Are you stuck in transport, your TV box is broken or you only have your computer at hand to watch your favorite live program? Do not panic, here is a selection of applications and methods to achieve this, free or not.
It has been a few years now that it is no longer science fiction to be able to watch your favorite program live from a device other than the TV in the living room. Even though SVOD services like Netflix, Prime Video or Disney Plus have taken a far greater share of the attention, many are still attached to television if only to watch the news live or to watch the movie from Sunday evening between some pubs.
Today there are many ways, free or paid, to have access to live TV from your smartphone, tablet or computer and we have gathered here the best applications, platforms and sites to achieve this.
Molotov: the “free” solution
Molotov is undoubtedly the most popular platform for accessing live TV in HD from any connected device. It also has the advantage of offering, in its paid versions, the same functionalities as most TV Boxes such as delayed broadcasting (going back in time to the start of the program) and the catalogs of replay.
Molotov is available on many platforms: Android, Android TV, iOS, Apple OS, Apple TV, WebOS, Tizen OS, FireTV, Xbox and even in VR on Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets. You can also access it from any browser on PC, Mac and Linux directly through the web platform or by downloading the application.
The service has several offers including one free (Molotov basic) giving access to 31 channels, the majority of which are DTT channels.
Please note, however, that TF1, M6 and the group’s other channels (TMC / TFX / LCI / TF1 Séries Films / W9 / 6ter / Gulli) are not accessible from this offer.
The other offers are paid:
- Molotov Plus (3.99 euros per month or 39.99 euros annually with a one-year contract)
- Molotov Extended (9.99 euros per month without commitment)
The latter offer between 70 and 107 channels in Full HD quality and up to 4 simultaneous screens, recording in the clouds of its programs, all wherever you are in Europe.
myCanal: the premium solution
The alternative to Molotov is at Canal + with the myCANAL platform. The platform is available on many connected TVs and on some operator boxes.
With more than 300 channels designed for all audiences and covering all themes, the Canal+ offer is undoubtedly the most interesting for all channel surfing enthusiasts. However, it is also very interesting for fans of cinema and series as its offer in this regard is flourishing via its VOD Cinema, youth discovery and sport packages. In addition, users benefit in all cases from the 27 national DTT channels. Customers of internet service providers also benefit from the Canal TV+ package. Naturally, only Canal+ subscribers benefit from Canal+ channels.
Canal+ has redesigned its offer to be viewable from anywhere and on several screens: connected TV, internet box, smartphone, tablet, etc. All this via the MyCanal application available on Android and iOS. You can even stream all this content from your computer simply by logging in to the Canal+ site.
Packages from internet service providers
After Molotov, Salto and myCANAL, the second most practical solution is the one offered by most internet service providers in their offer triple play :
Each of these applications gives access to DTT channels and part of the ISP package live, sometimes in restart and sometimes in replay, from home and on the move. These applications also make it possible to program recordings from the program guide.
What are the best fiber and ADSL offers for watching TV from anywhere?
In order to discover the other offers available on the market and to have access to TV from your smartphone or computer, we invite you to consult our comparison of the best ADSL and Fiber offers of the moment!
Fibre, Câble
RED box Fibre
Débit jusqu’à 1 Gb/s
Sans Player TV
Téléphonie vers 100 destinations
Fibre
Bbox ultym Fibre
1 semaine
Débit jusqu’à 2 Gb/s
180 chaînes de TV incluses
Téléphonie vers 110 destinations
Fiber, Cable
SFR Fiber Box 7,500 Mb/s
2 weeks
Flow rate up to 500 Mbps
160 TV channels included
Telephony to 100 destinations
All internet boxes
Dedicated channel applications
Almost all television channels or groups offer a dedicated application. In order of appearance of groups in the numbering of DTT channels:
- MYTF1 (TF1, TMC, NT1 and HD1)
- France.tv (France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô)
- 6play (M6, W9 and 6ter)
- art
- Gulli
- TV Team
- RMC Play (RMC Discovery, RMC Story, BFM TV, BFM Business, 01TV, BFM regions)
The continuous news channels each offer a dedicated mobile application:
All these applications allow you to watch live channels, sometimes with the possibility of going back in time (function restart), and often with access to replay. They have a major drawback: you have to install a dozen applications to access the DTT bouquet and there is no unified program guide.
To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application. You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.