Live Channels also lacks a search tool, so you’re limited to those 48 hours of guide data when looking for shows to record. For series recordings, you can limit them to a specific channel, but you can’t automatically delete older episodes or avoid recording reruns. (Unfortunately, the thumbnail goes away when you start watching another video.) Jared Newman / TechHiveĪndroid TV’s Live Channels app offers basic DVR for free.Īs for what’s missing, there’s no way to create manual recordings, or pad out series recordings with start and stop buffer times. The Shield TV even supports a picture-in-picture mode for watching TV in a small thumbnail while you play games or browse other apps. The app also includes show descriptions and artwork, and you can sort through live programs and recordings by genre. Live Channels provides clear warnings when you’ve run out of tuners for recording, along with a scheduling tool to weed out conflicts, and it doesn’t waste a second tuner when you’re both watching and recording a single channel. For a free service, Google’s solution isn’t bad.
