FlickHive – Browse & Cast

🌐 Your first visit

When you open FlickHive for the first time, please grant all requested permissions (storage, notifications) — the app needs these to save files and show download progress.

After that, you'll see a browser with a search/URL bar at the top. Navigate to any website that hosts videos — type a URL or search with your default engine.

🔖 Bookmarks

Found a site you'll visit often? Tap the ☰ menu icon in the top-right corner and select Add Bookmark to bookmark the current page.

To see all your bookmarks, open the menu and tap Show Bookmarks. You can also enable Pin bookmarks to home in the menu — this displays your bookmarks as tiles on the home/new-tab page for quick one-tap access.

🛡️ Built-in ad blocker

FlickHive blocks ads, popups, and tracking scripts automatically. No setup needed — the filter list updates in the background. You'll see fewer distractions and pages load faster.

Popup windows from ad clicks are intercepted too. Only legitimate popups (like login windows) are allowed through.

📑 Tabs

Tap the tab counter in the toolbar to see all open tabs. You can open new tabs, close existing ones, or switch between them.

🔒 Incognito tabs

Open an incognito tab for private browsing. Incognito tabs don't save browsing history, watch history, and cookies are cleared when the tab is closed.

🕐 History

Open the menu to access Browser History (pages you've visited) and Watch History (videos you've played, with resume support). You can revisit or replay anything, or clear your history at any time.

🖥️ Desktop Mode & Find in Page

Need the desktop version of a site? Open the menu and toggle Desktop Mode. Use Find in Page to search for text on the current page.

📡 The detection sensor

When FlickHive detects media on the page, a notification indicator appears on the sensor icon in the toolbar. Tap it to open the media detection sheet.

Detection works for HLS, DASH, MP4, WebM, MKV, and audio streams. Subtitles (VTT, SRT, ASS) are detected separately and appear in their own section.

📋 Media detection sheet

The sheet shows all detected media grouped by type. Each video row displays the format (HLS, MP4, etc.) and a quality hint when available. For HLS streams, quality chips appear below the row so you can pick a specific resolution.

From any stream row you can:

• Play — open the stream in FlickHive's built-in player
• Cast — send it to a connected device (only visible when a TV is connected)
• Select for saving — tap the row to select it, then hit the Save Offline button

🎞️ Quality chips (HLS)

HLS streams show selectable quality chips — for example 1080p, 720p, 480p. Tap a chip to lock that quality for playback, casting, or saving offline.

A "Master" chip is also shown — selecting it lets the player choose quality adaptively based on your connection speed.

💬 Subtitles

Detected subtitle tracks appear in the "Subtitles" section of the media detection sheet. Select a subtitle alongside a video to include it when playing, casting, or saving.

📥 How to save

1. Open the media detection sheet by tapping the sensor icon.
2. Tap the stream row(s) you want to save — a checkmark appears.
3. If it's HLS, select a quality chip for the resolution you want.
4. Optionally select a subtitle track too.
5. Tap the Save Offline button at the bottom of the sheet.
6. Choose a save location (or use the last-used folder) and confirm.

📊 Save progress

Active saves appear in the Downloads tab with a progress bar and percentage. A notification also shows progress in your notification shade so you can track saves while using other apps.

📁 Where files are saved

Files are saved to the folder you select in the confirmation dialog. By default, FlickHive creates a subfolder with the video title inside your chosen directory to keep things organized.

Subtitles are saved alongside the video in the same folder.

📂 Browsing your library

The Library tab shows all your saved files grouped into folders by title. Each folder shows its total size. Tap a file's Play button to start playback instantly.

You can sort your library by name or recent using the sort button at the top.

🗑️ Deleting files

Long-press a file or folder to enter selection mode. Select the items you want to remove, then tap the delete button. FlickHive will ask for confirmation before removing files from your device.

📤 Playing and casting from library

Tap Play on any video file to play it in the built-in player. If a casting device is connected, you'll also see a cast option to send it to your TV.

