TiviMate Setup NZ: 8 Easy Steps and Best Settings (2026)

TiviMate is the IPTV player most people end up using once they’ve tried a few. It shows your channels in a proper TV guide instead of a long list, it can record, and it stays fast even with a large channel list. It runs on Android TV, Google TV and Amazon Fire TV, the most common streaming devices in New Zealand homes.

This guide takes you through TiviMate setup in eight steps, from checking your device to backing up your finished set-up. It also covers the settings that matter most in New Zealand: guide times that follow daylight saving, and recording for sport that airs overnight. Have your IPTV login details ready before you start. They come from your provider after you order, or you can use a free 24-hour trial.

Before you start: will TiviMate run on your device?

TiviMate is an Android app built for TV screens. It runs on:

Android TV and Google TV devices: Google TV Streamer, Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield, Xiaomi Mi Box and most Android TV boxes
Smart TVs running Google TV or Android TV: many Sony, TCL, Hisense and Philips models
Amazon Fire TV devices running Fire OS: Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Fire TV Cube, and TVs with Fire TV built in

TiviMate doesn’t run on:

iPhone, iPad or Apple TV
Samsung (Tizen) or LG (webOS) smart TVs
Roku, Windows or Mac
Amazon’s newest Fire TV sticks running Vega OS: the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and the 2026 Fire TV Stick HD. AFTVnews explains how to tell them apart. On a Fire TV, go to Settings, My Fire TV, About. If the software version starts with “OS 1.”, the device runs Vega OS and can’t install TiviMate.

If your device isn’t on the first list, use a different player. Our IPTV player app comparison suggests the best one for each device. If you’re buying hardware for TiviMate, our IPTV box guide lists the models sold in New Zealand.

TiviMate setup in 8 steps

Step 1: Install TiviMate

On Android TV or Google TV, open the Google Play Store on the TV, search for TiviMate IPTV Player and install it. That’s all.

On Fire TV, TiviMate isn’t in Amazon’s Appstore, so it’s installed with the free Downloader app:

Install Downloader from the Amazon Appstore
Go to Settings → My Fire TV → Developer Options and allow Downloader to install unknown apps. If you can’t see Developer Options, go to Settings → My Fire TV → About and press the select button on the device name seven times
Open Downloader and enter the download address from TiviMate’s official website
Install the app when prompted, then delete the installer file to save space

Only download TiviMate from the official source. Modified copies promising “free Premium” are a common way malware gets onto streaming sticks. Our Fire TV Stick setup guide walks through Downloader in more detail.

Step 2: Add your playlist

Open the app and choose Add playlist. You’ll be offered two ways in:

Xtream Codes login: enter the server address, username and password from your provider. This is the better choice if your provider supports it, because the channel list, TV guide and catch-up come through automatically.
M3U playlist: paste the M3U URL. You’ll add the TV guide separately in the next step.

Give the playlist a name you’ll recognise, then choose Next. The first load can take a minute or two with a large channel list.

Tip: type the details on your phone and send them to the TV instead of using the remote. The app can show a QR code for entering playlist details from a phone. One wrong character is the most common reason a TiviMate setup fails, and our login error guide covers the others.

Step 3: Check the TV guide (EPG)

With an Xtream Codes login, the programme guide usually loads by itself. With an M3U playlist, add your provider’s EPG (XMLTV) URL in the playlist’s settings, under the TV guide or EPG sources.

Then open the guide by pressing the back button or the guide button from live TV. You should see programme names and times for most channels. If the grid is empty, give it a few minutes on the first load, then force an update from the playlist’s settings.

Step 4: Choose which channel groups to show

A full IPTV playlist can contain thousands of channels in dozens of groups, and you can choose which groups appear. Hiding the ones you never watch is the single biggest improvement you can make:

Open the playlist’s settings and go to the Groups list
Untick the groups you don’t want, such as other countries and languages you don’t watch
Reorder the rest so your most-watched groups come first

A smaller list loads faster, the guide is easier to browse, and the rest of the household can find things. Our favourites and groups guide explains the approach in more detail.

