Before you start
- Android TV, Google TV or Android box
- Google account signed in on the device
- Stryvix4K login details
Nothing to sign in with yet? Open a 24-hour trial and the desk sends credentials in minutes, or choose a plan.
Working through it
Open the Google Play Store
It sits on the home screen, or under Apps if you are on Google TV. Before you search for anything, confirm the box is signed in to a Google account — the store happily lets you browse without one and then refuses at the moment you press install, which is a needlessly annoying way to discover it.
Install a player
Search for TiViMate IPTV Player or IPTV Smarters Pro. If this is going on a television rather than a tablet, take TiViMate: the programme guide is the entire reason it exists and it is meaningfully better than anything else on the platform. Smarters is the right answer only if you want something free and identical to what you already run on your phone.
Add a playlist or Xtream login
TiViMate opens by asking you to Add playlist, then offers Xtream Codes login as one of the options. Smarters words the same thing as Login with Xtream Codes API. Either way you are supplying the identical three values: server address, username and password. Choose Xtream rather than plain M3U — the guide and the on-demand section only arrive through the Xtream route.
Wait for the channels and guide to load
The app now downloads the channel list and the programme data. Expect a minute or two on a first run and considerably less afterwards. If it prompts you to name the playlist, the name only matters should you later add a second one. Let this finish completely before forming any opinion about whether it worked.
Organise your channels
Switch off the categories you are never going to open, pin the ones you will, and set the guide language. TiViMate keeps all of this under Settings, then Playlists. Ten minutes spent here is the difference between a television that is pleasant to use and one that makes you sigh every evening, and it is the single piece of advice the desk repeats most often.
Set the buffer and decoder before you need to
While you are still in Settings, find the playback section and confirm the decoder is set to hardware. On boxes with modest processors, raising the buffer slightly smooths out evening dips at the cost of a second or two when changing channel. Both are easier to adjust now than mid-match.
When it goes wrong, and what fixes it
The Play Store does not list the app
Some cheaper boxes run the phone build of Android rather than the TV build, which hides listings marked TV-only. Sideload the APK through Downloader instead, following the same sequence as the Firestick guide — the app itself is identical once installed.
The programme guide is empty
Let the first download actually finish before judging it; on a slow line it takes longer than people expect. If it is still blank afterwards, trigger Update EPG from the app settings. The guide source travels with your login, though the desk can send a standalone URL for the handful of players that insist on one.
Channel changes take several seconds
That is usually buffer configuration rather than a network problem. Lower the buffer in the player settings and the switch becomes near instant, at the cost of slightly less tolerance for a wobbly line. It is a genuine trade-off, so try both and keep whichever annoys you less.
TiViMate asks for a Premium licence
The free tier plays everything and shows the guide. Premium adds recording, multi-view and multiple playlists. Nothing about your subscription requires it, and you should decide after living with the free version for a week rather than before.
The box is slow generally, not just in the player
Cheap Android boxes ship with very little free storage and a lot of preinstalled clutter. Clearing the cache under Settings, Apps, and removing anything you did not choose to install, usually recovers more performance than any player setting will.
The remote has no dedicated back button and navigation is awkward
A common annoyance on Google TV remotes with the newer minimal layout. Most players let you remap functions in their settings, and a cheap USB or Bluetooth air-mouse solves it outright on a box you use daily.
Google TV keeps burying the player under recommendations
The newer Google TV home screen prioritises its own content rows and pushes installed apps down. Long-press the app in the Apps row and move it to the front, or switch the launcher to Apps mode in the Google TV settings so your own installs come first. It is cosmetic, but on a box you use nightly it stops being cosmetic quite quickly.
What to run on this hardware
TiViMate
Add your subscription to TiViMate in about five minutes, set the guide refresh, and understand what Premium actually buys before you pay for it.
IPTV Smarters Pro
Install IPTV Smarters Pro on any device at all, log in through Xtream Codes, load the guide, and fix the empty-list and expired-account messages.
Browse every walkthrough
All the hardware and players we have written up, on one page.
Stuck anywhere on your Android TV?
Send the desk a photo of the screen and someone will talk you through it. Plans start at $15 a month for the full 25,000+ channels, with credentials issued under 15 minutes.
Android TV IPTV FAQ
What is the best Android TV box for IPTV?
The Nvidia Shield is the strongest performer and will still be adequate in five years. The Formuler Z11 is purpose-built for this and the better value. A Chromecast with Google TV is entirely sufficient for a second room. Avoid unbranded boxes sold on marketplaces — they run outdated Android and the Play Store gaps are exactly the problem described above.
Does Stryvix4K work on Chromecast with Google TV?
It does, and the setup is exactly the sequence above because it runs full Google TV. Both TiViMate and Smarters install from the Play Store without any sideloading. The remote is a little sparse for a long channel list, which is the only real caveat.
Can I use TiViMate and Smarters at the same time?
Yes. Both can be installed and both can hold the same login, which is a genuinely useful way to try them side by side before committing to one. Remember that your plan limits simultaneous streams, so playing in both at once counts as two.
Do I need to sideload anything on Android TV?
Not on a proper Android TV or Google TV device — everything you need is in the Play Store. Sideloading only comes into it on boxes running the phone build of Android, and on Amazon hardware, which keeps these players out of its store deliberately.
Will it work on an Android phone or tablet too?
Yes, with the same login. Take IPTV Smarters Pro there rather than TiViMate, which is built around a television remote and is awkward on a touchscreen. Installing it on a phone is also the quickest way to check whether a problem is the service or the television.
Should I let the box auto-update the player?
Generally yes — fixes arrive that way. The exception is TiViMate on a setup you have carefully configured before a big weekend; in that case, postpone until after. Updates have occasionally reset guide settings.
How much storage does a player need on an Android box?
The app itself is small, but the guide cache grows — budget around 500 MB free for comfort on a large line-up. If the box has 8 GB total, clear the cache on apps you never open before blaming the player for feeling slow.