Multi-Cast User Manual

Everything you need to know about watching multiple live streams simultaneously.

1. Getting Started

What is Multi-Cast?

Multi-Cast is a multi-stream viewer that lets you watch multiple live streams at the same time in a customizable grid layout. It supports YouTube, Twitch, Kick, HLS streams, and virtually any embeddable URL. It runs entirely in your browser and can be installed as an app on any device.

Opening the App

Visit multi-cast.net in any modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge). No account is required to start watching streams.

Installing as an App (PWA)

Multi-Cast can be installed as a Progressive Web App for a full-screen, app-like experience with no browser bar.

• iPhone / iPad: Open multi-cast.net in Safari. Tap the Share button (square with arrow), then tap Add to Home Screen.
• Android: Open multi-cast.net in Chrome. Tap the three-dot menu, then tap Install app or Add to Home Screen.
• Mac: In Chrome, click the install icon in the address bar, or go to Menu > Install Multi-Cast.
• Windows: In Chrome or Edge, click the install icon in the address bar, or go to Menu > Install Multi-Cast.

First-Time Onboarding Tour

When you first open Multi-Cast, a guided onboarding tour walks you through the main features: adding streams, the toolbar, the mixer, and layouts. Follow the prompts or click Skip to dismiss. You can replay the tour at any time from the Settings menu.

2. Adding Streams

Paste a URL

The fastest way to add a stream:

1. Click the URL bar at the top of the screen.
2. Paste or type any stream URL (e.g., a YouTube live link, Twitch channel URL, Kick URL, or .m3u8 link).
3. Press Enter. The stream appears in the next available grid slot.

Supported Platforms

• YouTube — Live streams, videos, premieres
• Twitch — Any channel URL
• Kick — Any channel URL
• HLS — Direct .m3u8 links (incl. go2rtc cameras)
• RTSP — Direct camera URLs (native apps only)
• X / Twitter broadcasts — e.g. x.com/i/broadcasts/<id>
• Any URL — Web pages, dashboards, or other content

Where X broadcasts & arbitrary web pages play: they work in the Android app and Windows desktop app, which render them as full (top-level) web views. In a plain browser, sites like X and YouTube send headers that forbid being embedded inline — there the best option is to open them in a new tab. Camera, YouTube, Twitch, Kick and HLS tiles embed everywhere.

Batch Add

Add multiple streams at once:

1. Click the Batch Add button in the toolbar.
2. Paste multiple URLs, one per line.
3. Click Add All. Each URL becomes a new stream in the grid.

YouTube Search

1. Click the Search button in the toolbar.
2. Type your search query (e.g., "live news" or "lo-fi music").
3. Browse the YouTube results and copy the URL of the stream you want.
4. Paste it in the URL bar to add it.

YouTube Playlist

Paste a YouTube playlist URL into the URL bar. Multi-Cast opens the playlist in a new tab so you can pick individual videos and copy their URLs to add them one at a time.

Channel Guide

The built-in Channel Guide provides a curated directory of live streams:

1. Click the Guide button in the toolbar (or press G).
2. Browse through the available categories.
3. Click the + button next to any channel to add it to your grid.

3. Managing Streams

Resize the Grid

Use the Columns dropdown in the toolbar to control how many streams appear per row. Options include:

• Auto — Automatically adjusts based on the number of streams and your screen size.
• 1 through 6 — Fixed column counts for precise control.

Remove a Stream

Hover over (or tap on mobile) any stream panel and click the X button that appears in the corner to remove it from the grid.

Mute / Unmute

Hover over (or tap) a stream panel and click the speaker icon to toggle mute. By default, all streams start muted except the one you interact with first.

Rename / Label a Stream

Double-click the stream title text (shown at the top of each panel) to edit it. Type a custom label and press Enter to save.

Refresh a Stream

If a stream stalls or shows an error, hover over the panel and click the refresh button to reload it.

Expand a Stream

Double-click any stream panel to expand it to fill the full grid area. Alternatively, press a number key 1 through 9 to expand the corresponding stream by position. Double-click again (or press Esc) to return to the grid view.

Auto-Refresh

If a stream goes offline or fails to load, Multi-Cast automatically retries every 60 seconds. You do not need to manually refresh dead streams.

4. Audio & Mixer

Opening the Mixer

Click the Mixer button in the toolbar or press M to open the audio mixer panel. The mixer gives you full control over the audio from every stream.

