Before you start
- An LG television running webOS, from 2016 or later
- An LG account signed in on the set
- Your Xtream login, or your M3U link if you end up using Smart IPTV
- About ten minutes
Nothing issued yet? Take the 24-hour test run first, or pick a term and skip straight to it.
Doing it, step by step
Open the LG Content Store
Press Home on the Magic Remote and select the LG Content Store from the launcher bar along the bottom. Sign in to an LG account if you have not already - installs are blocked without one. Creating an account is free and the television will prompt you through it in a couple of screens.
Search for and install IPTV Smarters
Use the search function in the Content Store and type IPTV Smarters. Install it and let the process complete fully before opening it. On 2016 and 2017 sets the store is slow, and an install that looks stalled is usually just working, so leave it alone for a minute rather than interrupting.
Sign in with the Xtream option
Open the app and choose the Xtream Codes login rather than the M3U alternative. Enter the server address exactly as sent, http:// prefix and port number included, then the username and password. The pointer remote makes text entry fiddly; it is worth checking the server address a second time before submitting, as that field accounts for most rejected logins.
Use Smart IPTV if Smarters is unavailable
Where the Content Store does not carry Smarters, install Smart IPTV instead. Open it and note the MAC address shown on screen. On a phone or laptop, go to siptv.app, enter that MAC address together with your M3U link, and upload. Close the television app completely and reopen it, and the channels will be there. A small one-off fee applies per television once the trial ends.
Let the list download and then cut it down
The first launch pulls the full channel list, which takes a minute or two. Once it has finished, hide every category nobody will use and add your regular channels to favourites. On webOS this is the step that decides how the rest of the household feels about the change, because the pointer remote is genuinely unpleasant to use across an unfiltered list.
Wire the television in if the socket is reachable
LG sets handle Wi-Fi reasonably, but an Ultra HD feed leaves little margin when the router is at the other end of the house. An Ethernet cable, where one can be run, eliminates the most common cause of evening stuttering outright and is cheaper than any other fix.
Keep the old service running for a few days
Leave the cable or satellite box on a spare input while you compare the two. A week of switching back and forth tells you far more than any review, and it means the household discovers any genuinely missing channel while you still have the option of staying put.
When something goes wrong
IPTV Smarters is not in the LG Content Store
Availability differs by region and by model year. Install Smart IPTV instead and use the MAC address method. If neither app is present, the set predates webOS 3.0 and will not run either; at that point a stick plugged into an HDMI port is the sensible answer and gives a better result than the built-in apps would have.
The channel list is empty after uploading to siptv.app
Re-read the MAC address carefully, because characters are easy to misread from across a room. Confirm the M3U link was copied in full, including the part after the question mark that carries your credentials. Then fully close and relaunch the app - it only requests the playlist at startup, so returning to it from the home screen will not trigger a refresh.
The app crashes or closes on launch
On webOS this is nearly always a partial install. Remove the app from the home row, restart the television with a full power cycle rather than standby, and install it again from the Content Store. If it persists, the model is likely too old for the current build of the app.
Audio plays but there is no picture
Change the decoder or player setting inside the app, if it offers one, and try a different channel to establish whether the problem is universal or limited to one stream. A single channel failing while everything else works is usually a source problem at our end rather than anything to do with the television, and worth reporting on WhatsApp so it can be checked.
Picking the player for this box
Smart IPTV (SIPTV)
Set up the Smart IPTV app on a Samsung or LG television: find the MAC address, upload your playlist, and the set collects it. 25,000+ channels.
IPTV Smarters Pro
The player that runs almost everywhere. Install it on Firestick, Android, Samsung, LG, Apple or a computer, sign in with Xtream and load 25,000+ channels.
The whole index
Every box, television and player we have written up.
Point your LG Smart TV at something better
A month costs $15 and opens 25,000+ channels. Message us and the details come back in under 15 minutes, with no box to rent and no engineer to let in.
Questions people ask about the LG Smart TV
Which app should I choose on an LG set?
IPTV Smarters, if the Content Store in your region carries it, because it is free and takes the same login as every other platform. Smart IPTV is the fallback and works perfectly well once the MAC address upload is done, but it costs a small one-off fee and the setup involves a website, which is one more step than most people want.
Does this work on an LG television older than 2016?
No. Sets before that run a webOS version the current apps will not install on. Rather than chasing workarounds, attach a Fire TV Stick or a cheap Android box - the experience is better than the built-in apps and the cost is less than a single month of the package being cancelled.
Can I record programmes to a USB drive?
Not through these apps. Recording is a TiViMate Premium feature and requires Android hardware, so on an LG set with nothing attached it is not available. If recording is something the household relies on, that alone is a reason to add a small Android box rather than run the television natively.
Will the programme guide work?
Yes, though it is less comfortable to navigate than TiViMate's. The guide data comes down with the channel list and populates within a few minutes on first run. Coverage varies between channels, which is normal across every provider rather than particular to this one.
Can other people in the house use it without being taught?
That depends almost entirely on whether you did the pruning step. An LG set handed over with all twenty-five thousand channels visible and the pointer remote as the only way through them will generate complaints within a day. The same television with the categories cut back, forty favourites pinned and the guide language set is genuinely easier to live with than the box it replaced, and nobody needs instructions. It is worth doing before anyone else in the household sees it for the first time.