Before you pick up the remote
- Your personal SWIVTV M3U link, from the activation message in WhatsApp
- A player that reads M3U: Smart IPTV, VLC, or Kodi with the IPTV Simple Client
- The guide address (xmltv.php) if the player wants listings separately; support sends it on request
- A phone or computer to paste the link from, since typing it with a remote is slow
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The install, in one sitting
Decide whether this player needs the M3U link at all
Start by looking for an Xtream Codes option in the app. IPTV Smarters, TiViMate and MyTVOnline all have one, and there the Xtream login is the better choice, because it brings the guide and the films and series with it. A MAG box uses neither; it runs from a portal bound to its MAC. The M3U link is the right tool only when a player reads playlists and nothing else, which in practice means Smart IPTV on Samsung and LG sets, VLC on a computer, or Kodi.
Look at what the link contains
The link follows the pattern http://server:port/get.php?username=…&password=…, and the username and password in it are your own. That makes it a password in its own right: anyone holding the link can watch on your account. Treat it that way. Keep it in the WhatsApp chat where it arrived, paste it straight from there, and never leave it anywhere a visitor could copy it.
For Smart IPTV: upload it against the TV's MAC
Smart IPTV takes the link from outside the TV. Open the app once to see the TV's MAC address, then on your phone go to siptv.app/mylist, enter that MAC, paste the M3U link into the URL field, tick Keep online and press Send. Reopen the app on the TV and the channels load. The Smart IPTV guide covers the details, including the one-time activation the app developer charges after its trial.
VLC on a computer
In VLC, open the Media menu, choose Open Network Stream, paste the link and press Play. VLC reads the whole playlist and lists every channel in it, which is fine for a laptop in the kitchen but a lot for someone who just wants the news. VLC is not built around a program guide either, so for a main TV a dedicated player is kinder.
Kodi with the IPTV Simple Client
Kodi needs its IPTV Simple Client add-on to read a playlist. Install and enable it, open its settings and paste the link into its M3U URL field. If you want listings, the same add-on accepts a guide address, which is where the xmltv.php link goes. Restart Kodi so it loads both. Kodi is flexible but busy, so it suits a helper's own screen more than a viewer who wants two buttons.
Add the guide address if the player asks for one
Players that read M3U often want the program listings supplied separately. The address is on the same server as your link, at xmltv.php, with your username and password attached in the same way, and support will send it on WhatsApp if you ask. Paste it into the player's guide or EPG field and give it a few minutes to load the first time.
Ask for a shorter playlist for the person watching
The full playlist holds 25,000+ channels, and players that read M3U tend to show them as one long list or a long run of groups. If your mum sticks to one country's channels, a playlist trimmed to that country, which support can send on WhatsApp, loads faster, takes less scrolling and leaves far fewer places to get lost.
Keep the link off the card by the TV
The card you leave next to the screen should say: restart the device, then the router, and finally contact SWIVTV on WhatsApp (+212 663 813 479) or you. It must not carry the M3U link, even though it looks like a harmless web address, because the username and password are written inside it. The link stays in your WhatsApp chat, and support can help you recover it if the chat is ever lost.
Watch them start it on their own
Hand back the remote or the mouse and let the person watching open the player and reach a channel without you. With M3U players this is the most revealing check, since these apps do less to guide people. If they get lost in the list, a trimmed playlist is the fix. If they get lost in the player itself, consider a different app with the Xtream login instead.
The snags, and how to clear them
The list takes ages to appear
The file behind the link lists thousands of channels, and simpler players read every line before they show anything. Either move whoever watches to an app that sorts channels into groups, TiViMate or IPTV Smarters with the Xtream login, or ask support for a playlist trimmed to your country. Waiting it out works, but nobody should have to do it every evening.
The player says the link is not valid
Usually part of the link went missing on the way, typically the end where the password sits, or a chat app broke it across two lines. Copy the whole thing again from your WhatsApp message and paste it in one piece. If it still fails, check that the plan has not reached its end date: the link stops with the plan and starts again when you renew.
Channels play, but there are no program listings
The player needs the guide address added separately. Ask support on WhatsApp for your xmltv.php address, paste it into the player's guide or EPG field and give it a few minutes. If only some channels stay empty, those may not carry listings, so tell support which ones.
Kodi shows no channels after you add the link
Check that the IPTV Simple Client add-on is enabled, not just installed, and that the link sits in its M3U URL field in one piece. Then restart Kodi, which is when it reads the playlist. If the channels still do not appear, try the same link in VLC: if it plays there, the problem is in Kodi's settings rather than the account.
It stopped working on the renewal date
SWIVTV plans never renew by themselves, and the link stops on the end date along with the rest of the account. Once you renew on WhatsApp the link comes back within minutes, unchanged, so nothing needs pasting a second time in any player. Put the next date in your calendar so the stop never comes as a surprise at the TV.
This login also works in these players
Smart IPTV (SIPTV)
Smart IPTV for a Samsung or LG TV: upload the M3U link against its MAC from your own phone, and leave them one app and the remote they already know.
Xtream Codes login
The server URL, username and password from your WhatsApp chat: what each Xtream Codes detail means, where to type it, and why the viewer never sees it.
Every other guide
Each TV, stick, box and player app we cover, listed on one page.
Have the login in your WhatsApp first
It arrives under 15 minutes after you pay, so the whole install fits in one sitting. A month costs $15 and a full year $69, with all 25,000+ channels either way.
M3U playlist: quick answers
Does the M3U link use a different account from the Xtream login?
No, the same one. Both come from your SWIVTV account and share its channels and its stream limit. The Xtream Codes login splits the details into three fields; the M3U link folds them into one address. Apps that accept the Xtream login get more from it, such as the guide and the films and series, so use the link only where a player asks for a playlist.
What about the free M3U lists posted on GitHub?
They tend to stop within days. Those lists collect stream addresses taken from elsewhere and publish them for anyone, so a crowd lands on the same sources until the sources are blocked or collapse. No one is responsible for fixing them, and pages handing out such files are a well-known source of malware. A personal SWIVTV link belongs to one account and has support on WhatsApp behind it.
Can I give the M3U link to my parents for their house?
No. The link is your account, username and password included, and one account is for one household under the terms. Your parents' home needs a plan of its own; you can buy it for them from your phone, and its separate link and login arrive in your WhatsApp chat.
Which is easier for someone who is not technical, M3U or Xtream?
For the person watching, neither shows once it is set up. For you, the Xtream login is usually simpler, because the app then fills in the guide by itself. The M3U link makes sense for Smart IPTV, the Samsung and LG app, where you upload it from your phone and the person watching never sees a form.
Where is the program guide for an M3U playlist?
On the same server as the link, at xmltv.php with your username and password attached. Players that read M3U usually need it pasted into a guide or EPG field of their own. Support can put the full address in your WhatsApp chat on request.