Tunein — The Programming Daily

User Guide

Your magazine-style TV guide for local media servers.


Contents


1. [What is Tunein?](#what-is-tunein)

2. [Getting Started](#getting-started)

3. [Adding Your First Feed](#adding-your-first-feed)

4. [Trying the Demo](#trying-the-demo)

5. [The Cover — Tonight's Pick](#the-cover)

6. [On Air Now](#on-air-now)

7. [The Channel Guide](#the-channel-guide)

8. [Favourites](#favourites)

9. [Search](#search)

10. [Providers](#providers)

11. [Settings](#settings)

12. [Weather](#weather)

13. [Pro Version](#pro-version)

14. [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq)


1. What is Tunein? {#what-is-tunein}

Tunein is a magazine-style TV programme guide for your home network. It reads your TV schedule directly from a local media server — no accounts, no subscriptions, no data sent to the cloud.

If you run any of the following on your home network, Tunein can read your listings:

  • Tunarr
  • Jellyfin (with Live TV enabled)
  • Tvheadend
  • HDHomeRun
  • Any IPTV server that produces an XMLTV feed

Everything stays on your local network. Your schedule, your channels, your data.


2. Getting Started {#getting-started}

When you open Tunein for the first time you'll see the onboarding screen. From here you have three options:

OptionWhat it doesStep through the introA 3-step walkthrough explaining what Tunein is and how XMLTV worksTry DemoOpens the app with a fictional built-in lineup so you can explore without a serverSkip introGoes straight to the feed setup screenIf you already know what you're doing, tap Skip intro to add your feed immediately.


3. Adding Your First Feed {#adding-your-first-feed}

Tunein reads TV schedules from an XMLTV feed — a URL that your media server provides.


Finding your XMLTV URL


Server                 Where to find the URL

Tunarr Settings → XMLTV → Copy URL

Jellyfin Dashboard → Live TV → Guide Data → XMLTV URL

Tvheadend Configuration → Channel / EPG → EPG Grabber

HDHomeRun Check the HDHomeRun app or http://[device-ip]/lineup.xmlAdding the feed


  1. Tap the Settings (gear) icon in the top right of the masthead
  2. Tap Add your first XMLTV feed
  3. Paste your XMLTV URL into the XMLTV URL field
  4. Optionally give it a name (e.g. "Living Room Server")
  5. If your server requires authentication, enter your Basic auth (user:pass) or Bearer token
  6. Tap Test connection to verify it works
  7. Tap Add feed



The guide will populate automatically within a few seconds.


Adding more feeds

You can add as many feeds as you like — one per server, per location, or per household. Each becomes its own colour-coded provider in the guide. Tap Add another feed in Settings at any time.


4. Trying the Demo {#trying-the-demo}

Not ready to add a server yet? Tap Try Demo on the onboarding screen to explore Tunein with a built-in fictional lineup.

The demo includes:

  • 6 channels across 3 fictional providers (Tunein Cinema, Tunein General, Tunein News)
  • A full day of programming with titles, descriptions, ratings, and correct live/upcoming status
  • Everything works exactly as it does with a real feed — favourites, search, the channel guide, the cover story

A Demo mode banner appears at the top of the screen while demo is active. Tap Exit demo → to return to the onboarding screen and add a real feed.


5. The Cover — Tonight's Pick {#the-cover}

The Cover is the front page of Tunein. It automatically selects a programme airing at prime time tonight (8pm, with fallbacks to 7pm and 9pm) and presents it as a full magazine cover story.

What you'll see:

  • The programme's poster image (if available from your server)
  • Title, description, rating, and year
  • Channel name and air time
  • A See the listings button to jump to the Channel Guide

Below the cover story you'll find two regular columns:

  • Joke of the Day — a fresh joke fetched daily from icanhazdadjoke.com
  • Did You Know? — a film and TV trivia fact from the Open Trivia Database

The cover picks a show once per session and stays locked in — it won't change while you're browsing or searching.


6. On Air Now {#on-air-now}

The On Air Now section shows everything currently playing across all your feeds.

Features:

  • Favourites float to the top — channels and programmes you've saved always appear first
  • Progress bar on each card shows how far through the programme you are
  • Time remaining shows how long is left (e.g. "32 min left")
  • Live dot pulses on currently airing programmes
  • Search filters this section in real time

Cards show the programme title, channel, category, description, and time. Tap the ★ star on any card to save it to your favourites.


7. The Channel Guide {#the-channel-guide}

The Channel Guide is a full scrollable grid showing all channels and their schedules across a 24-hour window.


Navigating the guide

  • Scroll left/right to move through time — the guide centres on the current time
  • The red line marks the current time
  • ◀ ▶ buttons jump the guide forward or backward by 2 hours at a time


Reading the guide

Each row is a channel. Each coloured block is a programme. The colour of the left border indicates the category:


Colour Category

Red/Vermillion Cinema

Dark Series

Blue News

Green Sport

Gold Kids

Grey Documentary


Programme details

On tablet/touch: Tap any programme block to see its full details in the panel at the bottom of the screen — title, subtitle, synopsis, channel, time, year, and rating.

