Seeing the channels “of a lifetime” on our television is common in our daily lives, but what if we are out of the country? Or, imagine that you move to another community and want to view specific content from a regional channel, how can you “tune in” now? Like many other things, the solution goes through the internet. Today we explain how to watch any online television channel from your Smart TV thanks to IPTV technology.
IPTV applications and how they work
IPTV technology that defines the Internet Protocol Television, or Internet Protocol Television, refers to one that uses the TCP / IP protocol to transmit the signal of TV channels through the internet.
Let’s say it is a way of transmitting television online, but in a different way than the process used by other services. This is because the IPTV signal reserves part of the bandwidth of your internet connection for the TV signal.
In order to use this technology, we need two key elements : an IPTV list of the channel or channels we want to consume and, of course, an app that allows us to “read” these files.
As for the IPTV listings, there are many websites that provide this type of files and from where we can download them. Although we will deal with this section in more detail below because we must be aware of certain legal issues.
Regarding the applications that we can use to interpret these lists, there are many. We can find from apps for Android or iOS , others for the computer with Windows or MacOS , or even for our own television . Some of these applications, in case you find it interesting to know their names, are: VLC, simpleTV, Kodi, Lazy IPTV, etc.
IPTV and pir-cy
This is nothing more than those channel listings that are not based on free television channels, but allow pay-TV channels to be viewed. Among these channels we can get to see those that offer paid football, movies and series with additional cost, etc.
There are many services of this type that have already been closed and blocked by the authorities accompanied, of course, by the corresponding sanction that this implies on their part. Therefore, we encourage you to stay away from all this and simply use the IPTV lists for legal purposes like the one we now explain to you.
IPTV applications for your Smart TV
Now that you know how IPTV technology works and you know the type of sources you should stay away from, let’s see how we can enjoy it from our own Smart TV.
There are different methods to use the IPTV lists on our smart TV. Some simpler and others more complex. Let’s go through both to know their differences.
TDTChannels: the simplest method
Without a doubt, the simplest process to see all the online channels on our television is through the DTT Channels service . An open source project whose IPTV list covers most of the national channels in Spain . In addition, it is available in a web version and with applications for iOS, Android and, which currently concerns us, for Android TV. The only “downside” in this regard is that your app is currently not on Google Play. But don’t worry, follow these steps to install it on your TV:
- First, you must enter their website and download the apk of their Android TV application to your computer. This will send the file directly to your download folder.
- Put this file on a USB stick if your TV has this type of port. If not, go to your Google Drive account and put it in a folder here. With this we have finished with the use of the computer.
- Either by using the USB memory or with Google Drive, you will need to install a file manager on your television or Android TV device. After trying various apps , we recommend that you download File Commander . You will find it by entering Google Play through the Smart TV system. Once located, click on “Install” and then select “Open”.
- If your TV has USB ports , connect the memory in which you previously placed the apk file downloaded from TDT Channels from the PC. You will automatically see that File commander recognizes the memory and allows you to access it. Once here, select the apk file and open it for the installation to begin. In the event that an error appears stating that it belongs to an unknown repository, enter the settings of your Smart TV and activate the installation from unknown sources in the privacy section. It may also ask you to “approve” File Commander as a trusted app . When the installation process is complete, TDT Channels will already be available on your smart TV.
- In the event that your screen does not have USB ports , you must follow the same process as the previous one but, yes, accessing Google Drive from the “Add cloud” section from File Commander.
At this point, you will only have to enter TDT Channels from your catalog of installed apps . One inside, after a small loading screen that will last just a few seconds, you will access the entire list of available channels: generalists, sports, children or, of course, exclusive ones at the community level.
In addition, this app offers you different ways of reproduction. So if one gives you problems, you will only have to access through any of the other alternatives.
Other methods to use IPTV on your Smart TV
As we mentioned, there are other methods that we can use to use IPTV lists on our television. One of them is by using the Kodi app . An application compatible with both our PC, Mac or Smart TV (as long as it has the Android TV operating system).
The first thing is to get those IPTV listings referring to the channels we want to consume. For this, we can use the database of the TDT Channels itself, which we can access from its website. You just need to copy the URL of the M3U file you need.
On the other hand, we can find Kodi in the application store of our Smart TV. Once installed, access it and from the Add-ons menu, enter “My add-ons” and then “PVR Clients”. Here we can install the PVR IPTV Simple Client plugin that is necessary to be able to reproduce the listings. Then, from the home page, access the Add URL option from the M3U list and add the address you saved before. After this, restart the Kodi app and enter again. If you access the channels menu in the TV section, you will see the list that you just added. As you may have noticed, this process is much more complex and tedious than the previous one.
