IPTVnator - IPTV Player Application

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IPTVnator is a video player application that provides support for IPTV playlist playback (m3u, m3u8). The application allows users to import playlists using remote URLs or by uploading files from the local file system. Additionally, it supports EPG information in XMLTV format which can be provided via URL.

The application is a cross-platform, open-source project built with Electron and Angular.

⚠️ Note: IPTVnator does not provide any playlists or other digital content. The channels and pictures in the screenshots are for demonstration purposes only.

Features

• M3u and M3u8 playlist support 📺
• Radio playlist support with dedicated audio player 📻
• Xtream Code (XC) and Stalker portal (STB) support
• External player support - MPV, VLC
• Add playlists from the file system or remote URLs 📂
• Automatic playlist updates on application startup
• Channel search functionality 🔍
• EPG support (TV Guide) with detailed information
• TV archive/catchup/timeshift functionality
• Group-based channel list
• Read-only M3U channel details from the channel context menu
• Favorite channels management
• Global favorites aggregated from all playlists
• HTML video player with HLS.js support or Video.js-based player
• Internationalization with support for 16 languages:
  • Arabic
  • Moroccan arabic
  • English
  • Russian
  • German
  • Korean
  • Spanish
  • Chinese
  • Traditional chinese
  • French
  • Italian
  • Turkish
  • Japanese
  • Dutch
  • Belarusian
  • Polish
• Custom "User Agent" header configuration for playlists
• Light and Dark themes
• Docker version available for self-hosting

Screenshots:

Dashboard with recently watched content	Live channels with inline player and EPG
Add playlist dialog for M3U, Xtream, and Stalker	Live category channel list
Global search across live TV, movies, and series	Manage visible live categories
Movie category grid with sorting and pagination	Recently added movies and series
VOD details with playback and download actions	Download manager
Multi-channel EPG grid	External MPV player support
Radio playback with dedicated audio player	Light theme
Application settings

Note: First version of the application which was developed as a PWA is available in an extra git branch.

Download

Download the latest version of the application for macOS, Windows, and Linux from the release page.

Alternatively, you can install the application using one of the following package managers:

Homebrew

$ brew install iptvnator

Snap

$ sudo snap install iptvnator

Arch

Also available as an Arch PKG, iptvnator-bin, in the AUR (using your favourite AUR-helper, .e.g. yay)

$ yay -S iptvnator-bin

Gentoo

You can install IPTVnator from the gentoo-zh overlay

sudo eselect repository enable gentoo-zh
sudo emerge --sync gentoo-zh
sudo emerge iptvnator-bin

Troubleshooting

macOS: "App is damaged and can't be opened"

Older unsigned macOS builds may require removing the quarantine flag from the downloaded application:

xattr -c /Applications/IPTVnator.app

Alternatively, if the app is located in a different directory:

xattr -c ~/Downloads/IPTVnator.app

Linux: chrome-sandbox Issues

If you encounter the following error when launching IPTVnator:

The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly.
Rather than run without sandboxing I'm aborting now.
You need to make sure that chrome-sandbox is owned by root and has mode 4755.

Solution 1: Fix chrome-sandbox permissions (Recommended for .deb/.rpm installations)

Navigate to the IPTVnator installation directory and run:

sudo chown root:root chrome-sandbox
sudo chmod 4755 chrome-sandbox

Solution 2: Launch with --no-sandbox flag

Edit the desktop launcher file to add the --no-sandbox flag:

1. Find your desktop file location:

   • Ubuntu/Debian: ~/.local/share/applications/iptvnator.desktop
   • System-wide: /usr/share/applications/iptvnator.desktop

2. Edit the file and modify the Exec line:

   Exec=iptvnator --no-sandbox %U
   

3. Save the file and relaunch the application from your application menu.

Alternatively, you can launch IPTVnator from the terminal with the flag:

iptvnator --no-sandbox

GNU/Linux: Wayland startup failure

If IPTVnator exits on GNU/Linux with errors about failing to connect to Wayland or initialize the Ozone platform, force X11/XWayland instead:

iptvnator --ozone-platform=x11

This workaround is mainly for older or problematic Linux graphics stacks. The Snap package already includes this X11 override by default. For AppImage, direct binaries, and other Linux package formats, pass the flag manually when needed.

How to Build and Develop

Requirements:

• Node.js with pnpm (via Corepack)

1. Clone this repository and install project dependencies:

   $ corepack enable
   $ pnpm install
   

2. Start the application:

   $ pnpm run serve:backend
   

This will open the Electron app in a separate window, while the Angular dev server will run at http://localhost:4200.

The equivalent Nx command is:

$ nx serve electron-backend

To start Electron with an empty, isolated data directory instead of your normal ~/.iptvnator folder, set IPTVNATOR_E2E_DATA_DIR for that run:

$ rm -rf .tmp/iptvnator-empty && mkdir -p .tmp/iptvnator-empty
$ IPTVNATOR_E2E_DATA_DIR="$PWD/.tmp/iptvnator-empty" pnpm run serve:backend

This redirects the SQLite database, Electron user data, and local config under the given directory. Delete that directory whenever you want a fresh empty state.

If you need to debug renderer freezes or GPU/compositor issues in Electron, you can disable hardware acceleration for a run:

$ IPTVNATOR_DISABLE_HARDWARE_ACCELERATION=1 pnpm run serve:backend

If you need startup diagnostics for a white screen or a frozen route, you can also turn on opt-in Electron tracing. These logs are written to the Electron terminal output so they still help when the renderer DevTools never open:

$ IPTVNATOR_TRACE_STARTUP=1 pnpm run serve:backend

Nx equivalent:

$ IPTVNATOR_TRACE_STARTUP=1 nx serve electron-backend

Useful narrower flags:

• IPTVNATOR_TRACE_IPC=1 logs renderer window.electron.* calls reaching the Electron bridge
• IPTVNATOR_TRACE_DB=1 logs DB worker requests and request-scoped DB events
• IPTVNATOR_TRACE_SQL=1 logs SQLite statements in both the main connection and DB worker connection
• IPTVNATOR_TRACE_WINDOW=1 logs BrowserWindow load, navigation, and unresponsive events
• IPTVNATOR_TRACE_RENDERER_CONSOLE=1 mirrors renderer console messages into the Electron terminal output

If the local Nx daemon gets into a bad state before rerunning Electron, reset it:

$ pnpm nx reset

To run only the Angular app without Electron, use:

$ pnpm run serve:frontend

Disclaimer

IPTVnator doesn't provide any playlists or other digital content.