Step 5: Build your favourites

Long-press OK on any channel and choose to add it to Favourites. Then make Favourites the first group you see. Most people end up with 20 to 40 channels they watch regularly. Having them in one list makes the app feel like a normal TV.

With Premium you can create several favourites lists, such as “Sport”, “Kids” and “News”, and rename, reorder and hide channels more freely.

Step 6: Set playback for your device

Open Settings → Playback. Three settings solve most picture problems:

Decoder: leave it on hardware for Fire TV and most Android boxes. If a particular channel shows a black screen or glitches, switch that channel to software decoding
Buffer size: if a channel stutters on a good connection, try a larger buffer. It adds a moment before playback starts but smooths out small drops
Auto frame rate (AFR): on devices that support it, this matches the TV’s refresh rate to the channel. It reduces judder, especially on sport. Turn it on if your TV handles the switch well

If playback is still jerky, the cause is usually the network rather than the app. Our buffering guide covers Wi-Fi, cabling and speed checks.

Step 7: Get Premium if you need it

The app is free to install, but the free version is limited. The features most people want, including recording, more than one playlist and full control over favourites, need TiviMate Premium.

Premium isn’t bought inside the TV app. You buy it in the TiviMate Companion app on an Android phone, then sign in to the same account in TiviMate on your TV. The developer has changed the prices and plan options over the years, so check the current yearly and one-off options in the Companion app before you pay. One Premium account covers several devices.

Skip Premium if you only watch live TV and don’t record. Get it if you want recording or use TiviMate every day. It’s the most useful add-on in this whole setup.

Step 8: Back up your TiviMate setup

Once your groups, favourites and settings are the way you like, back them up. Go to Settings → Backup data and save a backup file. If the app is reinstalled, the device is reset or you move to a new box, Restore data brings everything back in seconds instead of redoing your whole TiviMate setup.

Keep the backup somewhere other than the device itself, such as a USB stick or cloud storage.

New Zealand settings that matter

Guide times and daylight saving

The guide shows programme times in your device’s time zone. If the TV guide is out by an hour or more:

Check the device’s time zone in its own settings. It should be Auckland (New Zealand), with automatic time turned on
If only one playlist’s guide is wrong, adjust the EPG time shift in that playlist’s settings by the number of hours it’s out

New Zealand daylight saving starts on the last Sunday in September and ends on the first Sunday in April. If the guide is suddenly out by exactly one hour on those weekends, the device clock or the guide data hasn’t caught up. Updating the EPG usually fixes it.

Recording sport that airs overnight

This is where TiviMate earns its reputation in New Zealand. Premier League, European football, the NFL and northern-hemisphere rugby often kick off between midnight and 6am here. With Premium you can:

Record a programme from the TV guide with one click
Set series recordings so every episode or match of a show is captured
Record to a USB drive plugged into an Android TV box. Set the recording folder in Settings. Internal storage on streaming sticks fills up quickly

How reliable recording is depends on your device and connection. It works best on an Android TV box with a USB drive and a cabled connection. Our recording and catch-up guide compares recording with provider catch-up.

Catch-up

If your provider offers catch-up on a channel, it shows in the guide, and you can scroll back and play programmes that have already aired. For many overnight fixtures, catch-up is simpler than recording. Ask your provider which channels have it and for how many days.

Keeping the guide fast

A large playlist with a full programme guide is a lot of data for a streaming stick. These habits keep the app quick:

Hide groups you don’t watch. It’s the biggest single speed-up, because the device loads and stores guide data for fewer channels.
Update the guide once a day, not constantly. In the playlist’s EPG settings, choose a daily update. More frequent updates slow cheaper devices without adding much.
Keep at least 1 GB of storage free. Streaming sticks slow down badly when storage is nearly full. Uninstall apps you don’t use and clear old recordings.
Restart the device now and then. Fire TV and Android TV devices rarely switch off fully. A restart once a week clears memory.
Use Ethernet on an Android box. A cable makes channel changes and guide loading quicker as well as steadier.

