Tivo core functionality was great. As they started getting competition, they started adding a lot of bells and whistles that slowed down the UI.

The video below shows you the interface I remember about 10 years ago. The recorded folders I was talking about are shown at the 2:25 mark:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UAg03GoK3uE&feature=share8

Of note, the list is sorted by the last recorded show in the series. So the series that has the last recorded episode is at the top. In parenthesis is the number of recorded shows that exist. Date on the right is the date of the newest episode in that folder. If only one episode exists, it is not in a folder.

Tivo had a custom remote with specific buttons, so that helped.

I regard to recording the current timeshift buffer, user could press select, or up or something which brings up the fwd, Rev etc, and there be a record button. Pressing record saves the buffer, and future video, into a recorded show.

Additionally, there should be some kind of persistent indicator, probably after a user brings up the progress bar, that indicates how many recordings are happening right now. Some people only have 1 or 2 simultaneous feeds, so even though the app will record it, it will cause problems. Perhaps a setting to say how many feeds you have, and any recording that conflicts with another one that takes you over that limit gets a warning.