Chapter 7

Watching and Recording Shows with Fire TV Recast

IN THIS CHAPTER

check Getting to know Fire TV Recast

check Setting up Fire TV Recast in your home

check Watching live over-the-air TV shows

check Recording and viewing over-the-air TV shows

check Managing your Fire TV Recast

Does anyone watch live broadcast TV anymore? Oh, sure, lots of people still tune in to sporting events, election coverage, and other major events as they happen, but it’s becoming increasingly rare to watch primetime shows and other standard TV fare when they first air. Instead, like the good digital citizens we’ve all become, we record what we want to watch and then play it back when it suits us and our lifestyles.

In this chapter, you discover the Amazon device that lets you watch and record live TV shows without requiring an expensive cable package. It’s called Fire TV Recast, and its job is to view and record shows that you pick up using an HDTV antenna. It’s the perfect complement to your existing Fire TV system, and you explore how it works in this chapter.

What Is Fire TV Recast?

In Chapter 10, I take you through a ten-step program for cutting the cord (ditching your cable TV account). If that sounds drastic, remember that you’ll have access to free services such as Amazon Prime Video (if you’re an Amazon Prime member), IMDb TV, and YouTube; subscription services such as Hulu and Netflix; and whatever over-the-air channels your HDTV antenna can bring in. Oh, and you also have that extra money in the bank from not having to pay an exorbitant cable bill each month. Sweet!

Remember Over-the-air (often shortened to OTA) refers to a signal that is broadcast wirelessly. So over-the-air TV refers to a TV signal broadcast from a station and picked up by an antenna.

Ah, but there’s one little thing missing from this otherwise idyllic scenario. Streaming services enable you to watch content anywhere, anytime, but that’s not true of over-the-air programming, which only airs once (usually) at a set time (what too-full-of-themselves network execs used to call “appointment television”). If you want the freedom and convenience of watching over-the-air shows whenever you like and however often you like (and I know you do), then you need to add another bit of equipment to your setup: a digital video recorder (DVR).

A DVR is a device that accepts an incoming video feed (such as the signal from an HDTV antenna) and records a specified show to an internal or external hard drive. You can then play back the show when it’s convenient for you and replay the show as often as you can stand it.

There are lots of DVR choices out there, but you really only need one that records over-the-air TV. Again, you’ll find a bunch of over-the-air recorders on the market, but because you’re already comfortably ensconced in the Fire TV market, it makes sense to go with Amazon’s Fire TV Recast, which (as you can tell by the name) is designed to work seamlessly with Fire TV. For this to work, you need a Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, or a Fire TV Edition device (such as a Fire TV Edition Smart TV or Fire TV Edition Soundbar).

Remember In a pinch, if you don’t have a Fire TV device, you can also view your Fire TV Recast programs and recordings on an Amazon Echo Show or Amazon Echo Show 5. Just make sure that the Fire TV Recast and the Echo Show are on the same Wi-Fi network and are registered to the same Amazon account.

Fire TV Recast comes in two flavors:

  • Two tuners, 500GB, 75 hours: This configuration comes with two channel tuners, which means you can record up to two shows simultaneously. This Fire TV Recast has a 500GB internal hard drive, which means you can store up to about 75 hours of high-definition (HD) programs.
  • Four tuners, 1TB, 150 hours: This configuration comes with four channel tuners, which means you can record up to four shows simultaneously. This Fire TV Recast has a 1TB internal hard drive, which means you can store up to about 150 hours of HD programs.

Remember A Fire TV Recast can only record shows from an over-the-air connection. You can’t use a Fire TV Recast device to record shows from your streaming services or other Fire TV content.

Getting Ready for Fire TV Recast

Before getting started with the Fire TV Recast setup, here’s a list of what you need to make the Fire TV Recast thing happen:

  • A Fire TV Recast device (but you knew that already).
  • An HDTV antenna (indoor or outdoor).
  • A coaxial cable.
  • A Wi-Fi router that’s connected to the Internet.
  • A Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Edition Smart TV, Fire TV Edition Soundbar, Echo Show, or Echo Show 5; make sure the device is connected to your Wi-Fi network.
  • An account with Amazon.
  • A mobile device (such as an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, or an Amazon Fire Tablet) running the Fire TV mobile app and connected to your Wi-Fi network.

