IPTV Blog Setup Guides
TiviMate is the closest thing to a cable guide on a streaming stick. How to install it, add your IPTV login, get the guide filling in, and set it up for the whole family.
TiviMate is the IPTV player people pick when they mostly watch live TV and miss the cable guide. Channels run down the left, the schedule scrolls across, and the remote does what you expect. This TiviMate setup guide covers which devices can run it, how to install it, how to add your login, and how to get the TV guide filling in. It also covers what the paid Premium upgrade does and doesn't do.
You'll need a login from your IPTV provider. TiviMate has no channels of its own. If you don't have one yet, a free 24-hour trial gives you everything you need to follow along.
TiviMate is a media player made by an independent developer. It reads the channel list, movies, series and TV guide from your IPTV subscription and shows them in a layout built for a TV remote. The developer is clear about this in the app's store listing: it provides no content, and buying Premium switches on features in the app, not channels.
That matters for two reasons. First, the app and your subscription are paid separately, to different companies, so one never renews or cancels the other. Second, an offer of "TiviMate with channels included" isn't from the developer. Your IPTV plan comes from your provider, and the player is just the screen you watch it on.
TiviMate is built for Android TV, which covers more devices than the name suggests.
| Device | TiviMate? | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV smart TVs | Yes | Not in the Amazon Appstore; installed with the Downloader app |
| Chromecast with Google TV, Google TV Streamer | Yes | Google Play on the device |
| Android TV boxes, Nvidia Shield | Yes | Google Play on the device |
| Smart TVs running Google TV or Android TV (many Sony, TCL and some Hisense models) | Yes | Google Play on the TV |
| Samsung and LG smart TVs | No | Use a player from the TV's own store |
| Hisense TVs running VIDAA, Roku | No | Add a Fire TV Stick or Google TV device |
| Apple TV, iPhone, iPad | No | Use an App Store player |
| Android phones and tablets | Not designed for them | Use a touch-screen player instead |
Not sure what your TV runs? On the home screen, a Google TV or Android TV set has Google Play among its apps. If your TV can't run TiviMate, a Fire TV Stick or a Google TV device plugged into an HDMI port gives it one.
Open Google Play on the TV or box, search for TiviMate IPTV Player, and install it. That's all. The Android TV guide and the Chromecast with Google TV guide have pictures of each screen if you get lost.
TiviMate isn't in the Amazon Appstore, so it goes on the same way as other players outside the store:
From the Fire TV home screen, search for Downloader and install it. It's a free app for fetching files from the web.
Turn on Developer Options, then let Downloader install unknown apps. Newer Fire TV models hide Developer Options until you reveal it; the Fire TV setup steps show exactly which menu to press seven times.
Open Downloader and enter the TiviMate link our support team sends with your login. App download links change from time to time, so we send the current one rather than printing one here that might go stale. Only install the app from the developer or a link from your provider.
Choose Install, then Done. When Downloader offers to delete the install file, say yes: Fire TV Sticks have little storage, and a full stick buffers more.
The first time you open TiviMate it asks you to add a playlist. A playlist here just means your IPTV login. TiviMate accepts three kinds: Xtream Codes, an M3U link and a Stalker portal. With IPTV West you'll use one of the first two.
An Xtream Codes login is three details from your welcome email: the server address, your username and your password. It's the better choice in TiviMate because the channel list, movies, series and TV guide all come in from the one login, already sorted into groups.
The exact wording can differ a little between app versions, but the choice is on the first screen.
Type it exactly as sent, including http:// and the port number after the colon, with no space at the end. This is where most failed logins come from.
Both are case-sensitive. Watch for a zero typed as the letter O, and a lowercase L typed as the number 1.
TiviMate shows how many channels, movies and series it found. Give the playlist a name you'll recognise, like "Home", and finish. The guide starts filling in a minute or two later.
An M3U link is one long web address with your login built into it. Choose the M3U playlist option, enter the address, and give it a name. Because an M3U link carries only the channels, add the EPG link we send as well, or the guide stays empty. Typing a long link with a remote is tedious, so this is one more reason to prefer Xtream Codes. The M3U vs Xtream Codes notes explain the difference.
The guide is the reason most people choose TiviMate, so it's worth getting right.
The free version plays your live channels with the full guide, which is enough to know whether you like the app. Premium is a paid upgrade sold by TiviMate's developer, not by us. In current versions it adds extras such as catch-up, recording, more than one playlist and multiview. The developer sets the price and the plans, so check them in the app before you buy.
