TiviMate IPTV player: a guide for UK viewers

TiviMate is an IPTV player designed for the big screen. Its guide looks and behaves like a traditional cable or satellite box, with a familiar channel grid, quick channel switching and favourites, which is why many people who mainly watch live TV prefer it. Like every player, it contains no channels: you add the service you subscribe to.

Devices that run TiviMate

TiviMate runs on Android TV-based devices: Android TV boxes, Google TV devices such as the Chromecast with Google TV and Google TV Streamer, Nvidia Shield, TVs with Android TV or Google TV built in, and Amazon Fire TV devices running Fire OS. It isn't designed for phones, and it isn't available for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Samsung (Tizen) or LG (webOS).

On Fire TV, check which system your stick runs. Amazon's newest sticks, starting with the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, run Vega OS and can only install apps from the Amazon Appstore, so TiviMate can't be added to them.

Free vs premium

The free version is enough to watch live TV with a guide. A paid premium upgrade unlocks extra features. These have historically included:

• more than one playlist, and switching between them;
• catch-up from the guide where your service supports it;
• recording to the device or a USB drive, and scheduled recordings;
• customising the guide, channel groups and the look of the app;
• picture-in-picture and multi-view on supported devices.

Premium is bought in the TiviMate Companion app, which runs on Android phones and tablets, and one Premium account has covered up to five devices. It's sold by the developer on a yearly or one-off basis, and the exact feature list and prices change, so check the current terms in the app. That payment is separate from your IPTV subscription.

Setting up TiviMate

1. 1

   Install it from your app store

   Google Play on Android TV and Google TV devices, or the Amazon Appstore on Fire TV where it's listed.
2. 2

   Add a playlist

   Choose “Add playlist”, then pick Xtream codes to enter your server, username and password, or M3U playlist to paste a link. See Xtream Codes logins if you're unsure which to use.
3. 3

   Check the TV guide source

   Xtream logins usually bring the guide with them. With an M3U link, add the EPG address in Settings > EPG. Our EPG guide explains how.
4. 4

   Pick your channel groups

   TiviMate asks which groups to show. Hide the ones you'll never watch to keep the guide quick to browse.

Typing a server address with a remote is slow. On most Android TV and Google TV devices, the Google TV app on your phone can act as a keyboard; on Fire TV, the Fire TV app does the same.

Tips once it's running

• Long-press a channel to add it to favourites or move it.
• If some channels show no listings, you can manually link them to the right guide data in channel settings.
• Use the playback settings to change the buffer size or decoder if a channel stutters. Our buffering guide has more.
• On Fire TV Sticks with little storage, limit how many days of guide data are kept.
• With Premium, TiviMate can start on the last channel you watched, so switching on feels like a normal TV box.

Catch-up, recording and multi-view

With Premium, channels that offer catch-up let you pick a programme that has already aired straight from the guide, as long as your service keeps an archive for that channel. Recording saves a programme to the device's storage or a USB drive, so a box with a USB port and plenty of space suits it better than a small stick. Multi-view puts several channels on screen at once, which is popular for following more than one match; each channel uses a screen on your plan.

TiviMate or IPTV Smarters Pro?

Choose TiviMate if you watch mostly live TV on an Android TV or Fire TV device and want the most TV-like guide. Choose IPTV Smarters Pro if you want one app across phones, tablets, computers and TVs, or you watch a lot of on-demand content. Both work with the same login, so you can try each and keep the one you prefer.