Volume Faders

Each stream has a vertical volume fader. Drag it up to increase volume or down to decrease. The fader controls the output level for that individual stream.

Gain Knobs

The Gain knob at the top of each channel strip controls the input gain. Use this to balance streams that have very different source volumes before they hit the fader.

Pan Knobs

The Pan knob controls the left/right stereo balance for each stream. Center position sends equal audio to both speakers. Turn left or right to position the audio in the stereo field.

EQ (Equalizer)

Each channel has a three-band EQ:

• LO — Bass frequencies. Boost or cut low-end rumble.
• MID — Midrange frequencies. Adjust voice clarity and presence.
• HI — Treble frequencies. Control brightness and high-end detail.

Turn each knob clockwise to boost, counterclockwise to cut. Center position is flat (no change).

Channel Buttons

• M (Mute) — Mutes the individual channel.
• S (Solo) — Solos the channel, muting all other channels temporarily.
• P (Pin) — Pins the channel so it stays audible even when you click other streams.

Mute Groups

Assign channels to mute groups (1 through 4) to control multiple channels at once. When you mute a group, all channels in that group mute together. Useful for managing sets of related streams (e.g., mute all news streams at once).

Master Volume

The master volume fader on the right side of the mixer controls the overall output level for all streams combined.

VU Meters

Each channel strip displays a VU meter showing simulated audio levels. These provide visual feedback so you can see which streams are active and how loud they are relative to each other.

Listen (Focus Audio)

Tap a stream to show its control bar, then press the 🎧 Listen button to hear only that stream — all others are muted (pinned channels keep playing). Press Listen again to unfocus. The same button appears on every mixer channel strip. Tapping a tile by itself never changes audio.

Touch & Mouse Gestures

5. Layouts

Save a Layout

1. Set up your streams the way you want them.
2. Click the Layouts button in the toolbar.
3. Type a name for your layout.
4. Click Save. Your current stream configuration is stored.

Load a Layout

Open the Layouts panel and click on any saved layout to load it. Your current streams will be replaced with the saved configuration.

Delete a Layout

Click the trash icon next to any saved layout to permanently remove it.

Share a Layout

Click Copy Link on any saved layout. A shareable URL is copied to your clipboard that anyone can open to load the same stream configuration.

Public Layouts

When saving a layout, check the Public option and choose a category. Public layouts appear in the Gallery for other users to discover and use.

Browse the Gallery

In the Layouts panel, switch to the Gallery tab to browse public layouts shared by other users. Filter by category to find layouts for specific interests like news, sports, or music.

Import / Export

In the Layouts panel, go to the Import/Export tab:

• Export — Save your layouts as JSON or as a plain URL list.
• Import — Paste JSON or a URL list to import layouts from another device or user.

Scheduled Layouts

In the Layouts panel, switch to the Schedule tab:

1. Select a saved layout.
2. Pick a date and time for it to activate.
3. Optionally set a repeat pattern (daily, weekly, etc.).
4. The layout will automatically load at the scheduled time.

6. Channel Guide

Browse Categories

Open the Channel Guide by clicking Guide in the toolbar or pressing G. Browse streams organized into categories:

• News
• Aviation
• Aquarium & Fish
• Weather
• City Cams
• Space
• Music
• Sports

Favorites

Click the star icon on any channel to add it to your favorites. Access all your favorite channels quickly from the Favorites tab in the Guide.

History

The History tab shows channels you have recently added, making it easy to re-add streams you have watched before.

Custom Channels

Click the Add Channel button to add your own stream to the Guide. Enter a name, URL, and optionally a category and thumbnail. Custom channels appear alongside the built-in directory.

Search

Use the search box at the top of the Guide to filter channels by name. Results update as you type.

7. Settings

Open Settings by clicking the Settings button or pressing S.

• Theme — Choose between Dark (default), OLED Black, or Light.
• Max Quality — Set the maximum video quality: Auto, 1080p, 720p, 480p, or 360p. Lower quality uses less bandwidth and CPU.
• Auto-Restore Session — When enabled, Multi-Cast saves your current streams and restores them when you reopen the app.
• Wake Lock — Prevents your device's screen from turning off while Multi-Cast is open. Ideal for TV mode or background viewing.
• Startup Layout — Select a saved layout to automatically load every time you open Multi-Cast.
• Auto Columns — When enabled, the grid automatically adjusts the number of columns based on how many streams are active and your screen size.