It’s worth mentioning here that technically you don’t need a Fire TV device to use Fire TV Recast. Instead, you can watch and record over-the-air programs using only the Fire TV mobile app (or an Echo Show or Echo Show 5, if you have one). However, you do need a Fire TV device to manage the Fire TV Recast recordings, so it’s worth including Fire TV in the loop.

Positioning Fire TV Recast

One of the things that often confuses folks who are new to Fire TV Recast is that the device doesn’t have an interface of its own that you can use to set up the device or record shows. Many people expect that they can connect Fire TV Recast to a TV and then control the device from there. Nope, sorry. Instead, the Fire TV Recast uses your Wi-Fi network to connect to your Fire TV device and your Fire TV mobile app, and you watch and record over-the-air shows and customize Fire TV Recast through either the Fire TV interface or the Fire TV mobile app.

In other words, your Fire TV Recast is a set-it-and-forget-it device that, once configured, you can tuck away and never think about again. Okay, I hear you ask, but tuck away where, exactly? To answer that question, you need to know that your Fire TV Recast requires two physical connections, as shown in Figure 7-1:

  • A coaxial cable connection to an HDTV antenna
  • A power cable connection to an AC outlet
Illustration depicting how Fire TV Recast requires two physical connections  to both an HDTV antenna and a power outlet.

FIGURE 7-1: Fire TV Recast requires connections to both an HDTV antenna and a power outlet.

The HDTV antenna and the Fire TV Recast cable connections are what determine where you position your hardware in your home:

  • For best results with an indoor antenna, mount the antenna on or near a window.
  • The Fire TV Recast streams its recorded shows over your Wi-Fi network, so you can position it anywhere you like that’s within the range of your Wi-Fi router (although, not surprisingly, the stronger the Wi-Fi signal, the better).
  • Make sure the Fire TV Recast is close enough to your HDTV antenna for the antenna’s coaxial cable to reach.
  • Make sure the Fire TV Recast is close enough to a power outlet for the device’s power cord to reach.

Setting Up Fire TV Recast

Run through these steps to get the Fire TV Recast device connected and ready to record your over-the-air programs:

  1. On your mobile device, open the Fire TV mobile app.
  2. Tap Set Up a Fire TV Recast (U.S. Only).

    As that “U.S. Only” parenthetical implies, as of this writing the Fire TV Recast can only be used with Amazon accounts based in the United States. Amazon has not announced any plans to bring Fire TV Recast to other countries.

    The app now runs through a few introductory screens, so tap Next until your mobile device asks for permission to allow Fire TV Recast to access your location.

  3. Tap Continue and then tap Allow (Android) or OK (iOS).

    The Fire TV mobile app displays the Antenna Range screen.

  4. Tap the range of your antenna if you know it (if you don’t know the range of your antenna, skip it), and then tap Next.

    The Fire TV mobile app takes you through a series of screens that offer advice on choosing a location for your Fire TV Recast and your HDTV antenna.

  5. Run a coaxial cable from your HDTV antenna to the Antenna port on the back of the Fire TV Recast (refer to Figure 7-1), and then tap Next.
  6. Connect the Fire TV Recast power cord to the power outlet, and then tap Next.

    The Fire TV mobile app now tells you to wait until the LED in front of the Fire TV Recast pulses white (see Figure 7-2) to indicate setup is in progress. Note that this may take as long as a couple of minutes, so put on your Patient hat for this step.

    Illustration of the Fire TV mobile app that tells the user to wait until the LED in front of the Fire TV Recast is highlighted to indicate that the setup is in progress.

    FIGURE 7-2: When Fire TV Recast is connecting to your HDTV antenna, the front LED pulses white.

  7. Tap the link that says The Light Is Pulsing White.

    The Fire TV mobile app connects to the Fire TV Recast and adds the device to your network. The app also registers your Fire TV Recast on your Amazon account and checks for updates to the Fire TV Recast software. If you see the message “Updating Fire TV Recast,” put your Patient hat back on and wait until the update is complete.

    Warning While you see the “Updating Fire TV Recast” message, do not unplug the Fire TV Recast from the power outlet or you may render the device unusable.

