Channels — Tips & Tricks

Reclaim your Media Library with the Kids Section

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

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.

Channels has a solution for that: the Kids Section.

The Kids Section puts all of your kids’ content in an easy place for them to find what they want to watch. And even better, it keeps that content out of your main library. Now you don’t have to browse through tons of kids movies just to find a Comedy to watch.

Kids Section

Kids watch things differently than adults. Because of this, the Kids Section is organized a little differently than what you’ll find in your main library. We want Channels to be optimized for them too!

The first row is Recently Watched movies. This is the primary list because kids watch the same things over and over again. Showing Recently Watched first allows them to find what they’re looking for faster.

The second row is Recently Added movies. This is a great way for your kids to find new movies you’ve added to their library.

The Kids Section gives your kids a destination in Channels to find and watch exactly what they want, all without having to dig through a library sprinkled with content that might not be appropriate for them.

How Does it Work?

Channels has a feature called Library Visibility. This allows you to tell it where you want content. The options are:

Library
Kids
Both
Hidden

When you set a TV show or movie’s Library Visibility to Kids, Channels will only show that content in the Kids Section. If you choose Library, it only shows in the main library. Choosing Both will make that content visible in both places. And finally, Hidden will hide it from both places.

You can set this option for your content via your Channels DVR Server web admin. Navigate to a show or movie’s details page, and you can set the Library Visibility with its options on the side.

You can also do this directly in Channels by using the options for the TV show or movie. Select and hold the TV show or movie with your remote to get these options. Alternatively, go to the TV show or movie’s details view and select the More button for more options.

Turn On Kids Section

Once you’ve classified your TV shows and movies, you’ll need ot turn on the Kids Section. You can do this at Settings > Library > Kids Section. You can also do this via Server Side Settings to turn it on for all your clients.

Once you’ve turned it on, you can find the Kids Section in the main navigation.

Wrap Up

The Kids Section isn’t just a great way for your kids to find what they want to watch, it also gives you back your own media library. No longer will you have to dig through a bunch of content you only added for your kids, just to find something that you want to watch.

Keep in Sync with Channel Collections

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

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.

Channel Collections let you create your own custom groups of channels for On Now and Guide. Even better, these groups are applied to all of your clients, so you can use them to keep your channels in sync across all of your devices.

Channels fans know that Channel Collections are indespensible, but maybe you haven’t explored them yet. Let’s take look at Channel Collections, how they work, and how you can use them.

What are Channel Collections?

You’re probably familiar with the groups in On Now and Guide that break your channels into different lineups based on the content that’s currently playing on them. Movies shows movies, Sports show sports, News shows news, etc.

Channel Collections let you replace those groups with your own. Create collections for members of your family, based on types of content, or in any other way you want.

How do I use Channel Collections?

Channel Collections are managed from Channels DVR Server. You’ll find Channel Collections under the Live TV section of the web admin.

Simply add a new collection, give it a name, and choose which channels you want it to contain. You can order them any way you’d like.

Once you’ve created some collections, you’ll need to add them to your clients.

Channel Collections are not automatically added to your clients. This allows you to keep some Channel Collections around, while not always using them. This is great for collections you might only want during certain parts of the year like the holidays or say, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Add them when you need them, remove them when you don’t.

Using Server Side Settings, you can add Channel Collections to your clients. Set them globally for all of your clients, or set them per client so that certain rooms in your home have their own custom set of channels.

Read more about the power of Server Side Settings in one of our previous posts.

You’re probably seeing something like the image below by now. You’ll notice that you have extra filters/collections still showing. These collections, All, HD, and Favorites are built in to Channels.

You can’t remove them, but you can hide them. Visit Settings > General > Live TV to hide them. We like to keep the All collection, and turn off HD and the local Favorites collections, so we can use our own.

Do this with Server Side Settings so that it applies to all of your clients. Now you should see something more like the below image, perfect!

Great Collection Examples

Channel Collections are super powerful and you can get extremely creative with them. Here are a few fun examples of collections you can create:

Olympics - Add all the channels that are airing the Olympics to get to them faster. Add the collection while the Olympics are happening, and remove them when they’re done.
Holiday - Use Automatic Channels to pull in channels that are currently airing holiday movies or specials. Make a one stop shop to find all the holiday content you want.
Music - Have a bunch of music channels you like to throw on for background music? Create a collection just for them, to get music going faster.

The possibilities are endless with Channel Collections. If you’re using Channels, you should absolutely be using Channel Collections.

Ease your Life with Server Side Settings

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:00:00 +0000

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.

What if you could adjust your settings in one place, and every client that connects to your server would adopt those settings as if you had painstakingly managed them yourself on each client? This is why we have Server Side Settings.

Wha? How does it work?

Server Side Settings live in your Channels DVR Server. All of the settings available in the Channels app are available. Pick a setting, add it to your list, adjust its value, and voila. That setting will then apply to every client that connects to your server.

By default, settings are added globally and will be adopted by every single client. If your client has had one of these settings set already, the server will override it. If the client has a setting set that is not in the list of Server Side Settings, it will be respected.

It gets better though. You can override any global setting on a per client basis. This means a client will adopt all of the global settings you have set, but then adopt certain settings you have set for just that client.

And even better, when a setting is set server side, it cannot be changed on the client.

In this example, this Apple TV will adopt all of the global settings, which includes NOT SHOWING the timeline when seeking through Sports. But it has been set to SHOW the timeline when seeking through Sports, so it will.

As you can see, Server Side Settings are very simple, but extremely power. Ok, let’s get into some examples of how they can be used.

Protect your Content!

You’ve spent a long time filling up your Channels library. The last thing you want is someone in the house deleting things out of it. While you can easily set your client to not allow deletion, you’re going to have to do it on EVERY device, not to mention remembering to do it when you add a new device in the future. And even then, someone can just go adjust the setting right on the client to turn deletion back on!

Server Side Settings to the rescue!

Boom. Now, not only is every client set to disallow deletion for imported Local Content, only those with access to the server can change the setting. Now your content is safe.

Lock Down the Kids

The Kids Section in Channels is great for a family. It gives the kids an entire section of the app. This is great for TVs in common areas like the living room.

But what if your kids have their own device? Enter Kids Only Mode. With a single Server Side Setting, you can turn on Kids Only Mode for a specific client locking their Channels down to only show content from the Kids Section. It turns their iPads into a full Channels app only showing their content.

Preserve the Data Plan

Have you set up Remote DVR to let you stream while you’re away from home? If so, you might be concerned about the data usage on your cellular plan.

Worry no longer. Using Server Side Settings, you can set the max quality settings for all your clients. And again, these can not be changed from the client. It’s official, they are LOCKED DOWN.

The Possibilities are Endless

Server Side Settings are a powerful tool. They allow you to set up your clients once and never have to worry about them again. They don’t just save you time now and in the future, they allow you to craft a TV experience with Channels that your family will love.