TiviMate settings, section by section: what each option does and why

TiviMate is the player many Canadian viewers settle on after trying a few others, mostly because its guide looks and behaves like the cable box they just returned to Bell, Rogers or Vidéotron. It works the moment you sign in. But a handful of settings decide whether it feels like a polished receiver or a slightly awkward app: how often the guide refreshes, which audio track plays first, whether the TV switches frame rate for hockey, and what the remote buttons do.

This article walks through the TiviMate settings menu one section at a time: Playlists, EPG, Playback, Appearance, General and Remote control, plus parental control, recording and backups. For each option you get what it actually changes and a recommended value for a typical Canadian household. It assumes TiviMate is already installed and signed in. If it isn’t, start with the Fire TV Stick setup guide, which covers installation and the Xtream Codes login step by step.

The advice applies to Fire TV sticks and the Fire TV Cube, Android TV and Google TV devices, Formuler and other Android boxes, and the NVIDIA Shield. Where a recommendation depends on the hardware, it says so.

One note on labels before you start. The developer renames and moves options between releases, and versions 4.x and 5.x differ in places. If a label on your screen doesn’t match exactly, look in the neighbouring section, and expect a few options to be locked until you buy Premium.

How the TiviMate settings menu is organized

To reach the settings, open the main menu on the left edge of the screen (from the TV guide, press Left or Back until it slides out) and choose Settings, the gear icon. You land on a list of sections. Each one opens a sub-list, and most options take effect immediately without a restart.

The table below is a map of where things live and how much attention each section deserves on day one.

If your version has a backup option, use it before you change anything and again when you’re done. A backup file means a factory reset or a new device takes two minutes instead of an evening.

Playlists: set the foundation once

The Playlists section holds your IPTV Gold login and everything about how the channel list is built. Open Settings → Playlists, then select your playlist to see its options.

Playlist name and refresh

Give the playlist a plain name such as “Home TV”. It only matters if you add a second playlist later, but it makes support conversations easier when you can say exactly which one you mean.

The refresh option (often labelled Update playlist on app start) re-downloads the channel list each time TiviMate opens. On a Fire TV Stick 4K Max or a Shield, leave it on: it takes a few seconds and keeps new channels appearing. On a Fire TV Stick Lite, where every second of startup is noticeable, you can turn it off and refresh manually once a week from the same menu.

Groups: put Canadian channels where your thumb lands

With 56,000+ live channels, the full list is long. Hiding and reordering groups is the single biggest usability improvement in TiviMate, and it costs nothing in picture quality. Look for Manage groups inside the playlist, or long-press a group name in the channel list.

A good starting order for most homes:

• Canadian English and Québec French groups first, in whichever order your household speaks most
• Sports and news next, because they’re watched live
• Kids and family
• Movies and entertainment
• International language groups you actually use
• Everything else hidden

Hiding a group only removes it from view. Your subscription still includes it, and you can unhide it from the same screen at any time. If you’re not sure which groups hold the domestic channels, the page on Canadian IPTV channels explains how the English and French lineups are organized.

Movies and series

When you add an Xtream Codes playlist, recent versions offer an option to include on-demand content. With it on, Movies and Shows sections appear in the main menu and give you access to the 120,000+ titles in the library.

On a 4K Max, Shield or Formuler, include it. On a Fire TV Stick Lite, the extra catalogue makes the first sync slower and uses storage for posters, so include it only if someone in the house actually watches on demand.

Catch-up type

TiviMate can play past programs on channels whose source keeps an archive. With an Xtream Codes login, the app learns the catch-up details from the server automatically, so leave the catch-up type on its default. The manual types (shift, append and others) exist for M3U playlists, and you should only change them if support asks you to.

One login, one playlist

Every stream you play counts as one connection, and your plan allows up to 3 at once depending on the tier you chose. Adding the same login twice as two playlists doesn’t give you more connections. It doubles the guide downloads and can confuse catch-up, so keep a single playlist per login.