    When the update (assuming there is one) is finished, Fire TV Recast starts scanning your antenna’s over-the-air signal for available TV channels, and you see the progress of the scan in the Fire TV mobile app. When the scan is complete, the Fire TV mobile app opens the Channel Scan screen, which displays a list of the over-the-air channels it found.

  8. If the number of channels seems low, try moving the HDTV antenna to a different location, and then tap Rescan in the Channel Scan screen.

    Feel free to repeat Step 8 as often as you want. If you’re disappointed by how many channels you get, remember that over-the-air signals are limited by both your geography (that is, how far away you are from the station transmitters) and topography (there may be local structures that are getting in the way of one or more signals).

  9. When you’re done with the channel scan, tap Next.

    The All Done screen appears.

  10. Tap Done.

Remember Your Fire TV Recast should pair automatically with your Fire TV or Fire TV Edition device (or your Echo Show). If the pairing doesn’t work, for some reason, make sure the Fire TV Recast and Fire TV device are on the same network and registered to the same Amazon account, and then use the Fire TV mobile app to tap Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Live TV Sources ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ Pair a Fire TV Recast.

Watching and Recording Over-the-Air TV

With your Fire TV Recast connected to your antenna and paired with your Fire TV device and Fire TV mobile app, you’re ready to start watching and recording over-the-air TV shows. Note that although most people control these Fire TV Recast functions through the Fire TV interface, you can also watch and record shows using the Fire TV mobile app or an Echo Show or Echo Show 5.

Managing your over-the-air channels

Before you access your over-the-air channels, there are a few channel-management chores you should run through to optimize your viewing and recording experience. In the next three sections I talk about checking channel signal strength, designating favorite channels, and hiding channels.

Checking channel signal strength

In the “Setting Up Fire TV Recast” section, earlier in this chapter, I explain that you can reposition your HDTV antenna and then ask Fire TV Recast to rescan for available channels. That’s a great way to ensure you’re receiving the most signals that are available to you, but it’s unfortunate that the Fire TV Recast doesn’t tell you anything about the signal strength of the channels it locates.

The next-best thing is to check each channel’s signal strength yourself. You don’t need to check every channel; instead, just check the signal for each channel that you’ll be watching or recording frequently.

Here are the steps to follow to check the signal strength of your most-used channels:

  1. On your Fire TV device, choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Channel Management ⇒ Fire TV Recast.

    Fire TV displays a complete list of your channels.

  2. Select the channel you want to check.

    On the right side of the screen, Fire TV displays a preview of the channel and the Signal Strength value: good, poor, or unavailable.

  3. If the channel preview is bad quality and/or the Signal Strength value is poor, try repositioning the HDTV antenna until you get a good signal.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other channels you want to check.

Adding a channel to your favorites

As I discuss real soon now (see “Recording over-the-air shows,” later in this chapter), Fire TV Recast extends your normal Fire TV interface with a channel guide that lists your available over-the-air channels. That’s an easy list to navigate if your antenna only brings in a few channels, but the list quickly gets unwieldy when your channels number in the dozens.

One quick way to tame a wild channel guide is to mark one or more channels as favorites, which then handily appear at the top of the channel guide (in a section labelled Favorite Channels; see Figure 7-3) for easy access.

Screenshot displaying over-the-air channels marked as favorites that appear in the Favorite Channels list.

FIGURE 7-3: Over-the-air channels marked as favorites appear in the Favorite Channels list.

Here are the steps to follow to mark one or more channels as favorites:

  1. On your Fire TV device, choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Channel Management ⇒ Fire TV Recast.

    Fire TV displays your over-the-air channels.

  2. Select the channel you want to mark as a favorite.
  3. Select Add to Favorites.

    Fire TV adds the channel to the favorites list.

    After you select the Add to Favorites command, the command name changes to Remove from Favorites, so you can use this command to toggle a channel on and off the list of favorites.

    Tip You can also toggle a channel to and from the favorites list by pressing the Menu button on your Fire TV remote.

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other channels you want to add to your favorites.

Hiding a channel

If your HDTV antenna picks up quite a few stations, but it includes one or more stations that you never watch, you can make the channel guide easier and quicker to navigate by hiding those unwatched stations. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. On your Fire TV device, choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Channel Management ⇒ Fire TV Recast.

    Fire TV displays your channels.

  2. Select the channel you want to hide.
  3. Select Hide Channel.

    Fire TV removes the channel from the channel guide.

