HELP

With a Virgin Media TiVo or V6 box, our clever little app lets you:

• Control your TV – if your device is connected to the same home network as your Hub. You can easily scroll through the channels, see what’s on, then flick it to your main TV screen. Magic!
• Manage your recordings – set up a Series Link+ from anywhere in the world when you’re connected to the internet

 If you have a V6 box, you can also:

• Watch some recordings on your mobile or tablet at home or download them to watch anywhere offline

You can use Virgin TV Control on as many devices as you like.

Due to the large number of devices available, we are not able to test them all.

If you do have a problem, you can always head over to the Virgin Media Community to chat with our other users, or visit our extensive online help.

If you want to watch live TV and On Demand programmes, you’ll also need our Virgin TV Go app, which is available at no extra charge to all Virgin TV customers.

You can use your Virgin TV Control app at home and on the go.

At home, it lets you:

• Turn your device into a handy remote control - if you have a TiVo or V6 box and your device is connected to the same home network as your Hub. You can easily scroll through the channels, see what’s on, then flick it to your main TV screen. Magic!
• Browse the TV Guide
• Manage your TiVo recordings – set up a Series Link+ from anywhere in the world when you’re connected to the internet
• Watch some recordings on your mobile or tablet at home or download them to watch anywhere offline if you have a V6 box

 On the go, it lets you:

• Browse the TV Guide
• Manage your recordings – set up a Series Link+ from anywhere in the world when you’re connected to the internet
• If you have a V6 box, you can watch recordings you’ve downloaded at home

GETTING STARTED

Once you’ve signed in you need to select the TiVo box you want to control.

If you’ve just had your TiVo box installed, your app might struggle to find it – it can take up to 24 hours to pop up on our system.  So sit tight and try the next day.

Each of our boxes has its own unique number.

If you have more than one box, you’ll see a choice of numbers.

Here’s how to find your box’s unique number.

1.     Grab your TV remote and Go to Home > Help & Settings > System Info > System Info again. This screen will show you your TiVo box number. The last 4 digits will match one of the codes you see on your Virgin TV Control app.

2.     Choose the TiVo box you want to control by selecting it on the app. You can change the name of your TiVo box to something that’s easier to find like, ‘Lounge’ or ‘Bedroom’. Just go to the Manage My TiVo section of the Virgin TV Go website at https://manage-virgintvgo.virginmedia.com/tivo  and select ‘My TiVo boxes’.

Want to use the app to turn your device into a smart remote, watch or download some recordings? Follow these simple steps: 

STEP 1

To use your device as a smart remote or to watch or download some recordings, your TiVo box needs to be connected to your Hub. There are 3 ways you can connect your box to your Hub:

1.     Your TiVo box and Hub are in the same room, connected by an Ethernet cable (if the installer has done this already, you’ll see a cable which runs from your Hub to your box)

2.     Your TiVo box and Hub are in different rooms, you can connect the two via a Powerline kit (a handy device that plugs into the electrical socket near the box and the Hub).

3.     Your TiVo box and Hub are in different rooms, you can connect the two via a smart TV wireless adapter.  

If you want to use any of the other features of the app, like managing your recordings or watching telly, you don’t need to have your box and Hub connected.

STEP 2

Check if your TiVo box is set to accept commands from your Virgin TV Control app. By default, we do this for all TiVo boxes, but you may need to double-check if you’re a brand new customer. To do this, get your TiVo remote and go to Home > Help & Settings > Settings > Devices > Network Remote Control, then choose ‘Allow network-based remote controls’. If you’re asked for a PIN, the default PIN is 1234.

STEP 3

On your mobile or tablet, make sure you have WiFi switched on and you’re connected to the same network as your TiVo box (not 3G or 4G)

STEP 4

Now you’re all done! You can sit back and enjoy the beauty of smart searching using your QWERTY keyboard, or browsing the TV guide, finding something you like and flicking it onto the main TV screen! If you have a V6 box you’ll also be able to watch or download some recordings to your device. If for some reason your app hasn’t picked up the box straight away, just tap on the remote control icon and it will try to reconnect. If need any extra help along the way, just check out our troubleshooting FAQs here.

