I’ve tried many different boxes doing app permissions in Tivimate and in a File manager app it does not work. I’ve tried it on Hako Pro,Rocktek G2, Homatics boxes and ONN box. Android Boxes 10+ above firmware will not work on external drive unless it has “system picker” option in Tivimate. My Shield Pro and Ugoos boxes work fine. My Hako Pro boxes will not record to external. Unless you use SMB option as a alternative.
Thats because Nvidea are good at mastering android permissions. Ugoos is stock and doesnt play nice with android but stock gives you options. Buzztv implemented a “smb” feature a few updates back that gets you there, most other boxes are slapped together without much thought. just imho 
Buzz boxes have “system picker” also and SMB. Doing the network folder share is the way to go I heard.
Mistake one of the reasons I went to Formuler Z 11 pro Max was because of their My TV online 3 app that enabled recording. Then I realized my TiVi mate could do recording with external drive. Maybe I just never knew. Now going back to shield pro so I can use Tivimate and record to external drive.
I love Tivi Mate better because it has has mutiview which formuler does not just pip.
Sparkle app will work on external drive with any box. The developer forces a setting path to work on Android 10+ by default for record and timeshift. Just Tivimate has the system picker option that only works on certain devices.
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After finding that the NVIDEA SHIELD needs SYSTEM PICKER to work the local USB connection. Would like to know which if any newer competitive hardware platforms have SYSTEM PICKER? Know that any android 9 devices can do this. But anything android 11 or newer may not have SYSTEM PICKER which in TIVIMATE is required for local USB.
Why are various new hardware boxes not being checked to see if they have SYSTEM PICKER? Sure TIVIMATE is not the only software for its niche but it is kind of the primary known tool.
Good morning @Ellteejak. Even with Android 11 to 14 there are many apps that have gotten around the storage restrictions and limits. You need do to do a couple of things like get a file explorer. I use X-plore. Then there is one thing that must be done and that is go into system apps, find the “files” app and then uninstall any and all updates and that will return it to factory which 9 times out of 10 will remove the restrictions and allow the necessary access. Then instead of going to the system picker you can open your X-plore, find your USB storage and create a file and name it what you want. If you have the skill then make a note of the file route and you can enter that manually in the recording settings in TiViMate. Now on my shield this made my system picker easy to manuever and set the recordings folder to the one I created. For other ppl this actually made the system picker become visible and active to use. A mini KB also makes manuevering and selecting inside system picker easier, but I didn’t need it after using X-plore to create my recording folder on my SSD. Trouble is there are just so many devices with different settings setup. But this is what I’ve found after countless hours of research to get an issue with my usb attached SSD for my Shield Pro fixed. Anyone reading this who has issues with just recording 1 minute then it stops or if it does record from TiViMate you get a real jerky playback then be sure in settings>playlists>(name of your playlist)>Xtream Codes parameters>Output format>if, as I did, you changed this to HLS then change it back to MPEG-TS. I hope this helps.
Thanks Miki. This conversation should answer a lot of questions. Appreciate the patience with finding this discussion
Looking at ugoos boxes X4D for less than $100 with android 11 and 4 gigs plus 32 gigs on AliExpress
Any time @Ellteejak . I’m still learning all this myself. Never stop learning. You have a wonderful Sunday and stay safe.
Thx for that explanation Miki…very usefull info and i will save for future use
I found one more new method. When you get to “Folder path” you can actually type in your path. So one guy found a work around and he named the file
/storage/sdcard1/Android/data/ar.tvplayer.tv
Now sdcard1 is the internal storage so if you’re using say removable usb storage then you’ll have to find the route to that using say X-plore. Now you want to create that folder. Now you’re probably going, hold on ar.tvplayer.tv is the actual name of TiViMate, you are absolutely right, but because you have now created a folder on or in your storage with the same name as the app the system will recognize that name and grant it full permissions. Now I am not going to test this on My Shield as I finally got the USB SSD working and folder created for recording so I don’t want to mess that up. Found this on an XDA post. Just another way to play. 
you continue to amaze about this issue…i’m saving all of it and thx again
Well that ticks me off is I know it can be done, lots of ppl say so, but damn you gotta dig deep to get to the real answers. You’d swear they had the specs to a black hole for Pete’s sake but won’t freely share. So when I do find credible info I will share with everyone and especially knowledgeable insiders like yourself who have the skills to verify these methods,. Be well Comtech.
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Ugoos Boxes are great. I have 2 of the AM8 and they have “system picker” option for Tivimate. Been using Sparkle lately though.
Have also been using SPARKLE. Keep thinking that it’s a waste of time to worry about TIVIMATE when SPARKLE can just work.
Sparkle is my primary. Tivimate and Implayer are backups
TiViMate works perfectly. For some it’s a matter of overcoming the restrictions imposed by droid 11, but there are ways around that. I’ve posted a few. I won’t use Sparkle due to it’s demand to be tied to an account. But this is why we have options. Use what you find to be the simplest for you and that meets your needs. I record daily using TiViMate.