8. Chat Sidebar

Open the Chat

Click the Chat button in the toolbar to open the chat sidebar on the right side of the screen.

Select a Stream's Chat

Use the dropdown at the top of the chat sidebar to choose which stream's chat you want to view. Only streams with supported chat (YouTube live chat and Twitch chat) will appear in the dropdown.

Supported Chat Platforms

• YouTube — Displays the live chat for any YouTube live stream.
• Twitch — Displays Twitch chat for any Twitch channel.

Close the Chat

Click the X on the chat sidebar to close it and reclaim the screen space for your streams.

9. Screen Recording

1. Click the REC button in the toolbar to start recording.
2. Your browser may ask for permission to record the screen or tab. Grant the permission.
3. A red pulsing dot appears in the toolbar indicating that recording is active.
4. Click REC again to stop recording.
5. The recording automatically saves as a .webm video file to your downloads folder.

10. Kiosk & TV Mode

Kiosk Mode

Click Kiosk in the toolbar or press K to enter kiosk mode. This hides all UI elements (toolbar, panels, controls) leaving only the video wall. Perfect for digital signage or dedicated viewing setups.

• Show controls: Tap or move your mouse to the top or bottom edge of the screen to temporarily reveal the toolbar and status bar.
• Swipe down from the top edge to show the toolbar.
• Swipe up from the bottom edge to show the mixer or status bar.
• Press K or Esc to exit kiosk mode.

TV Mode

Click TV Mode or press T to optimize the layout for casting to a television or large display. TV mode:

• Optimizes the grid for 16:9 aspect ratio screens.
• Increases stream panel sizes for visibility at a distance.
• Reduces UI clutter for a cleaner display.

11. Casting to TV

Chrome / Android

Open the browser menu and select Cast. Choose your Chromecast or smart TV from the list. Your entire Multi-Cast layout will appear on the TV.

Safari / iOS

Open Control Center on your iPhone or iPad, tap Screen Mirroring, and select your Apple TV or AirPlay-compatible display.

Optimize for TV

Enable TV Mode (press T) before casting for the best experience on television screens. This adjusts the layout for 16:9 displays and larger viewing distances.

Cast Instructions Button

Click the Cast button in the toolbar to see platform-specific casting instructions tailored to your current browser and device.

12. Mobile & Touch

Multi-Cast is fully optimized for mobile devices and touch interfaces.

Touch Controls

• All buttons and controls work with tap input.
• Swipe down from the top of the screen to show the toolbar.
• Swipe up from the bottom to show the mixer or status bar.
• Swipe left/right when a stream is expanded to navigate between streams.
• Long-press a stream panel to expand it (on supported devices).

Automatic Column Adjustment

• Portrait: Automatically uses 1 to 2 columns.
• Landscape: Automatically uses 2 to 3 columns.

Install as PWA

For the best mobile experience, install Multi-Cast as a PWA (see Getting Started). This removes the browser address bar and navigation, giving you the maximum screen space for your streams.

13. Keyboard Shortcuts

Press ? at any time to display the shortcuts overlay within the app.

14. Account & Profile

Log In

Click the Login button in the toolbar and choose a username. No email or password is required — your account is tied to your chosen username.

Your Profile

Click your username (once logged in) to view your profile. Your profile shows stats such as total streams watched and layouts saved.

Sync Across Devices

When logged in, your saved layouts sync across all devices where you are logged in with the same username. Save a layout on your desktop and access it on your phone.

Share Your Profile

Your public profile is available at:

multi-cast.net/u/USERNAME

Share this link so others can find your public layouts and see your viewing stats.

15. Layout Modes & Spotlight

The toolbar's Layout dropdown changes how tiles are arranged.

• Grid — equal-sized tiles in N columns (the default).
• Spotlight - main bottom — one large tile fills the bottom 75% of the screen; the rest are thumbnails in a row on top. Great for security cams where the main view is most important.
• Spotlight - main top — main on top, thumbnails on bottom.
• Spotlight - main left — main on left (75% width), thumbnails as a column on the right.
• Spotlight - main right — main on right, thumbnails on left.

Picking the Main Tile

The second dropdown (next to Layout) controls how the "main" tile is chosen:

• Main: Auto — whichever tile you click becomes the main automatically. Click any other tile to swap.
• Main: Manual ★ — only the tile you explicitly pin stays as main. Click ★ Pin as Spotlight main in any tile's ⋮ menu to set it.
• Main: Motion 🏃 — the camera with the most movement automatically becomes the main tile. As activity shifts from one camera to another, the spotlight follows it. Built-in anti-flicker means a busier camera has to clearly out-move the current one for about 1.5 seconds before it takes over, so a single bird or passing car won't cause constant jumping.