It is important for us to protect our content owners' rights and also to provide an excellent quality service, and for these reasons we only allow Virgin TV Control to be used on certain devices.

We have tested Virgin TV Control on a wide range of popular mobiles and tablets, and we list these devices as being Fully Supported.

Other devices that haven't been tested have been enabled to stream and while we expect them to work, we are not able to give support for the TV Control app on these devices. There are a few devices that are unable to watch V6 recordings and will only be able to use the app to manage TiVo.

If you need more help, or if you want to report that your device should work but doesn't, then you could try talking to the experts on the Virgin Media Community forum

OVERVIEW

Here's a quick guide to what the buttons on the app do. Most of these options can be found in the menu (a three lined stack symbol)

GUIDE

The guide shows you what’s on TV – now, next, in 14 days’ time and even lets you flick back one week. From here, you can choose something to watch, find out more info on a show or set up a Series Link+.

You can also change the day and time at the top of the listings or search for a channel also at the top.

MY SHOWS

Here you can see all of your saved programmes. That includes Series Link+ shows you’ve recorded or episodes from places like On Demand or Netflix that we’ve found for you too.  Plus, you’ll find any other shows you’ve bookmarked to watch later.  

At the top of the page, you can see how much of your storage you’ve used up (in %).

And if you want to manage your saved shows, you can do that too. You can delete your recordings individually or delete a whole folder at once by selecting the pencil icon, or change your recording and Series Link+ settings.

If you have a V6 box, you can also watch some recordings on your mobile or tablet via WiFi when you’re at home. You can also download some recorded shows and movies to watch offline.

INFO

This tells you everything about the show you're currently watching on your TiVo or V6 box when you’re at home

PLANNED RECORDINGS

Here you can see all of the programmes scheduled to be recorded in the future or currently being recorded. You can cancel or modify planned recordings, or view and mange recording conflicts, where too many recordings have been scheduled at the same time.

SERIES LINK+ MANAGER

Want to manage your Series Link+ or make changes to your recordings? Just tap Series Link+ Manager and then tap ‘Modify’ and ‘Modify Series Link+’ or ‘Cancel Series Link+’.

HELP

This is the button you selected to read this help content.

ACTION BUTTONS

Look out for the action buttons, from screen to screen. These let you choose a range of actions, such as Watch, Get show, Modify,  Delete. The buttons you see will depend on the screen you're looking at.

If you have a V6 box, you’ll also see the options to watch some recordings or download selected recordings to your device to watch offline.

REMOTE CONTROL

Want to use your device as a super smart remote control, watch or download some recordings? First, your TiVo box and your Hub need to be connected (we normally do this with an Ethernet cable when we install your kit, but you can also do it with a Powerline kit or a smart TV wireless adapter if your box and your Hub sit in different rooms). Next, connect your device to your home WiFi (not 3G or 4G), and tap the remote control option in the menu to control the selected TiVo box connected to your home network. See the ‘Getting Started’ section for more info on how to connect your TiVo and Hub.

HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

Select the search (magnifying glass) icon in the top-right-hand corner and use the keyboard on your phone or tablet to search for a show, movie, actor or director.

You can also go to My Shows to see all of your recordings and bookmarks and if you have a V6 box, view what recordings are available to watch or download.

GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE EXPLORE THIS SHOW BUTTON

PROGRAMME SYNOPSIS

See a brief description and when the show aired.

CAST AND CREW

See cast and crew for the show that you've selected.

EPISODE LIST

Find out about other episodes in the series.

UPCOMING

Select this to see when other shows from the series will be on the box.

MANAGE

TAKE YOUR TIVO BOX WITH YOU

With Virgin TV Control, you're always connected to your TiVo box, even when you're not home. This means you can delete shows, see your planned recordings, and even record shows for later. Here's how.

RECORD A SHOW OR SET A SERIES LINK+

STEP 1

Once you’ve found the show you want to record, select Get show.

STEP 2

If you just want to record that episode, select Record this episode. To record the whole series, select Get a Series Link+. That also finds any other series or episodes hiding in Box Sets, Catch Up and in places like Netflix. We’ll stick them in one handy folder (My Shows) – ready for you to watch when you want to. If you want to change those settings, just hop onto Series Link+ options here.

