Load .M3U IPTV URL Manually on Supported Devices like Android, Pc, iOS

This post was most recently updated on June 23rd, 2019

In this tutorial, I would be giving an evergreen guide on how you can Load .M3U IPTV URL manually. This is with all intents and purposes an article for research and education. It has nothing to do with broadcast piracy as I will not be linking to any pirated content. IPTV has come to stay and things can only get better. Also, we already know that IPTV comes in forms and protocols which all have a common factor. The common factor in IPTV is the “stream”.

My tutorial will be able to enable you to load a .M3U Playlist URL into any supported/compatible device such as a smart TV, PC, Mac, Android(phone or box), iPhone and iPad, satellite receivers and lots more. The only requirement would be that the device in question must supports manually addition of IPTV link/file. Before we get things underway, let’s learn some basic stuff about m3u/m3u8 URLs

What is an M3U URL?

Table of Contents

According to Wikipedia, an M3U URL or Moving Picture Experts Group Audio Layer 3 Uniform Resource Locator in full) is a computer file format for a multimedia playlist(In other words IPTV M3U is a computer file format for IPTV playlist). One common use of the M3U file format is creating a single-entry playlist file pointing to a stream(In this case IPTV streams) on the Internet. The created file provides easy access to that stream and is often used in downloads from a website, for emailing, for watching tv programs via IPTV and for listening to Internet radio.

Consequently, an M3U IPTV URL is commonly used to point media players to audio and video sources, including online sources.

M3U8

The Unicode version of M3U is M3U8, which uses UTF-8-encoded characters. M3U8 files are the basis for the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) format originally developed by Apple to stream video and radio to iOS devices, and which is now a popular format for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) in general.

P.S: The current proposal for the HLS playlist format uses UTF-8 exclusively and does not distinguish between the “m3u” and “m3u8” filename extensions.

Types of IPTV Playlist URL File Extensions

.m3u and .m3u8 are the most popular of the bunch. Therefore, they occupy the top spot
We also have .json IPTV playlist url
.xspf is another IPTV playlist
Also, we have .jspf

What are the requirements for loading an M3U/M3U8 Playlist URL on any Device?

There are just three indispensable factors that affect the usage of M3U IPTV URL. These have been summarized as follows:

Good, fast and stable internet connection: The faster the better, all other things being equal. Without an internet connection, IPTV cannot work
Secondly, you need an IPTV M3U URL compatible device. For one, every android device that can run VLC Player, MX player or similar IPTV app is compatible. In addition, any device at all irrespective of the OS that can run VLC player, in particular, would do IPTV successfully. Now, if you have an OS that can’t run VLC, then that device must either have its inbuilt M3U player or you can manually add on.
Finally, you need the .M3U URL Playlist file. We have countless free ones which are volatile. To lay your hands on some, just perform and google search with the term m3u url free”. If you want a premium or stable one, then you must buy or subscribe to one.

Especially Relevant:

How to Load .M3U IPTV URL manually on supported devices via VLC Player

VLC Player is a cross-platform app. In order words, it supports an array of operating systems. Currently, VLC is with versions for Android, BeOS, iOS, macOS, tvOS, OS/2, Unix-like, Syllable, and Windows

First off, to use a VLC player to open a .m3u file, you need to download the player from their official website. Then, download the file,>>right click on it>>select open with>>select>>VLC. On the other hand, to play a regular IPTV network stream(URL) with a VLC player, launch your VLC player>>go to file>> open network>>enter the URL and click on open.

