Kodi is a program that needs no introduction. It is capable of a lot, and allows us to consume completely legal content, in grey areas and illegal. The latter is what prevents it from being available in stores like the Apple Store, but it is a tool, and tools are not to blame for the use we make of them. In a similar way, there are legal IPTV lists and others that are not so legal, but programs like IPTVnator facilitate all types of viewing.
For Linux users, There are programs like Hypnotix, which is not in active development right now but is still a good option for Linux Mint users, or you can use add-ons like IPTV Simple Client, but of all the applications I have tried, the most complete is, without a doubt, IPTVnator. I explain the reasons and what could still be improved.
IPTVnator: channels, movies, series... everything your IPTV service offers you
What does a good IPTV list application have to have? At least three things: the channels can be seen, that he zapping It should be easy to do and there should be information about the programming. The latter is not strictly necessary, but it greatly improves the user experience. The former is essential.
IPTVnator meets these minimum requirements. Not only does it allow channels to be viewed; it also offers two native possibilities — VideoJS and HTML5 — and also that the playback is opened with MPV or VLC. In my tests, the native ones work — the one in the screenshot above is one of them — but the best option is to use MPV.
To complete the package, you must also support Sections with movies and series and that when you enter one of them, related information is displayed that can be obtained from services such as TMDB or IMDb.
All of that is something that IPTVnator does, but it could be improved even more if, like Open TV, it did recursive lookups and had a flatpak version. We won't go into which kind of package is the best, but most immutable distributions rely on Flathub, and that There is no flatpak version It's a small point against it.
Installation and configuration on Linux
The simplest installations are those of the snap package or the AUR package, the official ones explained on their GitHub. The first one may be the best option for Ubuntu and derivatives users who have decided not to drop support — as Mint did. The AUR package is already compiled, as indicated by its -bin suffix, but it is not updated. There is an updated one in the AUR, but it is yet to be compiled. Therefore, the official options would be installed like this:
- snap package:
sudo snap install iptvnator - AUR package:
yay -s iptvnator-bin
On some distributions, it may be in the official repositories, so a search in the software store may be a good idea. Another option is to use its AppImage, available on your releases pageYou would only have to choose the most up-to-date one for your computer's architecture, give it execution permissions and open the application with a double click.
Once opened, we would add the list by clicking on the plus symbol. For this example we will add the TDTChannels one.
From the options that appear in the drop-down menu, we choose “Add by URL”. If we had it in a local file, we would choose the file, and if it were our list in an Xtream Code, we would select the third one.
After clicking on “Add list”, you will enter it. As you can see in the screenshot above, on the left are the channels, and on the right the broadcast. This is the case with native players, and the information below is the EPG source programming. In some lists you have to add them manually from the gear options, in the “EPG URL” section.
Movies and series
If our service offers the possibility, IPTVnator shows video on demand (VOD) and series sections, which is the same, but in the second we find the series and in the first everything else — movies, documentaries…
In the screenshot above we can see a movie cover with information, release date, cast and a play button. What more could you ask for? Well… the recursive search and the flatpak package. Also, going too far, a more elaborate interface, but I love IPTVnator and I think it's the best option for Linux and what isn't Linux.