Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about setting up seefax, using the app, providers and problems, and how we handle your privacy.
Do I have to type my login with the TV remote?
No, and please don't. That's what phone pairing is for. On the TV, seefax shows a QR code; scan it with your phone, paste your provider details there with a proper keyboard, and they're sent straight to the TV. Under a minute, start to finish.
Can I just paste the whole welcome email from my provider?
Yes. seefax reads whatever you paste (a full M3U link, three Xtream details, or the entire message your provider sent) and works out the credentials itself. If it can't, it tells you what's missing rather than failing silently.
Can I add more than one provider?
Yes. You can add more than one provider and switch between them whenever you like, and each keeps its own favourites and continue-watching. You can rename or remove any of them at any time in Settings, without losing your app settings.
Do I need an account to use seefax?
No. An account (Google or email) is optional and does one job: it syncs your setup across your devices, so the bedroom TV matches the living-room one. Providers, favourites, settings, watch history. Skip it and everything works locally.
Where do I find my M3U link or Xtream login?
From your provider — it's usually in your welcome email or account page. An M3U is one long link (often containing get.php?username= or ending .m3u); Xtream is three parts — a server address (usually with a port like :8080), a username and a password. If you can't find them, ask your provider; no app can look them up for you.
What's a Stalker portal or MAC-address login?
A third way some services hand out access, used by MAG-style set-top boxes: a portal URL plus your device's MAC address instead of a username. seefax works with the two most common methods, M3U links and Xtream logins. If your provider only offers a portal, ask them for an M3U or Xtream version — most can supply one.
Does seefax support subtitles and alternate audio tracks?
Yes, where your provider's stream includes them. During playback, open the track selector to switch subtitle and audio tracks. Not every channel carries them; that's down to the source stream, not the app.
Can I record programmes?
No. seefax plays live TV and your provider's on-demand library, and it remembers where you got to in films and episodes so you can pick up where you left off.
What is catch-up TV?
Some providers keep a rolling archive of recent broadcasts, usually the last few days, so you can play a programme you missed. It's a provider feature: if your subscription includes it, it appears; if not, no app can add it.
Why is live TV a little behind "real" live?
Internet streams are delivered in chunks and buffered before playback, so IPTV typically runs seconds to a minute or so behind the original broadcast. That's inherent to how streaming works. If a score alert on your phone keeps beating the picture, mute the notifications, not the telly.
Why do some channels show a little identity badge and others don't?
seefax matches channels against a public database of broadcaster information to show verified channel identities. Coverage is good for mainstream channels, patchier for niche ones. An unbadged channel isn't broken; it's just not in the database.
Can I pause or rewind live TV?
That depends on your provider, not the player. Pausing and rewinding live channels needs the provider's servers to store the recent stream (called timeshift), and replaying older programmes needs catch-up. If your subscription includes them, they work; if not, no app can conjure them.
I've got 10,000 channels. How do I keep that manageable?
Most people actually watch twenty or thirty. Favourite the ones you use and they rise to the top; hide the categories you never touch; and let seefax's smart folders (Most Watched, Top Categories) do the sorting for you. Search covers the rest.
Can I cast from my phone to the TV instead?
You won't need to. seefax runs natively on Android TV and Google TV, which is far more reliable than casting a live stream from a phone — and your phone and TV stay in sync if you sign in, so favourites set on one appear on the other.
Does seefax work on iPhone or iPad?
No — seefax is an Android app: phones, tablets, Android TV and Google TV. No iOS version at the moment.
My provider's streams all died during a big live event. What happened?
UK courts let rights holders require ISPs to block servers streaming their events without a licence, in real time, while they're on. If your service reliably vanishes when big events are on and returns afterwards, it's very likely being blocked as an unlicensed source. Which tells you what kind of service it is. That's between you and your provider; it isn't something a player app causes or can fix.
seefax says my login failed. Whose fault is it?
Check three things in order: the credentials (paste into a notes app first and look for stray spaces), your subscription status (expired accounts fail exactly like wrong passwords), and your provider's server (if their status page or support confirms an outage, wait it out). If all three check out, contact your provider. The login is verified at their end, not ours.
Channels load but nothing plays. Why?
The channel list and the streams are separate things, so your login can be valid while a stream's source is down. Try several channels. If a few fail, those sources are down at the provider's end; if all fail, your provider's streaming servers have a problem even though their login server is up. Either way, it's a provider issue.
Why won't seefax recommend an IPTV provider?
Because we can't vouch for other companies' licensing, and pretending otherwise is how this industry got its reputation. seefax is a player. Deliberately neutral, like a TV set. Choose a provider that operates openly and licenses its content; our legality guide explains what to look for.
What does a “too many connections” error mean?
Your provider limits how many streams can play at once — that's connections, and it's counted in simultaneous streams, not installed devices. Having seefax on your phone, tablet and TV is fine; playing streams on all three at the same time may not be, depending on your plan. Close a stream and try again.
If I switch to seefax from another player, do I lose anything?
Your playlist moves with you — it's just your provider details, so paste the same M3U link or Xtream login into seefax and everything loads. Favourites and settings live inside each app, so those you set up fresh; once they're in seefax, they sync across your own devices if you sign in.
Do I need a TV licence to watch IPTV in the UK?
If you watch or record programmes as they're being broadcast — on any channel, through any app or device — TV Licensing says you need a licence. Same if you use BBC iPlayer at all. If you only ever watch on-demand content from non-BBC services, you don't. The delivery method doesn't change the rule: live is live, aerial or internet.
How much internet speed and data does IPTV use?
As a rule of thumb: about 10 Mbps per HD stream and 25 Mbps for 4K, and roughly 2–3 GB per hour in HD, up to ~7 GB in 4K. Fine on ordinary home broadband; worth knowing about if you're on a capped connection or a mobile hotspot. There's a fuller breakdown in how much data does IPTV use.
What's a “fully loaded” box? Should I buy one?
No. “Fully loaded” means a box sold with apps and subscriptions pre-installed to dodge paying for content — selling or using one is illegal in the UK, and safety bodies have repeatedly found the cheap hardware itself to be dangerous. A clean player on a standard Android TV or Google TV device does the honest version of the same job.
Can seefax see what I watch?
Two separate things. Anonymous analytics: seefax logs which features get used and whether playback works, for example "opened On Demand" or "playback failed", never what you watch or who you are, and never for advertising. Sync: only if you choose to sign in, your provider details, favourites, continue-watching and settings are saved to a private account document that only you can read, so another TV can pick up where you left off; if you don't sign in, all of that stays on your device. seefax never sells your data or shares it with advertisers. Full details are in the privacy policy.
Is the seefax app itself legal?
Yes. Player apps, like browsers or video players, are neutral software. That's settled and uncontroversial. What you connect to it is a separate question, covered honestly in our legality guide.