    After you select the Hide Channel command, the command name changes to Show Channel, so you can also use this command to reinstate a previously hidden channel.

    Tip You can also hide or show a channel by pressing the Play/Pause button on your Fire TV remote.

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other channels you want to hide.

Watching over-the-air shows live

You probably picked up a Fire TV Recast because of its digital video recording capabilities, but the device is also a TV tuner, which means you can use your Fire TV Recast to watch live over-the-air shows on whatever channels your antenna picks up. Watching live TV is fine, but with your Fire TV Recast, you can also perform the following tricks:

  • Pause the show you’re watching.
  • Rewind the current show all the way back to the point at which you started watching the show (up to 90 minutes).
  • Fast-forward the current show all the way up to the point at which the show is currently airing.

Remember You can watch live over-the-air TV on up to two devices (either Fire TV devices or Echo Show devices). This limit applies even if you have a Fire TV Recast that comes with four tuners.

Watching over-the-air shows using Fire TV

After your Fire TV Recast has paired with your Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube, or Fire TV Edition Smart TV or Fire TV Edition Soundbar, you’ll notice that the menu bar at the top of the main Fire TV screen now comes with a DVR tab sandwiched between the Your Videos and Movies tabs (see Figure 7-4).

Screenshot displaying a DVR tab that is sandwiched between the  Videos and Movies tabs, while connecting a Fire TV Recast to a system.

FIGURE 7-4: Connecting a Fire TV Recast to your system adds the DVR tab to the Fire TV menu bar.

Use the Fire TV remote to select the DVR tab, which opens the DVR screen, shown in Figure 7-5. The On Now (Fire TV Recast) row shows thumbnail views of the current over-the-air TV shows. Use the Fire TV remote’s navigation ring to navigate the shows in the On Now list. For each show you land on, Fire TV displays the name, start and stop times, and a brief description. When you land on a show you want to watch, press the Select button. To return to the On Now list, press the Back button on the Fire TV remote. If you prefer to go directly to the channel guide (which I discuss below), press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button and then select Channel Guide in the menu that appears.

Screenshot of a DVR screen displaying thumbnail views of the current over-the-air TV shows, using the Fire TV remote.

FIGURE 7-5: Selecting the DVR tab opens the DVR screen.

Remember The Home screen’s On Now list may also include other live TV streams that are included in your subscribed services. Alas, although you can use On Now to select one of these streams to watch, you can’t record a stream using Fire TV Recast.

Alternatively, you can select the Live tab in the Fire TV Home menu bar. The Live screen that appears contains not only your Fire TV Recast over-the-air channels, but also any other live content from your other Fire TV services.

Remember When this book was written, the Live command was a new feature that had not yet been rolled out to all Fire TV customers. If you don’t see the Live command on your Fire TV menu bar, it means this feature isn’t available in your area just yet.

Watching over-the-air shows using the Fire TV mobile app

If you don’t have a Fire TV device or your Fire TV device is up two floors and you’re feeling lazy, no problem: You can watch your Fire TV Recast over-the-air shows right from the comfort of the Fire TV mobile app. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Open the Fire TV mobile app on your mobile device.
  2. Tap On Now.

    The Fire TV mobile app displays the On Now screen, which shows thumbnail views and descriptions of the current over-the-air shows.

  3. Tap the show you want to watch.

    The Fire TV mobile app starts playing the show.

Watching over-the-air shows with voice commands

With the Fire TV remote in hand, you can press the Voice button and then speak any of the following commands to watch over-the-air TV:

  • “Select DVR.”
  • “Select Live.”
  • “Show what’s on now.”
  • “Show the channel guide.”
  • “Next” (to scroll to the next On Now or Channel Guide screen).
  • “Previous” (to scroll to the previous On Now or Channel Guide screen).
  • “Tune to [signal]” (where [signal] is the show’s name or network).
  • “Pause.”
  • “Play.”
  • “Rewind X seconds” (where X is the number of seconds you want to go back).
  • “Fast-forward X seconds” (where X is the number of seconds you want to go forward).