STEP 3

If you've nearly filled your TiVo box, the Virgin TV Control app will tell you there isn't enough space left to record your show. But it’s easy to make room. Just tap the My Shows tab to delete the shows you don’t want to keep any more.

STEP 4

Your show will be recorded and waiting for you and with Series Link+ it will also tell you if it’s available to view now on demand. Enjoy!

DELETING SHOWS FROM YOUR BOX

STEP 1

Select My Shows from the menu.

STEP 2

You'll see a list of all the shows that you have on your selected TiVo box. Select which one you'd like to delete.

STEP 3

Select Delete.

STEP 4

When asked if you want to delete your show, select OK. It'll be deleted from your box. If you want to delete several shows at once, select the pencil icon and tick the shows you want to delete, or you can tick a folder to delete all recordings in that folder.

CONTROL YOUR TiVo

A SUPER REMOTE FOR YOUR TIVO BOX

Remote down the back of the couch? Pick up your mobile or tablet. Virgin TV Control makes controlling your TiVo box even easier.

Just like your TiVo remote control, you can select buttons to pause, rewind, fast-forward and find your way around your TiVo menu.

USING THE BUTTONS

SCROLL PAD

Use this to scroll around the menu on your TiVo box.

PLAY BUTTONS

Play, pause, rewind and fast forward here.

NUMBER PAD

Just like on your remote, you can use these buttons to pick a channel.

THUMBS

Press the thumbs buttons here and your TiVo box will remember things you like and don't like so it can make even more clever recommendations in future. Use the green thumb up if you like a programme. Use the red thumb down if you don't.

WHAT IS SERIES LINK+ ?

Series Link+ lets you find and watch the shows you love, wherever they’re hiding (in your recordings, on TV, On Demand and even in Netflix). They’ll sit in one handy folder in My Shows.

Series Link+ stores shows in 2 ways:

1. It records episodes that are broadcast live on TV. These are shown in My Shows with a ‘R’ symbol next to them. Recordings are saved on your box and ready to watch anytime. 

2. It finds episodes that are in On Demand or Catch Up. These episodes are shown in My Shows. On Demand episodes are ready to watch if you subscribe to that content, though some will only be available for a limited time.

WHAT DO BOOKMARKS DO?

Bookmarks allow you to bookmark On Demand or Netflix shows and movies to watch later. These will appear in your My Shows area on the app.

My Shows is where you can find all of your saved shows. That includes Series Link+ shows you’ve recorded or episodes from places like On Demand or Netflix that Series Link+ has found for you too.  Plus, you’ll find any other shows you’ve recorded or bookmarked to watch later.

You can watch your recordings on your TV, at home, anytime.

If you’ve spotted a Box Set or movie you want to watch, but haven’t got time to watch it now, you can bookmark it and watch it later, just select the ‘Get Show’ button. These shows get stored in My Shows too.

If you're having problems with the Virgin TV Control app, try using our trouble-shooting articles here.

CAN I USE VIRGIN TV CONTROL ON THE MOVE?

Yes.

Want to manage your recordings or see what’s on? You can do this at home or abroad, wherever you can connect to the internet with your device.

If you have a V6 box, you can download some recordings to your mobile or tablet to watch offline wherever you like.

If you want to watch live TV or On Demand programmes, you’ll need our Virgin TV Go app, which is available free of charge from your app store.

CAN I USE VIRGIN TV CONTROL TO COPY RECORDING SETTINGS FROM ONE TIVO BOX TO ANOTHER?

You can copy recording settings, thumbs and wishlists from one TiVo box to another using the Manage My TiVo section of the Virgin TV Go website. You can find more information on exactly how to do that here <https://help.virginmedia.com/system/templates/selfservice/vm/help/customer/locale/en-GB/portal/200300000001000/article/HELP-2493/Copy-Virgin-TV-settings-from-one-box-to-another>. 

CAN I USE VIRGIN TV CONTROL ON MORE THAN ONE DEVICE?

Yes – you can use TV Control on as many devices as you like.

