IPTV player guide
An IPTV player is the app that turns your login into a channel list, a TV guide and a film library. The right one depends on the device under your television. This guide compares the main players, explains the three login types they ask for and shows how to set one up with a Vivid TV subscription.
The basics
An IPTV player is an app that plays live channels and on-demand films from an IPTV subscription. The player contains no channels of its own. You enter the login your provider sends, the player downloads the channel list and TV guide, and from then on it works like the menu of a set-top box.
No. The player is the software and the subscription is the content. One without the other shows an empty screen, which is why an app with no login looks broken when you first open it.
Some are free, some have a paid premium tier, and several Smart TV players charge a one-off activation fee after a short free period. That fee goes to the app maker, not to your provider.
By device
The best player is the one built for your device. On a Firestick or Android TV, IPTV Smarters Pro and TiviMate lead. Samsung and LG televisions use IBO Player or Smart IPTV from the TV's store. Apple devices take a player from the App Store, and a computer plays the same login in VLC.
Device
Players that run on it
Where it comes from
Firestick
IPTV Smarters Pro, TiviMate
Amazon store or sideloaded
Android TV, Google TV
TiviMate, IPTV Smarters Pro
Google Play
Samsung, LG Smart TV
IBO Player, Smart IPTV
The TV's app store
Apple TV, iPhone, iPad
IPTV Smarters and similar
The App Store
Windows PC, Mac
VLC, IPTV Smarters Pro
The maker's site
MAG box
None needed
Portal address
Vivid TV works with every player in this table. If yours is not listed, it will almost certainly accept the same login.
Side by side
Five apps cover almost every home in the UK. They differ in three ways that matter: which devices they run on, whether they charge, and how good the TV guide is. Pick by device first and by guide second, because you will spend more time in the guide than anywhere else.
01
Free, and available for more devices than any other player. The layout is simple: live TV, films, series and catch-up as four tiles. A sound first choice.
02
Android TV and Firestick only. Its TV guide looks and scrolls like a satellite box, with favourites and channel groups. The premium features are paid.
03
Common on Samsung and LG televisions. It is free to try for a few days, then asks for a one-off fee. You add your login on the maker's website using a code shown on screen.
04
One of the oldest Smart TV players. Like IBO Player, it has a short free period and a one-off fee, and the playlist is uploaded through a web page.
05
Free on Windows, Mac and Linux. It opens a playlist link in seconds, which makes it the fastest way to test a login when a television is misbehaving.
Login types
An IPTV app asks for your login in one of three formats. An Xtream Codes login is a server address, a username and a password. An M3U playlist is a single long link. A portal address is used by MAG boxes together with the box's MAC address. All three open the same channels.
Choose Xtream Codes when the player offers it. It loads the TV guide, films and series automatically, where an M3U link sometimes needs the guide added as a second address.
In the email we send within 10 minutes of your order. Copy the details exactly as written, because one wrong capital letter gives a login error.
What to look for
A good player does six things well: it is built for a TV remote, it has a full TV guide, it lets you save favourites, it remembers where you stopped a film, it offers a choice of video decoder and it gets regular updates. Miss the first one and nothing else matters on a television.
1
Look for a version made for televisions, with channel up and down on the remote.
2
Check that the TV guide shows at least a day ahead and loads without a separate setup.
3
Make a favourites list on day one, because nobody scrolls 34,000 channels.
4
Find the decoder setting. Switching between hardware and software decoding fixes most black screens.
5
Read the update date in the store. A player untouched for a year will break on the next system update.
6
Confirm what the paid version adds before you pay, and that it is a one-off fee.
Four steps
Setup takes four steps: install the app from your device's store, open it, choose the Xtream Codes or playlist option and enter the login from your email. The first load takes a few minutes while the player downloads the channel list and guide. After that it opens in seconds.
01
Search your device's app store for the player by name and install it.
02
Open the player and choose to add a user, a profile or a playlist. Give it any name you like.
03
Type the server address, username and password, or paste the playlist link.
04
Open the player's settings and check the time zone, so programmes line up with the clock.
Device-specific steps for Smart TVs, sticks and phones are in the IPTV installation guide. Using an Amazon stick? The IPTV Firestick guide covers sideloading.
When it misbehaves
When the app will not play, the cause is nearly always one of four things: a mistyped login, a second device using the connection, a full cache or the wrong video decoder. Check them in that order. Reinstalling the player is the last step, not the first, and it rarely fixes what the others missed.
Compare every character with the email, including capitals and the http at the start of the server address. Then check nobody else is watching, because the plan covers one connection.
That is the decoder. Open the player's settings, switch from hardware to software decoding or back, and reopen the channel.
For anything beyond the player, the IPTV not working checklist walks through the network and account checks.
Questions
Quick answers about IPTV players and apps, from the questions customers send us most often. They cover using several players, switching between them, paying activation fees and what a player needs from your device. If you are choosing hardware as well as an app, the IPTV box guide is the place to start.
IPTV Smarters Pro on most devices and VLC on a computer. Both are free and accept a standard login.
Yes, but not at the same moment. The plan covers one connection, so close one player before opening the other.
No. Any activation fee belongs to the app maker and is paid on their site. Your subscription is separate.
Yes. The two names describe the same thing: the software you enter your login into.
Often not, because old televisions stop receiving store updates. A streaming stick is the low-cost fix, as the IPTV box guide explains.
At any time. Install the new one, enter the same login and remove the old app when you are happy.
Every app on this page starts empty. Vivid TV fills it with 34,000 live channels and 195,000 films and series in up to 4K, on one connection, from £24.99 for three months. Order, and the login reaches your inbox within 10 minutes in a format every player accepts.
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