EPG: get the guide right and keep it light

The program guide is where most TiviMate frustration starts, usually because the guide is set to refresh too often, or a time-zone problem gets “fixed” with the wrong setting. Open Settings → EPG.

Guide source

With an Xtream Codes login, the guide comes with the playlist and appears in the EPG list automatically. With an M3U playlist, add the XMLTV link from your activation message using the option to add an EPG source.

Keep one source per playlist. Two overlapping sources make TiviMate match some channels to the wrong listings, and the guide then looks randomly wrong.

Refresh schedule

Set the guide to update once a day. The XMLTV file covers several days ahead, so refreshing every few hours only makes the device re-download and re-index the same listings, which slows navigation on lower-powered sticks while it runs.

If your version has an Update EPG on app start toggle, turn it off on a Fire TV Stick Lite and leave the scheduled refresh to do the work. On a Shield or Formuler, either choice is fine.

Time shift

The EPG time shift option moves every listing by a fixed number of hours. Leave it at zero as long as your device’s own time zone is correct, because TiviMate converts the guide to device time on its own.

Check the device first:

• Fire TV: Settings → Preferences → Time Zone
• Android TV and Google TV: Settings → System → Date & time (some models list it under Device Preferences)
• Formuler: the Android settings app, under Date & time

Only use the time shift when every program is off by exactly the same amount and the device time zone is already right. Newfoundland’s half-hour offset and Saskatchewan’s lack of daylight saving catch a lot of people out. The guide to fixing an IPTV EPG that won’t update has the offset for each Canadian time zone and the other causes of a blank or stale guide.

Past listings and manual matching

An option for how many days of past programs to keep controls how far back you can scroll the guide for catch-up. Match it to the archive your channels actually offer. More days means a bigger guide file on the device, which matters on an 8 GB stick.

If a single channel shows no guide or the wrong listings, recent versions let you long-press it in the guide and assign a guide entry by hand. That’s a per-channel fix. If many channels are blank, the problem is the source or the refresh, not the matching.

Playback: picture, sound and smoothness

Settings → Playback holds the options you’ll feel most. Change them one at a time and watch a couple of channels after each change, so you know which setting made the difference.

Decoder

TiviMate uses the device’s hardware decoder by default, and that’s the right choice for nearly every channel on every modern device. Hardware decoding is efficient, cool-running and handles HEVC and 4K without strain.

Software decoding is a troubleshooting tool. If one channel shows a green picture, a black screen with sound, or blocky artifacts that other channels don’t, open the in-player options for that channel (a long press of OK during playback on most versions) and switch its decoder to software. If that fixes it, keep the override on that channel only. The article on hardware vs software decoding explains why some streams trip up one decoder and not the other.

Automatic frame rate (AFR)

North American broadcasts run at 60 frames per second (strictly 59.94), many international channels at 50, and most films at 24. If the TV stays at 60 Hz for everything, 50 fps and 24 fps content gets converted on the fly, which shows up as a rhythmic judder on camera pans. AFR tells the display to switch to the channel’s native rate.

Recommended values:

• TiviMate AFR: on, using the option that switches when playback starts and returns when it stops (the wording varies by version)
• Fire TV: also turn on Settings → Display & Sounds → Display → Match Original Frame Rate, because Fire OS only honours an app’s request when this is enabled
• Google TV and recent Android TV: look for a Match content frame rate option under Display & Sound and set it to allow apps to switch

Expect a black screen of a second or two when the rate changes. That’s the TV renegotiating the HDMI signal, not a fault. If the blink annoys you more than the judder does, turn AFR off; nothing else depends on it.

Buffer size

The buffer holds a few seconds of video in memory so short network dips don’t freeze the picture. Medium is a sensible starting point; step up one level if you see brief freezes on Wi-Fi. A bigger buffer isn’t free: channels take longer to start and you sit further behind live. The guide to IPTV buffer size settings gives values by device and connection type.

