Here's everything, start to finish. Just work through the three parts in order and take your time — there's no rush at all, and you only ever do this once. Half an hour should do it. And honestly, don't sit there worrying you'll break something, because you can't. If anything looks confusing, stop and just text me. I'd much rather talk you through it than have you fighting with it on your own.
How this works
Two apps, two jobs
Nuvio is for movies and series — anything you fancy, any time. TiviMate is proper live TV, with channels and a guide.
It all comes through me
Both apps get their picture from a computer I look after. That keeps your watching private, and it means I can usually fix things from here without traipsing over.
It mends itself
There are several suppliers behind the scenes, and if one has a wobble it quietly moves to the next. Have a read of the box below — it's the most useful thing on this page.
It remembers for you
It keeps track of what you've watched and where you got to, so you can stop halfway through and pick it up later.
One thing to buy
TiviMate Premium, a one‑time purchase you make in Part 3, on an Android phone. Nothing else costs you anything, ever.
If a movie won't start, just press play again. Really, that's the whole trick.
A movie doesn't come from one single place — there are several suppliers, and my computer sits in the middle choosing for you. Now and then the one it picks turns out to be a dud. When that happens, press Back and play the very same thing again. My computer notices it didn't work for you and hands over a different supplier instead. Two or three goes will sort out nearly anything.
One small thing that really helps: pause for a moment before you try again — count to twenty. If you press play over and over straight away, the system assumes the movie is still loading and keeps giving you the same one. That little wait is what tells it to go and find you a better source.
And if a movie simply takes longer than usual to start, nothing's wrong — that's it quietly working its way down the list for you. There's nothing to change and nothing to fix. Only just text me if several different things in a row refuse to play.
How many people can watch at once.Movies and shows in Nuvio are unlimited — watch on as many TVs as you like, whenever, and nobody blocks anybody. Live TV is different: there are three live streams across all three households, so roughly one each at a time. If two of you land on the same channel that only counts once, so game nights are fine. If a live channel ever refuses to start, it just means somebody else is watching — go grab a coffee and try again in a few minutes, or find it in Nuvio instead. Nothing's broken, and there's no need to text me for that one.
1
Prepare the Fire Stick
Do this first
Nuvio isn't sold in Amazon's store, so we fetch it with a little helper app called Downloader, and give it permission to do that. If Nuvio is already on your Fire Stick, you can skip all of Part 1 and go straight to step 4 of Part 2.
On the Fire Stick home screen, go up to the magnifying glass at the top left and search for Downloader. It's free, with an orange picture of a globe. Choose Get or Download and wait for it to install.
Now the permission. Along the top row of the home screen, go right to the gear wheel (Settings), and choose My Fire TV.
Look for Developer Options and open it. Not there? It's hidden until you ask for it: choose About instead, highlight your device's name, and click it seven times in a row. A message tells you it's unlocked. Press Back once and Developer Options will now be in the list.
Open Install unknown apps, find Downloader in the list, and click it once so it reads ON.
Before you start — one quick check. The newest Fire Sticks (the 4K Select, and anything sold as running “Vega”) are locked down by Amazon and can't install these apps at all. If you hit a wall in step 1 or you're not sure which one you've got, stop and text me — it's not something you've done wrong, and there's an easy fix on my end.
Is this safe? Yes — and it's a fair question to ask. All you've done is tell the Fire Stick that this one helper app is allowed to install something. Nothing installs on its own, and nothing else about your TV changes. You'll use it once, for Nuvio, and never need it again — so switch it back OFF after Part 2 if that makes you more comfortable.
2
Install Nuvio and sign in
Movies & shows
Open Downloader. If it asks permission to reach your files, say Allow.
On the first screen there's a long empty box near the top. Click it, delete anything already in it, type the number 2495955, and choose Go.
Wait while the blue bar fills. When it asks, choose Install, and wait again. Then choose Done, and finally Delete to tidy up the leftover file. (Delete is safe — it removes the packaging, not the app.)
Press the Home button on your remote and look for Nuvio in your row of apps. New apps go on the end, so scroll right.
Choose Sign in and enter the Nuvio email and password from the last page. Your account's already made and set up — I've done all the complicated parts, so there's nothing else for you to turn on.
When it asks for a profile passcode, enter 0000.
You can change that passcode. Everyone starts on 0000, so do pick your own if you'd like: in Nuvio, go to Manage profiles and set a new one. Handy if you've got grandchildren about who'd otherwise wander into your profile. Write it down somewhere safe.
Tip: hold the Home button on your remote, choose Apps, then move Nuvio to the front of your row. Saves you scrolling every time.
3
Set up live TV in TiviMate
Live channels — use your phone
This part has three little chunks: put the app on the TV, buy Premium on your phone, then add the channels. Take them one at a time.
First — put TiviMate on the TV
TiviMate is not in Amazon's store, so we fetch it the same way we did Nuvio. Open Downloader on the Fire Stick.
Click the box at the top, clear it out, and type the number 272483. Choose Go.
Wait for it to download, choose Install, then Done, then Delete.
Open TiviMate once to check it starts, then leave it sitting there.
Second — buy Premium, using your phone
You can't buy it on the Fire Stick — Amazon and Google don't talk to each other, which is exactly what tripped me up. It has to be done on an Android phone or tablet.