List of Devices That Supports IPTV URL Streams

iOS Devices especially iPhone or iPad via IPTV Smarters app, VLC or similar Apps
All Android Devices such as Phones, tablets, android boxes and so on. You can do this via a countless app from google play store.
Windows PC
Game console such as PS4, Xbox(via VLC)
Mac computers via VLC, DIVX and similar apps
Nusky decoder
Any Android Smart TV(e.g latest sony smart tv)
Smart TV with Tizen OS or WebOS. E.g LG and Samsung via smart iptv app
Gigablue via inbuilt iptv manager
Enigma2 OE 1.6
Qsat decoders(mostly after a particular software upgrade)
Enigma2 OE 2.0
M3u box(name of a device)
Simple list
Octagon
Range t20
Csat Pro decoder
Starlive v3/starsat HD6060/AZclass
Mediastar/Starlive v4
Ariva
Spark
Geant/Starsat/Tiger/Qmax/Hyper/Royal
Fortec999/Prifix9400/Starport/
Revolution 60/60/Sunplus
Zorrobox
Mag Device
Strong 4922/4950H/4950M(Sometimes this requires a patch software)
Alphabox x4rf and New x6+

Tips on how to Load IPTV URL Playlist Manually on various compatible devices

This is a helpful guide that can teach you how to manually load a .M3U/M3U8 file into all supported devices mentioned above

How to Load .M3U IPTV URL manually ON 4922

1. First, Download the m3u file to on a clean flash drive

2. Go to menu >> file manager >> locate the file and click ok

3. Reboot and go to menu >> IPTV and click okay

How to Load .M3U IPTV URL Playlist manually on 4950H/4950M/4950E

1. First off, press menu

2. Now, Go toIPTVv u will see net link open.

3. Make sure the m3u files are inside a flash and it is inserted to the decoder

4. Then on the network link, u will see upload files press the blue button to upload the m3u files.

Best IPTV M3U/M3U8/M3U5 Players for All Android Phones and Android Boxes

How to load Load .M3U IPTV URL manually on Android with IPTV by Sofronov

1. Go to google play store to search for and download IPTV by alexander sofronov

2. Next, open the app after installation

3. Click on the + sign

4. Copy and paste your M3U link.

5. Click save

How to Load IPTV Playlist URL on IPTV Smarters for Android

Goto the play store and download IPTV Smarters
Open the app click on Add User front the top right corner
Tap on “Load Your Playlist or File/URL”
select the file as your playlist type if what you received is a .m3u file. Otherwise, select “M3U” and then copy and paste your playlist URL
Wait for the app to load your channels.

How to Load IPTV URL Streams Manually on Apple iOS Devices

Apparently very few 3rd party streaming devices works on the iPhone. However, I am happy to inform you that you can load IPTV playlist to your iPhone, iPad or apple tv. In this article, I will only review IPTV smarters. Meanwhile, there are others that can get the job done fast as well.

List of Some Best IPTV Players for iOS Devices

The Apps below works for apple devices such as apple tv, iPhone iPad and iPod

How To Load IPTV Playlist on iPhone/iPad via IPTV Smarters Player

I personally tried this and it is very similar to that of Android. However, the major difference is that IPTV smarters for iPhone doesn’t support directly IPTV playlist loading. It, however, support the loading of IPTV playlist via IPTV server credentials such as url, port, username and password.

What is PTV-Smarters Player?

This is another best IPTV player for iPad and iPhone. The IPTV Smarters Player allows you to watch live and video-on-demand very easily. The app is very simple and the interface is user-friendly. It doesn’t contain any inbuilt channels. The player will play all the videos in the link given by the users.

Features of IPTV-Smarters Player

Built-in Powerful player
Live and VOD streaming
User-friendly application
Easy to use
Available on multiple devices

Requirements for loading IPTV Playlist URL on IPTV Smarters iOS version

First off, Internet connection of-course (at least 5MBs)
Secondly, you need to get the IPTV account details in the following formats

-host/server: must begin with HTTP. in most cases, it’s like this http://morganlemmy:0000

-Username:

-Password:

You don’t need to Install IPTV Core
No need to install Third Party Media Player

Steps to Load .M3U IPTV URL on iPhone, iPad or iPod via IPTV Smarters

This guide will also be useful even when you are using other iOS IPTV players.