Audio language and passthrough

Some channels carry more than one audio track, typically French and English, or an original language plus a dub. If your version offers a preferred audio language, set it to the language your household watches in most. Québec households and francophones elsewhere usually pick French; you can still switch track per program from the in-player options.

Audio passthrough sends the original Dolby audio untouched to a receiver or soundbar. Turn it on only if you have an HDMI receiver or soundbar that decodes Dolby Digital. With TV speakers or a basic soundbar, leave it off; otherwise some channels may play with no sound at all. On Fire TV, the system setting under Settings → Display & Sounds → Audio needs to agree with the app.

Subtitles and aspect ratio

Leave subtitles off by default and turn them on per channel when you need them. If a channel carries closed captions, you’ll find them in the same in-player menu as the audio tracks.

For aspect ratio, keep the default fit mode. Fill crops the edges of the picture, and stretch distorts faces on older 4:3 programs. If one channel looks wrong, change it for that channel rather than globally.

Appearance: making a big lineup readable from the couch

The Appearance section is cosmetic, but on a 55-inch TV viewed from three metres away, a few changes make the guide noticeably easier to use. Options vary by version, and some layout customizations are Premium.

General: language, startup and everyday behaviour

Settings → General decides how TiviMate behaves when you turn the TV on and off. These options matter most on a device that’s used only for live TV.

Interface language

TiviMate follows the device language by default, and recent versions also let you set it separately. A household that uses the Fire TV in English but wants TiviMate in French can do that here, without changing the whole system.

Start on boot and startup screen

Start on boot opens TiviMate automatically when the device powers up. On a Shield, Formuler or Google TV box used only for live TV, turn it on: the TV then behaves like a cable receiver. On Fire TV, Fire OS may return you to its own home screen anyway, so don’t be surprised if the option has little effect there.

The startup option usually offers playing the last channel or opening the TV guide. Choose the last channel for a single viewer who watches the same thing every morning. Choose the guide for a family, so the next person isn’t greeted by someone else’s channel at full volume.

Exit confirmation

Turn on exit confirmation if children use the remote. It stops a stray press of Back from dropping everyone to the device’s home screen mid-game.

Remote control: buttons that behave like your old cable box

Muscle memory from years of cable is hard to undo, so it’s easier to make TiviMate match your habits. Open Settings → Remote control. Depending on the version, you can choose what Up, Down, Left, Right, OK and a long press of OK do during playback.

Channel switching direction

If pressing Up takes you to a lower channel number and it feels backwards, look for the option to reverse or invert channel switching. There’s no right answer, only the one that matches what you’re used to.

OK and long press

The most common setup is OK opening the channel list (quick zapping within the current group) and a long press of OK opening the playback options (audio track, subtitles, decoder). Keep that arrangement unless you have a reason to change it, because most help articles and support instructions assume it.

Remotes without number keys

The standard Fire TV remote and the Shield remote have no number pad, so channel numbers are less useful there. On those devices, map Up and Down to channel switching, build a favourites list (Premium) and rely on the channel list. Formuler remotes have number keys and colour buttons, so number entry and colour-button shortcuts work well on those boxes.

Parental control, recording and backups

Parental control

Open Settings → Parental control, set a four-digit PIN, then choose which groups to lock. Locked groups ask for the PIN before playing, and on most versions you can also hide them entirely, so they don’t appear in the guide.

For a family TV, lock and hide the late-night movie groups and anything adult, then build a separate favourites list for the children. Write the PIN somewhere safe: resetting it usually means clearing the app’s data and setting everything up again, which is exactly when that backup file pays off.

Recording and timeshift (Premium)

Recording needs storage, and Fire TV sticks have very little. Point recordings at a USB drive on a Shield, Formuler or Android box, or at network storage if you have it. A recording in progress uses a connection, just like watching, so on a one-device plan you can’t record one channel while watching another.

Set generous end padding for live sports. Overtime, a rain delay or a late puck drop can push a game well past its scheduled slot, and a recording that stops in the third period is worse than useless.

