FitzyTV review: A neat but shaky workaround for streaming TV annoyances

As liberating as cord-cutting can be, it can also introduce some frustrations.

The live TV streaming service you’re paying for might not let you record certain channels or skip through commercials, or its TV program guide might be less intuitive than what you had with cable. Meanwhile, subscribing to more than one live TV service means juggling separate apps with their own DVRs, and mooching a pay-TV login from a friend or family member means watching live TV through dozens of separate apps.

FitzyTV is a free app that deals with those annoyances by pulling all your live streaming channels into one viewing guide, while also offering its own cloud DVR for an additional fee. For cord-cutters in certain situations, it could be a useful tool, and at the very least it’s interesting as a proof of concept. But it also rests on shaky ground—if not legally, then at least technically—that results in several major limitations. Even as FitzyTV alleviates some streaming TV headaches, it introduces new ones.

What is FitzyTV?

FitzyTV is a free app you can download on Amazon Fire TV devices, Android TV devices, and Android mobile devices. Once installed, it lets you log into your existing pay-TV package—whether it’s cable, satellite, or streaming—and stream live channels through a simple grid guide.

Jared Newman / IDG

To be clear, the only content FitzyTV provides on its own is a handful of free internet-based streaming channels, such as Cheddar and Buzzr. To watch any other channels through the app, you must be getting them already through an existing pay-TV package.

Why bother with FitzyTV, then? If you’re still paying for cable or satellite TV, you could use the app on a Fire TV or Android TV device to avoid renting a second or third cable box. And if you’re sharing someone else’s cable-TV password, the app…