Device guide
IPTV on iPhone and iPad: setup guide
An iPhone or an iPad is the quickest device to set up: a real keyboard, a good screen and an App Store with several IPTV players. In a few minutes you can be watching Smartiflix on the sofa, in the kitchen or on a bigger screen through AirPlay.
- Where apps come from
- App Store only
- Extra apps allowed
- No
- Login
- Xtream Codes or M3U
- To a TV
- AirPlay, or Chromecast in some apps
The player, the App Store and your plan
On an iPhone or iPad, every app comes from the App Store. You install an IPTV player from there and enter the access details Smartiflix sends you. The player is the tool; your plan is what fills it with channels, movies and series.
The same Apple rule applies as on Apple TV: an app that is not in the store cannot be installed. The good news is that the store for phones and tablets has a wider choice of players than the one for the television box.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad with a recent version of iOS or iPadOS.
- Your Apple Account signed in on the device, since every app is downloaded with it.
- Wi-Fi for watching at home. Mobile data works too, with the caution explained below.
- The login and the playlist Smartiflix sends you. They come by WhatsApp or email after we confirm the order.
If our message arrives on the same phone, copy and paste the details into the player. It is the surest way to avoid a typing mistake.
Choosing a player in the App Store
Search the App Store for IPTV player and read the description of each result. Look for the words Xtream Codes or M3U, and check whether the app costs nothing, has a single price or bills you regularly.
| Kind of player | What it does well | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Players with an Xtream Codes login | Sort live TV, movies and series into sections | The easiest way to use your details |
| Players with Chromecast support | Send the picture to a Chromecast or a Google TV | Useful if you have no Apple TV |
| VLC | Opens an M3U address for free | A plain layout; fine for a quick test |
IPTV Smarters, which appears on our order form, goes by a slightly different Smarters name in the App Store, so search for the word Smarters. Whatever a player charges is paid to its developer and is separate from your plan.
Setup, step by step
- Install the player from the App Store and open it.
- Choose to add a playlist or a user.
- Tap Xtream Codes and paste in your server address, your username and your password, copied one at a time from our message. In a player that works with playlists only, tap M3U and paste the playlist address.
- Give the app a moment to bring in the channel list and the guide, then tap a channel.
From the phone to the big screen
- AirPlay: while a channel is playing, tap the AirPlay icon among the playback controls and choose an Apple TV, or a television that supports AirPlay, from the list. The phone and the television have to share one Wi-Fi network.
- Chromecast: some players have a cast button that sends the picture to a Chromecast or to a television with Google TV.
- A cable: an adapter from the phone to HDMI also works, if you have one.
Sending the picture from a phone is convenient for a film or a match now and then. For a television you watch every day, a player installed on the TV or on a stick is more comfortable: see the Apple TV guide or the Firestick guide.
Watching on mobile data
Video is the heaviest thing a phone can do with a data plan. An evening of live TV away from Wi-Fi can use a large share of a monthly allowance.
- Watch on Wi-Fi whenever you can.
- If the player has a quality setting, lower it when you are on mobile data.
- Check how much data your mobile plan includes before a long trip.
Common problems on iPhone and iPad
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The player you wanted is not in the App Store | Pick another that supports Xtream Codes or M3U; your details work in all of them |
| The playlist will not load | Copy and paste the details from our message again, without spaces before or after |
| The picture stops on mobile data | Lower the quality in the player, or move to Wi-Fi |
| The television does not appear for AirPlay | Put both devices on the same Wi-Fi network and update them |
| The app asks for an activation | It is the developer's own charge, not ours; pay it there or use a different player |
Support is on WhatsApp or email at all hours if you need a hand.
Limits to know about
- Only App Store apps can be installed.
- Some players pause a live channel when you switch to another app.
- A phone that plays while a TV in the house also plays counts as a second device, so check how many your plan was ordered for.
What to check during a free trial
- That you like the player: its guide, its search and the way it changes channel.
- That AirPlay or Chromecast reaches your television, if you plan to use it.
- How the picture behaves in the rooms where your Wi-Fi is weakest.
The free trial is free to request; payment details are not part of it.