FAQ
The questions from the Neverlag website, in English, with references to the wiki pages that explain them in more detail. The answers are written so that they can stand on their own.
Where the website says something different from the app 1.0.2, the app applies; such passages are listed under Contributing → Open.
What Neverlag is
What is Neverlag?
An IPTV player for Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Mac for Xtream Codes and M3U providers. It separates fetching the stream from playing it, so that connection drops do not lead to reloading. Neverlag does not supply any content – you need your own playlist or credentials from a provider. → Home, How Neverlag stays stable
Which IPTV player is the most stable on Apple TV?
Honestly, that can be answered with a measurement alone, and Neverlag has not measured other players. For Neverlag, measured on the Mac: 60 seconds without a connection, zero reloads; 15 minutes of throttled connection, one connection, no reloading. A comparison under the same conditions is still outstanding; that is why “better” appears nowhere. → How Neverlag stays stable
What is an Xtream Codes player?
Xtream Codes is a widespread interface through which providers deliver channels, programme guides and account information. An Xtream Codes player reads this interface: you enter the server address, username and password, and the player fetches the rest. Neverlag is such a player – and plays M3U playlists as well. → Getting started, Glossary → Xtream
Does Neverlag work with M3U?
Yes. Neverlag reads M3U and M3U8 playlists with channel name, group, logo and the identifier for the programme guide, plus XMLTV programme data. Whether the provider delivers as a continuous stream or in chunks (TS or HLS) makes no difference – SD, HD or 4K. Neverlag does not play streams with copy protection (DRM). → Getting started, Glossary → M3U
Does Neverlag supply channels or content?
No. Neverlag is a player, like a browser: it shows what your source delivers, but has no content of its own. You need your own M3U playlist or credentials from a provider. Neverlag does not name, recommend or link to any providers – neither on the website nor in the app. → Home
Does Neverlag need an account?
No. No user account, no sign-in, no cloud from Neverlag: install, enter your source, watch. Credentials are stored in your device’s keychain; playlist, programme guide and history stay local. On the Apple TV you take over the credentials from the iPhone or Mac without typing them. → Subscription and backup → Privacy
What does Neverlag cost?
The price for your country is shown by the App Store or the purchase screen in the app. One subscription covers Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Mac together, Family Sharing included, cancellable at any time. No advertising, no additional purchases. Demo mode is free. This wiki does not state any amounts. → Subscription and backup
Which languages is Neverlag available in?
Four: German, English, French and Italian. On first launch, Neverlag suggests your device’s language; you can change it at any time in the settings. → Settings → Language
Setup
Which devices does Neverlag run on?
On Apple TV (tvOS 17 or newer), iPhone (iOS 17), iPad (iPadOS 17) and Mac (macOS 14) – one app, one subscription. For Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max there is a version for sideloading. Android via Google Play: announced. → Platform differences
How do I set up Neverlag?
On first launch you choose the type of your source: Xtream credentials (server address, username, password) or the address of an M3U playlist. Neverlag loads the catalogue, bundles duplicate channels into one entry and fetches the programme guide if your provider supplies one. No account, no further steps. → Getting started
How do I transfer my credentials from the iPhone to the Apple TV?
Open Neverlag on the Apple TV: the setup screen shows a six-digit code and a QR code. On the iPhone or Mac, where your credentials are already stored, you start the transfer in the settings and enter the code. The transfer is encrypted and runs directly between the devices on your home network. → Getting started → Pairing
How do I install Neverlag on the Fire TV Stick?
The Fire TV Stick has no Play Store, so it is done by sideloading: enable developer options, allow apps from unknown sources, load the Downloader app and type in the address from the download page on the website. The checksum and signature are listed there as well. Sticks with Fire OS 7 or newer work; the first-generation Stick 4K and the new sticks with Vega OS do not. → Platform differences
When something goes wrong
Why does IPTV freeze?
For two reasons, and the second is the more common: either the provider’s server is delivering nothing at the moment – at prime time, under overload, after a drop. Or the player notices a short dropout only once its buffer is empty, and then reloads the whole stream. Neverlag keeps a buffer and fetches a new connection in the background before the buffer runs empty. → How Neverlag stays stable, Troubleshooting → Loading ring
Why does my IPTV stream stutter?
Usually because the server does not deliver evenly: bursts, short pauses, catching up. The rest lies on the way to you: Wi-Fi, router, a device that cannot handle the resolution – or the maths between 50 frames per second and a 60 Hz screen. Neverlag bridges short pauses from the buffer, and the diagnostics tell you whether it is the provider, the network or the device. → Troubleshooting → Stuttering, Picture and sound
Why does the picture freeze, and the commentator says the same sentence twice?
