M3U Player for TV and Android

What an M3U playlist is

An M3U file is a plain text list. It has been used for music since the 1990s, and the extended version used for video is not much harder. Each entry is two lines: one describing the item, one giving its address.

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="ch1" tvg-name="My Channel 1" tvg-logo="https://example.com/1.png" group-title="News",My Channel 1
https://example.com/stream/1.m3u8

That is the whole format. The file extension can be .m3u or .m3u8. The difference is only text encoding, and a modern m3u8 playlist is UTF-8. Both work the same in RolloTV.

The format carries no images, no descriptions, and no schedule. So a good M3U player has to make the most of the few attributes that are there, and fetch the schedule from a separate guide file.

What RolloTV reads from your playlist

Add a URL, not a file

This is the difference between a two-minute setup and ten minutes of frustration. RolloTV takes a playlist URL. It does not open an .m3u file stored on your device, and there is no file picker. If your provider gave you a file instead of a link, you need a hosted link to it.

That is deliberate on a TV. A URL is re-read every time the app starts, so when your provider adds or removes channels the change just appears. A file copied onto a stick goes stale as soon as anything changes.

Adding a program guide (XMLTV)

An M3U file has no schedule in it. The guide comes from a separate XMLTV file, which your provider supplies as a second link. RolloTV matches the two by tvg-id, falling back to tvg-name.

If the guide is empty or shows the wrong shows, the ids in the playlist do not match the ids in the XMLTV file. No player can fix that from the outside. Ask your provider for a guide that matches their playlist.

M3U or Xtream Codes?

If your provider offers both, the Xtream login is usually better. A flat playlist is a list of links. The Xtream API is a conversation, so the app can ask for things a text file cannot express.

Catch-up is the big one. It is hidden on M3U profiles, because a flat playlist has no way to describe past broadcasts. More on the Xtream Codes player.

Fixing common M3U problems

The playlist will not load

Open the URL in a browser on a computer. If it does not download a text file starting with #EXTM3U, the problem is the link, not the player. Check for a missing http://, a typo in the username or password inside the URL, and whether your provider limits how many connections you can use at once.

Every channel is in one giant group

The playlist has no group-title attributes. Nothing can recover them from a file that never had them, so ask your provider for a grouped playlist. Until then, favorites and pinned categories make a long list workable.

Logos are missing

Either tvg-logo is absent, or the image addresses no longer work. Both live in the playlist file, so both are your provider's to fix.

The guide is empty or shows the wrong programs

The tvg-id values in the playlist do not match the ones in the XMLTV file. Check you were given the guide URL that belongs to that playlist.

A channel starts, then stops after a few seconds

Usually the provider, not the player: a connection limit reached, or a stream that is down. Try another channel in the same group. If every channel does it, you are probably signed in on another device at the same time.

Picture but no sound

An audio format your device cannot decode. RolloTV ships software decoders for AC3, E-AC3, DTS, and TrueHD to cover this. If one stream is still silent, open Audio & Subtitles during playback and try another audio track.

Where playlists come from

Your own provider, and nowhere else. RolloTV includes no playlists, sells none, and cannot recommend where to get one. Only add a playlist you have the legal right to access. See our disclaimer.