Zuno Live

Zuno Live turns your own movies and shows into live TV channels, complete with a programme guide (EPG). Instead of picking something to watch, you flick through channels and just start watching, exactly like a traditional TV box, except every channel is built from the media you already have.

What Zuno Live does

Zuno Live arranges your library into continuous channels and lays them out on a scrolling guide, so each channel shows what’s playing now and what’s coming up, with titles, times, and descriptions. Tune to a channel and it’s already “in progress”, just like live telly.

It’s built to work with zero setup. The moment you open it, Zuno Live has already put together a full line-up from your libraries, so you can lean back and start channel-surfing straight away. Everything below is optional, for when you want more control.

Getting set up

The first time you open Zuno Live, a short welcome walks you through the basics: which libraries to include and which kinds of channels you want. Sensible defaults are already selected, so you can tap Continue through it and be done, or make a few choices as you go.

You can skip the welcome at any time and still get a fully working guide. If you’d like to run through it again later, use Set Up Zuno Live at the top of the Zuno Live settings.

Watching Zuno Live

Open Zuno Live from its tab to see the guide. Your channels run down the side, the times run across the top, and a line marks the current time. On iPhone and iPad, tap Now to jump back to it.

How you tune in depends on your device:

Apple TV: select a programme on the channel you want.
iPad: tap a programme to see its details at the top of the guide, then tap it again to start watching.
iPhone: tap a programme to open its details, then choose Watch Live.

Whatever is on is already in progress, so you join it part way through, just like live telly.

On iPhone

Zuno Live on iPhone has two ways to browse. Switch between them with the buttons at the top of the guide, and Zuno remembers the one you used last.

Guide is the full programme grid, sized for your phone. Swipe across to see what’s on later.
On Now is a simple list of every channel, with what’s playing right now, how long is left and what’s on next.

Surf

Surf shows one channel at a time on your iPhone, so you can flick through them like changing channels on a TV.

In Zuno Live, tap the Surf button (the stacked cards) at the top of the guide.
Swipe up or down to move between channels. Stay on a channel for a moment and its picture starts playing as a preview.
Tap Watch Full Screen, or turn your iPhone sideways, to start watching.
Turn your iPhone upright again to go back to Surf on the same channel.
Tap the cross in the top corner to leave Surf.

Previews play without sound unless you turn on Preview Audio in the Zuno Live settings.

Changing channel

While you’re watching, show the controls to see the channel bar at the bottom of the screen, with what’s on now and the channels either side.

On iPhone and iPad, tap the arrows or the neighbouring channels, or swipe along the bar. You can also swipe up or down on the screen while the controls are showing.
On Apple TV, move left or right on the channel bar.

On iPhone and iPad, closing the player takes you back to the guide at the channel you were watching. If you started from Surf, you go back to Surf instead.

Tailoring your channels

From the Zuno Live settings you can shape what appears in the guide:

Libraries: choose which of your libraries feed into Zuno Live. Turn off anything you’d rather not see on a channel.
Channel Types: toggle the kinds of channels Zuno builds automatically, such as genre mixes, single-show channels, and network channels. Turn off a type and those channels disappear from the guide.

Changes to these settings rebuild your line-up, so the guide always reflects the choices you’ve made.

Building your own channel

Want a channel that’s exactly your taste? Create your own from the Your Channels section of the settings (or straight from the welcome).

Open the channel builder and give your channel a name.
Pick specific shows if you want a channel of just those, like a 24/7 channel of a single series. Leave this empty to build the channel from libraries and genres instead.
Choose the libraries it should draw from (leave empty to use them all).
Choose one or more genres to focus on.
Decide what to include: everything, only what you haven’t watched, or only what you have watched.
Choose an order: shuffle for a mixed, always-different feel, or in order to play through in sequence.
Save, and your channel joins the guide.

When you pick specific shows, the library and genre steps are skipped, and the channel plays just those shows around the clock.

