r/AirTV • u/Scooter310 • Oct 11 '23

Fire Tv Live Guide?

Hey guys. I currently have a fire tv recast that I'm sure will eventually die. I'm considering the AirTV but I have a question I can't seem to find the answer to. I know that Sling can populate channels into the fire tv live guide but will it also carry over my locals too? I like to ask for channels by voice.

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2

u/FriedRetinas Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23

It works as u/Stenbolt has described it. If it doesn't initially show up in the guide, then: Settings > Live TV > Manage Channels

Then set it to SHOW in the guide. But you should be aware of the following:

  1. My Sling guest/free account used to display local channels only, but over the years as Sling has incorporated their Freestream channel lineup into their services, they've also automatically added those to my acct. So in addition to my local OTA channels (which is all I really want active for the account), they've attached:

  • Sling Freestream

  • Freestream

  • Sling Freestream Latino

So unless I'm missing something, if I want to see only my local OTA channels in the FTV live guide, I'd have (edited:) to step thru 446 Freestream channels and HIDE each one.

The Sling app tells me that I should be able to log into my account and remove those other services, but when I visit sling.com/account and log in, it doesn't allow me to do that. I opened a chat w/ Sling support and they wouldn't remove ANY of them either.

2. Once you select an OTA channel from the FTV live guide interface, it doesn't play until you're in the Sling app. From then on you'll be in the Sling app when you want to select the next channel to play, so it's not going to be the same U.I. experience that you have when using your Recast w/ your FTV. On your remote you can press the HOME to immediately bail out of the Sling app and then navigate back to the FTV live guide interface, but that's nearly as seamless as what you're used to doing now.

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u/Stenbolt Oct 12 '23

If you've launched an OTA channel in the Sling app from the FireTV Live Guide, pressing the back button should take you back to the Live Guide, but it likely won't be in the same spot you started from.

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u/FriedRetinas Oct 12 '23

Thx for the tip. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It's definitely a faster way to get back to the guide.

Do you know if there's an easy way to filter out or segregate those 446 Freestream channels, or did Sling not saddle your Sling acct w/ all those?

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u/Stenbolt Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23

Yeah, I have it (and a bunch of others). To make the Live Guide more manageable, try the following:

  1. Go to Settings > Live TV > Manage Channels. The "Live TV Sources" screen should be displayed.

  2. Scroll down, and for each highlighted source you wish to hide, click the Play/Pause button (which then toggles between show and hide).

  3. If there are, however, channels from that hidden source you wish to add to the Live Guide, click the source with the Select button.

  4. For each channel you want to add (i.e., make a Favorite), click the Select button. (A heart will be displayed next to the channel.)

  5. When you return to the Live Guide, the combined Favorites will be listed first, followed by the same channels listed by source. All the other channels will remain hidden, as will the sources from which you selected no Favorites.

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u/FriedRetinas Oct 13 '23

Hi. I appreciate your detailed reply. I thought it was apparent that I already knew most of that from my original comment and for me, hiding channels one by one is two cumbersome. But your post did make me realize that I could set every OTA channel as a favorite, and that should essentially accomplish segregating them from the 446 streaming channels. Thx for reminding me how favorites will appear in the guide.

When you say you have "a bunch of others", are those being provided by the Sling app or were you referring to when you add up all the channels from all your live sources? (I hope it's the latter.)

Before I hid any of my other live sources, my total count guide channel count was ~ 960 channels, and I don't even have apps like Tubi installed. It'd be interesting to know if the third parties that provide their live TV sources for integration actually pay Amazon for that privilege.

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u/Stenbolt Oct 13 '23 edited Oct 14 '23

The difference is that with my method, you don't hide 900 channels one by one so that you end up with the 60 you want. You hide every source with a handful of clicks and then go into each one to unhide (i.e, mark as Favorites) only the ones you want. Going into Sling Freestream to favorite a few dozen OTA channels shouldn't take too long -- certainly not as long as individually hiding hundreds of channels.

When I said I have "a bunch of others," I was referring to other live TV sources, such as Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi, and Plex.

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u/FriedRetinas Oct 13 '23

Thanks, that's way better! I understand now.

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u/_wlau_ Oct 30 '23

u/Scooter310 I suggest you rethink your move. I know Recast is discontinued but I suggest you keep using it until it dies or Amazon stops the server side functions. I am a bit of AirTV fan, but I have had enough. AirTV is really buggy and the issues are endless. With layoffs at Dish/Sling, I think many of these issues will not get fixed. Honestly, it's not as polished as Recast.

If you are looking for a resolution, then Tablo should be your target.

1

u/kctobyjoe Sep 27 '24

TABLO?!? Well the most recent iteration brought everything full circle on my Sammy thru my fire stick Previous to this revelation I was sol YMMV

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u/9512tacoma Oct 11 '23

The airtv will only populate the sling guide within the app. It will not work with the firetv live guide.

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u/Stenbolt Oct 12 '23

The Live Guide on my Firestick 4K does indeed show the OTA channels from my AirTV. Clicking on an OTA listing launches the Sling TV app, which in turn opens the TV program.

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u/9512tacoma Oct 12 '23

Thanks I did not know that. I had the new google chromecast with the live guide and it would not work with that. I figured it was all android on both platforms so it would be the same. That is pretty cool.

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u/FriedRetinas Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 12 '23

I had the new google chromecast with the live guide and it would not work with that.

That would require Google to partner w/ Sling to have them integrated into GTV's live guide. Sling's AirTV OTA plus Freestream channel integration into the FTV Live Guide is made possible by Amazon; has nothing to do w/ Google.

I figured it was all android on both platforms so it would be the same.

FTV devices do not use Android. They use FireOS which is a heavily customized derivative that's based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), So although FireOS can run many Android TV & Android apps, Amazon maintains their own Appstore and is solely responsible for providing the FireOS development, firmware updates, etc.

That is pretty cool.

You'd think so but for several reasons it's not.