Record Live is currently only available on the 4th Generation Tablo app for Apple TV. It will be available on additional Tablo apps in the coming months.
There are several ways to schedule a recording on your 4th Generation Tablo. But there may be times when you’d simply like to record the program you’re watching live. The new Record Live feature within the In-Player Content tray allows you to do just that, without the need to return to the Live TV Guide.
Table of Contents
- How to Start Recording Live TV Without Exiting Playback
- How To Stop Recording Live TV Without Exiting Playback
- Managing Recording Conflicts
- About Your Tablo's Live TV Buffer
- How the Record Live Feature Works
- Using Record Live on Channels with Missing Guide Data
- Record Live FAQs
How to Start Recording Live TV Without Exiting Playback
To access the Record Live feature, select down on the directional pad of your Apple TV remote while you’re playing live TV.
This will bring up the In-Player Content Tray. You'll find a RECORD button to the right of PLAY/PAUSE.
Select it to start recording what you're currently watching.
When recording has started, the button will turn orange, and the text will change to 'Stop Recording'.
How To Stop Recording Live TV Without Exiting Playback
STOP RECORDING will be visible in the In-Player Content Tray for any in-progress viewing. It doesn't matter whether Record Liveor other methods initiated the recording.
Selecting STOP RECORDING will end that recording immediately. The player will pause briefly and then continue playing.
If you watch an in-progress recording to the end, you'll automatically return to the Live TV Guide.
Managing Recording Conflicts
If you use the Record Live feature when there are no available tuners on your Tablo, or the program you're trying to record intersects with a time when all your tuners will be busy,a flyout screen will appear with two options:
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YES, START RECORDING
Selecting this means one of your in-progress or upcoming recordings will be canceled, freeing up a tuner for recording the show you're currently watching. It is not possible to specify which airing(s) are unscheduled from this screen. -
NO, CANCEL RECORDING
Selecting this will return you to live TV playback without starting your recording.
In the event of a conflict, we recommend returning to the Live TV Grid or the Conflicts screen within your LIBRARY to review and resolve conflicting airings before proceeding.
About Your Tablo's Live TV Buffer
The Record Live feature is enabled by the Live TV buffer on your Tablo.
When you start watching a live TV channel through your Tablo device, that content is temporarily stored on your Tablo's hard drive. This buffer enables you to pause, rewind and even fast-forward content within that channel's buffer.
As you watch a channel, the buffer will continue to grow until it includes approximately one hour of video. At that time, older video segments will expire and be deleted to make way for newer ones.
In the example below, live TV viewing started at 8:00 p.m. It's currently 10:30 p.m., so the current viewing buffer on the Tablo would extend back to approximately 9:30 p.m. Video before that has expired and would no longer be available in the buffer. That buffer window will shift forward as you continue watching until 11:00 p.m.
When you stop actively watching a channel, the buffer will continue to grow for about an hour and is then deleted.
This process ensures that only the most recent and necessary video data is stored and prevents the Live TV buffer from filling up your Tablo's hard drive.
How the Record Live Feature Works
When you use the Record Live feature, the completed recording will capture any available content within the Live TV buffer through to the scheduled end time of the program.
Recordings created with this feature are labelled and filed in your LIBRARY based on the program that's airing when you select the RECORD button.
Let's take a look at a few scenarios to illustrate how this feature works.
Scenario 1 - Record Live at the Beginning of the Viewing Session
You tune in to your local NBC station at 8:02 p.m. Chicago Med is airing, and you immediately select the RECORD button.
In this case, your Chicago Med recording would include 58 minutes of video, from 8:02 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Scenario 2 - Record Live Midway Through the Viewing Session
In this scenario, you start watching NBC at 8:15 p.m. while Chicago Med is on the air. Then you select the RECORD button at 9:00 p.m. when Chicago Fire starts.
In this case, your Chicago Fire recording would include the 45 minutes of live TV buffer from when you tuned in at 8:15 p.m. through the end of Chicago Fire at 10:00 p.m.
For your convenience, when you play your completed Chicago Fire recording, it will start automatically at the 9:00 p.m. timestamp, which is the program's scheduled start time.
