SyntraTV IPTV Catch-Up: Go Back and Watch What You Missed

IPTV catch-up lets you play a program that already aired on a live channel, straight from the TV guide. With SyntraTV, you scroll back in the guide of a supported channel, pick the show and it starts from the beginning. There is nothing to schedule ahead and nothing stored on your device. The provider keeps a rolling archive of recent broadcasts, and your player simply requests that slice of time.

Catch-up is one of the three things SyntraTV is built around, next to a full program guide and every screen in sync. It is offered on selected channels, not on all of them, and the replay window changes from channel to channel. This page explains how it differs from recording and on-demand, how to use it in the popular players and what to check when the archive does not appear. You can test it yourself during the 24-hour free trial, with no card.

How IPTV Catch-Up Works Behind the Scenes

Catch-up works because the stream never has to be recorded in your home. On a catch-up channel, the SyntraTV servers hold a rolling archive of what was broadcast. When you select a past program in the guide, your player asks the server for that exact start time and length. The server then plays the archived slice as if it were live.

Three parts have to line up for this to happen:

• A channel with an archive. Only channels flagged for catch-up keep past broadcasts. Others are live only.
• Guide data for that channel. The player uses the program guide to know when each show started and ended.
• A player that speaks catch-up. The app must know how to request archived time, not just the live feed.

If any of the three is missing, you only see the live stream. That is why the same SyntraTV login can show a catch-up icon in one app and nothing in another. The service is the same. What differs is the app on your screen.

Why the replay window is not the same everywhere

Each channel has its own archive length. Some keep only a short stretch, others keep longer. We do not quote a fixed number of days, because the window is set channel by channel and can change. Your player shows how far back you can go: the guide simply stops offering older shows once the archive ends.

What catch-up does not do

Catch-up cannot jump ahead of the live broadcast, since the future has not aired yet. It also does not keep programs for good. Once a show falls outside the channel's window, it is gone from the guide. If you want to keep something, a recording in your player is the better tool.

It is also separate from the on-demand library. A film you find in the Movies menu stays there as long as it is in the catalog. A film that aired on a live channel is only in catch-up for as long as that channel's archive holds it.

Catch-Up vs Recording vs On-Demand

Catch-up, recording and on-demand all let you watch at a time that suits you, yet they work in different ways. Catch-up replays recent broadcasts from the provider's archive. A recording is a copy you save on your own device. On-demand is a separate library of movies and series you can start whenever you like.

For most households, catch-up covers the everyday case. You were putting the kids to bed and missed the news, a talk show or the first half of a game. Recording still helps when you want to keep a show for weeks. On-demand, with 120,000+ movies and series, covers the rest.

Where "start over" fits in

Some players offer a button to restart a show already in progress. That is catch-up too. The app jumps back to the program's start time in the archive. It only works on channels that keep an archive, just like a full replay.

Which SyntraTV Channels Offer Catch-Up

Catch-up is available on selected SyntraTV channels, not across the whole line-up of 25,000+. It is most often found on major entertainment networks, news channels and popular sports channels, where people most often miss a live airing. Your player marks which channels carry an archive, so you never have to guess.

How to spot a catch-up channel:

• A small archive icon next to the channel name or on past programs in the guide.
• Past programs that can be selected. On live-only channels, older shows are greyed out or do nothing.
• A catch-up menu in apps that list archive channels on their own screen.

The full list of categories is on our SyntraTV channel list page. Sports fans can read the IPTV sports guide to see how replays fit around live games from other time zones.

Why not every channel

Keeping an archive takes a lot of storage for every hour of every channel. It also depends on what each source allows. So the list of catch-up channels is chosen, and it can change over time. We would rather be clear about that than promise a replay you cannot find.

If a channel you watch every week has no archive, tell us on WhatsApp. We cannot promise to add it, but requests from viewers do shape which channels we look at next.

Using Catch-Up in TiViMate

In TiViMate, catch-up lives right inside the grid guide. Channels with an archive show a small icon, and past programs on those channels can be played. At the time of writing, catch-up is part of the paid TiViMate Premium upgrade, so check the developer's current feature list before you buy.

1. Sign in with your Xtream login. Add the server, username and password from your SyntraTV activation message. Our TiViMate setup guide shows each screen.
2. Open the TV guide. Press the menu or guide button on your remote.
3. Move left in time. Scroll back along a channel that shows the archive icon.
4. Select the program. Press OK, then choose Play. The show starts from its first minute.
5. Use the seek bar. Skip forward or back within the program as with any video.

If the program ends and you keep watching, TiViMate moves on to the next archived show. To return to live TV, just open the channel again from the list.

A setting worth checking

TiViMate has an option for the catch-up source type in the playlist settings. With an Xtream login, the default usually works. Only change it if support asks you to, since a wrong value stops replays from loading.

Getting around inside a replay

Once a replay is running, the remote works much like it does with any video. Left and right move through the program, and the info key shows how far in you are. Pressing back returns you to the guide at the same point in time, so you can pick another show from that evening without scrolling again.

TiViMate also keeps a list of recently watched channels. It is handy when you replay the same news bulletin or show at the same time each day.

