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Education·6 min

By Shamir

Catch-Up TV in IPTV Players: How Timeshift Actually Works

Catch-up TV is one of those IPTV features that's been quietly available for years and most users never knew existed. Your provider keeps the last 3, 5, or 7 days of programming on their server, and any program in that window is replayable on demand — if your player knows how to ask for it.

Most don't. The provider exposes the catch-up endpoints; the player has to read the EPG metadata, construct the right URL, and route playback through it. If the player skips that step, the feature is invisible to you even though it's actually available on your subscription.

This post walks through how catch-up technically works, how to tell if your provider supports it, and how to use it in Tuneline — which has full catch-up support across every platform. Most other players don't.

How Catch-Up Is Implemented

There are three common ways providers expose catch-up:

1. Append-style (most common with Xtream Codes)

The live stream URL looks like:

http://provider.example/live/user/pass/12345.ts

To play a program that aired earlier, the player constructs a different URL:

http://provider.example/timeshift/user/pass/120/2026-05-05:20-00/12345.ts

The numbers and date encode the duration, start time, and channel ID. The player has to know the format and the EPG entry's start time / duration to construct it.

2. Replace-style (Stalker / Ministra)

The Stalker portal API has a dedicated archive_get_url endpoint. The player calls it with the channel ID and the desired timestamp, and the portal returns a fresh playback URL.

3. catchup-source (M3U tag)

Some providers embed catch-up info directly in the M3U as catchup="default" and catchup-source="..." attributes. The player parses these and uses the supplied template URL.

Tuneline supports all three. Whichever way your provider exposes catch-up, the same "Watch from start" / "Watch yesterday at 8pm" affordance appears in the EPG grid.

How to Tell If Your Provider Supports Catch-Up

Two quick checks:

  1. In Tuneline's EPG view, look at past programs. If there's a "Play" button or the program tile is clickable for past entries, your provider exposes catch-up. If past programs are greyed out, they don't.
  2. Ask your provider. "Does your service support catch-up TV / archive playback / timeshift?" Most providers advertise it explicitly because it's a selling point.

Also worth knowing: catch-up windows vary. Common values are 3 days, 5 days, 7 days. Some premium tiers go to 14 or 30. Past the window, programs drop off the server — they're not on demand forever.

Using Catch-Up in Tuneline

From the EPG grid

  1. Open Tuneline and navigate to the EPG view (calendar icon in the top bar, or arrow into the EPG strip on a TV).
  2. Scroll back through the program guide to a past time slot.
  3. Click any program in the past — Tuneline detects the catch-up parameters from the EPG data and starts playback from that program's start time.

If you tried this and the program plays from the start, your provider's catch-up is wired correctly.

From the now-playing strip

If a program is currently airing and you want to start it from the beginning (you joined late), the now-playing strip has a "Start over" button. One click, the stream restarts from the program's actual start time using the catch-up endpoint.

Resume across devices

This is where Tuneline's cross-device sync earns its keep. Start a catch-up program on your laptop, walk to the TV, the resume position is already there. Pick up where you left off.

Why Most Other Players Don't Support Catch-Up

Two reasons:

  1. EPG parsing complexity. To compute catch-up URLs, the player needs to correctly parse XMLTV start times, timezone offsets, and program durations. Many "easy" IPTV players parse just enough EPG to show "Now Playing" on the channel strip and skip the rest. Without full EPG parsing, you can't construct catch-up URLs.
  2. Format fragmentation. Provider-specific URL templates, Xtream's quirks, Stalker's API, the M3U catchup-source attribute — supporting all of them is real work. Most players ship one and call it done. Tuneline supports all three because half the user complaints we got pre-launch were about catch-up not working in their old player.

Catch-Up Is Not the Same as DVR

Worth disambiguating:

  • Catch-up is server-side: your provider keeps the recording and you stream it back. You don't store anything locally. The window is whatever your provider offers (typically 3–7 days).
  • DVR is client-side: you record the stream to local storage. You decide how long to keep it. You can keep recordings forever.

Tuneline supports both — catch-up across all providers that expose it, and local DVR recording for desktop builds where local storage is available. Catch-up is the lower-friction option (no disk usage, no scheduling); DVR is for keeping recordings past your provider's catch-up window.

What Tuneline Adds On Top

A few catch-up-specific features Tuneline ships that generic IPTV players don't:

  • Reminders. Mark a program in the EPG as a reminder; Tuneline notifies you before it airs and stores the catch-up handle if you miss it.
  • "Continue watching" for catch-up. Resume position is tracked just like for VOD, so a half-watched catch-up program picks back up where you stopped.
  • Catch-up search. Search the past EPG window for a show name and Tuneline finds every airing across every channel — including ones you forgot were on.
  • Sync. Reminders, watch positions, and catch-up history all sync across devices on the paid tier.

Install Tuneline on whichever device you use most and these features come on by default.

FAQ

Does catch-up cost extra on my IPTV subscription?

Depends on your provider. Many include it in the base plan. Some treat it as a premium add-on. Ask your reseller.

Why are some channels catch-up-enabled and others not?

Provider-side decision. They license the catch-up rights per channel. Sports and premium movie channels are often excluded.

Will catch-up work behind a VPN?

Yes — catch-up is just another HTTP stream from your provider's server. If your live channels work over VPN, catch-up does too.

Does Tuneline catch-up work on Google TV?

Yes — full EPG navigation with D-pad, including past-time slots. Click a past program with the remote, it plays from start. (Tuneline on Google TV.)

Can I download a catch-up program for offline viewing?

Not via catch-up itself — that's a streaming endpoint. Tuneline's local DVR feature can record while playback is happening, which gets you a local copy. Provider terms of service may restrict what you do with that copy; check before relying on it.

See if your IPTV provider exposes catch-up. Install Tuneline, open the EPG, click a program from yesterday — if it plays, you've been paying for a feature your old player wasn't using.

— Shamir