How you buy it depends on the device. On Google TV and Android TV, the purchase goes through Google Play inside the app. Fire TV has no Google Play, so the developer offers a separate app, TiviMate Companion, that activates Premium on devices without Google Play and lists the devices you've activated.
Recording needs storage space too. A Fire TV Stick has very little, so recording works better on an Android TV box or Shield with a USB drive attached.
Favourites. With a long channel list, favourites are how TiviMate starts to feel like your own cable box. In most versions, pressing and holding OK on a channel opens its menu, where you can add it to favourites. Do your ten most-watched channels on day one and the guide gets much shorter.
Catch-up. Channels that support catch-up let you scroll back in the guide and play something that already aired: the third period you missed, or the six o'clock news at eight. Catch-up is one of the Premium features, and it only works on channels that offer it.
Parental PIN. In the settings you can set a PIN and lock channel groups you don't want children browsing. Set it before handing over the remote, and pick a PIN that isn't the year anyone in the house was born.
Several TVs. Install TiviMate on each TV and add the same login. How many can play at the same moment depends on the screens on your plan, not on how many devices have the app.
| Problem | Usual fix |
|---|---|
| Login fails when adding the playlist | Re-enter the server address with http:// and the port, then copy the username and password straight from the email |
| Channels load but the guide is empty | Run the guide update in settings; on M3U, add the EPG link |
| Guide shows the wrong times | Set the device time zone, then restart the app |
| Picture freezes or buffers | Work through the buffering and freezing guide, starting with the Wi-Fi |
| A channel stops when someone else starts watching | You've reached your plan's screen limit; check other devices, or add screens |
| App is slow or crashes | Free up storage, clear the app cache, restart the device |
If none of that helps, send online support a photo of the screen and tell us which device you're on. Support answers 7 days a week, 9 a.m. to midnight (Eastern Time), in English and French.
Both read the same login, so you can try one, then the other, without changing anything on your plan.
| TiviMate | IPTV Smarters Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Feels like | A cable box with a scrolling guide | An app with big tiles and menus |
| Runs on | Fire TV and Android TV devices only | Most devices, including Apple ones as Smarters Player Lite |
| Best at | Live channel surfing and the guide | Browsing movies and series |
| Cost | Free, with a paid Premium upgrade from the developer | Free to download |
Mostly live TV, sports and news on a Fire TV or Google TV device: TiviMate. A mix of devices in the house, or mostly movies and series: start with the IPTV Smarters Pro setup guide. Plenty of households end up using both, TiviMate in the living room and Smarters on the iPad.
Once TiviMate is installed, the login is in and the guide is filling, you're set. Run the speed test on that TV if anything stutters, and look up your favourite channels in the channel lineup before you add them to favourites.
The app is free to install and play live TV with the guide. Premium is a paid upgrade sold by the app's developer, and it adds extra features. It has nothing to do with your IPTV plan: you can watch every channel on your plan with the free version.
No. TiviMate is a player only, and Premium adds app features, not content. The channels come from your IPTV subscription. Be wary of anyone selling "TiviMate with channels" as one package.
On an Xtream Codes login, the guide usually needs a few minutes to load the first time; update it from the settings if it stays empty. On an M3U playlist, the guide only fills in once the EPG link is added. If the guide shows the wrong hours, check the time zone on the device itself.
The developer says it is designed for Android TV and remote controls, not phones or tablets. On a phone, a player built for touch screens works better, such as the ones in our Android phone and iPhone and iPad guides.
Yes. Each tile in multiview is its own stream, so watching four channels at once uses four screens. If your plan has one screen, the second tile will be refused or will cut off the first. Add extra screens if you want to use multiview for big game nights.
Keep reading
How to get IPTV Smarters Pro onto your device, log in and load the TV guide, plus the freezing fixes our support team hands out most often.
Read the guide : IPTV Smarters Pro Setup Guide: Every Device, Step by StepWhat your screen is telling you when IPTV buffers or freezes, and the order to fix it in: Wi-Fi, then the device, then the player settings, then the line.
Read the guide : IPTV Buffering and Freezing: Find the Cause, Then Fix ItPlain numbers for SD, HD and 4K, how to test the speed that actually reaches your TV, and what to do when the buffering wheel shows up.
Read the guide : Internet Speed for IPTV: How Many Mbps You Really Need in CanadaTest IPTV West on your TV for 24 hours. If you like it, plans start at $15.99 CAD a month.
