OpenTivi on This Device: What It Needs
- Android TV, Google TV, a Firestick or an Android box
- Your server address, username and password
- Optionally Premium, for recording, multi-view and multiple playlists
No credentials yet? A 24-hour trial costs nothing and proves this hardware works before you commit, or go straight to the plans.
The steps, in order
Install it
Android TV and Google TV have it in the Play Store. A Firestick needs the Downloader sideload. For Apple, Samsung or LG hardware there is no version, so run Smarters there and keep TiViMate for the Android devices in the house.
Add the playlist
Open it, choose Add playlist, then Xtream Codes login. The three values go in from your activation message, then Next. It never asks for an M3U link and does not need one, which reliably confuses anybody arriving from a player that did.
Name it and let it load
Give the playlist a name you will recognise if you ever add a second. It asks which categories to include; that is changeable later so do not agonise, though switching off what you will never watch makes the first evening considerably calmer.
Set the guide up properly
Settings, TV guide, refresh every 12 hours. The guide source rides along with the Xtream login, so there is no separate EPG address to find, which several other players do demand. Set the time zone in the same screen while you are there.
Sort the list once, properly
Under Settings, Playlists, choose your own sort order and hide the categories you never open. On a list this size that is the difference between three button presses and a scroll, and on mid-range hardware it also makes the app redraw noticeably faster.
Decide about Premium
This trips up nearly everybody: Premium is not sold inside TiViMate on the television. It is bought in a separate app called TiViMate Companion, on a phone. About $9.99 a year, or a one-off lifetime licence in the mid-thirties, with a seven-day trial first. Recording, multi-view and multiple playlists are what it unlocks.
Check the device meets the requirement first
TiViMate needs Android 7 or later and enough memory to hold a long list comfortably. Settings, About on the device will tell you the real version, which on cheap boxes frequently differs from what the listing claimed. Spending five minutes confirming this before you buy Premium is worth doing, because the licence is tied to your account rather than the device but the disappointment of discovering the box cannot run it at all is entirely avoidable.
What usually goes wrong on this device
It says the playlist could not be loaded
Check the server address carries its port and that the plan is still active. Then retype the password by hand rather than pasting it, because copied text frequently brings an invisible space and the error message will never say so.
The guide says no information
Force a refresh from Settings, TV guide, Update now, then restart the app. A first load across a list this large can also simply need more time than people give it; try again after ten minutes before reporting anything.
It will not install on a cheap box
TiViMate needs Android 7 or later, and some inexpensive boxes ship an older build behind a modern-looking launcher. Check Settings, About for the real version. If it is below 7, use Smarters, which asks considerably less of the hardware.
The channel order makes no sense
TiViMate sorts by the order the provider sends unless told otherwise. Under Settings, Playlists, set your own sort and hide what you never open. On a list of this size that single change is what makes the app pleasant rather than overwhelming, and it is the first thing to do rather than the last.
Deciding whether Premium is worth your money
The free tier already gives you the reason most people came: the grid guide, favourites and categories. Premium adds recording, multi-view, multiple playlists and a scheduler for about $9.99 a year, or a lifetime licence in the mid-thirties. The honest test is whether you have twice wanted to watch two things simultaneously, or twice wanted to record something. If you have not, the free version is sufficient and buying Premium will not improve your evenings. If you have, it pays for itself almost immediately, and the seven-day trial exists so the decision costs nothing. Remember that the purchase happens in the separate TiViMate Companion app on a phone rather than on the television, which is the single most confusing thing about this otherwise straightforward player.
Players that accept the same credentials
IPTV Smarters Pro
Installing IPTV Smarters Pro on Firestick, Android, Samsung, LG, Apple and desktop, the decoder setting that matters, and why it opens completely empty.
Smart IPTV (SIPTV)
Setting up Smart IPTV on a Samsung or LG set: find the MAC, upload your playlist at siptv.app, restart, activate. Why the app has no login screen at all.
Every device we cover
Thirteen walkthroughs, one per piece of hardware or player.
Put 25,000+ channels on that TiViMate
From $15 a month, no extra hardware, and the credentials back on WhatsApp within under 15 minutes.
Asked about the TiViMate
What does Premium cost?
Roughly $9.99 a year, or between $34 and $38 once and for good depending on region. It is bought in the TiViMate Companion app on a phone, never on the television, and a seven-day trial runs first so you can decide whether recording and multi-view matter to you.
Is the free tier enough?
For most people, yes. It gives you the grid guide, favourites and categories, which is the bulk of why anybody switches to TiViMate. Premium is for recording and for watching two things at once, neither of which everybody wants.
Why is it not in the Amazon store?
Amazon does not carry it, which is why the Firestick route is a sideload. That is not a sign of anything untoward; plenty of well-made Android TV apps are absent from Amazon's catalogue. The sideloaded build and the Play Store build are the same application.
Is the lifetime licence worth it?
If you expect to use it beyond about four years, arithmetically yes. Most people buy the yearly first because the seven-day trial is short and a year is long enough to find out whether recording and multi-view are things they actually use rather than things that sounded good.
Can I move my licence to a new device?
Yes. The licence attaches to the Google account used to buy it rather than to the hardware, so signing into the Companion app on a new device restores it. Keep the account details; recovering a lifetime licence bought on an account you no longer access is not straightforward.
Does it work with more than one account?
With Premium, yes: multiple playlists is one of the features it unlocks, and households sharing a device sometimes want their own favourites and their own sort order. Without Premium you are limited to a single playlist at a time, which for most people is all they need.