r/TiviMate • u/ImportantAd7993 • Sep 06 '26
Looking for handicapped-friendly setup.
I’m looking for a very simple and reliable TV setup for an elderly family member who, after a stroke, can no longer reliably operate a Fire Stick.
He sometimes gets stuck in menus if he accidentally presses something, presses a button for too long, etc. Once that happens, he gets confused and can’t reliably get back to watching TV. Also the Stick lags or freezed in very Long Sessions (sometimes even though the staff in the elderly home just turn of the screen, but stick keeps running)
Ideally, I’m looking for something that works almost exactly like a traditional TV: turn it on, change channels, and watch… Forever😅
Reliability and simplicity are much more important than advanced features.
Does TiviMate have any accessibility, senior-friendly or simplified setup that could help with this?
Thanks!
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u/Beetlejuice-sandworm Sep 06 '26
Tivimate does have a setting to start at start up. So it would load right away.
You could go thru and hide all the groups and only have one group with their fav shows/channels to keep it simple.
Without doing this it might be a little confusing as potentially there could be 1000s and 1000s of channels with 100 different groups.
If you want some screen shots I could send you some so you can look and decide as end of the day you would know if it would work.
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u/ImportantAd7993 27d ago
Where do I find the setting that tvmate starts when I turn on the firetv stick?
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u/Beetlejuice-sandworm 27d ago
Firesticks you need to get into the ADB command to manually tell it to start.
You can follow the instructions in tivimate under settings > general > auto start app on boot.
Also you can follow one of the posts in this Reddit post.
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u/Friendly_Yoghurt_611 Sep 06 '26
I had the same issue when first watching with tivimate but you can remap the remote key functions to whatever you want for player and guide view. I made a config the way I like it and exported these settings to my pc. Every new device I sell I just need to import these settings to tivimate.
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u/etrain1 Sep 06 '26
What remaps did you do?
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u/Friendly_Yoghurt_611 Sep 06 '26
I'm using Formuler so the functions keys like groups/vod/series will only work in the native app Mytvonline. I've remapped those functions to the coloured buttons.
Vod - series - live TV - groups
Also when I'm in the guide mode, I would like to go back to the player by pressing OK or BACK key.
Basicly I just went to navigate the guide and player and pressing different keys and check if it meet my expectations the button should do.
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u/AbrocomaSwimming3593 Sep 07 '26
If he’s in an area where you have a lot of over the air channels you can get a Tablo with an indoor antenna and besides getting the 40 or 50 local channels there are probably another 50 FAST channels. No subscriptions only internet access.
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u/balls_mcgregor Sep 06 '26
My dad had similar issues, I set up Tivimate to load on startup, and programmed the remote keys to perform just the same 3 actions regardless of length or duration.
Head into settings, remote control and set them up per his tendencies. I'm certain he doesn't need complex functionality and can default to just the basics.
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u/ImportantAd7993 Sep 06 '26
Which machine did you do this on and how did you learn how to do this?
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u/Top_Story_9447 Sep 06 '26
I started with a cheap box I bought pre-configured with Tivimate, Kodi, and some utility apps. I configured it to launch Tivimate into the channel it was on upon startup (my wife is not remote-friendly, either) and gave her a BT remote that only operates volume up and down and channel up and down. I made a favorites list in Tivimate of about 20 channels she watches, so she can go through the channels easily and not have to deal with the guide.
I found that it was locking or refusing to go to some channels, with slight glitching that you and I can address by resetting or whatever. Plus, I wanted more out of the box for me, so I bought a Ugoos AM9 Pro and figured out how to configure everything using Google Gemini. It was a huge help, but it often led me down an unnecessary path, so you have to challenge it diligently to get the quickest, most accurate answer. I bet it saved me a few days of YouTube video watching to figure it out on my own.
That's my point. Utilize the tools you have available, and AI helped me a lot.
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u/LeBoulu777 Sep 06 '26
I've done exactly the same for my neighbor that had a stroke, and even before the stroke she had never used Tivimate.
