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.

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.

   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.

   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 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).

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

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.