Before you start
- An Android TV, a Google TV device or an Android box - Sony, Philips, TCL, Hisense, Nvidia Shield or a generic box all qualify
- A Google account already signed in on the device
- Your Orca4KTV username, password and server address
- Roughly eight minutes
Nothing issued yet? Take the 24-hour test run first, or pick a term and skip straight to it.
Doing it, step by step
Open the Play Store and check you are signed in
The Play Store sits on the home screen on Android TV, or under the Apps tab on Google TV. Confirm a Google account is actually signed in before you go further. The store happily lets you browse without one and then fails at the moment you press install, which is a confusing way to discover the problem. If you are not signed in, the device settings will walk you through it.
Install a player
Search for either TiViMate IPTV Player or IPTV Smarters Pro. If this is going on a television rather than a tablet, take TiViMate. Its programme guide is the entire reason the app exists and it is markedly better than anything else in this category - closer to the grid guide you are leaving behind than to a streaming app. Smarters is the gentler introduction if you would rather keep things simple on the first evening.
Add your subscription as an Xtream login
TiViMate opens by asking you to Add playlist, then offers a choice between an M3U link and an Xtream Codes login; take the Xtream option. Smarters phrases the same thing as "Login with Xtream Codes API". Either way you are supplying three values: the server address, your username and your password, exactly as they arrived on WhatsApp. Type the server address including http:// and the port.
Let the channel list and the guide download
The player now pulls down the full channel list and the programme data behind it. On a first run this takes a minute or two depending on your connection, and a few seconds on every start afterwards. If TiViMate asks you to name the playlist, anything will do - the name only matters if you later add a second subscription alongside this one.
Turn off what you will never watch
This is the step people skip and then complain about. Open Settings, then Playlists, and switch off every category you have no interest in - the foreign-language groups you do not speak, the regional variants, the adult section if there are children in the house. Then set the guide language. Ten minutes spent here is the difference between a television that feels better organised than cable and an unmanageable wall of text.
Pin your regulars and set the decoder
Add the thirty or so channels the household actually watches to favourites so they sit at the front of the list. While you are in Settings, check that hardware decoding is enabled, which lets the box's video chip do the heavy lifting instead of the processor. On a Shield this makes little difference because it has power to spare, but on a budget Android box it is often the whole difference between smooth Ultra HD and constant stuttering.
Run it alongside your old package for a week
Leave the existing set-top box connected on another input and switch between them for a few days before cancelling anything. It is the only reliable way to notice that a channel someone in the house depends on is missing, and one extra month of the old bill is a small price for finding that out before rather than after.
When something goes wrong
The Play Store cannot find TiViMate
Almost always a region or account issue rather than a missing app. Confirm the device is signed in to a Google account, then check the store is not filtering by a country where the app is unavailable. Failing that, install it from a sideloaded APK the same way the Firestick guide describes, or start with IPTV Smarters Pro instead, which has wider availability and takes the same login.
Channels load but the guide is empty
The programme data downloads separately from the channel list and it is slower. Give it several minutes on a first run. If it is still blank afterwards, open Settings, then Playlists, and force an EPG refresh manually. Where only some channels carry guide data, that is normal and not a fault - guide coverage varies between sources and no provider has it for every entry.
Playback stutters on a cheap Android box
Start by switching the decoder to hardware, then try the alternative decoder options if the first does not help - budget boxes vary enormously in which one they handle well. If a 4K feed keeps breaking while HD is steady, the box itself is likely the ceiling rather than your connection. Dropping to the HD copy of the same channel is a perfectly reasonable answer on anything under 55 inches.
The app has forgotten the login after a power cut
Re-enter the three values; they are stored on the device rather than on the account, so a factory reset or a corrupted update loses them. This is a good argument for keeping the activation message in your WhatsApp thread rather than deleting it, since it is the only copy you have.
Picking the player for this box
TiViMate
Set up TiViMate on Android TV, a Firestick or an Android box, load the guide, and then see what Premium adds. All 25,000+ channels on one login.
IPTV Smarters Pro
The player that runs almost everywhere. Install it on Firestick, Android, Samsung, LG, Apple or a computer, sign in with Xtream and load 25,000+ channels.
The whole index
Every box, television and player we have written up.
Point your Android TV at something better
A month costs $15 and opens 25,000+ channels. Message us and the details come back in under 15 minutes, with no box to rent and no engineer to let in.
Questions people ask about the Android TV
Is the Nvidia Shield worth the extra money?
If the television is a main set that runs every evening, yes. It handles Ultra HD without the hesitation that cheaper boxes show, its remote is better, and it stays quick for years rather than months. For a bedroom or a spare room, a Fire TV Stick or a basic Android box does the job perfectly well and the difference is not worth paying for.
Does this work on a Chromecast with Google TV?
It does, through exactly these steps. The Google TV interface arranges its menus slightly differently from older Android TV builds, but the Play Store, the install and the Xtream login are all identical. The 4K model is the one to have if you are paying for the Ultra HD feeds.
Do I need TiViMate Premium?
Not to watch television. The free version carries the guide, the channel list and playback, which is all most households ever use. Premium adds recording, multiple playlists and multi-view, the last of which matters if you routinely want two matches on one panel at the same time. It is a modest annual fee and easy to add later.
My television is not an Android TV. Can I still use it?
Yes - attach something that is. A Fire TV Stick, an Android box or a Chromecast with Google TV plugged into a spare HDMI port turns any television with an HDMI socket into a fully capable one. That is generally cheaper than the equipment rental line you are removing from your bill.