On that phone, open the Play Store and install TiviMate Companion.
Open Companion and create an account — an email and a password of your choosing. Write both on the last page of this guide, you'll need them in a minute.
In Companion, choose to buy Premium. There's a yearly price and a one‑time lifetime price; either is fine, whichever you prefer.
Go back to the TV. In TiviMate, open Settings → Unlock Premium, and sign in with the account you just made. It'll say Premium is active.
Third — add your channels and guide
In TiviMate choose Add playlist (their name for a channel list), then Enter URL (means "type in the address").
Type the Channels address from the last page, exactly as written. It's long — go slowly and read it back before you continue. Name it Live TV.
Wait while the channels load. A minute or so is normal.
Now the guide: Settings → EPG (just their word for the TV guide) → Add source, and type the Guide address from the last page.
Don't skip that last step. Without it you get channels but no listings, so you can't see what's on.
Tip: those two addresses are long and fiddly on a remote. You can type them from your phone in the Companion app instead, under playlists — much faster, and they'll appear on the TV by themselves.
The guide takes several minutes the first time — go grab a coffee. It's downloading listings for around 4,000 channels, so it's a big file. Leave the app open and let it work. If it looks frozen, it almost certainly isn't — give it five full minutes before touching anything. After this first time it tops itself up quietly in the background and you'll never notice it again.
No Android phone anywhere? Premium genuinely can't be bought without one. Borrow a phone or tablet from someone for ten minutes — or just text me and we'll sort it out together.
▶
Putting a movie or show on
The bit you'll do every day
Open Nuvio and either browse through the rows, or go to the magnifying glass and type in what you're after.
Land on the poster of the thing you want and press OK. For a series, choose your series and then the episode.
Now you'll get a list come up on screen. Don't let it throw you — these are just different copies of the same show, and you only need one of them.
Pick the one at the top and press OK. The best one is always put at the top for you. The odd names and numbers beside them are only labels — nothing you need to read or understand.
Give it a few seconds and it'll start.
If it doesn't start, or it stops after a moment: press Back, count to twenty, and press OK on the top one again. It'll fetch you a different copy. If that one's no good either, work your way down the list — second from top, then third. It's very rare to get past three.
✓
Clearing out what you’ve seen
Stops the same things coming back
Here's the one habit worth getting into. When you finish something, mark it as watched — and it'll disappear off your screen, so you're not forever scrolling past the same movies you've already sat through.
If you watch a thing right to the end, it's marked for you automatically. Nothing to do.
To do it yourself — handy for all those movies you saw years ago — highlight the poster and press the ☰ menu button on your remote (or open the show and look for the checkmark). Choose Mark as watched.
It vanishes from your rows within a few moments. For a series, marking a series watched clears them all at once.
Changed your mind? Same place, choose unmark, and back it comes.
Worth doing early on. Spend ten minutes checking off the ones you already know, and from then on what's left on your screen is genuinely things you haven't seen. It works because your account already remembers what you watch, and it's only your TV that changes — nobody else's screen is affected by what you check off.
♫
That's you done
From now on
Films and series — open Nuvio. Whatever you've half‑watched sits in a row near the top so you can carry straight on where you left off.
Live TV — open TiviMate. Press OK while something's playing to bring up the guide and see what's on elsewhere.
Nothing to update or renew, and no bill coming. Leave it be and it'll keep working.
If it stops working one day, it'll almost certainly be my end, and I'll probably know before you do. Have a quick look below, then text me.
?
If something goes wrong
Try these first
No listings showing on live TV
The Guide address is missing or has a typo. Go back to the last two steps of Part 3 and add the Guide address again.
You can't find “Install unknown apps”
The hidden menu isn't open yet. Go back and click your device's name seven times, as in step 3 of Part 1.
A movie or channel won't start
Press Back, count to twenty, and play it again — it'll fetch a different copy. Or take the next one down the list. Two or three goes fixes nearly everything.
Films you've already seen keep appearing
Mark them as watched and they'll clear off — see “Clearing out what you've seen”. If checking them off does nothing at all, text me.
That list of copies looks baffling
It isn't — just take the top one. They're all the same show, sorted best first.
It keeps stopping to load
Close the app completely: hold Back for a few seconds until you're at the home screen, then open it again. Still doing it? Unplug the Fire Stick, count to ten, plug it back in.
It won't accept your password
Almost always a capital letter, or a space at the end. Type it slowly and check. Then tell me.
TiviMate won't let you add the guide
That part needs Premium. In TiviMate go to Settings → Unlock Premium and sign in with your Companion account.
Companion can't see your TV
Make sure the phone is on your home Wi‑Fi, not cellular data, and that you signed in to Companion with the same account you bought Premium on.
You can't find TiviMate in Amazon's store
You won't — it isn't there. Use Downloader with code 272483, as in Part 3.
You can't find TiviMate Companion
It's in the Play Store on an Android phone, not on the TV. Don't go hunting around the internet for it — text me instead.
“App not installed”
Usually the wrong version for a TV. Double‑check the code you typed, and don't use an APK from anywhere else.
Live TV says there's no connection free
Someone else is watching. Wait a few minutes. This is normal — nothing is broken.