Using the same setup on more than one TV

If you have several TVs, set up the main one first, then copy it rather than repeating every step.

Finish groups, favourites and settings on the first device, then back up to a USB stick or cloud storage
Install the app on the second device and sign in to your Premium account if you have one
Restore the backup. Groups, favourites and settings come across in one go

Check how many connections your subscription allows before you watch on two TVs at once. Each TV streaming at the same time uses a connection, and most plans include one or two unless you choose more. Our IPTV subscription page shows plans with extra connections.

Parental controls in TiviMate

You can lock channel groups behind a PIN. Set a PIN in Settings → Parental control, then lock the groups you want to restrict. Locked groups ask for the PIN before they open. Our parental controls guide covers the wider options, including a child’s device of their own.

Common TiviMate problems and fixes

“Playlist is empty” or no channels load. Nearly always a typo in the server, username or password, or an expired subscription. Re-enter the details carefully. Check the server address includes “http://” and the port number if your provider gave one.

Channels load but the guide is empty. With M3U, check the EPG URL is added to the playlist. With Xtream, update the EPG from the playlist settings and wait a few minutes.

Guide times are wrong. Check the device time zone is set to Auckland, then adjust the EPG time shift for that playlist if needed.

One channel is black but others work. Switch that channel’s decoder to software. If it still doesn’t play, the channel itself may be down, so try it later or tell your provider.

Everything buffers in the evening. That points to your connection or Wi-Fi at peak time. Test with Ethernet if you can. See our buffering fixes.

Recording failed overnight. The device may have gone to sleep or run out of storage. Use a USB drive and check the device isn’t set to power off when idle.

Is TiviMate the right player for you?

Choose TiviMate if you’re on Android TV, Google TV or a Fire OS Fire TV, you watch a lot of live TV, and you want a real programme guide or recording.

Choose something else if you’re on Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, a Samsung or LG TV, Roku or a computer, where TiviMate isn’t available. It’s also worth considering a simpler app if the people using it just want to tap a channel and watch. IPTV Smarters Pro is easier to learn, and its sister app, Smarters Player Lite, covers iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, so the whole household can use the same style of app.

Most households that try it keep it, because the guide makes a large channel list usable. Other devices are covered in our setup guides.

Common questions

Is TiviMate free?

The app is free to install and play live channels, but it’s limited. Recording, multiple playlists and full favourites control need TiviMate Premium, bought through the TiviMate Companion app on an Android phone.

Can I install TiviMate on a Fire TV Stick?

Yes, on Fire TV Sticks running Fire OS, such as the Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max, using the Downloader app. It can’t be installed on the Fire TV Stick 4K Select or the 2026 Fire TV Stick HD, which run Amazon’s Vega OS and don’t allow sideloading.

Does TiviMate work on Samsung or LG TVs?

No. Samsung and LG TVs use their own operating systems, and TiviMate isn’t available for them. Plug in an Android TV device or Fire TV Stick, or use a player that runs natively on those TVs, such as IBO Player.

Why is my TiviMate guide showing the wrong times?

Usually the device’s time zone. Set it to Auckland with automatic time on. If only one playlist is wrong, adjust the EPG time shift in that playlist’s settings. Around the daylight saving changes in late September and early April, updating the EPG usually fixes a one-hour gap.

Can I add more than one playlist?

Yes, with Premium. The free version allows one playlist. Premium lets you add several, for example a main subscription and a second one for a particular language or region, and switch between them. Each playlist keeps its own groups, guide settings and favourites.

Does TiviMate include channels?

No. TiviMate is only a player. It shows the channels from the IPTV subscription you add to it. You need a playlist or login from a provider before it shows anything.