Subtitles saved alongside the video are loaded automatically.

🎮 Playback controls

The player opens in full screen. Tap the screen to show controls: play/pause, seek bar, and skip forward/back.

• Double-tap left — skip back 10 seconds
• Double-tap right — skip forward 10 seconds
• Swipe up/down on the left side — adjust brightness
• Swipe up/down on the right side — adjust volume

💬 Subtitles in the player

If a subtitle was selected in the media detection sheet or is available locally, it loads automatically. Tap the CC button to toggle subtitles on or off, or to browse, select, and switch between available tracks.

You can also adjust the subtitle text size from the CC picker — use the A− and A+ buttons to decrease or increase the size. Your preferred size is saved separately for the phone player and Chromecast, so you can have different sizes for each.

🪟 Picture-in-Picture (PiP)

Press the home button or navigate away while a video is playing, and the player will shrink into a small floating window. You can continue watching while using other apps.

Tap the PiP window to return to full-screen playback.

⏱️ Watch history & resume

FlickHive remembers where you left off. When you reopen a video you've watched before, you'll see the option to resume from your last position. Your full watch history — both local files and streams — is accessible from the menu.

🔗 Connecting to your TV

1. Make sure your phone and Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Tap the Cast icon in the bottom navigation bar to open the Cast screen.
3. Tap Find devices and select your device from the list.
4. Once connected, a green indicator confirms the connection.

🎬 Casting a stream

With a device connected, the Cast button appears on every stream row in the media detection sheet. Tap it to send that stream directly to your TV. Quality chips work with casting too — select the resolution you want before casting.

📁 Casting local files

Open a file from your Library and tap the Cast button in the player. The video will start playing on your TV. Local subtitles are sent along with the video.

🎛️ Cast screen controls

While casting, a dedicated Cast screen shows playback controls for your TV: play/pause, seek, volume, and subtitle toggle.

To stop casting, tap the disconnect button or the Cast icon and select "Stop casting."

⬇️ Saving

Concurrent saves — set how many files save at the same time. More concurrent saves means faster overall completion, but may slow individual saves on slower connections.

Wi-Fi only — when enabled, files will only save when you're connected to Wi-Fi, helping you avoid using mobile data.

📺 FlickHive Receiver

Use FlickHive Receiver — FlickHive includes a custom Chromecast receiver optimized for broader format support. This is enabled by default for the best experience. If you experience casting issues with certain content, you can try toggling this off to use the default receiver. Restart the app after changing this setting.

💾 Storage

The storage bar shows how much space is available on your device, helping you decide when to clean up old files from the Library.

🔔 Notifications

FlickHive uses notifications to show save progress and completion. If you're not seeing notifications, check that notification permissions are enabled in your device settings.

ℹ️ About

View the app version, build info, and links to the privacy policy and this help page.

No streams detected on a page?

Some sites use DRM (digital rights management) which prevents detection. If you see a "DRM protected" indicator, the content can't be saved or cast through FlickHive. Try a different source for the same content.

Also make sure the video is actually playing on the page — FlickHive detects media as it loads, so the video needs to start before streams appear.

Save failed or stuck?

If a save fails, try re-starting it from the Downloads tab. Common causes include unstable internet connections or the source URL expiring.

Chromecast not found?

Make sure both your phone and Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network. Casting does not work when a VPN is connected — disconnect your VPN and retry. Network-level ad blockers or guest Wi-Fi isolation can also prevent discovery.

Video plays with no sound on TV?

Check that the TV volume is up and not muted. Also check the volume slider on FlickHive's Cast screen — it controls the Chromecast volume independently of your phone volume.

How do subtitles work?

FlickHive detects subtitle tracks automatically when available. On some sites, selecting a subtitle track in the site's own video player will trigger detection — try choosing a subtitle on the page and then check the media detection sheet.

If subtitles can't be detected from the site, you can still use external subtitle files. Save a subtitle from any source, then select it through the CC picker in the player to load it alongside your video.