How long has it been since you watched live TV?
When you are commuting and your boss asks you to watch the "March 15 Party";
When you are sitting on the sofa with your children and are asked by the school to watch "The First Lesson of School";
When you recommend watching Aiyouteng to your parents, but are asked how to watch "Yangshengtang";
Will there be such a moment that you feel incredible: there will be a day when a person living in the 5G era "can't" watch live TV!
Some people may say: No, there is IPTV for broadband and Gehua Cable for digital TV. Shouldn’t live TV be watched casually?
Yes, that's usually the case.
But what if you have multiple rooms: you want to see the master bedroom and the second bedroom?
What if you have multiple apartments: you want to view the first area, and occasionally you want to view the second area?
What if you have multiple devices: TV, computer, tablet and mobile phone to watch?
We may spend everything we have on being a member of iUtopia, but if we pay for the occasional live TV show we want to watch, we will immediately feel strapped for money.
Although there are various live TV software on the Internet, the smoothness and clarity are unreliable.
Generally speaking, I will use "software + live source" to solve the problem. If you also have the need to watch live TV, you may wish to watch it.
[I will write a separate introduction on how to search/edit live broadcast sources]
1. Common platform: Plex
Alternative software: Jellyfin/VLC
If you have read what I wrote about Apple TV software before, you know that I personally prefer to use Plex, which is the "all in one" way of using it.
In my opinion, choosing Plex has the following advantages:
1. Full platform support: whether you use TV/computer/mobile phone/tablet, or
Windows/macOS/iOS/iPadOS/android all have corresponding clients, which can be configured once and are common to all platforms;
2. Rich audio and video support: Common formats can be supported, and there is no need to worry about the color cast of Dolby Vision videos (friends who use Kodi should be deeply touched);
3. Live TV supports scheduled recording: if the program guide is configured, the recorded program can be set in advance. General TV live broadcast software can watch live broadcasts, but cannot record them unless you record the screen; VLC supports live broadcast recording, but I did not find a menu for scheduled recording; as a replacement for Plex, Jellyfin should support it, but I have already downloaded it from It was deleted from the NAS and I don’t really want to restore it, so friends who don’t want to use Plex can give it a try.
Of course, there are several small thresholds for using Plex to watch live TV:
1. You need a device to set up a plex server (server). It can be a NAS or a computer. You need to ensure that it is online at all times.
2. Plex’s Live TV and DVR functions can tune digital TV signals, so you need to install xteve to simulate the live source as a digital TV signal.
3. Unfortunately, to watch live TV with Plex, you need to be a member. You can choose monthly/yearly payment or lifetime plan. If you have a way to change your IP to Turkey and have a Turkish virtual credit card, you can buy a lifetime membership originally priced at US$119 for about 300 yuan (822.99 Turkish lira).
Therefore, the complete method to watch live TV with Plex is: first become a paid Plex member, then set up a plex media server on nas/computer, then find and edit the live broadcast source file (can be online/local), and install it on nas/computer xteve and configure relevant parameters, you can finally watch live and recorded TV programs happily.
If you don’t want to use paid Plex, you can consider the free and open source Jellyfin; if you just want a cross-platform live broadcast source player to simply watch live TV, you can consider using VLC.
Here, I want to talk about how useful Plex’s scheduled recording function is.
I don’t know if anyone has downloaded CCTV videos. No matter whether they use CCTV app, IDM, or other methods (such as web caching method, etc.), the downloaded videos are garbled when played on non-CCTV apps. Therefore, if you want to use CCTV video materials, you need some technical means. Plex's scheduled recording is one of them.
Of course, Plex can only solve the problem of advance and real-time recording. If it is a past program, another method is needed. Let’s talk about this later in a separate article.
Next, there are free plans for a single platform, including Android TV, Windows computers, Mac computers, Android phones, iPhone and Apple TV. There is definitely one that suits you.
What needs to be said in advance is that the following method still has a premise: there is a reliable live broadcast source. Whether you searched it online, caught it yourself, or got it in other ways.
At the end of the article, some live broadcast sources I am using are attached for reference.
2. Android TV: TVBOX
Before using Plex, the software I commonly used on my TV was kodi, but I don’t recommend it.
In my opinion, if you want to use it to watch live TV, in order to comply with the normal remote control logic, you first need to modify the button settings, then you need to install the iptv plug-in, and then connect a Bluetooth keyboard to enter various configurations, taking into account the possibility of changing the live broadcast multiple times later. Source, the operation is really cumbersome.
For operating on the TV, generally speaking, install an application store, such as Sofa Butler or Dangbei Market, and then find some live TV software to try one by one, and that's it. If you really want to use a customized live broadcast source, then you have to mention the most popular software at the moment: TVBOX.
This is an open source software, and many live TV software are modified on the basis of it. In addition to live TV broadcasts, you can also add various film and television variety show sources, which is a very powerful function.
Due to space limitations, we will not discuss the operation in this article. We also attach the application acquisition method and video source at the end of the article. There are a lot of tutorials online, so make good use of search, or wait until I have more updates to update.
3. Apple TV: aptv
I mentioned this software in the Apple TV software article. It also has iOS and Mac versions. The price has recently increased, and the pro version has increased from 18 yuan to 28 yuan.
"[Apple TV 4K] Software: Only when you have money and time can you enjoy leisure"
But the free version is very easy to use. It can play two live broadcast sources, and you can also see the resolution and delay of the channel. It is enough for daily viewing.
4. Windows computer: potplayer
If you don't want to use Plex or VLC, consider using potplayer on a Windows computer. As a powerful player, it supports both local .m3u8 files and online live broadcast sources.
5. Mac computer/iPhone: VLC
Practical Party: IINA/VLC
Picture party: aptv
I personally recommend using aptv. You can at least preview key information such as program screen, resolution and delay, and you can also read the program guide. It is rich in information and has a pleasant UI.
6. Android mobile phone: TVBOX
In addition to Plex/VLC/MXplayer, you can still consider choosing TVBOX because it has so much to offer. In addition to using the network or your own program sources, there are also APKs that integrate program sources.
To obtain the software and live broadcast sources mentioned in this article, please open the network disk address:
Baidu Netdisk: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1adYyVcEGLqKOOjVp–R49w?pwd=tb8t
Extraction code: tb8t
If you want to watch live TV comfortably, you still need a program source that meets your needs. There are hundreds or even thousands of program sources on the Internet, many of which are invalid, and there are only dozens of them that we often watch.
In the next issue, we will talk about how to use software tools to easily and quickly edit public live broadcast sources into live broadcast sources that meet your own needs.
Okay, if you see this and find it useful, just follow it.
