HBO Max 1080p problem, we are still working on it, than the other tools, we are working on a different solution, and it to be ending...

And if you have used the other tool (A*S) recently days, you will find that it already can not download 1080p video quality when downloading the new released videos from HBO Max and Netflix.

For the Apple TV 480p problem, I have to say that it's the DRM problem...

And we always work and make StreamFab work stable and give you the best downloading experience, fixing bug, improve the download speed, new features...

Thanks for your support and understand.

Wilson

Marty92

@Wilson.Wang, I would like to give some positive feedback here too.

I think it's great how quickly the developers sometimes respond to problems that arise.

For me, StreamFab is clearly superior to the competition and I don't regret my lifetime license.

Mike_M

Hi all,

Sorry for this to trouble you.

For the HBO Max 1080p problem, we are still working on it, than the other tools, we are working on a different solution, and it to be ending...

And if you have used the other tool (A*S) recently days, you will find that it already can not download 1080p video quality when downloading the new released videos from HBO Max and Netflix.

For the Apple TV 480p problem, I have to say that it's the DRM problem...

And we always work and make StreamFab work stable and give you the best downloading experience, fixing bug, improve the download speed, new features...

Thanks for your support and understand.

Wilson
Wilson.Wang

Hi Wilson Wang!

I see these two products StreamFab and "Competitor" more as complementary.

Plus they inspire each of you to look at stuff and consider changes that benefit users.

Like Amazon Prime grabbing the higher sound files in StreamFab that you did recently.

It's *really* nice to have both when one is hiccupping or catching up on issues.

I only purchased the other product after your HBOMax DRM issue previously but I'm glad I did.

StreamFab is a *lot* more versatile and has a lot of added stuff/menus/etc. that I like - Like MPD/M3U8/Youtube and streaming services that I'll occasionally also use.

The "Complementary" product is a rather simplistic program, but adds to options for users when encountering difficulties here, increases file # availability and when something may be hiccupping and also covers my main programs that I use except for Peacock which they say is next.

1. For instance right now StreamFab edits out credits on Paramount+ TV content when it's PIP (Picture in Picture) and the "Complementary" Software plays them as normal.
2. StreamFab has always been quirky for me with Hulu in getting a file and having to login/logout muliple times to actually get it - "No problems with "Complementary" product.
3. "Complementary" product is having issues right now with a lot of Netflix files only doing 960x540's when StreamFab does 1920x1080 and they have to add them evidently as encountered in their software.
4. The Speed of the "Complementary" product was underestimated in the email comparison DVDFab sent because it has setting that you can adjust the download speed to "Unlimited" - it's really speedy you are making some adjustments that helpl
5. I normally like H265 which you do more in products, but not an issue since I drop H264 into DVDFab from "Complementary" software to convert at 60%
6. Just bought the products I didn't have for DVDFab "Lifetime" and *really* liking your AI Upscaling to 2x - for instance a 45min episode of a 720p upscaled to 2X with your software uses both the GPU and CPU and takes a little over 2 hours to process to 2560x1440 H265 as opposed to taking 3 times the amount of time to 1080p that takes 3 times longer. So 2X upscaling with your AI product is *really* cool. The 2X output is great and I guess the time differences is related to doing a simple 2X instead of rescaling to 1080p and programming/algorithms. - 2X for me right now until I can afford a better GPU 3080/3090? - maybe next year.
7. Can you *please* look at Roku module and it's slow speed? Pretty Please? :D

I'm sure there's other stuff that I didn't mention since above is just off the top of my head.

Mike

Win 10/64 pro, RTX Super 2070, No VPN, US CST, DVDFab "Lifetime", StreamFab "Lifetime", "Commentary Product" Lifetime, DVDFab customer since at least 2008 :-)

artsunlimited

Hi all,

Sorry for this to trouble you.

For the HBO Max 1080p problem, we are still working on it, than the other tools, we are working on a different solution, and it to be ending...

And if you have used the other tool (A*S) recently days, you will find that it already can not download 1080p video quality when downloading the new released videos from HBO Max and Netflix.

For the Apple TV 480p problem, I have to say that it's the DRM problem...

And we always work and make StreamFab work stable and give you the best downloading experience, fixing bug, improve the download speed, new features...

Thanks for your support and understand.

Wilson
Wilson.Wang

Hi Wilson - you're kind of missing the point here. The fact is that A*S HAS been consistently providing 816 and 1080p downloads from HBO - from a week after the DRM shakeup at the end of April until quite recently, whereas STREAMFAB HAS STILL NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET AROUND THE HBO DRM FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS.

So all your "whatabout" and finger-pointing at the competition (for what's actually a recent setback) has done here is highlight StreamFab's half-year long failure to provide a service that your competition could - and did - handily come through with - and within a week of that DRM shakeup. Oops.

To continue to trot out "We are still working on it" SIX MONTHS LATER is a glaring admission that either 1) you badly need newer, more competent developers with better priorities, or 2) that your definition of "working" vastly differs from mine.

Of course AppleTV has a DRM restriction - we all bought this product because of your claims that it could get around that, so to tell me that "it's the DRM problem" when your sole job is to maintain the software we bought from you that circumvents that DRM is...well, my choice is pretty much to laugh or to cry here. Let's just say that it makes your next to last sentence extremely questionable in its claims of stability.

To keep insisting that you're actually maintaining this product only further erodes your credibility, because its user base can clearly see more and more services with questionable success rates added, while major streaming services like HBO remain shamefully neglected.

bwnautilus

I too am disappointed in SF's lack of progress in getting DRM working on streaming services that I'm subscribed to. I'm virtually limited to what Prime has via it's 3rd party channel subscription service. I rarely d/l anything from Netflix - their content selection has gotten pretty bad.

After reading the comments in this thread I see there are some ppl who are going back to using torrents. I have zero experience with torrents. I'm guessing ppl these days are using a cloud seedbox service? Is there a preferred seedbox provider that is recommended?

Thanks

jpp72

After reading the comments in this thread I see there are some ppl who are going back to using torrents. I have zero experience with torrents. I'm guessing ppl these days are using a cloud seedbox service? Is there a preferred seedbox provider that is recommended?

Thanks
bwnautilus

Honestly i don't understand why people use torrents when Newsgroups are better in every way.

You will NEVER get a threatening email because you downloaded something copyrighted
You always get the maximum speed your connection can handle
You can schedule TV Shows, Movies, Comics, Books, Music and even XXX to be downloaded automatically
You can set rules to say download the latest episode of a TV Show as soon as it is released, and replace the file once another, better version is released (Better audio, better resolution, amazon bitrates, etc)
You can have all metadata, along with posters, thumbnails, trailers, etc... downloaded and generated automatically
You can have all files downloaded post-processed automatically as soon as the download is done
You can have all files moved to the appropriate folders and trigger updates for Kodi or Plex to add them to the library

There are plenty of other advantages of newsgroups vs torrents but just the safety from copyright trolls and the speed is enough for anyone really.

The programs that do all the automations also work with torrents but not as nicely as with newsgroups.

More info here: https://wiki.servarr.com/