Channels Blog

News & Tips for Channels

Sunsetting Channels DVR Server on Nvidia Shield

News   December 5, 2024

On March 1st, 2025, we are discontinuing support for Channels DVR Server on Nvidia Shield. This means that Channels DVR Servers running on Nvidia Shield will no longer get updates.

Channels 6.0 for Apple TV & iOS

News   August 11, 2024

Customize your entire Channels experience with Personal Sections. Channels 6.0 for Apple TV & iOS is now available.

Channels 5.8 for Apple TV & iOS

News   February 8, 2024

Playlists, better management, recently watched channels, and more! Channels 5.8 for Apple TV & iOS is now available.

Security Update for Docker Deployments

News   January 8, 2024

Channels DVR Server has received a security update that may potentially disrupt how you access it on your home network.

Fall 2023 Server Update

News   November 15, 2023

The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and the smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. It’s Fall, and that means it’s time for a big new Channels DVR Server update.

Channels + Callsheet

News   September 20, 2023

With the latest versions of both Channels and Callsheet, they now work together even better than before.

News & Sports Sections

News   September 14, 2023

Channels for Apple TV and iOS now offer dedicated News and Sports sections. Turn them on to group all of your news or sports into a single destination.

NBC and NBC Sports Networks No Longer Available via TV Everywhere Providers

News   April 11, 2023

NBC, and its regional sports networks, are no longer available in Channels via TV Everywhere providers.

Reclaim your Media Library with the Kids Section

Tips & Tricks   February 13, 2023

Channels is a great way to build up a huge library of TV shows and movies. But if you have kids, sometimes that content can take over your whole DVR and media library. You’ve probably run into this problem in the past.

Keep in Sync with Channel Collections

Tips & Tricks   February 7, 2023

Channels lets you mark your TV channels as favorites and provides groups of channels based on certain criteria, but what if you could create your own group of channels? That’s where Channel Collections come in.

New Blog, Tips, and Videos

News   February 6, 2023

For years, we’ve reported all new features and changes from our News section, but today we’re transforming it into a true blog.

Ease your Life with Server Side Settings

Tips & Tricks   February 6, 2023

Channels has a lot of settings. A LOT OF SETTINGS. We think you should be empowered to curate your own TV experience, but we also know that it can be very time consuming to set up each client individually.

2022 Year in Review

News   December 15, 2022

2022 was the year of quality of life improvements for Channels. After giving you more ways to add content to your library and more unique features for watching it last year, we spent all of 2022 honing in on it.

Channels on Windows

News   November 15, 2022

Thanks to the Windows Subsystem for Android available in Windows 11, you can now run Channels on Windows.

Big Android & Fire TV Updates

News   November 15, 2022

Channels for Android and Fire TV have been getting a lot of attention recently, and we thought it was time to catch up on some of those great updates. Some are big, some are small, but they all add up to a lot of really great quality of life improvements.

iOS & tvOS 16 Device Name Changes

News   September 15, 2022

Happy iOS & tvOS 16 week! With these updates, Apple has limited the use of the custom name you give to your devices. Here’s how to get your Channels apps reporting with their correct names again.

Offline Downloads

News   April 12, 2022

Channels for iOS now supports offline downloads. Browse your library, download your movies and TV shows to your device, and take them with you.

New Videos Section & Metadata Management

News   March 23, 2022

Channels now supports importing home videos, music videos, concerts, and other videos that can’t be matched as movies or TV shows. With our new metadata editing tools and image management, you can now curate your library exactly how you want.

Western Digital MyCloud Home Resolution

News   March 22, 2022

Western Digital has scheduled a mandatory firmare upgrade for their MyCloud Home network attached storage devices. Here’s what you need to know if you are running Channels DVR Server on this device.

Nvidia Shield Version 9.0.0 Server Resolution

News   January 13, 2022

Today, Nvidia released their 9.0.0 update for their Nvidia SHIELD streaming device. It has been verified that our Channels DVR Server has compatibility issues that will keep it from running on this updated version.

2021 Year in Review

News   December 28, 2021

2021 ended up being a huge year for Channels. We brought more ways to add content to your library and more unique features for watching your content. With Custom Channels, Stream Links, Local Content, Virtual Channels, and more, we hope we helped make Channels even more useful for your family this year.

Channels 5.0 for Apple TV & iOS

News   October 26, 2021

Local Content, Virtual Channels, On Later, Library Collections, and more! Channels 5.0 for Apple TV & iOS is now available.

Channels 4.0 for Android & Fire TV

News   September 21, 2021

Enhanced Library Browsing, Kids Section, Favoriting, and more! Channels 4.0 for Android & Fire TV is now available.

Channels 3.5 for Android & Fire TV

News   June 1, 2021

Auto Play, Shuffle, Kiosk Mode, and more! Channels 3.5 for Android & Fire TV is now available.

Big Release!

News   March 30, 2021

Channel Collections, Server Side Settings, Kids Only Mode, and more. This is a big release.

PlayOn Cloud Integration

News   February 2, 2021

You can now link your PlayOn Cloud account with Channels and watch all of your PlayOn Cloud recordings in Channels.

Stream Links

News   February 2, 2021

Introducing Stream Links, a way to get your favorite content from streaming services into your Channels library.

Picture in Picture

News   January 22, 2021

Picture in Picture is now available for Apple TV and iOS.

Custom Channels

News   January 18, 2021

With Custom Channels, you can now use any live streaming source to create your own custom channel with Channels Plus.