You can edit or delete your own channels at any time from the same place. If a channel doesn’t have enough to fill it, Zuno leaves it off the guide rather than showing a near-empty channel.

Bringing your own live TV (IPTV)

As well as channels built from your library, Zuno Live can show live channels from your own IPTV playlist. If you already run something that produces an M3U playlist, such as a network TV tuner on your home network or a tool that turns your own media into scheduled channels, you can add its link and watch those channels right inside the Zuno Live guide.

Adding a source

Zuno can add a source in two ways:

Playlist URL: an M3U playlist link, plus an optional XMLTV guide link for programme listings.
Xtream login: the server address, username and password for your own account with a service that uses Xtream. Zuno fetches the channels and the programme guide from the service for you.

Open the Zuno Live settings and choose IPTV Sources.
Tap Add Source and give it a name, such as “Antenna” or the name of your service.
Choose a source type: Playlist URL or Xtream login.
For a playlist, paste your playlist URL (the M3U link from your service) and, optionally, an XMLTV guide URL. Without a guide, each channel simply shows its name across the guide.
For an Xtream login, enter the server URL, username and password your service gave you.
Use Test Source to check it works and see how many channels it finds. For an Xtream login, the test also shows whether your account is active, when it expires and how many connections it allows. Saving a new source also checks it automatically.
Save the source. If prompted, choose the channels you want and select Use Selection to finish adding it to your guide.

Your Xtream password is kept in your iCloud Keychain rather than in Zuno’s settings. When you edit a source, leave the password field as it is to keep the saved password.

Choosing your IPTV channels

When you add a playlist with more than 200 channels, Zuno asks which channels you want in your guide. Search Categories or Channels, make your choices, then choose Use Selection. Turn on Show all channels to include the whole playlist.

Smaller playlists include all channels automatically. You can change your choices later by editing the source and choosing Choose Channels.

If an existing source asks you to choose channels after updating Zuno, open IPTV Sources, edit that source, make your selection and save.

Large playlists

Large playlists are not limited to the first 5,000 channels. The guide loads channels and programme listings as you browse. Choosing the categories you actually watch makes a large playlist easier to navigate.

If a refresh fails, Zuno keeps the last successfully imported channels and listings available.

Managing your sources

Turn sources on and off without removing them, so you can tuck one away and bring it back later.
Reorder your sources on iPhone or iPad to control where their channels sit in the guide.
Refresh at any time to pull the latest channels and listings. Zuno also checks whether your sources need refreshing when you open the guide.
Edit or remove a source whenever you like.

In the guide

Your IPTV channels appear in the same guide as your library channels. When you have more than one source, a row of filters lets you jump between All, your Zuno-built channels, and each source on its own.

Prefer to see only your own sources? Turn off Show Zuno-generated channels in the IPTV Sources settings, and the guide shows just your IPTV channels.

Across your devices

If you use Zuno Live on more than one device, your guide follows you. Set it up on your iPhone or iPad and the same channels are waiting on your Apple TV, with the same line-up on each. Because the guide runs to a schedule, whatever is on now is at the same point on every device, so you can start watching on one screen and carry on from another.

Your own arrangement comes along too: the order you’ve put your channels in, and any you’ve pinned to the top, are shared across your devices.

Your IPTV sources travel with you too. The list of sources you’ve added and your channel selections are shared across your devices, while each device fetches its own up-to-date channels and listings.

This uses your iCloud account, so your devices need to be signed in to the same one. If you’ve turned sync off on a device, its guide stays local to that one.

Tips

Themed channels (“Comedy”, “Nature”, “Kids”, a comfort-show channel) are a great fit for guests and younger viewers who just want something on.
Build a channel from a single show for a 24/7 feed of a favourite, like a comfort-watch channel you can always drop onto.
Set a channel to only what you have watched for already-seen favourites playing in the background, with no risk of spoiling something new.
Use only unwatched on a channel of a show you’re working through to turn it into a rolling “what’s next” feed.
If a channel feels stale, switch it to shuffle so it mixes things up each time.