Before you start
- An Android TV, Google TV or Android box
- A Google account already signed in on the device
- Your username, password and server URL
Nothing to sign in with yet? Take 24 hours on us, or pick a plan and be watching inside the quarter hour.
Doing it, one step at a time
Open the Play Store
It sits on the home screen, or under Apps on Google TV. Check a Google account is actually signed in before going further: the store lets you browse without one and then fails at the moment of installing, which looks like a broken app rather than a missing login.
Install a player
Search TiViMate IPTV Player or IPTV Smarters Pro. If this is going onto a television rather than a tablet, take TiViMate. Its guide is the entire reason the app exists, and when you are looking for one fixture among several hundred sports channels, that guide is the difference between watching the first ten minutes and missing them.
Hand it the Xtream login
TiViMate asks you to Add playlist and then offers Xtream Codes login. Smarters phrases the same thing as Login with Xtream Codes API. Either way you supply the identical server address, username and password. Neither needs an M3U link, and the Xtream route pulls the guide down with it.
Let the channels and guide arrive
It now downloads the channel list and the schedule data. Expect a minute or two on a first run and far less afterwards. Name the playlist if prompted; that only matters if you later add a second account.
Cut it down to what you watch
Switch off the categories you will never open, pin the sports tiers you will, and set the guide language. TiViMate keeps this under Settings, then Playlists. Ten minutes here is the difference between a television you enjoy on a Saturday and a wall of channels you resent.
Put it on Ethernet if the port is reachable
Android boxes and most Android televisions have an Ethernet socket, and using it removes the commonest cause of match-day stuttering in a single move. If the router is genuinely out of reach, force the device onto the 5 GHz band rather than 2.4 GHz and keep it in line of sight.
Get the box ready before the whistle
Wake the device and open the player early rather than at the last minute, so the guide has refreshed and the buffer has filled. If two fixtures overlap and you have Premium, set the multi-view layout up in advance; doing it while both matches are running is far harder than it sounds.
When it goes wrong, and why
The Play Store does not list the app
Some cheaper boxes run the phone build of Android rather than the television build, which hides TV-only listings entirely. Sideload the APK through Downloader instead, following the same sequence as the Firestick guide. Nothing about the account changes; only the installation route does.
TiViMate installs but will not open on a cheap box
Boxes advertising Android 11 or 12 sometimes ship an older build underneath behind a relabelled settings screen. Check Settings, About; if the real version is below Android 7 the app will not run. IPTV Smarters has lower requirements and is the fallback.
The guide is empty
Let the first download finish before judging it, then trigger Update EPG from the app settings. The guide source travels with your login, so unlike some players there is no separate URL to paste in. A first load across a list this size can simply need longer than people give it.
Everything works except the on-demand section
On-demand titles arrive through the Xtream login, so an empty VOD shelf alongside working live channels usually means the account was added as an M3U playlist. Remove it and add it again through the Xtream Codes option.
It broke mid-match: what to try, in order
Work through these in order. Re-enter the channel first, which rebuilds the buffer and resolves most brief stalls. Then drop to the HD copy sitting beside the 4K feed. Then switch the decoder between hardware and software in the player settings, which on Android boxes fixes more than people expect. Then restart the device properly rather than waking it from standby. If all four fail on one channel while others play, the channel is the problem and support can move you to an alternative feed; if everything fails, it is your connection or the account, and the browser player on a phone will tell you which within a minute.
Which player suits this hardware
TiViMate
Set up TiViMate on Android TV, a Firestick or an Android box with your Xtream login, get the guide working, and see what Premium adds on a match day.
IPTV Smarters Pro
Installing IPTV Smarters Pro on Firestick, Android, Samsung, LG, Apple TV and desktop, signing in with Xtream Codes, loading the guide and fixing errors.
The full index
Every device and player covered, gathered on one page.
Which leagues are carried
Every competition, the broadcaster showing it, and where the 4K feeds sit.
Get your Android TV ready for kick-off
From $15 a month for 25,000+ channels, with the login back on WhatsApp in under 15 minutes.
Questions about Android TV
Which Android box is worth buying?
The Nvidia Shield is quickest and redraws a very long sports list without hesitating, though it costs more than a year of subscription. Chromecast with Google TV 4K is the sensible budget choice. For a generic box, insist on 2 GB of RAM and an Ethernet port, and treat the listing specification with open suspicion.
Do I need TiViMate Premium?
Not to watch. The free tier gives you the guide, favourites and categories, which is most of what makes it better than a basic player. Premium adds recording and multi-view, and multi-view is the one that earns its money on a Saturday when three fixtures overlap.
Does this work on Chromecast with Google TV?
Yes. It runs Android TV underneath, so TiViMate and IPTV Smarters Pro both install from the Play Store and take your credentials exactly as described. It is among the tidier setups available.
Which is better for sport, Shield or Firestick?
The Shield redraws a long guide noticeably faster and never stumbles on a 4K feed, which on a Saturday of overlapping fixtures is what you actually feel. The Firestick costs a quarter as much and is entirely adequate. Buy the Shield for the main television only.
Does it matter which HDMI port I use?
On a 4K set, yes. Only some ports carry the bandwidth for 4K at a high frame rate, and they are usually labelled. Using the wrong one silently drops you to a lower mode, which people then blame on the stream.
How many screens can this device handle at once?
One stream per device, always, whatever the hardware. The limit that bites is the plan rather than the box: a one-screen plan permits a single stream across the whole household, so a second television starting a fixture will knock the first off or be refused. Android boxes are perfectly capable of holding a 4K stream while something else runs, but that is not what the limit governs. If two rooms want two different matches on a Saturday, take the two-screen plan; it costs less than the argument, and upgrading mid-term only charges the difference for the time remaining.