Using Catch-Up in IPTV Smarters Pro and on MAG Boxes

IPTV Smarters Pro puts catch-up on its own tile on the home screen. MAG boxes show it inside the portal's TV guide. Both need the channel to support an archive, and both rely on guide data to list past shows.

IPTV Smarters Pro

1. Log in with "Login with Xtream Codes API" and your SyntraTV details. The IPTV Smarters Pro guide covers this step.
2. On the home screen, open the Catch Up tile.
3. Choose a category, then a channel. Only archive channels are listed there.
4. Pick a date, then the program, and press play.

You can also open the guide from the Live TV screen. Past shows on catch-up channels can be selected there too.

MAG and similar portal boxes

1. Open the TV section of the portal and highlight a channel.
2. Press the EPG or guide button on the remote.
3. Move back to an earlier program. Shows with an archive carry a small icon.
4. Press OK to start the replay. Use the rewind and fast-forward keys to move around.

Menu names vary a little between portal versions and firmware. If a step looks different on your box, our team on WhatsApp can guide you through it on the call.

On any of these devices, one habit saves time. Add the channels you replay most to your favourites. The favourites group then sits at the top of the guide, and last night's show is only a few presses away.

Which Apps Support IPTV Catch-Up

Most full-featured IPTV players support catch-up, but simple media players do not. The table sums up where you will find it with a SyntraTV login. Feature sets change between app versions, so treat it as a guide and check the app's own notes.

For a longer comparison of guides, replays and parental locks, read our post on the best IPTV player for your screen. If you watch on a TV set, the Samsung smart TV setup guide lists the players that run there.

Why the Xtream login matters

An Xtream login sends the player the channel list, the guide and the archive details together. A plain M3U link often lacks the tags that mark archive channels. So if replays are missing, switching to the Xtream login is the first thing to try.

Catch-Up Not Working? Fixes for the Usual Causes

When catch-up does not appear, the cause is almost always one of five things: the channel has no archive, the login type, the app edition, missing guide data or a wrong time offset. Work through them in this order, as the first ones are the quickest to rule out.

1. Try a channel you know has an archive. If replays work there, the first channel is simply live only.
2. Use the Xtream login. Replace an M3U playlist with the server, username and password.
3. Check the app edition. Some players keep catch-up for paid versions. Confirm your app includes it.
4. Refresh the playlist and guide. Old guide data hides past programs. Update both in the settings.
5. Fix the time offset. See below, as this causes the most confusing symptom.

The wrong program starts playing

If you pick the evening news and a quiz show starts, your guide is shifted. The player asks the archive for the wrong hour. Set your device clock to the correct time zone first, then adjust the guide offset in the player. Our IPTV EPG and time zone guide has a table of offsets for every US zone.

Catch-up worked yesterday but not today

This usually follows an app update or a daylight saving change. An update can reset the playlist settings, and a clock change can shift the guide by an hour. Refresh the playlist, check the time offset and try again. If a single channel has lost its archive, message us so we can look into it.

Replays stutter but live TV is fine

Archive playback can take a moment longer to buffer when you jump around. Give it a few seconds after each skip. If it keeps pausing, restart the device and test your line. The FCC broadband speed guide lists what common streaming activities need.

Catch-Up for Sports, News and Every Screen at Home

Catch-up earns its place in the moments when live TV and real life clash. A game kicks off during dinner. The evening news airs while you are still on the road. A new episode lands the night the kids will not settle. On channels with an archive, you simply pick it up later.

• Sports from other time zones. An early-morning match abroad can be replayed from kickoff after breakfast.
• News you missed. Replay the bulletin rather than hunting for clips.
• Talk shows and late-night TV. Watch the next evening instead of staying up.
• Weekly series. If the episode is not yet in on-demand, catch-up may cover the gap.

Replays on more than one screen

The same SyntraTV login works on the TV, a stick, a tablet and a phone. So one person can replay last night's game in the living room while another watches live cartoons in the bedroom. Each replay counts as one of the screens in your plan, just like a live channel. Plans cover 1, 2, 3 or 5 screens at once.

Where you stopped in a replay is saved in that app on that device. It is not synced to your other screens. If you pause on the TV and pick up on your phone, find the program in the guide and skip to the right minute. Setup for a second device takes only a few minutes with our SyntraTV setup guides.

Try SyntraTV Catch-Up Before You Pay

The easiest way to judge catch-up is on your own TV, with the shows your household actually watches. The SyntraTV trial lasts 24 hours and needs no card. Your login arrives on WhatsApp in under 15 minutes, and the same login opens live TV, the guide, catch-up and on-demand.

• Pick three channels you watch weekly. Check which of them show the archive icon.
• Replay last night's program. Confirm it starts at the right minute.
• Test a second screen. Add the same login on a phone or tablet to see how it feels.
• Ask for help if you need it. Message +44 7451 256085 and we will check your player settings with you.

If it suits you, every plan includes catch-up at no extra charge. Prices start at $15 for one screen for a month, and the full list is on the SyntraTV pricing page. First orders carry a 7-day money-back guarantee, and plans never renew on their own.

There is no contract and no box to return. When a plan ends, you choose whether to order again. That keeps catch-up, the guide and every screen on your terms, which is the whole idea behind SyntraTV.