Before you start
- An LG webOS television from 2016 or newer
- An LG account signed in on the set
- Either your M3U link or your Xtream login
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Doing it, one step at a time
Open the LG Content Store
Press Home, open the LG Content Store, move across to Apps and use the search field. On older webOS versions the store is slower than you expect, so give it a moment before deciding it has frozen.
Install a player
Search for IPTV Smarters Player, iPlayTV or GSE Smart IPTV. Smarters is free; the other two carry a one-off price and rather better interfaces. Anything calling itself TiviMato or Tivimax is not TiViMate, has no connection to it, and is not worth your money.
Enter your details
Smarters wants Login with Xtream Codes API followed by the username, password and server address. Smart IPTV instead wants the M3U link sent to the MAC address it displays on screen, which you do from siptv.app/mylist on a phone or laptop rather than on the television itself.
Start watching
Once it restarts, the set loads the full line-up with its own built-in guide. The coloured buttons on the remote handle favourites and the EPG, and learning those two is what turns a very long channel list into something you can live with night after night.
Confirm the webOS version first
Settings, then All Settings, then General, then About This TV. webOS 3.0 and later, which means 2016 onward, will run these players. Older sets need a stick instead, and it is worth knowing that before you spend time hunting through a store that will never list the app.
Set the picture up for live broadcast
LG enables TruMotion by default, which gives live sport an odd, glassy look that people often blame on the stream. Under Picture, Advanced Settings, switch TruMotion off and set the mode to Standard. Do this before judging the quality of anything.
When it goes wrong, and why
Black screen but the sound plays
That is a decoder mismatch, not a dead channel, and the distinction matters because people cancel over it. Switch the player to native or hardware decoding in the app settings, or select the lower-bitrate copy of the channel, which exists for most sports feeds and sits directly beside it in the list.
The store will not let the app install
LG occasionally blocks an install when the set is signed into a regional account that does not match the store you are browsing. Sign out, sign back in with an account created for the country you are living in, and try again.
The remote pointer makes the player hard to use
LG Magic Remotes default to pointer control, which suits web browsing and suits an IPTV grid very badly. Press the wheel to switch to directional control, or use the arrow keys, and the guide becomes far easier to move around.
Which player suits this hardware
Smart IPTV (SIPTV)
Setting up Smart IPTV on Samsung and LG televisions: find the MAC address, upload your M3U at siptv.app, restart and activate. Why it has no login screen.
IPTV Smarters Pro
Installing IPTV Smarters Pro on Firestick, Android, Samsung, LG, Apple TV and desktop, signing in with Xtream Codes, loading the guide and fixing errors.
The full index
Every device and player covered, gathered on one page.
Point your LG Smart TV at home
From $15 a month for 25,000+ channels, with the details back on WhatsApp in under 15 minutes.
Questions about LG Smart TV
Which app is best on an LG set?
Start with IPTV Smarters: it costs nothing, takes the Xtream login and brings a full guide with it. Smart IPTV is the leaner option and extremely steady once it is configured, in exchange for a one-time fee. webOS 3.0 and later runs either, so any set from 2016 onward has both open to it.
Can I move my account to a different LG television?
Yes, and it costs nothing. Install the player on the new set and sign in with the same three values. If you were using Smart IPTV, the new television has its own MAC address, so upload the M3U again against that one.
Is there any way to run TiViMate on an LG set?
Not directly, and anything in the LG store claiming to be TiViMate is not. The only route is an Android device plugged into an HDMI port, which for a Firestick means $30 to $50. On a main television used daily that is usually money well spent.
Will an app I install survive a software update?
Normally yes. LG updates do not clear installed apps, though a full factory reset will. If you are using Smart IPTV and the set is reset, the playlist has to be uploaded again against the same MAC address, which takes two minutes.