Watching over-the-air shows using an Echo Show

If you have an Echo Show (or Echo Show 5) connected to your Fire TV Recast, say, “Alexa, show the channel guide” to bring up the On Now screen, which lists all your over-the-air channels. If you have more over-the-air channels than will fit on a single screen, say, “Alexa, next” to display the next screenful (and “Alexa, previous” to go back a screen). When you see the show you want to watch, say, “Alexa, tune to signal,” where signal is the name of the show, the name of the show’s network, or the show’s number in the On Now list.

Setting recording options

Before I show you how to record over-the-air programs, you should take a minute or three to peruse and, if needed, adjust the Fire TV Recast options for recording TV series. For example, you can configure Fire TV Recast to stop all your series recordings a little after each show’s scheduled stop time. Note that Fire TV Recast keeps track of two types of recording options:

  • Default Recording Options: Apply to every TV series you record (although they’re overridden by the Series Recording Options that I discuss next); see Figure 7-6.
  • Series Recording Options: Apply only to the recording of a specific series.
Screenshot displaying the default recording options of the Live TV Recast to select when recordings will start for a program.

FIGURE 7-6: The Fire TV Recast default recording options.

Here are the available options:

  • Start Recording: Choose On Time to start the recording at the show’s scheduled start time, as shown in the channel guide (this is the default setting). However, you may find that one or more shows mis-time the beginning and start a minute or two earlier, which means you miss the beginning. Cue the gnashing of teeth. In that case, use the Start Recording option to select the number of minutes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60) before the show’s scheduled start time that you want the recording to begin.
  • Stop Recording: Choose On Time to stop the recording at the show’s scheduled stop time as shown in the channel guide (this is the default setting). If you find that one or more shows are running late (usually because a previous show — I’m looking at you Sunday afternoon football games — ran over its scheduled stop time), use the Stop Recording option to select the number of minutes (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60) after the show’s scheduled stop time that you want the recording to end.
  • Protect (Never Delete): Choose No to enable series episodes to be deleted (this is the default). If you want to ensure that a series’ episodes can’t be deleted, choose Yes instead.
  • Keep At Most: Choose the maximum number of the most recent series episodes you want Fire TV Recast to store (5, 15, 20, or All Available; the default is 15). If you choose a number, then when you reach that maximum, Fire TV Recast automatically begins deleting the oldest episodes. If you choose All Available, Fire TV Recast keeps every episode in the series until it runs out of storage space, at which point it begins deleting the oldest episodes to free up room for new recordings.

    Remember If you find that the Keep At Most option is disabled, it means you’ve protected the series by setting its Protect (Never Delete) option to Yes.

  • Recording Preference: Choose All Episodes to configure Fire TV Recast to record both first-run episodes and reruns (this is the default). If you don’t want Fire TV Recast to record reruns, choose New Episodes instead.
  • Image Quality: Choose the quality of the recordings: high definition (HD) or standard definition (SD). There are five choices:
    • HD Preferred: Records in HD if it’s available, but still records the show if it’s presented in SD; this is the default.
    • HD Only: Records only if the show is presented in HD; skips the recording if the show is presented in SD.
    • SD Preferred: Records in SD if it’s available, but still records the show if it’s presented in HD.
    • SD Only: Records only if the show is presented in SD; skips the recording if the show is presented in HD.
    • No Preference: Records the show no matter what quality it’s presented in.

Setting recording options using Fire TV

If you’re using a Fire TV device, you can set your preferred recording options as follows:

  • Default recording options for all series: Choose DVR ⇒ DVR Settings ⇒ Default Recording Options. (Alternatively, you can choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Live TV Sources ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ DVR ⇒ Default Recording Options.)
  • Recording options for a series: Select DVR, navigate to and then select the series, and then select Series Recording Options. (Alternatively, highlight the series in the DVR screen, press the Menu button on the Fire TV remote, and then select Recording Options.)

Setting recording options using the Fire TV mobile app

You can also use the Fire TV mobile app to set your preferred recording options. However, the app doesn’t let you set recording options for individual series. Instead, all you can do with the app is set the default recording options that apply to all series: Choose Settings ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ Default Recording Options.

Recording over-the-air shows

Fire TV Recast makes it easy to watch live over-the-air TV, but it really shines when it comes to recording stuff to watch later when it’s convenient for you. Fire TV Recast gives you many ways to record your favorite shows. In the next few sections, I take you through everything you need to know.

