Best IPTV Players

The Best IPTV Players can be subjective, depending on what an end user wants from the player. To one a grid guide might be the most important. To another being able to run the same application on multiple devices. The players chosen will be defined by the list that follows. I will choose a winner for each type of device and yes that is me being subjective, but I will provide enough information to allow others to decide for themselves. I have spent a good amount of time searching for players and honestly, I saw the same 5-10 players being mentioned over and over in articles and most of these were horrible in my experience. I suspect these were created a long time ago and people have just regurgitated it over and over. This list will be much smaller because I was not impressed by the rest.

The lists requirements

Does not require a computer science degree to set up. (Easy set-up)
Works with an m3u file or url for IPTV.
Has EPG option for guide.
Allows an m3u file or url for VOD.
Works with the VOD poster images created from https://notposted.com/add-poster-images-for-movies-tv-series-in-your-m3u/
Works on Android mobile, Android TV, Windows PC or via a media server. (These are all devices I own)

Android Mobile

OTT Navigator

This app almost did not make the cut because I thought it had failed #3, and in the end, it almost did fail #1. But I felt it had a strong enough showing to keep it after I worked out the kinks. Normally I would just add the url for VOD the same as the TV, however in this app I had to go to the settings > Media Library and add it there. Once I added it the Media Library folder showed up on the main page. One other thing is I had to turn on the TV Guide Grid in the settings. OTT Navigator website. Here are some images:

Pros

Guide Grid (similar to a cable TV guide)

TV and VOD capable

Ad placement is not annoying in free version (sort of a pro)

Power button to close the app (seems silly but some apps I found hard to get out of once running)

Plenty of features in the free version with options to remove ads, pay monthly, every 3 months or a one time fee of $17.99 USD to unlock all premium features or $1.99 to remove ads only.

Customizable colors for interface.

Cons

Images on TV shows in VOD only show up after clicking on the title. It may be that it has several of each or I need to sort it out but, see #1 UPDATE: Under all movies you can see both TV Posters and Movie Posters.

Only has landscape mode (not a deal buster, but I like options)

The VOD took longer than I expected to figure out.

The sort order of the channels is alphabetical. I have mine sorted in an order I prefer when my m3u is created. It looks like removing this might be behind the paywall. UPDATE: You can go to settings > List Settings > Select sort order to change the order. It does not require premium.

iMPlayer

Really responsive player with some nice features but only for TV. There is no VOD option for m3u files or URL’s. Yes, I know I broke rule 3 but, I still felt this player deserved to be on the short list. This app works just fine in the free version with no ads. If you want the premium version it is $25 USD for lifetime on 3 devices, $28 USD for lifetime on 4 devices and $35 for lifetime on 5 devices. You can also add as many devices as you like for $7 USD each. iMPlayer website.

Pros

Very responsive in changing channels.

It has a more channels feature at the bottom of the screen when in full view, accessed by tapping the screen. When you click on it you see all the channels next to it in the list with the show currently playing and allows you to scroll left and right to choose another channel.

Pip when backing out to menu.

Cons

No VOD for m3u.

No EPG Guide grid.

The price for premium is a bit high for not having VOD m3u option on mobile compared to other options.

Televizo

Televizo is a nice option on your phone if you pay for the premium which is $8.49. Otherwise, it is pretty heavy on the ads in the free version. It will open an add right in the middle of doing something, full screen. There is an option to watch a 30-60 second video and it gives you an hour of premium each time and I have not found a limit to the number of times you can do this. If I am understanding the wording on the Televizo website correctly, it appears purchasing the app will allow it to work on any device as long as you are signed in via Google Play store, Huwei AppGallery or a Televizo account. Televizo website.

Pros

Responsive app

You can do the same thing as the iMPlayer to navigate from a channel to another by selecting channel list. It gives a scrollable list of channels and what is on to navigate to another without going back to main menu.

VOD works the best of all applications.

Inexpensive.

Cons

No EPG Guide grid.

Ads in free version are very annoying.

Mobile Winner

This one was the hardest to decide on personally. Mainly because I will rarely use it on mobile. That may change now that I have found several good options. Because of iMPlayer not supporting the VOD m3u, it comes in last place. However, if someone is only interested in TV, then I prefer it slightly to the others.

This leaves us with OTT Navigator and Televizo. There was not a clear winner here. If you will use VOD, I recommend using Televizo because it handled the poster images better than OTT Navigator. If having an EPG Grid view is more important, then you may want to go with OTT Navigator. I am calling this one a tie between OTT Navigator and Televizo.