Getting a TV guide on Kodi allows you to navigate live TV streams easily, making your viewing experience more enjoyable. This guide explains how to access live TV streams from Catch-up TV & More directly within Kodi, utilizing the IPTV Manager addon and PVR IPTV Simple. This setup offers several advantages: a centralized TV guide managed by Kodi, channel organization into groups, and a single location for channels from various PVR and video addons.
Kodi’s Live TV section showcasing integrated channels and TV guide.
I. Prerequisites: Catch-up TV & More Installation and Account Setup
Before proceeding, ensure you have installed Catch-up TV & More. Follow the installation tutorial if you haven’t already.
Some channels require a user account. Create accounts on the respective channel websites and input your credentials into the Catch-up TV & More addon settings.
- Open Catch-up TV & More.
- Access settings by pressing the left arrow key on your keyboard or remote.
- Navigate to the “Accounts” tab and enter your username and password for the required channels.
- Save your settings by clicking “OK”.
The “Accounts” tab in Catch-up TV & More settings for entering login credentials.
II. Installing IPTV Manager: Integrating Live TV Functionality
IPTV Manager is crucial for integrating live TV into Kodi. To install it:
- Go to the Catch-up TV & More settings.
- Navigate to the “TV Integration” section.
- Select “Install IPTV Manager add-on”.
Confirming the installation of the IPTV Manager add-on within Catch-up TV & More.
III. Enabling Channels: Populating Your Kodi TV Guide
After installing IPTV Manager, select the channels you want to appear in Kodi’s TV section:
- Return to the Catch-up TV & More settings.
- Go to the “TV Integration” section.
- Choose “Select channels to enable”.
- Save your settings by clicking “OK”.
Selecting which channels to enable within the Kodi TV section through Catch-up TV & More settings.
If your channels still don’t appear in Kodi’s “TV” section, try the following steps within the IPTV Manager settings:
- “IPTV Simple” –> “Configure IPTV Simple automatically…”
- “Channels” –> “Refresh channels and guide now…”
This will ensure that your Kodi TV guide is up-to-date.
IV. Recording Live TV: Adding Recording Capabilities to Kodi
While PVR IPTV Simple doesn’t natively support recording, you can add this functionality using “IPTV Recorder”. Note that alternatives like TVHeadend exist but require a backend setup.
1. Prerequisites and Limitations for Recording Live TV
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Prerequisites:
- FFMPEG installed on your operating system (Windows, Linux, Raspbian, libreelec, etc.). This tutorial doesn’t cover FFMPEG installation; however, guides are readily available online.
- The Catch-up TV & More m3u file configured in PVR IPTV Simple.
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Limitations:
- IPTV Recorder doesn’t prevent Kodi from entering standby mode during recording or wake it up to start a scheduled recording.
- FFMPEG is difficult to deploy on Android, and it’s not available on the Play Store by default.
- IPTV Recorder cannot record DRM-protected live TV, which may cause Kodi to freeze, requiring you to kill the process.
2. Installing IPTV Recorder: Extending Kodi’s Capabilities
- Download and install the repository repository.primaeval-0.0.2 from this URL: https://github.com/primaeval/repository.primaeval/raw/master/zips/repository.primaeval/repository.primaeval-0.0.2.zip
Navigating to the downloaded repository zip file within Kodi’s add-on browser.
- Go to the directory where you saved the ZIP file.
- Click “OK” to install the repository.
- Install the IPTV Recorder add-on from the “Video Add-ons” section within the newly installed repository.
Locating the IPTV Recorder add-on within the newly installed Primaeval repository.
3. Configuring and Using IPTV Recorder: Setting Up Recordings
- Go to the settings of the “IPTV Recorder” add-on.
- Enter the path to the FFMPEG executable.
Entering the path to the FFMPEG executable within IPTV Recorder’s settings.
- Set the path where recordings will be saved. The default is special://temp (a Kodi variable https://kodi.wiki/view/Special_protocol).
To record a program:
- Open the “IPTV Recorder” add-on.
- Select “Channels Group”.
- Choose the program you want to record.
Selecting a specific channel to record from within IPTV Recorder.
- Return to the main menu of “IPTV Recorder” and go to the “Recordings” menu to find in-progress and completed recordings.
The “Recordings” menu in IPTV Recorder, displaying in-progress and finished recordings.
Once recording is complete, you’ll find the file at “special://temp” (if unchanged) or through the “IPTV Recorder” add-on. You can add this directory to your Kodi video sources.
Accessing the recorded video files via Kodi’s file manager.
By following these steps, you can effectively add a TV guide and recording functionality to your Kodi setup, significantly enhancing your live TV viewing experience.
