How to play an IPTV (M3U) playlist

What is an M3U playlist?

M3U is a simple text format for playlists – and the common format for IPTV, i.e. television over the internet. Each entry consists of one line with the name and one line with the address of the stream – a channel, a movie or an episode. Groups (“News”, “Movies”) can be specified too.

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 group-title="News",Example News HD
https://example.com/live/news.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 group-title="Movies",Example Movie (2024)
https://example.com/movies/example-movie.mp4

So the file contains no videos, only references to them. A player like FIDA Player reads the list, sorts it by groups and plays the selected stream.

M3U or M3U8?

M3U8 is the same format, just saved as UTF-8 – so accents and special characters come out right. FIDA Player reads both: M3U and M3U8 links as well as M3U files. Some streams themselves end in “.m3u8” (HLS) – the app plays those too.

Where do you get a playlist?

Usually from your TV or internet provider, who gives you an M3U link or a file, or from your own server where you manage your own streams.

Important: Only play playlists you have the rights to. FIDA Player contains and provides no content – without your own legal playlist the app shows nothing.

Play an M3U playlist with FIDA Player

1. Install FIDA Player – for the Fire TV Stick, Android TV and Google TV or phone and tablet.
2. On first launch choose Add playlist and give it a name.
3. Enter the link. On a TV it is easier from your phone: scan the code shown and send the link or M3U file.
4. After loading, the channels appear sorted by groups; movies and series too, if your playlist server supplies information about them.

Press OK to open the channel list, Up/Down to zap, press and hold OK for the quick menu. More on the controls is in the device guides at the top of this page.

Common problems and what helps

The link does not load

Try opening it in your phone’s browser. If no content appears there, the link has expired, was copied incorrectly (a space at the end?) or is only reachable in a certain network. Check that the address is complete and starts with “https://”.

Some channels do not play

Press and hold OK and choose the other player (ExoPlayer or VLC). If that doesn’t help, increase the buffer in the settings.

Accents look wrong

Save the file as UTF-8 (it is then usually called “.m3u8”). With links, it is down to the provider’s server.

Movies and series are missing

Live channels always appear. FIDA Player shows movies and series with posters and descriptions if your playlist server supplies that information – a plain list of live addresses does not contain it.