Everything you need to set up and get the most out of VortexTV - your ultimate IPTV streaming experience.
VortexTV is an IPTV player that lets you stream live TV from M3U playlists. Here's how to get up and running in under a minute.
Download VortexTV from our downloads page and install it on your Android device, Android TV box, or other supported platform.
On the welcome screen, tap the Settings icon β go to Playlists β enter a name and paste your M3U playlist URL. The app will fetch, parse, and cache all your channels automatically.
Navigate to Categories to see your channels grouped by genre. Select a category, pick a channel, and you're watching live TV. It's that simple.
VortexTV supports multiple playlists so you can organise your content sources. Switch between providers instantly.
Open Settings β Playlists and enter a name and M3U URL. The app fetches and parses channels in the background without blocking the UI.
Open the Playlist Manager from Settings to see all your playlists. Tap one to switch β channels and categories update instantly.
Long-press or use the edit/delete icons in the Playlist Manager to update a playlist's name, URL, or remove it entirely.
Enable per-playlist auto-refresh to keep your channel list up to date. Configure the interval in minutes β the app will re-fetch in the background.
Full M3U/M3U8 parsing with metadata: group-title, tvg-id, tvg-logo, catchup-source, user-agent, and more.
All playlist data is cached locally in SQLite. The app launches instantly with cached data, even without an internet connection.
Discover and navigate your channels with a TV-friendly interface built for remotes, keyboards, and touch.
Channels are automatically grouped by the group-title tag from your M3U playlist. Each tile shows the category name and channel count.
Built-in virtual categories automatically filter HD and 4K channels across your entire playlist β no configuration needed.
Search across channel names and EPG programme titles. On Android TV, use voice search for hands-free navigation.
Mark channels as favourites for quick access. Filter any category to show only your favourite channels.
Sort channels by playlist order (default), AβZ, or ZβA. Find what you're looking for faster.
As you navigate the channel list, a live video preview plays for the highlighted channel β see what's on before selecting.
Each channel shows the current and next programme name and progress bar inline, powered by the EPG.
A weather widget on the categories page shows current temperature and a multi-day forecast. Uses auto-location or a manual city.
A powerful native video player with smooth transitions, overlay controls, and fine-tuned settings.
Built on Media3 ExoPlayer for Android β hardware-accelerated decoding, wide codec support, and low-latency streaming.
The player instance is shared between preview and fullscreen mode. Switching is instant β no buffering or reload.
Use CH+ / CH- or D-pad up/down to cycle through channels without leaving fullscreen.
Select from available audio tracks and languages. Set a preferred audio language in settings for automatic selection.
Choose from available subtitle tracks during playback.
Switch between Cover (zoom to fill screen, may crop edges) and Contain (show full frame with letterboxing).
Choose between Auto, HD, Full HD, or 4K quality modes depending on your stream and bandwidth.
Tune the live buffer from 1s to 12s. Lower values = less latency; higher values = more stability on slower connections.
A full TV guide with a 14-day window β 7 days back and 7 days forward. Browse what's on, what's next, and what you missed.
Multi-channel horizontal timeline with 30-minute time slots. Rows represent channels, colour-coded programme cells show titles and times at a glance.
An alternative vertical list showing all programmes for a single channel. Enable it in Settings β EPG β Classic view.
Jump between days using the navigation bar at the top. Quickly find programmes from the past week or plan ahead.
EPG data is sourced from XMLTV format URLs. Channels are matched via tvg-id from your M3U or by channel name as a fallback.
Configure EPG refresh interval (default: 60 minutes) or set to 0 to disable. Data is cached locally for instant access.
Show EPG data for the current category, favourites only, or all channels β configurable in Settings.
Missed the start of a show? Timeshift lets you rewind and watch past programmes on supported channels.
Open the Program Guide, navigate to a past programme (highlighted in a different colour), and select it. Timeshift playback starts automatically.
While watching live in fullscreen, press β (left) to rewind into the current programme. A seek bar appears showing your position within the show.
Search for a programme title β if it aired in the past, selecting it starts timeshift playback directly.
Use β / β to scrub forward and backward within a timeshift programme.
Press the "Go to Live" button at any time to jump back to the live broadcast.
Timeshift URLs are generated using your M3U's catchup-source metadata or standard IPTV provider patterns. Requires server-side support.
Configure VortexTV to match your preferences. Settings are organised into five sections.
| Setting | Options | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Video Fit | Cover / Contain | Cover zooms to fill the screen (may crop). Contain shows the full frame with letterboxing. |
| Video Quality | Auto / HD / Full HD / 4K | Preferred quality when multiple resolutions are available in the stream. |
| Live Buffer | 1s / 2s / 3s / 5s / 8s / 12s | Live edge offset. Lower = less latency, higher = smoother on slow connections. |
| Audio Language | Language code (e.g. bg, en) | Preferred audio track language. The player auto-selects this language when available. |
| Setting | Options | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-Refresh | 0β120 minutes | How often EPG data is refreshed. Set to 0 to disable automatic refresh. |
| Channel Scope | Current category / Favourites / All | Which channels to include in the EPG view. |
| Classic View | On / Off | Switch to a vertical single-channel programme list instead of the grid. |
| Setting | Options | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Theme | Dark / Light / System | App theme. System follows your device's dark/light mode setting. |
| Colour Preset | 20 presets | Choose from Ocean, Green, Sunset, Mint, Mono, Purple, Indigo, Cerulean, Teal, Lime, Amber, Crimson, Rose, Slate, Copper, and more. |
| Language | System / English / Bulgarian / German | UI language. System auto-detects your device locale. |
| Layout | Classic / TV Guide | Classic: Welcome β Categories β Channels. TV Guide: Welcome β Guide-first browsing. |
| Default Category | Any category | Set a favourite category as a quick-launch shortcut on the welcome screen. |
| Weather Widget | On / Off | Show or hide the weather widget on the categories page. |
| Weather Location | Auto / Manual city | Auto uses IP geolocation. Manual lets you set a specific city. |
| Temperature Unit | Β°C / Β°F | Celsius or Fahrenheit for the weather display. |
VortexTV is built with Flutter and optimised primarily for Android TV and set-top boxes, with support for additional platforms.
Quick answers to common questions about VortexTV.
No. VortexTV is a media player only. You supply your own M3U playlist URLs from your IPTV provider or personal media server. We do not host, distribute, or endorse any content.
Standard M3U and M3U8 playlists with #EXTINF metadata. The app parses group-title, tvg-id, tvg-logo, catchup-source, and other common IPTV tags.
Timeshift requires server-side support from your IPTV provider. The channel must have catchup-source metadata in the M3U, or the server must support standard timeshift URL patterns.
EPG data is loaded from XMLTV-formatted URLs. Many IPTV providers include an EPG URL alongside their playlist. The app matches channels using the tvg-id field.
Yes! Add as many playlists as you need and switch between them from the Playlist Manager in Settings. Only one playlist is active at a time.
Absolutely. We only collect minimal technical data for diagnostics. We don't track your viewing habits, channels, or playlists. Read our full Privacy Policy.