On desktop: Hover over a programme to preview it. Click to lock the detail card in place.


Saving favourites

Tap the ★ star that appears on a programme block (or in the detail card at the bottom) to save it to your favourites.


Filtering

Use the filter chips above the guide to narrow down:

  • ★ Favorites — show only channels you've favourited
  • All providers — show everything
  • Provider name — show only channels from a specific feed


Searching

Type in the search box in the masthead to filter the guide to matching programmes and channels.


8. Favourites {#favourites}

Tunein lets you save both channels and programmes as favourites.


Saving a channel

Tap the ★ star next to any channel name in the Channel Guide's left column.


Saving a programme

Tap the ★ star on a programme block in the guide, or use the Save button in the detail card at the bottom.


Viewing favourites

  • Favourite programmes airing now float to the top of On Air Now
  • In the Channel Guide, tap the ★ Favorites chip to show only your saved channels


Clearing favourites

You can clear favourites from two places:

In the masthead — tap the ✕ next to the saved count, then choose to clear Channels, Programmes, or Both.

In the Channel Guide — tap Clear next to the Favorites chip, then choose what to clear.

Favourites are stored locally on your device and never leave your network.


9. Search {#search}

The search bar is in the masthead at the top of the screen.

  • Type to search across all channel names, programme titles, subtitles, and descriptions
  • Results appear instantly in On Air Now and the Channel Guide
  • Tap clear or press Escape (on keyboard) to reset


On desktop, press / to focus the search bar from anywhere on the page.


10. Providers {#providers}

The Providers section shows the status of all your connected XMLTV feeds.

Each provider card shows:

  • Feed name and connection status
  • Number of channels and programmes loaded
  • Server host address
  • Any error messages if the feed failed to load


Refresh — tap to re-fetch the feed and update the guide with the latest schedule data.

Remove — tap once to see a confirmation, then tap again to delete the feed. This cannot be undone.

Add another feed — tap the dashed tile at the end to open Settings and add a new source.


11. Settings {#settings}

Settings can be opened from:

  • The gear icon in the top right of the masthead
  • The Settings button in the Providers section
  • The Add your first feed button on the onboarding screen

In Settings you can:

  • Add a new XMLTV feed
  • Edit an existing feed (URL, name, authentication)
  • Test a feed URL before saving
  • Remove a feed


Authentication

If your server requires a login, Tunein supports two methods:

MethodFormatWhen to useBasic authusername:passwordMost local serversBearer tokenyour-token-hereAPI key authenticationCredentials are stored locally on your device only. Tunein never sends them anywhere except directly to your server.


12. Weather {#weather}

The weather display in the masthead shows your current conditions based on your approximate location (determined by IP address).

The 5-day forecast in the footer (Pro version) shows the next five days with high/low temperatures in °F and a condition description.

Weather data comes from Open-Meteo — a free, open-source weather API. Location is approximated from your IP address via ipapi.co and is never stored or shared.


13. Pro Version {#pro-version}

Tunein is available in two versions:


Feature Free Pro

XMLTV feeds Unlimited Unlimited

Channel Guide ✓ ✓

On Air Now ✓ ✓

Favourites ✓ ✓

Search ✓ ✓

Demo mode ✓ ✓

Banner ad ✓ —

5-day forecast — ✓


Upgrade to Pro from the footer of the app, or find Tunein Pro on the Google Play Store.


14. Frequently Asked Questions {#faq}


The guide is empty — why? You need to add an XMLTV feed first. Go to Settings and paste the URL of your local media server's XMLTV endpoint. If you're not sure of the URL, check your server's documentation or try the Demo mode to explore the app first.


My feed loads but there's no programme information. Some servers (like HDHomeRun in basic mode) only provide channel information without a full EPG. In this case channels will appear in the guide but programme blocks will show "No EPG data". You may need to configure an EPG source in your server settings.


The cover story shows a different programme every time I open the app. The cover picks a random programme airing at prime time from all your feeds. If you have many channels, a different one may be selected each session. This is by design.


Can I use Tunein outside my home network? Tunein fetches your XMLTV feed directly from your local server, so it requires you to be on the same network as your server. If you want remote access, consider setting up a VPN back to your home network (e.g. Tailscale) — Tunein will then work over VPN as normal.


My poster images aren't loading. Poster images are served directly from your local media server. If you're on a different network or your server is offline, images won't load. This is expected behaviour.


How do I remove the demo data? Tap Exit demo → in the black banner at the top of the screen. This returns you to the onboarding screen where you can add a real feed.


Is my data safe? Yes. Everything is stored locally on your device. Your XMLTV URLs, credentials, and favourites never leave your device. See our Privacy Policy for full details.


How do I contact support? Email us at privacy@tuneinmagazine.xyz or visit tuneinmagazine.xyz.



Tunein – The Programming Daily · tuneinmagazine.xyz · © MMXXVI