Watching and recording shows at the same time

One of the first questions folks new to Fire TV Recast ask is, “Can I watch live TV and record another show at the same time?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” although how many shows you can watch and record simultaneously depends on your Fire TV Recast device.

If you have Fire TV Recast with two tuners, you have the following watch-and-record options:

  • Watch one live and one recorded program on different devices and record one program in the background.
  • Watch two recorded programs on different devices and record up to two programs in the background.

If you have a Fire TV Recast with four tuners, you can watch and record simultaneously as follows:

  • Watch one live and one recorded program on different devices and record up to three other programs in the background.
  • Watch two recorded programs on different devices and record up to four programs in the background.
  • Watch two live programs on different devices and record up to two other programs in the background.

Recording over-the-air shows using Fire TV

If you’re using a Fire TV device, here are the various methods you can use to record a series or episode:

  • From the Live screen or On Now list, highlight a show, press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button, select Record, then select either This Episode or Full Series.
  • From the channel guide, highlight a show that’s currently on-air, press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button, select Record, and then select either This Episode or Full Series.
  • From the channel guide, navigate to a show that’s scheduled to air in the future and then select the show to open its info screen. Select either Record Series or Record Episode.
  • From the Fire TV Home screen, search for the show you want to record. (I explain how to search Fire TV in Chapter 6.) In the search results, use the Channels list to navigate to the show you want; then select the show. If the show is currently on air, press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button and then select Record. Select either This Episode or Full Series.

How do you know whether a given program is recording now or is scheduled to be recorded? Fire TV gives you two indicators:

  • If a show is being recorded now, you see a solid red dot in the show’s thumbnail in the On Now list or the Channel Guide.
  • If a show is scheduled to be recorded, you see a hollow red dot in the show’s thumbnail in the On Now list or the Channel Guide.

Tip If a recording is in progress and it looks like the program will extend past the scheduled stop time, stay calm, open the Fire TV DVR tab, and then navigate to the recording program. Press Menu on your Fire TV remote, select Recording Options, and then adjust the Stop Recording value to extend the recording up to one hour. Whew!

Recording over-the-air shows using the Fire TV mobile app

Unfortunately, the Fire TV mobile app offers only a limited number of options for recording programs. Specifically, you can’t search for programs to record, nor can you access a channel guide to schedule a recording. All you can do through the app is record a currently on-air program as follows:

  • Tap On Now, use the On Now screen to displays the thumbnail view of the show you want to record, tap More Options, and then tap Record.
  • While watching a show, tap the screen and then tap Record.

Recording over-the-air shows with voice commands

To record an over-the-air show by voice, use the Fire TV remote to press the Voice button and then say the following:

“Record [series].”

Make sure that [series] is the full title of the series you want to record. In case you’re wondering, yes this command tells Fire TV Recast to record all episodes of the series you specified and, no, there isn’t a voice way to tell Fire TV Recast to record just a single episode in the series.

To cancel a recording, press the Voice button and then say

“Cancel recording [series].”

Again, [series] is the full title of the series you want to stop recording.

Watching recorded over-the-air shows

After you’ve recorded one or more shows using Fire TV Recast, you can watch those shows anytime you like using Fire TV, the Fire TV mobile app, or an Echo Show. Your Fire TV Recast also lets you control playback by pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding the show.

Watching recorded over-the-air shows using Fire TV

To watch a recorded show on your Fire TV device, follow these steps:

  1. Select the DVR tab in the Fire TV menu bar.

    The DVR screen appears. This screen includes a list titled My Recordings, which contains all your Fire TV Recast recordings.

  2. Use the My Recordings list to highlight the recorded program you want to watch.
  3. Press the Select button on the Fire TV remote.

    Fire TV Recast begins playing the recorded show.

Tip The Protect (Never Delete) option that I talk about earlier applies to all the episodes in a series, but what if you want to protect just a single episode? No sweat: Follow steps 1 and 2 to highlight the recording you want to preserve, press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button, and then select Protect Recording.

Watching recorded over-the-air shows using the Fire TV mobile app

Whether you recorded an over-the-air show using a Fire TV device or the Fire TV mobile app, you can still watch any recording using the app, which is handy if you’re not sitting by your TV. Here’s what you do:

  1. Open the Fire TV mobile app on your mobile device.
  2. Tap Recordings.

    The Fire TV mobile app displays the Recordings screen, which shows thumbnail views and descriptions of the shows you’ve recorded.

