Audio drifting away from the picture has three common causes, and the fix differs for each. Changing settings blindly usually makes it worse.
1. Use the built-in audio delay
During playback, open the menu and adjust Audio delay in small steps. If a fixed offset corrects it and it stays corrected, you are done — this is the normal case with soundbars and AV receivers, which add processing latency the TV cannot report.
2. Switch the decoder
If the drift grows over time rather than staying constant, the decoder is the problem. In Settings → Playback, switch between hardware and software decoding. Hardware is lighter on the device; software is more tolerant of irregular streams. Test each for a few minutes on the same channel.
3. Turn off TV audio processing
Surround simulation, night mode and dialogue enhancement all add delay. Set the TV sound mode to standard or direct and retest before touching anything in the app.
Only on some channels?
Then the app and hardware are fine — those particular streams are encoded with mismatched timestamps. A per-channel audio delay is the practical workaround; there is no global fix for a source-side encoding fault.
Drift that resets when you change channel
This points at buffering rather than sync. The stream is arriving unevenly and the decoder is catching up. Work through the buffering fixes first — sync usually corrects itself once playback is steady.
When it is the stream
Consistent sync problems across many channels, on more than one device, are a source-quality issue. That is not something a setting resolves. Our TiviMate Premium subscription is built around properly encoded, steady streams. Also see device recommendations — underpowered hardware makes drift far more likely.
Useful resources
- Audio-to-video sync — why lip-sync error happens.
- Android TV Help — device audio output settings.