Watch several live channels at once with Multiview
On this page
The short answer
Multiview shows several live channels side by side on one screen, and only one tile plays sound. Open it with the grid icon in “Live TV” (on a TV: “Multiview” in the side menu), add channels with “Add channel”, and tap a tile to move the sound to it.
What you need
- Live channels from your playlist. Multiview shows live TV only. Movies, series, catch-up, recordings and downloads cannot be tiles.
- A supported device. Multiview works on Android phones, tablets and TVs, Fire TV, iPhone, iPad, Windows, macOS and Linux. It does not exist on Samsung TVs (Tizen).
- Premium. Multiview is a Premium function. In the app you see whether it is included in your plan; the entry carries a lock symbol until it is.
- One connection per tile. Every channel on the screen uses one connection with your provider. See “Connection limit” below.
Open Multiview
- On a phone, open “Live TV” and tap the grid icon in the header.
- On a TV, a tablet or a computer, select “Multiview” in the side menu of “Live TV”. It is the last entry there. If the window is narrow, you get the grid icon in the header instead.
Without a saved wall, Multiview opens empty and shows the channel list right away. Close the list if you do not want to add a channel yet. Tunvio remembers your last wall for each profile and shows it again.
You can also start with a channel you are already watching:
- In the player, tap the grid icon (“Multiview”) in the top bar. This works for live channels only. The channel becomes the first tile.
- In a list of live channels, long-press a channel (on a TV: hold OK) and choose “Add to Multiview”.
If a wall is saved and you start with a new channel, Tunvio asks “Continue your last Multiview?”. Choose “Continue” with the number of channels to keep your wall and add the new channel, or “Start with this channel” to begin again.
Add, change and remove channels
- Tap an empty tile (“Add channel”), or tap “Add channel” in the top bar. The bar fades out after a few seconds; touch the screen to bring it back. On a TV, press up from the top row.
- Pick a channel. The list opens at your live favourites; without favourites it opens at the category of the channel you watched last.
- To swap a channel, long-press its tile (on a TV: hold OK or press the menu key) and choose “Change channel”.
- To take one away, open the same menu and choose “Remove”. The other tiles move up. The layout shrinks to fit, unless you chose it yourself and it still has room.
- To watch one channel on its own, choose “Open full screen” in that menu. Multiview closes and the channel opens in the normal player.
A channel that is locked with your PIN asks for the PIN first, as everywhere in the app.
Choose which tile has sound
Exactly one tile has sound. It has a frame in the accent colour and a small speaker icon. The first channel you add gets the sound.
- Tap the tile you want to hear. On a TV, move to it and press OK.
- Or open the tile menu and choose “Sound from this tile”.
All other tiles are muted.
Change the layout
Tap the layout icon (“Layout”) in the top bar and pick one of these:
| Layout | Tiles | Look |
|---|---|---|
| “Side by side” | 2 | two equal tiles next to each other |
| “2 × 2” | 4 | four equal tiles |
| “1 large + 3” | 4 | one large tile, three small tiles on its right |
| “Conference (1 + 4)” | 5 | one large tile on top, four small tiles in a row below |
| “3 × 2” | 6 | six equal tiles in two rows |
| “1 large + 5” | 6 | one large tile at the top left, five small tiles around it |
The list shows only layouts that have room for your channels and that your device allows. When you add a channel to a full layout, Tunvio switches to a fitting one by itself. A layout you picked yourself stays as long as it has room.
In the layouts with a large tile, the large tile is the first one. To enlarge another channel, open its tile menu and choose “Show large”. It swaps places with the large tile and gets the sound.
How many channels fit
You can show up to six channels at once. Devices with little memory allow fewer, as few as two. When you try to go over your device's limit, the app says, for example, “This device supports up to 4 tiles.”
- “All tiles are in use – remove one first.” The wall is full. Remove a tile before you add another.
- “This channel is already in Multiview.” A channel can be on the wall only once.
- “Multiview isn't available while casting.” Stop casting first, see casting to a TV.
Connection limit
Many providers allow only a few streams at the same time. When your channels would use more connections than your account allows, Tunvio shows “Connection limit”. For example: “Your provider allows 2 simultaneous connections. With 3 channels, some may not load or other devices may be disconnected.”
- Tap “Add anyway” to add the channel regardless, or “Cancel” to leave it out. This is a warning, never a block.
- After “Add anyway”, Tunvio does not ask again until you restart the app.
- A recording that is running on the same account counts as a connection.
- If your provider does not tell the app its limit, Tunvio uses your own value under “Settings › Playback › Advanced”, in the row “Concurrent connections”. The default is 1.
When you leave the app, all tiles stop and free their connections. They start again when you come back. There is no sound in the background.
If it does not work
- A tile says “Channel unavailable”. Tap “Retry”, on a TV press OK on the tile. Tunvio does not reconnect by itself. If it keeps failing, check whether the channel plays in the normal player and whether your provider's connection limit is used up.
- Some tiles stay black, or another device stops playing. Your account may allow fewer connections than tiles. Remove a tile. For other causes, see Fix a stream that won't play, stutters or drops.