  3. Tap the recording you want to watch.

    The Fire TV mobile app starts playing the recording.

Watching recorded over-the-air shows using voice commands

To watch recordings via voice commands, pick up the Fire TV remote, press the Voice button, and then speak any of the following commands:

  • “Show my recordings.”
  • “Next” (to scroll to the next My Recordings screen).
  • “Previous” (to scroll to the previous My Recordings screen).
  • “Play [name]” (where name is the show’s name).
  • “Pause.”
  • “Resume.”
  • “Rewind X seconds” (where X is the number of seconds you want to go back).
  • “Fast-forward X seconds” (where X is the number of seconds you want to go forward).

Watching recorded over-the-air shows using an Echo Show

If you have an Echo Show (or Echo Show 5) connected to your Fire TV Recast, say, “Alexa, show my recordings” to bring up the My Recordings screen, which lists all your recorded shows. If you have more recordings than will fit on a single screen, say, “Alexa, next” to display the next screenful (and “Alexa, previous” to go back a screen). When you see the recording you want to watch, say, “Alexa, tune to [signal],” where [signal] is the name of the show, the name of the show’s network, or the show’s number in the On Now list.

Managing Your Fire TV Recast

As I mention earlier, the Fire TV Recast is blissfully noninteractive, so most of the time you can set it up and then basically forget that it even exists. However, the Fire TV Recast does come with a few management features that you should know about, and I spend the rest of this chapter telling you about them.

Checking DVR storage

Your Fire TV Recast stores its recordings on an internal hard drive that contains either 500GB or 1TB of digital real estate, depending on which model of Fire TV Recast your purchased. Whichever size drive you have, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how much storage the drive is currently using because if the drive gets full, Fire TV Recast will automatically start deleting the oldest show episodes to make room for new recordings.

You can check how much space your recordings are currently using with either a Fire TV device or the Fire TV mobile app:

  • Fire TV device: Choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Live TV Sources ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ DVR Storage (see Figure 7-7).
  • Fire TV mobile app: Choose Settings ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ About ⇒ Internal Storage.
  • Voice: Press the Voice button and then say, “How full is my DVR?”
Screenshot displaying the default recording options of the Live TV Recast to select the DVR Storage setting to check how much storage has been used.

FIGURE 7-7: Select the DVR Storage setting to check how much room you’ve used to store recordings.

Technical stuff When you check your storage, don’t be alarmed if the total storage is less than what you expect. For example, a Fire TV Recast with 1TB of storage may show something like 991GB as total storage. That “missing” storage is perfectly normal: It’s a portion of the hard drive that Fire TV Recast used to install its internal software.

Adding external DVR storage

Whether you have a Fire TV Recast with 500GB or 1TB of internal storage, you may find yourself running out of room if you record and save a lot of shows. Hoarding, er, I mean curating a large collection of shows is very common, but don’t let the size of your Fire TV Recast internal drive cramp your style. Instead, you can indulge your habit, sorry, hobby as needed by adding the largest external hard drive that your budget will allow. High-five!

Okay, so your first task is to get an external USB hard drive. Amazon says that it has “tested and currently recommends” just the following three drives:

  • Seagate Fast SSD 250GB
  • Toshiba Canvio for Desktop 3TB
  • WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive – USB 3.0

Tip Amazon is just being cautious here, so don’t feel you have to choose something from this list (as of this writing, the Toshiba has only limited availability anyway). For best performance without spending a fortune, stick with USB 3.0 drives.

Run through these steps on a Fire TV device to tell the Recast to use the new drive for storage:

  1. Choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Live TV Sources ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ Add External Storage.

    Fire TV prompts you to connect the external drive.

  2. Connect the external hard drive to the USB port in the back of the Fire TV Recast.

    Fire TV Recast detects the new drive automatically and then warns you that setting up the drive to use with Fire TV Recast will erase all the drive’s content.

  3. Select OK.

    Fire TV Recast formats the drive and sets it up to use for storage.

Remember When Fire TV Recast starts using your external drive, it adds the drive’s capacity to the capacity of the Fire TV Recast internal drive when it calculates total storage. Therefore, when you run the DVR Storage command (see the preceding section), the total available space you see is the sum of both the internal and external hard drives.

