I can not stand the difference in functionality between the Android application or even the app on say Apple TV.
All, of the "apps" should have the exact same functionality. The split of functionality betweent the apps is annoying, frustrating and not user friendly.
If the situation ever changes (doubtful), I would be willing to give it another try. But at the momment, it's pretty useless for me.
Hello,
They’ve built this system primarily for ATVs because the hardware provides the best user experience on the client side. I also prefer running my server on a headless MacMini. Most Android streaming devices are simply too cheap and lack on-device storage, which is necessary for high-quality DVR features. If you need help, users have added storage to Android devices to help with the buffer range.
Once you get past the learning curve, it’s a pretty great experience, in my opinion.
It's not worth it to me. I'm a software developer and am very technical but I want an experience where I don't have to think about it.
In this case I don't want to be a power user!
And their apps can absolutely be the same as the website it's not impossible.
In their defense, they're a small team and they're very much upfront that their primary development platform is Apple.
I don't prefer Apple products but I do like Channels. Such a small team can only do so much at once and if that means targeting one stable platform and then porting features over to the much less stable, more disjointed platform which is Android, honestly, as much as I love Android, if that's what they have to do, that's what they have to do. It's not like we're dealing with Google or Microsoft.
Android TV, in particular, has so much variance that it must just be a nightmare to develop for.
I used to love and prefer Android TV, still have 2 Nvidia Shields as Client devices.
But they ruined it with all their ads and content aggregation.
Too much time i wasted being a "power user" and tweaking things, running buggy and unreliable third party launchers and such.
I made the move to Apple TV years ago, with is clean, apps first style, clean, easy, fast interface...never looked back. And, that was even years before i ended up making the move to use other Apple products, like iPhone, iPad etc
Honestly, the Apple TV been far superior in pretty much every aspect of the Shields, in my usage.
But, such things is highly subjective.
I'm not thrilled about the split either, but as mentioned the ATV interface is so clean and easy to use compared to anything on Android that it's well worth it to get one for channels. If you get a 2nd gen or later 4K you won't have any issues except for random tvOS bugs that make you reboot, they're pretty rare though.
Alot of apps are differant on differant platforms ie Netflix.
I'll pass. Not going to a website just to set up recordings. My wife would never go for that.
Huh? Why would she need to go to website to set up recordings? Both the Android TV and tvOS clients allow users to set up recordings via the TV interface.
that apple sauce sure makes for a slippery slope! 
LOLZ. You asked for it. Monologue time!
Well, yea... when the sauce is actually better tasting....
Seriously, it was Google who pissed into the sauce for me, by ruining the Android experience for me.
I did not like the radical changes they made to Android 9/10...liked the UI of the older versions much better. If i had to re-learn a new UI, that looks much more iPhone like, might as well go iPhone.
Been a Google/Android user since the first smartphones around 2009 era.
Before that, only had a iPod Touch to replace a Palm Piolt PDA when i was in college.
Was a power user, tweaker, rooter, custimze everything, custom rom etc.
But pretty much every feature that was in custom roms, now come standard.
Things got more locked down.
Google Pixel became a thing, was perfect with my Pixel 3, until their major overhall with Android 9/10.
Shortly after that, i got a job working on refurbing Apple computers, and got to taste the Apple Sauce proper, but on the cheap.
Wanted a challange, was borded and sick with Android...made the switch to iOS...found the grass greener (for me) on the other side in the end, but not without its issues of some dog turds around to try not to step in. There is quirks and things that annoy me on the Apple side too.
And, no, i do not mean that "things just work" atttidue about Apple, there are certain things that very much do not work right or at all, on the Apple side. If anything, it should be "this just work differntly" / "think differnt".
Google/Android never had any sort of proper good Android Tablet like device. Samsung tried, but ultimatley failed. iPad just dominates the tablet market, period.
Smartwatch, again, Google and others try, but nothing beats the integration and just plain smoothness of Apple Watch and iPhone.
Streaming tv box? Well, Android tv used to be great, but ads, content aggregation, cluttter galore. Yuck! Other options, just too limited or junk in their own way. Roku, simple, easy, but Channels not supported. Fire TV, worse than what Android TV became. Tizen, WebOS...all buil-in to tvs that were under-powered and laggy.
Apple TV, the one stand out device that remains simple, clutter free, and stil performs. And performs well. tvOS highly optimized and just had far better overall app quailty than Android/Google TV's do.
Airplay, Homepod speakers, Airpods, all work seemlessly.
Gets current and new features and OS updates.
And, Channels DVR is mainly developed for use on Apple.
Infuse Player Pro also is much better standalone player app than anything i ever found on Android tv.
The Nvidia Shield Pro (2019), the only left over Android TV box that i even consider useable hardware these days, if one has to use Android TV based device. Backlit remote is nice, but i was able to find a remote for Apple TV that is backlit too.
Maybe people should give Apple a try....see how it works for you
Maybe you will like it better, maybe you won't.
Maybe you don't care and just want the cheapest thing that will give you TV...Well, you get what you pay for.
Have to accept the fact that Channels DVR is not geared towards non-Apple devices, and perhaps you may need to look at alternative Home Media Server solutions that are more focused on Android side, like Plex, Emby, Jellyfin etc.
All about having a good client really. The android TV app is mid at best so I usually use the AppleTV app and use the IPTV proxy for my Corelec box. I think the best client is indeed the AppleTV app after using it for a while
There's no better DVR out there. So, suit yourself.
lol. my neighbor recently found an old apache in a storage unit. I forgot how small they actually were.
I held on to my TouchPro2 until it broke in 2014. RIP winmo. never did windows phone though.
I had a Zune - and loved it. Roast me.
The Zune pass where you could "buy" an album monthly with a subscription was genius.
Haven't seen an add or any clutter on my Android TV boxes in a very long time. Projectivy Launcher is the way. 
It's not stored on the server? From what I see it has to be. I've paused things and forgot for a long while and come back, and it resumes fine. (2019 Shield Pro with no extra storage and an ancient Win10 server box)
Recordings yes and depending on settings you can "share streams" from the server to the clients but when watching live TV if you pause and walk away (while not recording) that playback is stored locally on the client. ATV's have enough local storage to let you stay paused for hours, most android devices will max out at 30 minutes. Im sure there are other examples but that's a scenario that impacted me the most.
I use Flauncher myself. Obviously, debloating your AndroidTV will obviously help performance. Less apps/junk = more space and more memory freed up
Server >> Channels Settings >> Live TV Buffer >> 1/2/4 Hours
I'm gonna go with it being stored on the server, for space and performance concerns. 2 Hours of OTA would destroy my 3.2 available gigs on my Shield.
[edit] I made the mistake of asking Google's AI thing, asked twice, and it gave both answers as being correct. Who knows.