With an Xtream Codes login
Most apps load the guide automatically from your server.
- Sign in and let the channel list load completely.
- Find the guide or EPG update option. It’s often in the app’s settings, or in the TV guide screen’s menu, and may be called Update EPG, Refresh guide or Load EPG.
- Run it once and wait until it finishes.
- Open the guide view and check a few channels.
If the guide stays empty, you can add the address manually as for M3U below, using your server’s xmltv.php address. Xtream Codes to M3U shows how to write it.
With an M3U playlist
- Find your guide address. Look in your provider’s message, or in the first line of the playlist for
x-tvg-urlorurl-tvg. See EPG URL for where else it can be. - Open the playlist’s settings in your app and look for EPG URL, XMLTV URL, EPG source or TV guide source. Some apps keep guide sources in a separate section, where you can add several.
- Paste the address, save, then run a manual guide update.
- Check the guide on a few popular channels.
Where the setting lives in popular apps
| App | Where to look |
|---|---|
| TiviMate | Settings, then the EPG section, to add an EPG source; see TiviMate EPG |
| IPTV Smarters | Loads with Xtream Codes; refresh from the settings or the guide screen; see IPTV Smarters EPG |
| Kodi (PVR IPTV Simple Client) | The add-on’s settings, under EPG, as an XMLTV address; see Kodi IPTV EPG |
| Smart IPTV | Chosen on the playlist upload page, where you can let it detect the guide from your playlist |
| VLC | No IPTV programme guide |
Apps change their menus between versions, so the exact wording may differ slightly on your device.
Settings that keep the guide accurate
- Update interval: set the guide to refresh automatically every day, or at every start-up if the app offers it.
- Days to keep: two or three days is a good balance between usefulness and speed.
- Time offset: leave it at zero unless listings are consistently early or late. See EPG wrong time.
If the guide is still empty
Go to TV guide not loading for an empty guide, or “EPG not available” for some channels when only some channels are blank.