How to Record IPTV: DVR and Live TV Recording with TiviMate

One of the most underrated features of IPTV is the ability to record live TV — no DVR box required, no monthly DVR fee, just your IPTV app saving the stream directly to local storage. TiviMate Premium makes this straightforward on any Android-based device.

Here is everything you need to know about IPTV recording.

What you need to record IPTV

Recording IPTV through TiviMate requires:

• TiviMate Premium (the free version does not support recording — Premium costs around $4.99/year)
• An Android-based device (Fire TV Stick 4K, Nvidia Shield, Android TV box, Android phone/tablet)
• External storage — a USB drive, SD card, or OTG adapter with a flash drive
• An active IPTV subscription with EPG enabled (for scheduled recordings)

Important note: TiviMate recording is an Android-only feature. If you use IPTV Smarters, IBO Player, or any web-based app, recording is not available. TiviMate on Android is the go-to for DVR functionality.

How much storage do you need?

IPTV streams are typically encoded at:

• SD quality: roughly 500MB–700MB per hour
• HD (1080p): roughly 1.5GB–2.5GB per hour
• 4K/UHD: roughly 4GB–8GB per hour

A 64GB USB drive gives you approximately 25+ hours of HD recording. For sports-heavy households recording multiple games per week, a 128GB or 256GB drive is more practical.

Setting up recording in TiviMate

Step 1: Insert your storage device

Plug a USB drive into your Fire TV Stick via an OTG adapter, or into the USB port on a Fire TV Stick 4K Max or Android TV box.

Step 2: Configure the recording path

1. Open TiviMate
2. Go to Settings > DVR
3. Tap DVR Location and select your external storage device
4. TiviMate will confirm it can write to that location

Step 3: Test a manual recording

1. Navigate to any live channel
2. Long-press on the channel name
3. Select Record from the context menu
4. A red recording indicator appears in the corner
5. To stop, long-press again and select Stop Recording

Your recording is saved to the storage location you set up in Step 2.

Scheduling recordings in advance

With EPG enabled, you can schedule recordings for future programmes the same way you would with a cable DVR:

1. Press the Guide button to open the 7-day EPG grid
2. Navigate to a future programme you want to record
3. Press OK on that programme
4. Select Record Programme
5. TiviMate adds the recording to the schedule

TiviMate starts recording automatically when that programme begins. You can view scheduled recordings under Settings > DVR > Scheduled Recordings.

Series recording and repeat recordings

TiviMate Premium supports series recording — recording every episode of a show:

1. In the EPG guide, select any episode of the show
2. Press OK → Record Series
3. TiviMate will record all future occurrences of that programme title automatically

This requires accurate EPG data with consistent programme naming. Providers with high-quality EPG (like IPTVBROS) make series recording reliable.

Watching your recordings

Recordings are stored as video files on your storage device and can be played back directly from TiviMate:

1. Go to DVR > Recordings in the TiviMate menu
2. Browse your saved recordings
3. Press OK to play

Recordings can also be played on a PC or other device by connecting the USB drive directly — they are standard video files (usually .ts format), playable in VLC and most media players.

Managing storage

IPTV recording fills up drives faster than you might expect. TiviMate has some storage management options:

• Go to Settings > DVR > Auto-Delete to automatically remove the oldest recordings when storage runs low
• Set a recording retention limit (e.g., keep recordings for 30 days, then auto-delete)
• Manually delete unwanted recordings from DVR > Recordings by long-pressing a recording and selecting Delete

Troubleshooting recording issues

Recording fails to start: Check that the storage device is properly mounted and TiviMate has write permission to it. On some Android devices, you may need to grant storage permissions in Android Settings > Apps > TiviMate > Permissions.

Recording is choppy or corrupted: This usually indicates buffering during the recording itself — meaning the stream quality was inconsistent. Check your internet connection speed and consider troubleshooting buffering first.

Not enough storage warning: Delete older recordings or switch to a larger storage device. External SSDs with USB-C offer much larger capacity and faster write speeds than flash drives.

IPTV recording through TiviMate is genuinely as capable as a traditional DVR — once set up, it runs completely automatically in the background.

See also: TiviMate Setup Guide · EPG Setup · Free Trial

See also: Best IPTV Service · Free Trial · Pricing