IPTV on Apple, with everything from the App Store
The Apple route is the cleanest of all of them: no sideloading, no unknown sources, no developer options. Every player here comes from the official App Store. The only catch is that the good ones cost a few dollars, because Apple does not allow free IPTV players.
Before you start
- An Apple TV 4K or HD, an iPhone or an iPad on a recent iOS or tvOS version
- Your Apple ID signed in on the device
- A few dollars for the player app, paid to the developer rather than to us
- Your username, password and portal URL from WhatsApp
- About eight minutes
Which app to use
- iPlayTVThe best on tvOS. Clean, fast, reliable. Our usual recommendationPaid
- GSE Smart IPTVWorks on both iOS and tvOS. Free tier exists with advertsFree / paid
- Smarters Player LiteFamiliar if you came from a FirestickFree
- TelevizoA decent fallback if one of the others misbehavesFree / paid
Setting up Apple TV, iPhone or iPad
Follow these in order. If a step does not match what you see on screen, send us a photo and we will tell you which one you are actually on.
Install a player from the App Store
On Apple TV open the App Store and search "iPlayTV". On iPhone or iPad search "GSE Smart IPTV" or "Smarters Player Lite". Install it. These are ordinary App Store apps, reviewed by Apple, so there is nothing to enable and nothing to trust manually.
Choose the Xtream Codes option
When the app asks how you want to add a playlist, choose "Xtream Codes" or "Xtream Codes API" rather than "M3U URL" or "Remote playlist". Xtream Codes brings the category folders and the on-demand library in one go.
Type your three fields
Enter the portal URL, username and password exactly as we sent them. They are case sensitive, and iOS capitalises the first letter of a field by default, which is the most common reason a login is rejected. Turn off autocapitalisation if the keyboard lets you.
Use your phone as the keyboard on Apple TV
If the Apple TV is signed into the same Apple ID as your iPhone, a notification appears on the phone offering to type for you. Tap it. Typing a long password with the Siri Remote is otherwise the worst part of this whole process.
Let the catalogue load
The first import takes one to three minutes. When it finishes you will see the categories: sport near the top, then the United States groups, cinema, kids and international, with the films and series shelves below.
Hide what you will not watch
In the app settings, hide the country groups you have no use for. There are 315 live categories in the catalogue and you will open about a dozen of them. Tidying this once makes the app feel like a different product.
Set quality and test at peak
Pick Full HD rather than 4K if your connection is at all marginal, then put on a live sports channel between seven and ten in the evening. That is the only test that proves anything.
Stuck on a step? Send a photo of the screen on WhatsApp along with the step number. That is almost always faster than reading further.
Get help nowThe six things that actually break
These cover almost every support message we get about Apple TV, iPhone or iPad. Work down the list before messaging us and you will probably not need to.
Why do I have to pay for the app?
Apple does not allow free general-purpose IPTV players on the App Store, so the good ones charge a few dollars. That money goes to the app developer, not to us, and we take nothing from it. It is a one-off, not a subscription.
The login is rejected on iPhone
iOS capitalises the first character of a text field and sometimes autocorrects inside the password. Tap the field, turn off autocapitalisation if offered, and retype carefully. Pasting from the WhatsApp message is more reliable than typing.
Buffering on Apple TV over Wi-Fi
Apple TV has a good radio but Wi-Fi is still Wi-Fi. The Apple TV 4K has an Ethernet port on some models: use it. If yours does not, move the router closer or switch to the 5 GHz band.
The app crashes on launch
Delete it and reinstall from the App Store. tvOS and iOS apps occasionally get into a bad state after an update, and a reinstall is faster than anything else you could try. Your login will need entering again.
AirPlay is stuttering
AirPlaying a live stream from a phone to a television doubles the number of wireless hops and roughly doubles the chance of a problem. Install the player on the Apple TV itself rather than mirroring from the phone.
Everything is in the wrong order
Most of these apps let you sort and favorite. Build a favorites list of the twenty channels you actually watch and set it as the default view. It takes a minute and saves you the rest of the season.
You pay a few dollars and everything else is easy
Apple is the only platform here where the setup involves no sideloading, no developer options and no moment where the device asks whether you really trust what you are installing. Everything comes from the App Store, reviewed and signed. For anyone who finds the Firestick process uncomfortable, this is the answer.
The price of that is literal: Apple does not permit free general-purpose IPTV players, so the good ones charge a few dollars. That is a one-off payment to the developer, we take nothing from it, and it buys you an app that is genuinely better maintained than most of the free ones on other platforms.
Use the phone as the keyboard
The worst part of any Apple TV setup is typing a password with the Siri Remote. If your iPhone is signed into the same Apple ID, a notification appears offering to type for you the moment a text field opens. Use it. It turns a three-minute ordeal into fifteen seconds and removes most of the opportunities to mistype a case-sensitive password.
One connection, several Apple devices
Install the player on the Apple TV, the iPhone and the iPad if you like. Nothing stops you, and moving between them needs no reconfiguring. What you cannot do is watch on two at once, because a subscription is one connection. A second screen in the house means a second subscription, and we will set it up on the same WhatsApp thread.
If you want the fastest possible channel changes rather than the cleanest setup, the Android and TiviMate guide is the other end of that trade.
About Apple TV, iPhone or iPad
Do I need to jailbreak anything?
No. Everything here comes from the official App Store. Apple's review process means IPTV players are presented as generic media players, which is why they cost a few dollars and why none of them come preloaded with any content.
Which app is best on Apple TV?
iPlayTV. It is quick, stable, handles large catalogues well and has a proper interface for a television rather than a phone app blown up. GSE Smart IPTV is the usual second choice and works on iPhone and iPad too.
Can I watch on my iPhone while traveling?
Yes, anywhere you have a decent connection. Bear in mind a subscription is a single connection, so if the television at home is playing, the phone will not. Only one screen at a time.
Does it work on an older Apple TV?
Apple TV HD from 2015 onwards works, though it will be slower and cannot handle 4K feeds. Anything older than that runs tvOS versions these apps no longer support. The Apple TV 4K is the one worth owning.
Can I AirPlay from my phone to the television instead?
You can, but do not. Every wireless hop is a chance to stutter and AirPlay adds one on top of the stream itself. Installing the player on the Apple TV directly is more stable and takes the same eight minutes.
Still not answered? Every question we get is on the FAQ page, and anything else goes to WhatsApp.
Ready to watch on your Apple TV and iPhone?
Your login arrives on WhatsApp within minutes, with this guide attached. Most people are watching about 8 minutes later.
One payment. No auto-renewal. No card kept on file.