Is pausing live television the same as catch-up?

Why this happens

Pausing a channel you are already watching can rely on a buffer created during that viewing session. Catch-up begins with a programme that was broadcast earlier, possibly before the player was open. Those are different capabilities even if both let you watch behind the live moment. Closing a session or changing channels may affect a local timeshift buffer, whereas a provider replay window follows its own rules. Neither feature should be inferred just from the presence of a pause icon.

Identify whether the player is working with a local/backend timeshift buffer or opening a programme from the guide’s replay controls. Kodi’s PVR documentation describes timeshifting as backend-dependent and its specific add-on documentation can define buffer behavior for that route. That does not establish the same behavior for every IPTV application. Test each function separately on the device you intend to use, and keep an important live event in mind before assuming a paused session will survive a channel change or restart. The labels may be similar while the stored media and limits are quite different.

A useful way to work through it

1. Describe whether playback was paused during an active live session or opened from a past listing.

2. Read the player’s/backend’s own timeshift and replay guidance.

3. Avoid assuming a local pause buffer survives closing the app or changing channels.