Knowledge Base

Using TiVo

TiVo Home Screen

The TiVo Home screen is your hub for streaming apps, personalised recommendations, and quick access to all your Aero’s features. Press the TiVo button on your remote to open it at any time.

Navigating the Home Screen

The Home screen is organised into rows of content. Use your remote to browse:

  • Up/​Down: Move between rows
  • Left/​Right: Scroll through items within a row

You’ll find rows for Live TV channels, personalised recommendations based on your viewing, and My Apps where your favourite streaming apps live.

The Sidebar Menu

Press left from the Home screen to open the sidebar menu. Here you’ll find:

  • Search: Find content across your apps and live TV
  • Watchlist: View programmes you’ve saved to watch later
  • All Apps: Browse and open any app installed on your Aero
  • Settings: Adjust your Aero’s settings, including display, sound, and accessibility

My Apps

The My Apps row gives you quick access to your most-used streaming apps. You can customise this row to put your favourites front and centre.

To add or rearrange apps, head to All Apps in the sidebar, find the app you want, and follow the on-screen options to add it to My Apps.

Personalising Your Experience

The Home screen learns from your viewing habits and improves its recommendations over time. You can help it get to know your tastes:

Rate content: When you see something you like (or don’t), use the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down buttons on your remote. This helps TiVo understand what to recommend.

Use your Watchlist: When you spot something you’d like to watch later, add it to your Watchlist. You can access your saved items anytime from the sidebar menu. Note that this Watchlist is separate from Freely’s My List – items you save in one won’t appear in the other, as they cover different content.

The more you interact with the Home screen, the better it becomes at surfacing content you’ll enjoy.

TiVo Accessibility

Your Aero includes accessibility settings at the TiVo system level, giving you control over audio guidance, audio description, and more. These settings apply across the device and, where relevant, sync with Freely.

Accessing Accessibility Settings

There are two ways to reach the accessibility options:

From the Settings menu: Press the Settings button on your remote, then select Accessibility.

Using the quick shortcut: Hold down the Mute button to open the Accessibility Shortcuts menu. This gives you fast access to toggle settings without navigating through menus.

Available Settings

Audio Description

Turns on spoken narration during programmes that support it, describing visual elements during gaps in dialogue. This setting syncs with Freely – if you turn it on here, it will also be on in Freely, and vice versa.

Audio Guidance

Provides spoken feedback as you navigate menus and screens on your Aero. This helps you move around the interface without relying on the display.

Note: Audio Guidance works on TiVo screens but does not currently work within Freely. For accessible navigation in Freely, see the Accessible TV Guide on Channel 555.

Power On/​Off Sound

A short sound plays when your Aero turns on or off, giving you audio confirmation that the device is responding. This is enabled by default but can be turned off if you prefer.

Settings Sync Between Freely and TiVo

The Audio Description setting is linked between Freely and TiVo. When you change it in one place, the change applies everywhere on your Aero. This means you only need to set your preference once, and it’ll be remembered across both environments.

Other settings like High Contrast in Freely and Audio Guidance in TiVo are independent, as they apply to different parts of the system.