Set up IPTV: help and FAQ

IPTVGenie is an IPTV player for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. It plays your provider’s M3U playlist or Xtream Codes login, with a TV guide (EPG), movies and series. It syncs favorites, history and settings through iCloud, and one purchase works on all devices. It is made by BitKollegen GmbH in Hannover, Germany.

No. IPTVGenie is a player only and contains no content. You need your own playlist from a provider whose content you are entitled to use. We sell no subscriptions and recommend no providers. To try it out, the app has a sample playlist of free-to-air channels from Germany, loaded from a public directory.

M3U and M3U8 links, M3U files and Xtream Codes logins with server, username and password. The TV guide is read in XMLTV format, gzip-compressed files included. Playback uses Apple’s player or VLC, your choice; VLC also plays MKV and other formats Apple’s player refuses. Both play HEVC when your device supports it.

iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and later, Apple TV with tvOS 18 and later, meaning Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, and Mac with macOS 14.2 Sonoma and later. It is one app for all four kinds of device, your playlist reaches each of them through iCloud, and one purchase works everywhere.

Yes. Every M3U playlist and every Xtream login is a playlist of its own in IPTVGenie, with its own settings such as the User-Agent and the TV guide’s time offset. You switch between them with one tap, on Mac also from the toolbar or the menu. That way a sports package can sit next to your main playlist.

Not every provider includes a TV guide. Add an XMLTV address in Settings under “TV Guide”; IPTVGenie checks it when you save it and loads the guide in the background. If your M3U playlist names a guide (url-tvg), it loads automatically. With Xtream Codes, the EPG comes straight from your provider’s server.

Assign the guide to the channel by hand when its name is spelled differently in the playlist and in the guide. If every show is off by an hour or more, correct the time offset. If some channels are missing entirely, add another guide; IPTVGenie combines several sources per playlist to fill the gaps.

Catch-up means watching a show later or from its start. IPTVGenie does this when your provider keeps an archive for the channel: start a show over, go back a few minutes, or play missed shows from the guide. With Xtream Codes the app detects the archive automatically; with M3U it reads the catchup attributes in the playlist.

Yes. Set a reminder in the guide and your device lets you know before the show starts, on iPhone and iPad also as a Live Activity on the Lock Screen, on Apple TV right over what you are watching. Your reminders sync through iCloud, so you see them on all your devices.

Set the player to “VLC” in Settings. Some providers require a specific User-Agent, which you can set per playlist. Also check whether your login is in use on another device. If none of this helps, the guide “IPTV buffering or a stream will not start” walks you to the cause step by step.

Many IPTV logins allow only one connection at a time. IPTVGenie warns you before playing when something already plays on another of your devices, so nothing gets cut off there. If your login is playing in another app or for someone else, IPTVGenie cannot see it; then the only fix is to stop playback there.

Yes, when your provider delivers 4K or HDR and your device can show it, for example an Apple TV 4K connected to a suitable TV. On Apple TV, IPTVGenie switches to the matching frame rate for this. You can tell which channels come in 4K from the tag in the tidied channel name.

Yes. Multiview plays up to four channels at once, on Mac in a window of its own. You hear the channel you tap. Keep in mind that each channel uses a connection of your login; if your provider allows only one connection, multiview cannot show more than one channel at a time.

Yes. When a stream carries several audio tracks or subtitles, pick them during playback; your preferred audio language and subtitles are set in Settings. Whether a channel has several languages is up to your provider. Many live channels have a single audio track, while movies and series often have several.

The easiest way is iCloud: add the playlist on your iPhone and shortly after it is on your Apple TV too, with favorites and history. Without iCloud, choose “Add Playlist” on the Apple TV; it then shows a QR code that you scan with your iPhone. Typing it with the remote works as well.

Yes. When a channel or movie plays on one of your devices, the home screen of your other devices shows “Continue here”. One click is enough, and movies and episodes continue at the same moment. This works between iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV as long as all of them are signed in to the same iCloud account.

Your playlist source with the login, your favorites, profiles, history, reminders and settings. It lives in your own iCloud storage, which we cannot access, and you can switch sync off per device. Without iCloud the data stays on each device, and the playlist reaches your Apple TV through a QR code instead.

Try everything free for 30 days, with no subscription and no payment details. After that, IPTVGenie costs €0.99 a month, €4.99 a year or €9.99 once for life in the German App Store; other stores show local prices. One purchase works on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, and with Family Sharing.

The trial ends by itself after 30 days and nothing is charged, because you gave no payment details. Then you decide whether you want the monthly or yearly subscription or the one-time purchase. Shortly before it ends, the app reminds you if you allowed notifications. Your playlist and favorites stay as they are.

Open “Settings › Unlock IPTVGenie” and tap “Restore Purchases”, signed in with the Apple Account you bought with. On Apple TV a purchase made on your iPhone applies automatically when the same Apple Account is signed in. If the app finds no purchase, it tells you so clearly instead of failing silently.

Subscriptions run through your Apple Account, not through us. Cancel under “Subscriptions” in your Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before the period ends; otherwise it renews automatically. On iPhone you find them in Settings under your name. After cancelling, the subscription keeps working until the end of the period you paid for.

On iPhone, iPad and Mac under “Settings › Unlock IPTVGenie › Redeem Code”. Apple TV has no such option: redeem the code in the App Store on your iPhone and Apple TV picks up the purchase when the same Apple Account is signed in. Once redeemed, an offer code belongs to that one Apple Account.

No. If you downloaded IPTVGenie from the App Store up to version 1.2, it stays free for you. The app recognises this automatically from the version you first downloaded, so there is nothing to do. New users try everything free for 30 days and then choose a subscription or the one-time purchase.

None. IPTVGenie collects no data, does not track you and shows no ads, and there is no account with us. Your playlist, login, favorites and history stay on your devices and in your own iCloud storage. What the app exchanges with providers, Apple and TMDB is described exactly in the privacy policy.

Yes. Adult groups and channels can be hidden behind a PIN, unlocked with Face ID or Touch ID if you like. A kids profile shows only what parental controls allow and can only be left with the PIN. Up to six profiles are possible, each with its own favorites and Continue Watching.

No, on purpose. Stream links can contain your login, so links of channels, movies and series can be neither copied nor shared in IPTVGenie. That way your login never ends up in a message or a note by accident. To bring a playlist to another device, use iCloud or the QR code instead.