Using VueGram
VueGram has two screens: the library, with all your groups and channels, and a chat, with that chat's videos. Everything works with the TV remote's arrows, OK and Back.
Hold OK
Almost everything has a menu: hold OK on a chat or a video to see what you can do with it.
The library
The library is the first screen, titled Your channels. From top to bottom:
| Row | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Continue watching | The videos you started most recently and haven't finished, with how many minutes are left. Press OK to carry on where you stopped. |
| Pinned | The chats you pinned, so your favourites are always at the top. |
| Channels & groups | Every group and channel you follow, as a grid of their photos. |
By default the library lists only groups and channels: no private chats and no bots. (A setting can add your private chats with people.)
Pin, hide and remove
Hold OK on a chat:
- Pin to top puts it in the Pinned row. Unpin takes it out again.
- Hide from VueGram takes it out of the library, for chats you follow but never watch on the TV. It only hides the chat in VueGram on this TV; nothing changes in Telegram.
Hold OK on a video in Continue watching to Mark as watched or Remove from Continue watching.
Hidden channels
Once you have hidden a chat, a Hidden channels card appears in the library. Press OK on it to show or hide your hidden chats. While they are shown, hold OK on one and choose Show in VueGram again to unhide it.
Leaving
Press Back twice in the library to leave VueGram ("Press Back again to exit").
A chat's videos
Press OK on a chat to open it. You see the chat's videos and video files as a grid of 16:9 cards, newest first. Each card shows the thumbnail, the length, the date and the file size. More videos load as you move down.
Videos you have started show where you stopped, or how many minutes are left; videos you finished carry a ✓ Watched mark.
Hold OK on a video for more:
- Play from the beginning ignores where you stopped last time.
- Mark as watched or Mark as not watched.
- Play in mpv opens it in mpv-android, if you have it installed. See the mpv fallback.
INFO
With the Show messages setting on, a chat shows all its messages instead of only its videos.
Searching
Search one chat
At the top of a chat there is a Search this channel field. Type a word and VueGram finds the chat's videos that match.
Search all channels
At the top of the library there is a Search all channels field. It uses Telegram's own search across every group and channel you follow at once, and shows the matching videos in a grid you can play from, just like a chat.
The player
Press OK on a video and it starts playing in VueGram's built-in player, streamed straight from Telegram. If you watched part of it before, it picks up where you stopped and says Resuming at the time.
| Remote key | What it does |
|---|---|
| OK | Pause, and play again |
| ◀ Left | Jump 10 seconds back |
| ▶ Right | Jump 30 seconds forward |
| Hold ◀ or ▶ | Keep adding: each repeat adds another 10 or 30 seconds. The screen shows how far you will jump and where you will land, and the jump happens a moment after you let go. |
| ▲ Up, ▼ Down | Show the progress bar |
| Back | Leave the player |
Play/pause, rewind and fast-forward buttons on the remote work too.
Resume and watched marks
- VueGram remembers where you stopped: while you watch, and when you leave the player.
- If you stop within the first 30 seconds, the video counts as not started.
- If you get through about 92% of it, or to the end, it counts as watched and gets the ✓ Watched mark.
- You can always change this by hand: hold OK on the video and choose Mark as watched or Mark as not watched.
All of this is stored on the TV only. See Privacy & security.
When a video won't play
Some TVs' hardware video decoders refuse certain files. When that happens, VueGram doesn't give up: it tries another decoder, then Android's software decoders.
The mpv fallback
For the rare file that none of those can play, VueGram hands the video to mpv-android, a free video player, if it is installed. The video opens in mpv at the same position, and when you press Back in mpv, VueGram remembers where you stopped there too.
If mpv is not installed, VueGram tells you that the video's format cannot be played here. Installing mpv-android once is enough; you can also pick it yourself any time with hold OK › Play in mpv.
Streams, not downloads
The parts of a video you watch are only kept while you watch. They are deleted when you leave the player, when you start the next video, and when VueGram starts, so videos never pile up on the TV's storage.