About Motion mode: it only runs while this mode is selected (it does nothing in Grid/Auto/Manual), and all the work happens on the device you're watching on — not on the camera server/tower. It analyses each camera by shrinking it to a tiny image a couple of times per second, so the extra load is small. One limitation: it can only read cameras added as HLS streams (cams.multi-cast.net/api/stream.m3u8?src=NAME). Cameras added as the iframe embed (stream.html) can't be analysed and simply won't be candidates for the motion spotlight. Works best in the desktop app and on phones; a plain browser may block it if cross-origin access isn't permitted.

Fill Row toggle

Next to the column count is a Fill row: ON/OFF button. When ON, the last (bottom) row stretches its tiles to fill the full width when there are fewer tiles than columns. When OFF, all tiles stay the same size and you see empty space on the right of the last row.

16. Fit / Fill per Tile

Each individual tile has a display mode under its ⋮ menu (Display dropdown):

• Fit (default) — the entire video shows; you may see black bars (letterbox/pillarbox) if the tile aspect doesn't match the video.
• Fill (crop edges) — video fills the tile completely. Top/bottom or left/right edges may be cropped. Best for matching tile shape.
• Stretch (distort) — video stretches to exactly fill the tile, distorting if aspect ratios differ. Niche use.

Fit settings persist with your saved sessions and layouts.

17. Cameras & go2rtc

Multi-Cast supports IP cameras (RTSP) via a separate service called go2rtc that runs in your home network and is exposed through the cams.multi-cast.net subdomain.

How Cameras Are Embedded

Camera streams use the format:

https://cams.multi-cast.net/api/stream.m3u8?src=stream_name

or the alternative direct-player URL:

https://cams.multi-cast.net/stream.html?src=stream_name

The app detects either format and wraps it in go2rtc's player iframe — which auto-negotiates WebRTC, MSE, or HLS depending on browser support.

HD vs SD Variants

For Lorex/Dahua cameras, each camera typically has two stream variants:

• name_sd — sub-stream (subtype=1), native H.264, low bandwidth. Best for multi-camera grids.
• name_hd — main stream (subtype=0), often H.265, plus an ffmpeg transcode to H.264 for browser playback. Higher CPU on the go2rtc host.

18. Camera Dashboard

The camera management dashboard lives at:

multi-cast.net/cameras

This page is protected by HTTP Basic Auth (separate from your main account login). It shows:

• A live table of every camera stream configured in go2rtc — name, online/idle/viewer count, and copy buttons for both browser-direct and multi-cast.net favorites URLs.
• An ➕ Add Camera button that opens a form to create a new camera. Filling in name + IP + credentials creates both SD and HD variants automatically (with the ffmpeg transcoder wired up for HD).
• A Manage column on each row with two actions:
  • 🗑 Delete — removes that exact stream from go2rtc (confirm first). Cameras usually have _sd and _hd variants, so delete both to fully remove a camera.
  • ✎ Edit — deletes the camera's _sd/_hd variants and re-opens the Add form pre-filled with the base name, so you can re-enter details and re-create it cleanly (this avoids duplicate producers a plain re-add would cause).
• A filter box for searching by name and an auto-refresh toggle.

You can still use go2rtc's own UI at cams.multi-cast.net for advanced raw stream config.

19. Camera Auto-Recover

Camera streams occasionally get stuck — frozen frame, blank tile, dead WebRTC connection. The Cam recover dropdown in the toolbar (next to Cols) periodically reloads each camera tile to bring it back.

• Default is 1 hour.
• Options range from 2 minutes up to 4 hours, or Off.
• Only affects camera tiles (URLs pointing at cams.multi-cast.net). YouTube/Twitch/HLS tiles are unaffected.
• Multi-view (combined) tiles are unaffected — their internal rotation handles its own state.

The reload is silent (the iframe blinks for a second as it reconnects). Setting persists per browser via localStorage.

20. TV Displays & Kiosks

For wall-mounted TVs running Multi-Cast as a continuous display:

TV Displays (Personal Auto-Login + Remote Control)

From Settings → 📺 TV Displays:

1. Type a label (e.g. "Kitchen TV")
2. Click Generate
3. Copy the URL (auto-copied to clipboard) and bookmark it on the TV's browser

The URL contains a long random token tied to your account. When loaded, the TV auto-logs in as you and goes into kiosk mode with hourly auto-refresh — no password entry on the TV.

