XCIPTV is yet another shiny toy among all the player applications on Android devices. The features include everything a client can ask for. In this thorough article, we will be looking at the installation steps as well as detailed information about features and configurations
XCIPTV is actually a great application, a jackpot of all necessary functions that IPTV users would require. The only downside of this app is the fact that it is only available for Android devices through Google Play Store. The publisher is not giving any access to the original .APK file.
In this article, we will cover the following:
- How to install XCIPTV
- What's inside Settings page
- How to record with this app
- How to use Multi-Screen
How to install XCIPTV on Android TV/Phone/Tablet?
1-Open Google Play Store. On Android TV you can simply search through the content store. In this example, we want to try this using a Tablet.
2-Touch the search field, on the remote controller, you can move to the search field and click the OK button.
3-Type in XCIPTV and suggestions pop up. You can select any of them.
4-The correct version of this application is published by OTTRUN. Any other copy you see online is fake and should be avoided.
5-After the installation is complete, click Open.
6-On the first launch, XCIPTV will ask you for your Consent regarding the advertisement the app is going to show you. Ads are included since it is a free version.
To get the least ads possible, I can suggest a tweak. Click Manage Options.
7-Disable all the entries which are enabled and do this for the whole page. Once done, click Confirm Choices.
8-Now we can enter the login details of our IPTV subscription.
The default method is Xtream Codes API about which we have already discuss in previous articles.
After filling the fields, click SIGN IN.
9-We are signed in successfully. The dashboard looks very neat and self-explanatory.
10-Clicking on Live TV should bring you to the TV channels. The listing format is nice. Categories are available in the left column. The search function is available at the top right. Also, you can change the listing alphabetically.
11-If you go back to the dashboard and click on Movies section, you should see the above content.
12-Series section also has the same structure.
13-Last but not least, the EPG section on the dashboard. It consists of a schedule table of the Live TV content, which is useful when you just want to check the upcoming programs on your favorite channels.
Understanding the Settings section in XCIPTV
The settings page of XCIPTV application consists of various functions and features. It is worth it to have them check.
Click the gear icon to enter the settings page.
Now let's check each section one by one.
-APP
Provide information about the version of the application, the license number of the app, and the period. This belongs to the application itself and has nothing to do with the IPTV subscription.
-Account
Here you can find all the details about your IPTV subscription: Expiration date, number of allowed connections, expiration date, and more.
-Player Settings
XCIPTV has two built-in media player engines: VLC and EXO player. These two have almost all the necessary codecs to play any audio and video content. However, you can tweak these two for better performance according to your needs and internet connection. We will have a look at VLC Player as an example.
After clicking on Play Settings from the main menu, you can choose between the two players. Above you can see the tweak page for VLC.
Pre Buffer: Sometimes, some internet connections are slow or may have high network latency. Having some pre-buffer allows the player to load the channel content a few seconds in advance, which will help to resolve buffering issues.
Zoom Settings: Here the aspect ratio of the screen can be adjusted.
Subtitles: Enable or disable subtitles. This selection will be chosen as default.
Volume: Sets the maximum volume output of the app.
Hardware Decoder: This will choose whether the decoding of the media content is done by the hardware (puts a little extra pressure on your GPU) or software (More pressure on CPU).
-Player
The two players we spoke about earlier, in this section we have options to assign them to specific contents. It is a known fact that EXO Player usually plays Live TV a bit better, so we can have that assigned to that content. VOD content on the other hand plays much better if VLC is in charge of decoding.
-Stream Type
We can choose between HLS (Also known as M3U8) and MPEGTS (Also known as .ts). We have extensively spoken about IPTV stream formats before.
-Update Content
You can refresh and update your playlist content to pull all the updates from IPTV provider's servers.
-Parental
A Lock to limit the access to the app.
-Speed Test
We tested this function, and it's actually very accurate. The test server is chosen dynamically according to your location.
-Back up and restore
You can configure a cloud storage to save and restore your configuration.
-Remote Control
This function allows you to connect any universal remote control application or if you have a dongle you can add a physical one.
-Other settings
There are various general features and functions in this section. For instance, if you decide to have the application loaded right after the device (The feature is called App Auto-Boot), the configuration is available here.
-Clearing Cache
If you are an old follower of WDS articles, we did explain the importance and the benefits of application cache and also why it might sometimes get deprecated and needs to be removed.
These are the most important functions in the settings page of XCIPTV which clients must know.
How to record Live TV on XCIPTV?
The recording feature on this application has pretty much evolved. You can now add external storage and also set up scheduled recording.
1-From the dashboard, click the recording icon at the top right.
2-Here we have 4 functions:
-My Recordings: This is a list of all the previous recordings.
-My Schedules: Here, the list of all scheduled recordings should show up.
-Select Location: By this, we can specify where the recording files should be saved. If an external drive is attached, we can also browse to it here.
-Add: Assign a new scheduled recording which we are going to show in the following steps.
3-Pick a channel for recording.
4-Click on Pick DateTime to set the starting date and time for the recording.
5-Once that one is set, choose the duration of the recording, here we set 6 minutes. Finally, click Schedule.
6-The recording is now in the queue and will start when the time comes according to the schedule.
How to use multi-screen on XCIPTV?
There are cases when clients want to watch multiple streams at the same time. This is possible through Multi-Screen function.
1-From the dashboard, select Multi icon.
2-A black screen with 4 sections will appear to show that XCIPTV can multi-screen 4 times maximum.
Note: Your IPTV account must have multiple connections allowed.
3-Click OK or touch on one of the screen sections so extra options appear.
Plus sign: Allows the user to add a channel to the section from the playlist.
Tile icon: It lets the client choose the amount and the pattern of splitter screens.
Play: Start the streaming of the channel
Speaker: To mute and unmute the sound.
Now let's click the Tile icon to choose the pattern.
4-You can stream up to 4 channels at the same time (of course if your account has 4 concurrent connections allowed) with the above-shown pattern.
5-Now click the plus button to add a channel.
6-Pick any Live TV that you like to add to the multi-screen page on XCIPTV.
7-Now you can add other streams as well.
8-This is how two streams will play side by side.
Common Questions about XCIPTV
Can I install XCIPTV on Apple devices?
No you can not. We did get in touch with guys at OTTRUN and asked them about the availability of their app on Apple App Store. The response was: "It got removed by apple and we have no plans to bring it back anytime soon." The branded version, however, might become available soon.
Is XCIPTV accessible or can be installed on an Amazon Fire TV Stick?
Although it is available on the Google Play store, the publisher did not publically provide the .APK file for manual installation. You can find the .APK file online, but the real developer does not provide that and it could be shady.
Is it possible to set up XCIPTV on Samsung and LGTV?
The app is not available on Samsung App Market and LG Content Store, so it is not possible.
Final word
XCIPTV is an android application that can be installed from Google Play Store only. Branded versions which are made for IPTV providers can also be installed on Firestick. It has Multi-Screen feature which allows clients to watch multiple Live TV channels at the same time. XCIPTV also has scheduled recording function. Unfortunately, this application is not available for Apple users.