Checking scheduled recordings

I mention earlier that when you schedule a program for recording, Fire TV Recast lets you know by displaying the program in the channel guide with a hollow red circle. That’s a nice touch, but what if you want to see everything that you’ve already scheduled to be recorded?

Easy money: Open the DVR screen, scroll down to the DVR Manager row, and then select Scheduled Recordings. Fire TV Recast displays the Scheduled Recordings screen with the Scheduled tab selected (see Figure 7-8 for an example). Select a show to see its details on the right. You can also select a show and then select Options (or press Menu on the remote) to tune to the station now, cancel the recording, or set recording options.

Screenshot of the Scheduled Recordings screen in which the Scheduled tab displays a list of the shows that have been set up to record.

FIGURE 7-8: In the Scheduled Recordings screen, the Scheduled tab displays a list of the shows you’ve set up to record.

Changing recording priority

Depending on the number of tuners in your Fire TV Recast device, you can record up to two or four shows at the same time. Fair enough, but Fire TV Recast does not prevent you from scheduling more than your fair share of shows at a particular time. What happens if your Fire TV Recast supports a maximum of, say, two simultaneous recordings and you schedule three shows for recording at the same time? Fire TV Recast callously ignores one of the shows and records the other two.

How does Fire TV Recast decide which show to ignore? It uses the order in which you scheduled the recordings, with the first shows scheduled getting higher priority than the last shows you scheduled. What if one of those later-scheduled shows is something that you really want to record? Then you have to force Fire TV Recast to record it by manually changing the priority of your scheduled recordings. Here’s how you do it:

  1. From the Fire TV Home screen, select DVR in the menu bar.
  2. Scroll down to the DVR Manager row and select Recording Priority.

    Alternatively, if you’re already viewing your scheduled recordings as I describe in the preceding section, select the Priority tab.

    Fire TV Recast displays the Priority list, an example of which is shown in Figure 7-9.

  3. Highlight the show you want to change, and then press Select.
  4. Use the Fire TV remote’s navigation ring to move the show to the priority you want.

    Press Up to move the show to a higher priority; press Down to move the show to a lower priority.

  5. When the show is in the priority position you want, press Select to set the new priority.
  6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 to change the priority for any other shows you want to work with.
Screenshot of the Scheduled Recordings screen for using the Priority tab to give one show priority over another when recording simultaneously.

FIGURE 7-9: On the Scheduled Recordings screen, use the Priority tab to give one show priority over another when recording simultaneously.

Deleting recordings

When your Fire TV Recast hard drive becomes about 95 percent full, the device automatically starts deleting your oldest recordings whenever it needs to clear out some space for new programs. (This automatic deletion process also kicks in at 95 percent of your total storage when you’ve added an external drive, as I describe in the “Adding external DVR storage” section, earlier in this chapter.) Note that these automatic deletions do not apply to any recording that you’ve protected.

Having Fire TV Recast automate the deletion process takes one thing off your to-do list, but the cost of that convenience may be losing one or more treasured recordings that you forgot to protect. Instead, you can take matters into your own hands and delete no-longer-needed recordings yourself.

Warning Take extra care when deleting a recording because once when Fire TV Recast trashes the recording, there’s no getting it back.

Here’s how to delete recordings you don’t need anymore:

  • Fire TV: In the DVR tab, use the My Recordings list to navigate to the program you want to delete, press the Fire TV remote’s Menu button, and then select Delete.
  • Fire TV mobile app: Select the Recordings tab, scroll to the program you want to delete, tap the program’s More Options button, and then tap Delete.
  • Voice: Press the Fire TV remote’s Voice button and then say, “Delete [name],” where [name] is the full title of the program you want to delete.

Rescanning channels

If you move your existing antenna, get a new antenna, or move to a new home, you should tell Fire TV Recast to run a new channel scan to see what’s available.

You can rescan channels using either a Fire TV device or the Fire TV mobile app:

  • Fire TV device: Choose Settings ⇒ Live TV ⇒ Live TV Sources ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ Channel Scan.
  • Fire TV mobile app: Choose Settings ⇒ Fire TV Recast ⇒ Channel Management ⇒ Channel Scan.
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