Backup data

Once everything is set the way you like it, save a backup from Settings → Backup data (the label varies slightly). Store the file on a USB drive or copy it to your phone. When you move to a new device, install TiviMate, restore the backup, and your playlists, groups, favourites and settings return together.

Recommended TiviMate settings by device

The right values depend partly on the hardware. Use this table as a starting point, then adjust one setting at a time.

The pattern is simple. Hardware decoding everywhere, frame-rate matching wherever the TV copes, a smaller buffer when the device is wired, and a lighter workload on the Lite.

A 10-minute tune-up in the right order

If you’ve just signed in and want to set everything up properly in one sitting, follow this order. It front-loads the changes that affect everything else.

1. Back up first: Settings → Backup data → save a backup, so you can undo anything.
2. Language and startup: Settings → General → set the interface language, the startup screen and, on a dedicated box, start on boot.
3. Groups: Settings → Playlists → your playlist → Manage groups → hide what you never watch and move Canadian groups to the top.
4. Guide schedule: Settings → EPG → set updates to once a day and leave the time shift at zero.
5. Device clock: on Fire TV, Settings → Preferences → Time Zone; on Google TV, Settings → System → Date & time. Confirm it matches where you are.
6. Frame rate: Settings → Playback → turn on AFR; on Fire TV also go to Settings → Display & Sounds → Display → Match Original Frame Rate.
7. Audio: Settings → Playback → set the preferred audio language, and turn passthrough on only if a Dolby-capable receiver or soundbar is connected.
8. Readability: Settings → Appearance → channel numbers and logos on, preview off on a Lite.
9. Remote: Settings → Remote control → flip the channel direction if it feels backwards.
10. Test and save: restart the device, then play a North American sports channel, an international channel and a 4K channel. If all three look right, save a fresh backup.

When something looks wrong: symptom-to-setting matrix

Most TiviMate problems trace back to one setting. Work across this table before reinstalling anything.

Settings to leave alone

Some options look tempting but cause more trouble than they solve. Unless support asks you to change them, leave these on their defaults:

• User agent: changing it can stop the playlist loading at all.
• Catch-up type with an Xtream Codes login: the server already sets it correctly.
• EPG time shift when the device clock is right: you’ll just break the guide in a new way.
• Software decoding for every channel: it works the processor harder and can cause stutter on 4K.
• The largest buffer setting by default: slower channel changes, more delay, and pressure on memory in small sticks.
• Clear data on the app: it erases your login, groups and favourites. Use clear cache instead.

Which settings need TiviMate Premium

TiviMate’s free version plays live TV with the full guide, and most of the settings above are available without paying. Several extras sit behind Premium, including multiple playlists, favourites, catch-up, recording and channel management, and the exact list shifts between versions. Premium is bought from the developer through the TiviMate Companion app on an Android phone.

That payment goes to the app developer and is completely separate from your IPTV subscription, which covers the channels and on-demand library themselves. The comparison of free vs paid IPTV players sets out what you gain from Premium and when a free player is enough.

If you’re still choosing a service rather than tuning a player, the overview of the best IPTV Canada options covers what to compare before you subscribe. And to try TiviMate with real Canadian channels before paying for anything, the 24-hour free trial needs no card. Questions about any setting are answered 24/7 by Live Chat and email, in English and French, as part of our IPTV Canada service.

Key takeaways

• Hide and reorder groups first; with a lineup this large, it does more for everyday use than any other setting.
• Refresh the guide once a day and fix time problems at the device clock, not with EPG time shift.
• Keep hardware decoding as the default and switch individual channels to software only when they misbehave.
• Turn on automatic frame rate, and on Fire TV also enable Match Original Frame Rate, so 60 fps sports and 50 fps international channels play at their native rate.
• Set a preferred audio language and leave passthrough off unless a Dolby-capable receiver or soundbar is connected.
• Save a backup once you’re happy, so a reset or a new device takes minutes, not an evening.