Record a show
Record right away, schedule from the guide or at a set time, follow a series, and find your recordings.
On this page
Before you start
So your recordings start on time, even when the device is asleep, Zappia asks for a few permissions the first time you schedule one:
- Record at the exact time (Android 12 and later): allow Zappia in “Alarms & reminders”. Without it, Android may start a recording late.
- Record even when locked (phones and tablets): allow Zappia to run without battery optimization. Zappia uses nothing when no recording is running.
- Notifications (Android 13 and later): to follow a recording in progress and stop it.
You can grant them later in SettingsRecordings, where each row shows whether the permission is granted.
Record right now
While watching a live channel, tap Record (or press the record button on the remote). Choose how long:
- Until the end of the program (9:30 PM), when the guide knows the program;
- or 30 min, 1h, 2h, 4h.
Zappia confirms: Recording of “…” started. You can keep watching the channel, switch channels or leave Zappia: the recording continues, even with the screen off.
Schedule from the guide
In the TV guide or in the search results, open a program:
- Record: an upcoming program;
- Record the rest: a program that has already started;
- Record all episodes: every airing of the same title on the same channel, including those that show up in the guide later.
Recordings scheduled from the guide automatically add a margin before and after (see below).
Schedule at a set time
- Open My recordings and tap Schedule.
- In Channel, type the start of the name. Each result shows its category, so you can tell apart channels with the same name.
- If the channel has a guide, pick a program in the Guide tab (7 days); the ↻ icon schedules All airings of “…”.
- Otherwise, or for a free time slot, open Custom time: Day, Start (in 5-minute steps) and Duration (in 15-minute steps, up to 12 hours).
- Tap Schedule.
My recordings
The My recordings tile on the home screen (or the menu entry on a big screen) shows the space used and the space left, then five sections:
| Section | Actions (long press) |
|---|---|
| In progress | Watch the channel live, Stop recording, Remove from the list |
| Scheduled | Cancel, Remove from the list |
| Completed | Tap to watch; Delete the file |
| Followed series | Stop following |
| Failed | Why it failed; Remove from the list |
You watch a completed recording just like a movie: fast-forward, rewind, and resume where you left off.
While a recording is running, a Recording in progress notification stays on screen, with a Stop button.
Margins and storage space
Programs rarely start on the dot. In SettingsRecordings:
- Margin before the start: none, 1, 2 (default), 5 or 10 minutes;
- Margin after the end: none, 2, 5 (default), 10, 15 or 30 minutes.
In expert mode, Free up space automatically deletes the oldest recordings when space runs out, keeping the Space to keep free you chose (1 GB by default). Without this option, a recording fails if the device is full.
If the device was off
A recording can’t happen while the device is off. When it starts up again, Zappia catches up on what it can: it starts a recording whose program hasn’t ended yet, resumes an interrupted recording if there is time left, and marks the others as failed (The device was off at the scheduled time.).
On TVs and set-top boxes, leave the device on standby rather than unplugging it.
What can’t be recorded
- Encrypted streams: This stream is encrypted: it can’t be recorded.
- A channel your subscription refuses at that moment (too many simultaneous connections, for example).
Zappia provides no channels or playlists. Only record content you have the right to record, for your private use.