Sparkle Plus Benefits Explained — Favourites, Timeshift, DVR, Multiview & More

1. The free baseline — what you already get

Free Sparkle TV already plays live TV well, and our playlist works with the free player — Plus is never required to use a playlist from this site. If you watch one playlist on one Android TV, mostly live, you may never need more.

• Live TV with an EPG guide
• M3U / Xtream Codes / XMLTV playlist support
• Audio track switching and subtitles
• Search
• Parental controls

2. A guide that feels like yours — favourites & logos

With thousands of channels in a playlist, hiding what you will never watch is transformative. EPG channel logos and programme images make the guide scannable at a glance instead of a wall of text.

• Favourites lists
• Channel sorting
• Show / hide channels
• EPG channel logos and programme images

Households sharing one TV benefit most from this tidy-up.

3. Timeshift, DVR & catch-up — TV on your schedule

Together, these three turn live TV into something that fits your schedule, not the broadcaster's.

• Timeshift: pause and rewind live TV
• DVR / recording: save programmes in the player to watch later — storage depends on your device
• VOD & catch-up: recent programmes you missed, where the source provides them

4. Multiview & multiple sources

Two features for heavier viewers. Set up each playlist with our playlist guide.

• Multiview: several channels at once — two matches on one screen is the classic use, and it shines on Shield and larger Android TVs
• Multiple sources: keep more than one playlist in the same player and switch between them, instead of juggling apps — useful if you keep a second playlist for a holiday home

5. Real Plus prices & who should upgrade — and who can skip it

Sparkle Plus is information only here: $1.49/month, $7.99/year or $20.99 one-time, bought in-app via Google Play and shareable to up to 5 devices. This site does not sell or activate Sparkle Plus, so there are no Plus purchase buttons here.

• Upgrade if you record or time-shift
• Upgrade if you run more than one playlist
• Upgrade if you share the player across a household
• Upgrade if you hate scrolling past channels you will never watch
• Skip it if you only watch a handful of live channels on one device — the free player already does that well

How to buy it (in-app only) is in How to Purchase Sparkle Plus.