CAN I WATCH MY RECORDINGS ON MY MOBILE OR TABLET?

Yes, you can if you have a V6 box. When your device is connected to your home network via WiFi, just go to My Shows.  

Select a recorded show you want to watch and select ‘Watch’ and then select the ‘Watch on Tablet’ (or phone) button. If this is greyed out, you cannot watch this recording due to rights restrictions.

If you want to download a show select the ‘Download’ button. If this option is greyed out then the show cannot be downloaded due to rights restrictions. You will have 90 days from when you first record a show in which to download it.

ARE ALL RECORDED PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE TO WATCH OR DOWNLOAD ON THE APP?

No. Some recorded shows cannot be streamed or downloaded to your mobile or tablet due to rights restrictions. Shows that can be downloaded will have the ‘Download’ button active. Shows that can be watched will have the option to ‘Watch on Tablet’ (or phone) when you select the ‘Watch’ button. If these buttons are greyed out then the show cannot be watched or downloaded. There may be some cases where you can stream a recording but not download it. If you cannot watch a show on your mobile or tablet, you will still be able to watch the recording on your TV.

HOW MANY PROGRAMMES CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT ONE TIME?

You can download one show at a time. If you want to download more, we’ll pop them in a queue and they’ll start to download when the previous one is complete. 

WILL PROGRAMMES STILL DOWNLOAD IF I CLOSE THE APP?

No. You’ll need to keep the app open for the download to complete. If you close the app, the download will be paused. It will continue to download again when you open the app and are connected to your home WiFi.

WILL DOWNLOADS CONTINUE IF MY DEVICE AUTO LOCKS?

It is best to keep your device active to ensure the download completes. It’s also a good idea to keep your device plugged in to the power supply when downloading though, so it has enough juice to last for the whole download.

HOW CAN I CHECK THE PROGRESS OF A SHOW DOWNLOADING?

Go to My Shows and select the ‘On Tablet’ or ‘On Phone’ button in the middle of the screen. You can see the progress bar, MB and time remaining for the download. If the download is paused, you will see a downwards arrow. Just tap this to continue the download. You can press the pause symbol to pause the download.

CAN I WATCH A SHOW WHILE IT IS BEING DOWNLOADED?

You’ll need to wait for the download to finish before you can start watching it.

WHERE WILL MY DOWNLOADS APPEAR ONCE THEY’VE COMPLETED?

You’ll find them in My Shows in the ‘On Tablet’ or ‘On Phone’ section. There will be an R symbol with a padlock when the download is complete and an egg timer will indicate that the show has been partially watched and will expire soon.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO WATCH A DOWNLOADED RECORDING?

Once you download a programme you will have a maximum of 30 days to watch it. Once you have started watching a programme you will usually have 48 hours to watch it before it expires. Sometimes expiry times vary between content providers.

HOW MANY TIMES CAN I DOWNLOAD THE SAME PROGRAMME?

You can download a programme twice per household. If you download more than this, you’ll see an error message telling you that the show cannot be downloaded again. You can still watch this programme on your TV. The number of times a show can be downloaded can vary between content providers.

HOW MUCH STORAGE SPACE WILL A DOWNLOAD TAKE UP?

When you select a show to download, it will tell you how big the file is before you download it.

If you don’t have enough space on your device, you’ll see an error message letting you know you’ve run out of space.

SKY CINEMA & SKY SPORTS

If you’re subscribed to Sky Cinema or Sky Sports, you can watch those on your tablet or mobile with the Sky Cinema or Sky Sports app. Just download the apps, then select the Virgin Media logo on the sign-in page, and sign in with your My Virgin Media username and password.

You can also watch online via the Sky Cinema and Sky Sports websites.

You can find out more about the Sky Cinema and Sky Sports channels here

Other Sky live and on demand channels such as Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky Arts and Sky Living are available to watch in the Virgin TV Go app, as long as you have them in your Virgin Media TV package.

DO I HAVE TO BE A VIRGIN MOBILE CUSTOMER TO USE THE VIRGIN TV CONTROL APP?

No. You just need to be a Virgin TV customer.

