Watching several games at once on Android TV: why your box decides how many

Multi-view is the feature people keep a player for on a Saturday: the early kickoffs in a grid, the sound on whichever game you are looking at, one press to make a tile full screen. TiviDeck offers two, four, six or eight tiles, in a grid or with one large picture and the rest floating over it. Some boxes get all of those. Some get two. The difference is not the app, and this is why.

Every tile is a full video

A multi-view tile is not a thumbnail. Each one is a complete live stream: downloaded, decoded and drawn, at the same time as all the others. Eight tiles means eight streams arriving, eight videos being decoded and eight pictures being composed into one screen. Three things limit how many a setup can do.

1. The video decoders

Android TV boxes decode video in dedicated hardware, and that hardware can run a fixed number of decodes at once. Each box reports that number for the formats live television uses. A powerful box can report enough for eight streams; a small stick reports far fewer. Ask a decoder for more than it has and the extra tiles simply stay black, or the app falls over.

2. The memory

Every stream needs memory for its buffer and its frames. A box with plenty of memory can hold eight at once; a stick with little cannot, even if its decoders would try. TiviDeck reads how much memory the machine actually has. As a rough guide, about 2.5 GB or more allows eight tiles, about 1.75 GB allows six, about 1.25 GB allows four, and less than that allows two. A box Android itself marks as low on memory gets no multi-view at all.

3. Your provider’s connections

The third limit is not on the box. Every tile is a separate connection to your provider, and providers cap how many one login can open at once. If your plan allows two connections, a four-tile grid will play two pictures however capable the box is. That number is your provider’s, and only your provider can change it. A preview playing in the Sports Hub or another player open on the same login counts too.

How TiviDeck decides

When multi-view opens, TiviDeck asks the box two questions: how much memory it has and how many streams its decoders say they can run. It takes the smaller answer and offers only the layouts that fit. It does not show you an eight-tile layout that would end in four black squares.

Boxes do not always tell the truth about themselves, so the check does not stop there. While multi-view is running, each tile watches for a decoder failure. If the box promised more than it can keep up with, TiviDeck lowers the limit on the spot rather than leaving you with frozen tiles.

Some real numbers. An NVIDIA Shield Pro reports close to 3 GB of memory and can show all eight. A Fire TV Stick 4K reports about 1.5 GB, which puts it at four at most by memory, before its decoders have their say. On a phone, TiviDeck’s multi-view shows up to four channels, two by two, with the phone turned sideways.

Getting the most out of yours

• Check your provider’s connection limit before anything else. It is the most common reason a tile will not start.
• Close other players on the same login, and turn off the Sports Hub’s channel preview if your connections are tight.
• Use a wired connection where you can. Each tile is its own stream, and several HD streams use a real share of your internet connection.
• Choose the layout for the day. Four up is the comfortable Saturday layout; main and floating keeps one game large and the others along an edge.
• Lower quality if a provider offers it. Some providers send the same channel in several qualities. A lower one is lighter for the decoders and the connection.

Working the wall

Start multi-view from a channel’s sheet with Add to multi-view, from the player’s options, or from your remote’s own key. Press Right past the last tile and the layout grows; press Left past the first and it shrinks. The sound follows the tile you are on, with nothing to press. OK on a tile makes it full screen, and Back returns to the wall with everything still running. Hold OK on a tile to change its channel, move it or take it out.

For a day of sport, multi-view pairs well with the Sports Hub: it finds which of your channels has each game, and a kickoff alert one minute before a followed team starts opens the right channel.

What other players say

TIVRA’s home page lists multi-view up to eight channels, and its app roundup lists up to four. Per TIVRA’s comparisons, TiviMate has multi-view on premium and IPTV Smarters Pro in some builds. Whatever the player, the same three limits apply: decoders, memory and your provider. The comparison page has the rest.

Multi-view is part of TiviDeck Premium, with seven days free for every new household. The help center has the short version of this article, and tivideck.com/get has the app.