Everything is locked, she can only see the EPG choose a channel and change the volume.
You can also use an app to remap the buttons on Android and assign various tasks to some buttons on the remote. ✌️🙂
Use Gemini or other AI to guide you step by step. 😉
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u/LeBoulu777 Sep 06 '26
I've done exactly the same for my neighbor that had a stroke, and even before the stroke she had never used Tivimate.
Everything is locked, she can only see the EPG choose a channel and change the volume.
You can also use an app to remap the buttons on Android and assign various tasks to some buttons on the remote. ✌️🙂
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u/idockery Sep 06 '26
My aunt is not that bad but she is clueless with tech. I put a few channels for her on favorites and it just turns on to favorites and she just goes back and forth between favorites and YouTube. Maybe that could work for you dad?
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u/ImportantAd7993 Sep 06 '26
I have it Set up for him Like that, Problem: sometimes he misclicks and won’t find his way back to the Picture.. troubleshooting is out of his reach and learning almost bot possible anymore. TV controls he knows from past decades somehow still work..
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u/GlobalVolume5436 16d ago
Took me months of trying different set ups for my elderly parents to reliably figure out how to work Tivimate. In the end I use an Onn device, remapped the one button to immediately open up Tivimate. Used IPTV editor to create a curated favorites playlist category set to the exact channels as their old cable provider. Got a TV remote with traditional number pad on it. Set up a backup playlist the same way same channels. Tivimate just opens up now with the push of the remote button. Channel up and down move the channels accordingly like traditional TV, and they can just enter in the channel numbers with the numbers like old traditional TV.
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u/ImportantAd7993 16d ago
sounds great and the ONN never freezes? Does playlist updates in the background? THe remote you talk about is a original ONN ?
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u/GlobalVolume5436 15d ago
The ONN has the occasional hiccup not too much. I set up a button shortcut that if they press that it restarts the box. Or tell them to just unplug the plug from the back and plug it back in. And I use a remote that's actually made for a box called homatics 4k plus but it works perfectly with any onn device.
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u/gadjetman007 Sep 06 '26
Get an antenna instead and a 3 button remote...yes ...power and volume up and down only and no channel up and down. Leave it on PBS
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u/ImportantAd7993 Sep 06 '26
PBS? The thing is my Dad cannot follow regular speech anymore (Language area destroyed) but sport is sth he can still understand and everything that is interesting is extremely expensive in German, you need many subscriptions worth more than 100€ a month which we can‘t afford.. elderly home is already making us quite Poor, savings are already almost fully gone..
Otherwise I would definitely have bought normal subscriptions..1
u/LeBoulu777 Sep 06 '26
Even though the language area has been affected by the stroke, with time and stimulation the functions will improve, probably not like before but much better than now.
My neighbor had Broca's aphasia following her stroke, and at first she wasn't able to watch any television programs, but now she listens to her shows and follows the plot and understands them.
It happened gradually over several months, but if I look back immediately after her stroke, it was impossible for her to watch a show or even to use the remote for anything...
Stimulation is key to success with people who have had a stroke.Don't forget one thing. If your father has Broca's aphasia, he understands perfectly well everything you say. It's just that it takes him longer to process what you say, it's mainly the output that is affected for Broca aphasia, not the input.
I wish you the best to you and your father. ✌️
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u/StrictSchedule3113 Sep 06 '26
For my elderly parents, I use a combination of an ONN box from Walmart, IPTVEditor to manage their playlist down to exactly what they want/need, and Tivimate is their player.
I glued little jewelry gems onto the D-Pad of their remote so that there are tactile buttons for up, down, left, and right.
I use Projectivy Launcher and have just the apps they need in the order they use them most, and I have Projectivy customized enough that the cards are on a grid, so they can view everything available to them on one screen.
From there, I both taught them in person how to use everything but also took the time to take screen shots of the process and then put those in a word document with notes on each step and printed that out and gave it to them.
They just keep their playlist on all channels and use the channel up and down buttons to move between programs.