Central Display Manager (control TVs remotely)

Once a display exists, its row in Settings → 📺 TV Displays becomes a remote control. From your phone or any logged-in device you can:

• Assign a layout — pick a saved layout from the row's Show: dropdown. The TV detects the change and switches itself within about 8 seconds. No need to touch the TV.
• ↻ Reload — push an instant refresh to that TV (handy if a feed got stuck).
• Link — re-copy the TV's bookmark URL.
• Remove — revoke the display; the TV stops responding and needs a new link.

How it works: each display quietly polls the server every few seconds for its assigned layout and a command counter. Changing the assignment or pushing a reload bumps that counter, and the TV reacts — switching layout in place, or reloading. The last seen time shows when each TV last checked in.

Public TV Mode

For displays anyone should access (lobby walls, etc.):

https://multi-cast.net/?layout=ID&kiosk=1&reload=3600

No login required. The layout must be marked public for anonymous viewers to load it.

21. URL Flags

Multi-Cast supports several URL parameters for deep-linking and automation:

Most flags can be combined, e.g. ?tvkey=...&layout=xyz&kiosk=1&reload=1800.

22. Desktop App (Windows .exe)

A portable Windows desktop app is available. It's an Electron wrapper that loads the live multi-cast.net website, so it always has the same features as the web version — no updates required for website changes.

Where to Get It

The current build is MultiCast-v1.5-desktop.exe in your Google Drive (and the project's release area). It's a portable executable — just double-click to run, no installation.

What's Different from the Browser

• Native menu bar — flat layout: Add Stream, Guide, Search, Layouts, Mixer, Chat, Columns, Kiosk, TV, Cast, Theme, Mute All, Settings, Cam Recover, More.
• Floating ➕ button in the bottom-right corner for quick stream adds.
• In-page toolbar is hidden — more vertical space for video.
• External links open in default browser (Help, Get App, etc.) instead of inside the app.
• Version shown in title bar (e.g. Multi-Cast v1.5.0).
• Login info is saved by Chromium's built-in password manager — log in once, and the credentials autofill on next session.

23. Diagnostics & Troubleshooting

Error Log

The bug icon in the toolbar shows a badge with the current error count. Click it to open the error log, which displays:

• Timestamped error messages for each stream.
• Details about what went wrong (network errors, embed failures, etc.).
• A Copy button to copy the full error log to your clipboard for reporting.

Submit Feedback

Click the Report button in the diagnostics panel to submit feedback or report a bug directly to the development team.

Performance Monitor

The diagnostics panel also includes a performance monitor showing:

• Stream count — Number of active streams.
• Memory estimate — Approximate memory usage.
• FPS — Current rendering frame rate.

Common Issues

16. Download Android App

Multi-Cast is available as a native Android app with full tablet support. The app is optimized for phones, foldables, and 7"/10" tablets.

Features

• Multi-stream grid — Watch YouTube, Twitch, Kick, and HLS streams side by side
• Reliable cameras — go2rtc/RTSP & HLS cameras play through a hardened native engine (media_kit/libmpv), so they no longer drop the way they used to
• Spotlight layouts — Grid plus 4 spotlight modes (thumbnails bottom/top/left/right); tap a thumbnail to promote it
• Fit modes — Fit / Fill / Stretch per the website
• Camera auto-recover — Periodic reload (Off/15/30/60/120 min) to revive frozen feeds
• X broadcasts & web pages — x.com/i/broadcasts/… and arbitrary URLs play as native web tiles
• Audio mixer — Per-channel VU meters, faders, mute/solo/pin, master controls
• Channel guide — Built-in channels plus custom channels
• Cloud layouts — Save, sync, and share your stream setups
• Tablet & foldable optimized — Adaptive UI for 7"/10" tablets and Galaxy Z Fold/Flip
• Session restore — Picks up where you left off automatically
• Dark/OLED/Light themes — Same themes as the web app

How to Install

1. Download MultiCast-v1.5-release.apk from Google Drive to your Android device.
2. Open the downloaded MultiCast-v1.5-release.apk file.
3. If prompted, enable "Install from unknown sources" for your browser.
4. Tap Install, then Open.

Requirements

Multi-Cast — Watch everything at once.
Questions or feedback? Use the Report button in the app.