DO I NEED A WIFI CONNECTION TO USE THE VIRGIN TV CONTROL?

To use the app at home as an advanced remote control or to watch or download some recordings (if you have a V6 box), your mobile or tablet will need to be connected to the same router as your TiVo box. You can use all other features of the app on WiFi or 3G/4G mobile connections, anywhere in the world.

CAN I USE VIRGIN TV CONTROL WHEN THE MY VIRGIN TV BOX IS SWITCHED OFF?

If you have a TiVo box, your app will still work when the box is in standby. However, it won’t work if it’s switched off. If you have a V6 box, you may also see this message if you’ve got your V6 box switched on but your Hub is switched off.

CAN I USE PROGRAMS LIKE CHROMECAST OR AIRPLAY TO PLAY RECORDINGS FROM MY APP TO A TV SCREEN?

No. The channels we show are copy-protected by the owners of the content.

DO ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES WORK IN THE TV CONTROL APP?

Yes. If your device supports accessibility services such as VoiceOver, TalkBack, large text, zoom, inverted colours etc, then our app will work with these services.

CAN I SET RECORDINGS ON MY V+ HD BOX USING THE VIRGIN TV CONTROL APP?

No. You can only set recordings on any TiVo boxes you have.

DO I NEED TO CONNECT MY TIVO BOX TO MY HUB FOR VIRGIN TV CONTROL TO WORK?

If you want to use your device as a super smart remote, or to watch or download some recordings if you have a V6 box, then your box and Hub need to be connected. Most boxes and Hubs are connected by an Ethernet cable (set up by your engineer, when they installed your kit), but if you’ve chosen to have your Hub and box in different rooms (perhaps one in the kitchen and one in the living room), you’ll need to connected them with a Powerline kit or a smart TV wireless adapter.

You can still manage your viewing, set recordings, browse the TV listings, delete recordings and more without connecting your TiVo box to your Hub.

CAN I USE TV CONTROL WITH MORE THAN ONE TIVO BOX?

Yes, you can. You can set Virgin TV Control up to be paired with all your TiVo boxes, though you can only control one TiVo box at a time. If you want to switch to another TiVo box then on your mobile or tablet tap on the menu button (a three lined stack symbol) on your mobile or tablet and then Selected TiVo Box, then tap the box number you want to connect to. If you want the app to scan for a newly connected box, then the easiest way to do this is sign out of the box to which you're currently connected.

If you have lots of boxes it’s best to name them such as ‘Lounge’, ‘Bedroom’ etc so that it’s easier to identify which box you’re connected to. You can do this in the Manage My TiVo section of the Virgin TV Go website.

CAN I USE TV CONTROL TO RECOVER RECORDINGS I HAVE DELETED?

Yes! If you’re using your device as a super smart remote, select My Shows on your TV then go to the bottom of the list on your TV screen – here you'll find the Recently Deleted folder. All your deleted shows are here and it’s easy to undelete them with the tap of your finger.

WHAT IS SERIES LINK+ ?

Series Link+ lets you find and watch the shows you love, wherever they’re hiding (in your recordings, on TV, On Demand and even in Netflix). They’ll sit in one handy folder in My Shows.

Series Link+ stores shows in 2 ways:

1.      It records episodes that are broadcast live on TV. These are shown in My Shows with a ‘R’ symbol next to them. Recordings are saved on your box and ready to watch anytime.

2.      It finds episodes that are in On Demand or Catch Up. These episodes are shown in My Shows. On Demand episodes are ready to watch if you subscribe to that content, though some will only be available for a limited time.

WHAT DO BOOKMARKS DO?

Bookmarks allow you to bookmark On Demand or Netflix shows and movies to watch later. These will appear in your My Shows area on the app.

WHY ARE SOME CHANNELS 'GREYED OUT' ON THE TV GUIDE?

This means you're not subscribed to that channel. But if you’d like to subscribe to it, visit our Store. Or you can upgrade your package at any time by calling our Customer Care team.

If your question isn't listed here, you'll find thousands of helpful answers from other Virgin Media customers in our Virgin Media Community.

For more information on any service issues in your area, please visit our live service status news page.