Why I built a free TV wall in the browser — and what I learned

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

It started with a simple moment. I was sitting at my desk during a major breaking‑news event, flipping between CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera tabs. I wanted to see how different networks were covering the same story — at the same time, on the same screen.

I Googled “watch multiple TV channels at once.” Everything I found was either a paid app, required a download, or needed me to create yet another account. All I wanted was to open a browser tab and watch. So I built it myself.

LiveGrid is a free, browser‑based TV wall. Open it, pick your channels, and watch them all at once on a single screen. No login. No install. No paywall.

It currently has 5,000+ live channels from around the world — news, sports, entertainment, music — organized by country and category. You can choose different layouts:

• Classic grid – all tiles the same size.
• Command center – one main channel with smaller side channels.
• Hero layout – emphasizes one stream while keeping others visible.

The first time I had six news channels playing simultaneously, I felt something unexpected — a sense of connection to the world. I could see BBC covering a story from one angle while Al Jazeera showed a completely different perspective. I could watch Japanese NHK news even though I don’t speak Japanese, just to see what they were focusing on.

It wasn’t just about information. It was about seeing the world through multiple windows at the same time. That’s when I stopped thinking of this as a side project and started taking it seriously.

Real‑world use cases

News junkies

Journalists and news enthusiasts who want to compare how different networks cover the same event. During elections, natural disasters, or major geopolitical events, having multiple perspectives on one screen is incredibly valuable.

Sports fans

When there are multiple games happening at the same time (think NFL Sunday, Champions League nights, or March Madness), you don’t want to pick just one. You want to see them all.

Expats and digital nomads

People living abroad who miss TV from home. A Brazilian in Tokyo watching Globo. An Indian in Berlin catching IPL matches. LiveGrid makes it easy to find and watch channels from your home country.

“Just because it’s cool”

And honestly? That was me at the beginning. I just thought the idea of a TV wall in a browser was cool. Turns out, “cool” can be a valid reason to build something.

Technical challenges

Unreliable streams

Live IPTV streams stall, buffer, drop out, and sometimes just die. I built automatic stall detection and recovery — if a stream freezes for too long, LiveGrid automatically tries to restart it.

Device limits

Playing 16 simultaneous video streams will melt a cheap laptop. I built a Performance Guard that monitors your device’s FPS in real time and automatically pauses excess streams when the device is under pressure. On a powerful desktop you get all 16 streams; on a modest laptop it gracefully drops to four. The user doesn’t have to think about it.

Audio handling

When nine channels are playing, whose audio do you hear? I built a focus system — click any tile to hear its audio. You can also lock audio to a specific channel, adjust volume per tile, or mute everything. Getting the UX right took several iterations.

Lessons learned

• Start with “cool,” iterate toward “useful.” I didn’t have a product‑market‑fit hypothesis or formal user research. I just built something I thought was cool. By sharing it and listening to feedback, I discovered real use cases I never imagined.
• Zero‑friction matters more than features. The #1 thing people appreciate about LiveGrid isn’t any specific feature — it’s that they can open a link and immediately start watching. No signup flow. No onboarding. No “choose a plan.” Just TV.
• Multiple angles change perception. We’re used to consuming media one stream at a time — one article, one video, one channel. When you put six different countries’ news side by side, you realize how different the world looks depending on where you’re standing.

Future directions

• More layout options – custom arrangements beyond the current presets.
• Better channel discovery – smarter recommendations based on what you’re watching.
• Community features – ways for users to share and discover interesting channel combinations.

Get started

Visit livegrid.app/welcome. No login. No install. Just open it and start watching. Pick a country you’ve never been to and see what’s on their TV right now — you might be surprised by what you discover.

I’d love to hear your feedback: what channels you found interesting, what features you’d want, or just what you think about the idea. Drop a comment below or reach out at support@livegrid.app.