Airo TV An Airo product

Airo TV, an Airo product

Choose the screen in front of you.

Airo TV is a bring-your-own-content player. It does not include channels, playlists, subscriptions, or media. Use only sources you are authorized to access, and check the status label before following a device path.

Available

Playlist basics

The same starting point for every supported device.

Before you start

  • Use an M3U or M3U8 URL supplied by a source you are authorized to access.
  • Keep private tokens and provider credentials out of screenshots and support posts.
  • Test with a small known-good playlist when diagnosing a large or unreliable source.

Add the source

  1. Open Airo TV and choose the playlist or source action.
  2. Enter the authorized playlist URL carefully.
  3. Save the source and wait for channel loading to finish.
  4. Open Live TV, then use Search if the playlist contains many channels.
  5. Select a channel to test playback.
Airo TV cannot repair a provider outage, unsupported codec, expired token, or inaccessible stream. Try a second channel from the same source to separate a channel problem from a playlist problem.
Available

Android TV and Google TV

The primary Airo TV living-room experience.

Install and start

  1. Open the latest release on a trusted computer or device.
  2. Choose the canonical APK unless your device requires a specific ABI build.
  3. Install the APK through your approved device installation path.
  4. Open Airo TV from the TV launcher.
  5. Add your authorized playlist, browse channels, and test playback.

Remote controls

  • Use the D-pad to move focus and Select to activate the focused control.
  • Use Back to leave playback or return to the previous screen.
  • Use Search instead of scrolling an entire large playlist.
The release process checks 1920x1080, 1280x720, and compact 1024x576 layouts. A specific TV model still needs device qualification for decoder, focus, and performance behavior.
Experimental

Fire TV and Fire TV Stick

Compatible APK path while dedicated qualification continues.

Install safely

  1. Download the Airo TV APK only from the official GitHub release.
  2. If sideloading is required, enable installation only for the installer you are using.
  3. Install the APK, then disable that sideload permission again.
  4. Open Airo TV and test D-pad focus before adding a private playlist.
  5. Add a small authorized playlist and verify browsing and playback.

Report a Fire TV problem

Include the Fire TV model, Fire OS version, Airo TV release, screen name, and exact remote action. Never include playlist credentials.

Fire TV remains compatible/experimental until dedicated install, remote-navigation, playback, and performance evidence is attached to a release.
Partial

Android phone and tablet

Separate modular profiles for mobile playback and Cast validation.

Current guidance

  1. Use only a release that explicitly includes an Android mobile or tablet profile.
  2. Add the same authorized test playlist used on TV.
  3. Validate search and playback in portrait and landscape where supported.
  4. Use the Cast sender when both devices share a usable local network.

Phone-to-TV pairing, synchronized favorites, and companion organization are planned in issue #833. They are not guaranteed current behavior.

Supported path

Chromecast and Google Cast

Local-network discovery and sender controls.

Connect

  1. Connect the sender and receiver to the same usable local network.
  2. Open an Airo build that exposes Cast controls.
  3. Open the Cast picker and choose the receiver.
  4. Start a supported stream from your authorized playlist.
  5. Use play, pause, stop, reload, new-session, and volume controls as available.

If the receiver is missing

  • Check guest Wi-Fi or client isolation.
  • Check whether a VPN blocks local discovery.
  • Confirm the receiver is awake and visible to another Cast sender.
  • Confirm local discovery traffic and receiver port reachability are allowed.
Preview

macOS validation build

Unsigned and unnotarized artifacts in v0.0.5.

Understand the limitation first

The v0.0.5 release includes ZIP and DMG artifacts for direct validation. They are not a notarized public macOS distribution and may trigger normal macOS security warnings for unsigned software.

  1. Read the release notes and verify the downloaded file against SHA256SUMS.
  2. Use the artifact only if you understand and accept its unsigned preview status.
  3. Open Airo TV, add a non-sensitive authorized test playlist, and validate search and playback.
  4. Report macOS version, device architecture, and the exact failure without sharing credentials.
All devices

Troubleshooting

Identify whether the source, network, stream, decoder, or device is failing.

No channels appear

  • Check the playlist URL and network.
  • Test the source with a small authorized fixture.
  • Confirm the build supports the source format.

A channel does not play

  • Try another channel from the same source.
  • Check whether the device supports the stream codec and container.
  • Record the local error or diagnostic state instead of only reporting a black screen.

The guide is empty

  • Confirm the build includes guide support.
  • Confirm XMLTV data exists and channel identifiers match.
  • Track the full guide and source-management work in issue #825.

A large playlist feels slow

  • Use Search and recent-channel paths.
  • Compare with a smaller playlist.
  • Follow large-list hardening in issue #814.

Get support

Open a GitHub issue with the device model, OS version, Airo TV release, screen, expected result, actual result, and reproduction steps. Remove all private playlist and account data.