Finding terrestrial channels quickly in your IPTV guide
Half past seven on a weekday evening, remote in hand, and you just want to land on one of the familiar terrestrial channels without wading through a directory. The service carries 50,000+ channels, so a bit of setup pays back every single evening. The tools are already there in the guide — categories to group things, favourites to surface what you use most, and a search field for anything else.
Frequently asked questions
- How do login credentials arrive after payment?
An email containing your login details is sent shortly after payment completes. If nothing appears within a few minutes, check your spam or junk folder and then contact support with your order reference.
- My favourites group has vanished after a player update. How do I restore it?
Player updates sometimes reset the default group back to the full channel list, though the saved channels are usually still there. Open the player settings, find the home screen or channel list section, and re-select your favourites group as the default view.
- Can two flatmates use the service on separate devices at the same time?
Whether simultaneous streams are supported depends on the plan you chose. Check the plan details to confirm how many concurrent streams are allowed, then set up a favourites group on each device independently.
- The search box returns nothing even for channels I know are there. What is wrong?
This almost always means the playlist has not finished loading. Wait until the channel list is fully populated — no spinning indicator in the player — and try again. If the problem continues, pull the playlist down to refresh it from within the player settings.
Categories: the quickest first cut
Every supported player — TiviMate, IPTV Smarters Pro and IBO Player among them — organises the channel directory into groups. Opening the full list without picking a category first is like opening a phone book to find one name: possible, but slow.
Look for a sidebar or a tab row before the channel rows appear. TiviMate puts its group list down the left edge of the screen; IPTV Smarters Pro presents a category menu before the live TV grid loads. On a MAG box, the portal's main menu offers a similar step.
The group you want for terrestrial viewing is usually labelled something like 'UK Free' or 'UK Terrestrial' — the exact wording depends on how the playlist is set up, so scan the list rather than assuming a fixed name. Once inside the right group, the handful of familiar channels sits near the top rather than buried among thousands of others.
What to check next: count the channels now visible. If it is a short, recognisable list, you are in the right place. If hundreds remain, try a different category label.
A favourites group that opens by default
Categories cut the list down each time you look. A favourites group cuts it down permanently.
To add a channel in TiviMate, navigate to it in the list, then press and hold the OK button on your remote until a context menu appears. Choose the option to add to a group, and either pick an existing favourites group or create one called something like 'Evening'. IPTV Smarters Pro marks each channel row with a small star; tap it once and the channel drops into the favourites section.
Once you have added the four or five terrestrial channels you actually watch, go into the player settings and set that group as the default view on launch. The next time you open the player, those channels appear straight away.
If several people share the same television and want different defaults, TiviMate supports multiple named groups — something worth exploring if your Chromecast with Google TV is the household's main streaming device; the article on keeping TiviMate healthy on your Chromecast with Google TV covers the upkeep side in detail.
What to check next: close the player completely and reopen it. The favourites group should load without any extra navigation. If the full channel list appears instead, revisit the default group setting.
Search: faster than scrolling on a bad memory
Even a tidy favourites group has gaps. When a channel you haven't saved comes up in conversation at dinner and you want to find it quickly, the search field is faster than any other route.
Type the first two or three letters of the channel name. TiviMate filters the list as you type; IPTV Smarters Pro has a search icon in the top bar of the live TV section. The result appears within a moment on a stable connection.
Search is also useful the morning after a flatmate has tidied the favourites group into a shape that makes sense to them but not to you. One short word finds the channel; a long scroll through an unfamiliar arrangement does not.
What to check next: try a partial name — two or three letters — and confirm that matching channels appear. If nothing comes back, the playlist may still be loading. Wait until the player shows no spinning indicator, then search again.
Keeping the guide usable across a shared flat
A shared living room accumulates noise in the guide over time: channels added for a single evening, categories nobody uses. A few minutes of housekeeping once in a while keeps things calm.
If the flat's main screen is an LG smart TV, the article on a shorter channel list in IBO Player on the LG smart TV explains how to hide the categories you never open, leaving only the ones that matter.
For evenings when sport takes over and the terrestrial default isn't enough, settling on Carabao Cup channels for busy parents uses the same logic — narrow the guide to a purpose — applied to a different kind of viewing.
The IPTV UK home page has a quick overview of the full channel range if you want to understand what else is available beyond terrestrial.
What to check next: after a week of normal use, look at which category or group you open every evening. If it is the same one every time, set it as the default if you haven't already.