M3U link or file
An M3U playlist is a flat list of channels. It works, but it carries less than an Xtream account: no categories beyond the group names, and no guide unless you supply one.
From a link
Section titled “From a link”On a phone or tablet:
- Open Settings → Playlists and tap Add playlist.
- Choose M3U playlist URL.
- Fill in the fields below. Add playlist stays greyed out until the name and the link are filled in.
- Tap Add playlist. The app downloads the list to read its groups, then shows Choose categories. Tick what you want and tap Load selected, or tap Load everything.
- Setting things up shows while the channels and the guide download.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Playlist name | Whatever you want to call it |
| Playlist URL | The .m3u or .m3u8 address |
| EPG URL (optional) | An XMLTV guide address for this playlist |
| User-Agent | Automatic unless your provider asked for one. The same choices as for Xtream |
On a television, Windows, the Mac and LG or Samsung TVs: Settings → Playlists → Add a playlist → Type it with the remote, then pick M3U URL at the top of the form. It asks for Name, Playlist URL and User-Agent; there is no guide field there, add the guide afterwards as described in Adding your own XMLTV.
The EPG URL field is the quickest way to give an M3U playlist a guide on a phone. You can add more sources later, see Adding your own XMLTV.
If the link, full or shortened, leads to an Xtream Codes account, an address with username= and
password= in it, the app adds it as that Xtream account, with its categories, films, series and
guide. If the account does not answer as one, the link stays an M3U playlist.
A file on the device
Section titled “A file on the device”On a phone or tablet:
- Settings → Playlists → Add playlist → Local file.
- Tap Choose file and pick the
.m3uor.m3u8file. The name of the file fills in Playlist name; change it if you like. - Tap Import playlist. Importing your playlist… shows while it is read.
The file is read once; moving or deleting it afterwards changes nothing. A television, Windows and the Mac have no Local file choice.
A file playlist can be renamed and given a User-Agent with the pencil next to it (Save keeps the change), but it has no link to refresh from: to update it, import the newer file. Update all and the automatic refresh skip it.
What the app reads out of an M3U
Section titled “What the app reads out of an M3U”The app uses the standard tags, so a well-formed playlist gets most of what an Xtream account gets:
tvg-idandtvg-name, used to match the channel to the guidetvg-logo, the channel logo, unless TMDB has better artworkgroup-title, becomes the categorycatchupandcatchup-source, enables catch-up on that channel
Entries are sorted into Live, Movies and Series by their address, not by their title: a
path containing /series/ is a series, a path containing /movie/ or ending in .mp4, .mkv,
.avi, .mov, .flv or .wmv is a film, unless its group name says series. Everything else is a
live channel. A provider who serves films from a plain path leaves them in the channel list, and
there is nothing the app can read to know better.
The episodes of one series are gathered into a single tile in Series, with its seasons and
episodes inside. An entry listed under several group-titles shows in each of those categories and
is still one channel: one favourite, one history, one place in All channels. A playlist added before
version 1.8.3 regroups at its next update.
When the link will not load
Section titled “When the link will not load”When the list cannot be read, the app shows Something went wrong with the reason, and Try again or Go back.
- It downloads but nothing appears: the file is probably not an M3U. Open it in a browser; it
must start with
#EXTM3U. - It worked yesterday: many providers rotate the link. Get the current one and change the address.
- It is refused, or channels return an error at once while the link plays in another app: your provider may want a particular User-Agent. Pick the one they name with the pencil next to the playlist.
- It is enormous and slow: that is normal for a very long list. Unticking the categories you do not watch is the fix, and it is a big one.