First off, download IPTV-smarters from the app store using this link
Next, Open the app and click on the “+” sign on the top right corner
Next, fill in your login details on the next page and click on “ADD USER” as shown below
Furthermore, you may want to activate parental control. otherwise, skip this window
Finally, your playlist window will load and you can select your program category to start enjoying your channels. It has three major channels categories namely: LIVE, movies, series and so on. see image below:
Screenshot of how loaded IPTV playlists display on the iptv-smarters player for iPhone

How to Install/load .M3U IPTV Playlist URL on Windows PC and Mac Via VLC player

To start with, download “vlc media player” for windows32 bit here and download the version for 64bit here
Similarly, if you are using macOS, download VLC for mac here
Next, install the software and launch.
VLC is more than just a media player. It opens live tv streams via a .m3u file or directly. Now,right click on it>>select open with>>select>>VLC.
Alternatively, to play a regular IPTV network stream(URL) with a VLC player, launch your VLC player>>go to file>> open network>>enter the URL and click on open.

How to Add 3rd-Party IPTV(m3u) File to KODI Media Player

Just like VLC media player, Kodi is a cross-platform media player.

1. Firstly, Open Kodi

2. Secondly, select SYSTEM

3. Select TV (or Live TV if you are on a version lower than 15.2 and if you are then consider updating)

4. Select General

5. Select Enabled

6. You will now see a pop-up saying that you have no PVR Client enabled. Select OK

7. Scroll down and select PVR IPTV Simple Client

8. Select Enable

9. Select Configure

10. In General select M3U PlayList URL

11. Add your M3U URL into the address section

12. Select OK

13. Select OK again

14. Reboot Kodi

15. On your Home Screen, you should now see TV (or Live TV if on an older version of Kodi). Open that to see the live channel list

How to Load .M3U/M3U8 IPTV URL manually on either ALPHABOX X4RF or NEW X6+

1. You need to first download m3u file on clean USB flash drive

2. Next, Goto utility/iptv/press blue button and import channel.

For other types of receiver, just look out for IPTV menu under settings or network. Once you are able to locate the menu, you will surely be able to load the URL file manually. If you, however, have a device that supports IPTV and you are unable to load one on it, please you can contact me through the comment box or via my email.

Where to get Free IPTV Playlist Streams

To be honest, i will say google is your friend here. I have links to some forums but i can’t drop it here. There are so many forums online that drops 1000s of live IPTV URL m3u playlist daily. All you need to do is to search google for “live iptv streams” always check on the ones that are recent.

I am Lemmy Morgan a lover of anything technology. You can also call me a satellite TV and IPTV Enthusiast, satellite installer, Gadget freak, Public Administrator, game lover and product review specialist. I have an irrepressible passion for sharing the latest and trending tech-related ideas and information. You can follow my tweets on Twitter or add me to your network on Linkedin You can as well grab my feeds and get updates through email In addition, you may want to Follow me on Facebook Why not also login to Pinterest to View my Pins?

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12 Comments. Leave new

Hassan Blynx

July 3, 2019 3:56 pm

Please how do I get iptv on my master s1000 decoder?

Reply

Lemmy Morgan

July 4, 2019 6:51 am

@Hassan Blynx: I am sorry i don’t know if your decoder supports 3rd-party iptv installation or not. Check this post to find out more How to Manually load IPTV .M3U/.M3U8 Playlist Streams on Various Devices Such as; Android, iOS, Smart TV and others

Reply

Gideon Ezemah

July 3, 2019 8:13 am

Case m3u work in Qsat Q23g model?

Reply

ancl

June 24, 2019 3:46 pm

@RIMAM, connect your Qsat to internet true modern or Wi-Fi then buy the iptv account and load it to it true m3u file if you need iptv account chat me on whatsapp -2348062272279

Reply

Rimam

January 9, 2019 9:29 am

1. Pls how do I get this on my qsat
2. I have internetwork problem in my sitting room (ground floor), where my receiver is, pls how do I get connected to a good network?

Reply

Lemmy Morgan

January 12, 2019 3:40 pm

@Rimam: connect qsat to the internet by using Wi-Fi or a compatible modem

Reply