2020 Year in Review

News   December 30, 2020

2020 was a weird year. We tried our best to make it nicer while we were all stuck at home. With new features and easier ways to set up a whole home DVR, we hope we helped just a little.

Apple Silicon Support

News   November 30, 2020

Channels DVR Server officially supports Apple Silicon Macs.

Custom Raspberry Pi Image

News   November 11, 2020

Get started with Channels DVR Server in minutes with our custom Raspberry Pi image.

Channels turns 5 years old

News   November 5, 2020

Five years ago today, Channels hit the Apple TV App Store for the first time. What started as an experiment, became the default way many of us watch TV.

Channels 3.0 for Android & Fire TV

News   September 1, 2020

Channels 3.0 for Android, Android TV, and Fire TV is now available containing lots of the exciting new features released for Apple TV and iOS last month.

Expanded Remote Control Support for Apple TV

News   August 5, 2020

Channels now supports advanced remote control functions like channel surfing, numeric channel entry, and even app shortcuts.

Channels 4.0: Playback Enhancements

News   July 24, 2020

With Channels 4.0 , we’ve added some requested features for playing back your shows.

Channels 4.0: Kids Section

News   July 23, 2020

Channels 4.0 adds an official Kids section to quarantine all of your kids’ content. But it has some tricks up its sleeve.

Channels 4.0: Enhanced Library Browsing

News   July 22, 2020

Channels 4.0 has new ways to browse TV Shows and Movies that help you find content in larger libraries.

Channels 4.0: New Navigation

News   July 21, 2020

One of the biggest changes in Channels 4.0 is the new customizable Sidebar. Here’s a little more information about it.

Channels 4.0

News   July 20, 2020

Channels 4.0 is out now for tvOS and iOS. This is a huge update packed full of features for Channels Plus fans.

Stream Easier with New PIN Based Authentication

News   June 30, 2020

It’s now incredibly easier and faster to connect remotely while away from home with our new PIN based authentication.

Never Lose a Recording with Trash

News   February 25, 2020

Channels now has a Trash feature to protect deleted recordings. Deleted recordings are placed into the Trash and scheduled to be permanently removed after an optional number of days.

Watch Full Screen in your Tesla

News   January 22, 2020

You can now watch Channels full screen in your Tesla.

New Transcoder, Raspberry Pi 4, and more

News   September 24, 2019

We’ve been hard at work the last few months on Channels DVR Server and today it’s getting a big upgrade. A new transcoder, Raspberry Pi 4 support, TV Everywhere fixes, and more. Let’s get technical.

TV Everywhere Support

News   July 25, 2019

Today we’re launching the public beta of a new feature to supplement our great HDHomeRun support. Channels Plus now allows you to log in with your existing TV provider account to add channels to your lineup via TV Everywhere. These new channels will be available for both watching and recording.

Auto Commercial Skipping

News   June 11, 2019

Automatic Commercial Skipping is now available.

Big Streaming Improvements

News   April 23, 2019

Today we're making a major update to our video player. It's an invisible change that should impact remote streaming tremendously.

Channels Protips

News   April 12, 2019

Today, we're launching Channels Protips on our YouTube channel.

On the Demise of HDHomeRun Premium TV

News   March 28, 2019

Today, SiliconDust, the makers of HDHomeRun, announced that their Premium TV service would end in 30 days. While we all saw the writing on the wall with the lawsuit against their upstream provider, it's now official.

Channels for iOS is Now Free

News   January 22, 2019

Since the beginning of Channels for iOS, we have charged extra for it. As of today, not only do we not charge extra, we don't charge at all. Channels for iOS is now free, forever.

Channels Now Available on Android

News   November 15, 2018

Channels is now available for Android handsets and tablets. This includes Fire Tablets.

Channels Apps Now Free for DVR Subscribers

News   August 17, 2018

The Channels apps are now free for all Channels DVR subscribers. One of the biggest barriers to trying Channels DVR is now gone. Huzzah!

Yearly Subscription Now Available

News   July 11, 2018

Channels DVR now has a yearly subscription option. Tada! You now have the option to subscribe for $8/month or $80/year.

Channels Unification

News   June 26, 2018

Today is a day we've been working towards all year. Today, all of the Channels apps are officially unified. No matter which Channels app you use, you can expect the same exact features. That includes full DVR support for Android TV and Fire TV!

Channels API

News   March 7, 2018

We just released an update to Channels that adds an HTTP API to let you control and query the Channels app.

Channels for Android TV & Fire TV

News   February 6, 2018

Today is a huge day for Channels. Today is the day it ventures out of the Apple ecosystem and into two great new ones.

Channels DVR Now Publicly Available

News   October 2, 2017

It’s with great excitement that we announce we are taking the beta tag off of Channels DVR. It is stable, it has been proven to work really well, and it is ready.

DVR Support Now Available in Channels for iOS

News   July 18, 2017

It's finally here! We weren't sure we'd make it, but after a ton of work, and an incredible amount of help from our iOS Beta team, Channels for iOS now has full support for Channels DVR. And it's pretty fun.

Channels DVR is Now Available in a Public Beta

News   January 10, 2017

It’s with great pleasure to announce that Channels DVR is now available in a Public Beta.

Channels 2.0 for Apple TV

News   October 11, 2016

After a long year of going from a simple "what if this could work" type app, to something that we've all enjoyed using as our main source of TV, today Channels goes to 2.0.

Channels for iOS

News   July 27, 2016

It's with great pleasure to announce that Channels is now available for your iOS devices.