You can, however, rewind into the portion of Chicago Med captured in the buffer.
Scenario 3 - Record Live After Joining the Program Late
In this scenario, you start watching Chicago P.D. at 10:20 p.m., missing the first part of the program. You select the RECORD button right away.
In this case, your Chicago P.D. recording will contain 40 minutes of video from 10:20 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Because you tuned in late, the first part of Chicago P.D. would not be available in the live TV buffer and would not be captured in your recording.
Scenario 4 - Record Live When Viewing a Very Long Program
Programs like sports, movies and specials are often much longer than Tablo's 1-hour Live TV buffer window.
In this scenario, you start watching an NFL Football game at 8:00 p.m. At around 10:20 p.m., you select the RECORD button.
In this case, your NFL Football recording will contain 1 hour of live TV buffer and 40 minutes of video, from 9:20 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The video from the beginning of the game (between 8:00 p.m and 9:20 p.m.) would no longer be in the buffer and therefore would not be included in the recording.
Using Record Live on Channels with Missing Guide Data
The Record Live feature is an excellent workaround for creating recordings on channels without TV guide data.
However, the functionality will be slightly different since your Tablo can't know when programs on that channel start or stop, what to label them or what series they belong to when saving them to your Library.
Recordings set on channels without TV Guide data will be labelled based on the channel's callsign, channel number and recording date, for example, REC WCPO 9.1 2026-02-18.
Recordings will include the existing playback buffer, as well as everything up to the next 30-minute interval after the recording was initiated. This is the case even if you select the RECORD button one minute before the hour or half hour, which would result in a 1-minute-long recording.
Let's take a look at a few scenarios to illustrate how this feature works on channels without TV Guide Data.
Scenario 1 - Record Live Immediately, Mid-Interval
In this scenario, you start watching WCPO channel 9.1 at 10:43 a.m. and select RECORD immediately. This is in the middle of the 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. interval.
In this case, your recording would include 47 minutes of video, from 10:43 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Scenario 2 - Record Live During Viewing Session, At Interval
In this scenario, you start watching WCPO channel 9.1 at 10:40 a.m. At 11:00 a.m., you select RECORD.
In this case, your recording would include 50 minutes of video, including the buffer, from 10:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Since there is no TV Guide Data available for these recordings, the playback position will always default to the beginning of the buffer section.
Record Live FAQs
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Will Record Live continue to record if I leave the playback window or start watching a different channel?
Yes. The recording will continue until the scheduled end of that program.
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If I have ‘Extend Live Recordings’ enabled in Settings, will the extra 30 minutes be automatically applied to recordings set during live playback?
It will.
If you record sports or a special where the TV guide data indicates the program is live, the Record Live recording will automatically extend by 30 minutes when Extend Live Recordings is enabled.
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Can I Record Live While in Offline Mode?
Yes. Record Live will allow you to start a recording for an over-the-air show that's currently airing while in Offline Mode. However, you cannot do the same for a streaming show, since it's impossible to access them without an internet connection.
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When I select RECORD, where will the recording begin?
In most cases, Record Live will begin where you started watching the channel, even if you hit RECORD a few minutes into watching. This is thanks to a buffer Tablo keeps that enables you to rewind and pause live channels.
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What if I select RECORD an hour or more into a program?
The live view buffer holds about an hour of audio/video. If you've been watching a show for over an hour and then hit RECORD, expect the recording to start an hour from when you hit it.
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Can I use this feature to record programs on channels with missing TV guide data?
Yes, you can! The recording will include whatever's in your live TV buffer and continue until the next 30-minute interval. For instance, if you start a recording at 1:00 pm, the recording will stop at 1:30 pm. If you start a recording at 1:30 pm, it will record until 2:30 pm. However, if you started it at 1:29 pm, it will still stop a minute later, at 1:30 pm.
Recordings made without TV Guide data will be labelled as Rec [channel callsign] [channel number] [YYYY][MM] [DD] in your Library, for example:Rec WCPO-TV 9.1 2026-02-18.