How to Install IPTV on a Samsung or LG Smart TV
Samsung and LG TVs work differently from a Fire Stick. This is the accurate route for each, and what to do if your TV can't run a player at all.
If you've read a Fire Stick guide first, set it aside. Almost none of it applies here. Samsung and LG don't use Downloader, don't have Developer Options in the same sense, and don't let you install an app from outside their own store. The good news is that the process that does work is shorter.
The whole process is: install an app from the store your TV already has, read an identifier off the screen, send it to us, and reopen the app. There is no file to download, nothing to transfer by USB, and no setting to unlock first. If you've been stuck on a guide that told you to enable developer mode, that guide was written for a different platform.
How Samsung and LG differ from a Fire Stick
On a Fire TV Stick you can install an app from outside the store, which is why those guides tell you to enable Developer Options and use Downloader. Samsung's Tizen and LG's webOS don't work that way. Both are closed platforms: apps come from the Samsung App Store or the LG Content Store, and there is no supported way to sideload an APK the way you can on Fire OS.
That isn't a problem, it just changes the steps. It also means any guide telling you to install Downloader on a Samsung or LG TV is describing something the platform cannot do. If you've been following one and got stuck, that's why.
The second difference is activation. On a Fire Stick you usually type a server URL, username and password. On Samsung and LG the app identifies the TV itself, and you send us that identifier instead.
That trade is mostly in your favour. Typing a long server address and password with a TV remote is the slowest part of any Fire Stick setup and the most common source of typos, and none of it applies here. The cost is that you can't self-serve: activation goes through us, which is why Step 3 is a message rather than a form.
Before you start
- A Samsung or LG Smart TV connected to the internet.
- A stable connection: 25 Mbps or better if you plan to watch in 4K.
- Your login details, which we send on WhatsApp.
- About ten minutes.
Step 1: Install a player from your TV's app store
Everything starts in your TV's own store. There is nothing to download from a browser and nothing to transfer by USB.
- Open the Samsung App Store or the LG Content Store from your TV's home screen.
- Search for IBO Player or ELK Player.
- Install it, then open it once.
TiviMate isn't available on Samsung or LG. It's a Fire TV and Android app only. If a guide tells you to install it on a Samsung TV, that guide is wrong about this platform.
Step 2: Find your MAC address or Device ID
The app shows its identifier the first time it opens. This is what replaces typing credentials.
- Open the app you just installed.
- A MAC address, or a Device ID and key, appears on the first screen.
- Take a photo of that screen, or write the details down carefully.
A MAC address looks like [00:1A:79:xx:xx:xx]. If you see one of those, that's the value we need.
Step 3: Send it to us and we activate it
This is the part that differs most from a Fire Stick, and the part you don't have to do yourself.
- Send the MAC address or Device ID to us on WhatsApp. The photo from the previous step is enough.
- We register it on our system and confirm in the same chat.
- Close the app fully and reopen it.
You never type a server URL, username or password on Samsung or LG. The TV identifies itself and we do the rest from our side.
Step 4: Start watching
Reopen the app and everything is in place.
- Your channels, films and series are loaded automatically.
- Set up your favourites if you want quicker access to the ones you watch most.
The first load can take a minute while the programme guide downloads. That only happens once.
About the app fee, honestly
Samsung and LG don't have a reliable free IPTV player, so the apps that do work well charge a small one-time fee. That fee goes to the app's developer, not to us. These players are made by independent developers and are separate from your subscription.
If you'd rather not pay it, a Fire TV Stick plugged into the TV gives you free player options for a similar one-off cost, with the added benefit of a faster interface than most built-in smart TV systems. The Fire TV Stick guide walks through that route.
Worth knowing before you choose: the fee is tied to the device, not to your account. If you replace the TV later you pay it again on the new one, whereas a Fire Stick moves between TVs with you. On a set you expect to keep for years the built-in route is simpler; on one you might replace soon, the stick is the safer spend.
If your TV is older, or the app isn't available
App availability varies by TV model and year, and older sets sometimes can't install current players at all. If you can't find IBO or ELK in your TV's store, don't fight it.
Plug a Fire TV Stick into a spare HDMI input and follow the Fire Stick guide instead. It's the standard answer, it works on any TV with an HDMI port, and on an older set it's usually faster than the TV's own interface anyway.
What about Roku?
Roku doesn't support IPTV apps natively, and unlike Samsung and LG there's no player in its store to install either. Its system only accepts approved channels and no setting changes that. The answer is the same as for an older Smart TV: attach a Fire TV Stick to another HDMI input and use that instead.
Watching from Canada or the UK
Samsung and LG ship the same Tizen and webOS software worldwide, so the store layout and the steps above are the same in Canada, the UK and the US.
App availability can differ slightly by region and by model year. If you can't find a player in your store, the Fire TV Stick route described above works everywhere. Prices on our plans page are in US dollars, worth converting before you compare against a local provider quoting in Canadian dollars or pounds.
Model numbers differ by region, so a guide written for one market may name a menu that your set labels differently. The path is the same even when the wording is not.
If your TV shipped with a regional app store variant, the player may appear under a slightly different name. Searching for the developer rather than the app title usually finds it.
If something isn’t working
- The app isn't in my TV's store
- Check your TV's model year. Older sets often can't install current players, and there's no way around it on the TV itself. Use a Fire TV Stick instead.
- The app opens but shows nothing
- Confirm with us that your MAC address or Device ID has been activated, then fully close and reopen the app. On Samsung and LG, backing out to the home screen doesn't always close an app properly.
- Picture buffers on 4K
- Drop the quality to FHD in the player's settings. Smart TV processors are slower than a current Fire Stick, so a stream that plays smoothly elsewhere can still struggle here. If it continues at FHD, our buffering guide diagnoses the network side.
- The programme guide is empty
- Give it a few minutes on first load. If it's still empty afterwards, force an EPG refresh from the app's settings.
- It worked, then stopped after a TV software update
- Samsung and LG occasionally clear sideloaded-adjacent app data during a firmware update, and some players lose their registration. Reopen the app and check whether the MAC address on screen has changed. If it has, send us the new one and we'll re-register it.
- The remote is slow inside the app
- That's the TV's processor rather than the stream. Close other apps from the multitasking view and restart the TV from its power menu, not just standby. If it stays sluggish, a Fire TV Stick will feel noticeably faster on the same screen.
Setting up a different device? The full installation tutorial covers Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac.
What's included
- 20,000+ live channels
- 95,000+ movies & series
- 4K / FHD / HD quality
- Works on Fire TV Stick, phone, Smart TV and computer
You can browse the full channel lineup by country and category before deciding.
Ready to start?
Message us on WhatsApp with your MAC address or Device ID and we'll activate it for you.