That is the signature of a player that reconnects immediately at every pause: the buffer is discarded, and the stream starts again a few seconds earlier. The server was often just briefly slow, not gone. Neverlag does not reload; it fetches a new connection in the background and attaches it to the buffer; if it had to reload anyway, the diagnostics say why. → How Neverlag stays stable → Receiver
What does Neverlag do when the connection is too slow?
If the connection delivers less than the channel needs, Neverlag plays minimally slower (0.99×) instead of reloading again and again. You won’t notice; the quality window shows the delay behind live. → How Neverlag stays stable → 0.99×, Adapt playback to the connection
What does Neverlag do when my provider throttles?
First everything you don’t see: a new connection, the other transport path, another source of the same channel, the same channel from another list. Only at the very end does it go to a lower resolution – and tells you so in a line above the picture. → How Neverlag stays stable → The ladder
Why am I suddenly on 1080p?
Because your connection or your provider did not deliver enough for 4K over several minutes and two reconnections did not help – or your device cannot handle 4K. Neverlag would rather show a clean picture in HD than a stuttering one in 4K. You see it as a line above the picture with the button “Back to 4K”. → Troubleshooting → HD instead of 4K
Does 4K come back by itself?
In the app 1.0.2: not during ongoing playback. The button “Back to 4K” brings the best level back immediately; by itself, the channel starts in the best level again next time after 30 minutes. The website describes an earlier behaviour with automatic return; see Contributing → Open. → How Neverlag stays stable → The ladder
What does the line with the button mean?
When Neverlag changes something about playback – switches to HD, takes a different path to the channel – it tells you: a line above the picture, for a few seconds, with a button in case you want it otherwise. If you press it, your choice applies for the session. If you press nothing, the line disappears by itself. → Troubleshooting → The three indicators
What does Neverlag do when a channel fails at the provider?
Many providers list the same channel several times. If one path fails, Neverlag takes the other and tells you so in a line above the picture; if you have several lists, also the same channel from another list. If there is no second path, Neverlag waits with a countdown and tries again by itself. → How Neverlag stays stable → Substitutes
Why does the stream keep dropping?
Three common causes, none of them in the player: the provider cuts connections after a fixed time or under overload; your network changes (Wi-Fi ↔ mobile data, two access points); or the connection limit has been reached because another device still counts. Neverlag fetches a new connection in the background, detects network changes and tells you exactly that when there is a limit. In the history you can see how often and on which channel. → Troubleshooting, Settings → Diagnostics → History
What happens with a connection limit?
Your provider allows a certain number of simultaneous connections for your account; every device that is watching takes one, including a running recording. If the limit is full, the server rejects the new connection – or ends the oldest one. Neverlag does not push in: it waits instead of kicking out the other device, shows you the numbers and arranges playback, recording and diagnostics so that they do not displace each other. No player can get more connections than agreed. → Troubleshooting → another device (458/407), Recordings → Connection limit
Why does 4K stutter on Apple TV?
Two reasons. First, a 4K channel needs about four times as much data as the same channel in HD; if the provider cannot manage that, 4K stutters while HD would run cleanly – Neverlag then switches to HD with notice. Second, a limit of the platform: with 4K in HDR, the Apple TV still loses frames even though the stream arrives cleanly; the “New renderer” is the attempt to solve that. → Picture and sound → HDR, New renderer
Why is the sound out of sync?
Sound that runs ahead or lags behind almost always originates at the provider: picture and sound are converted separately there and put back together. A TV that heavily post-processes the picture can also send the sound ahead. A player cannot repair a stream that arrives offset; “Out of sync?” in the player restarts playback, and there is no manual audio offset. → Picture and sound → Picture and sound out of step
How do I find out whether it is my provider or me?
That is what the diagnostics are for: a verdict in plain language, the current session, the last 30 days per provider and channel. The network test checks your provider against a neutral reference site – if that responds quickly and the provider slowly, it is the provider; if both are slow, it is your network. If just one channel is disrupted, that points to the server; if all of them are, to the path to you. Everything stays on the device. → Troubleshooting → History and network test
Why has my subscription expired even though I renewed it?
This refers to the access at your provider: the expiry date comes from their server, not from Neverlag. If it still says “expired” after a renewal, the provider has not yet transferred it – or has transferred it to another account. Reload the catalogue and compare the date with your provider’s confirmation; only the provider can correct it. → Troubleshooting → Access expired
Recordings and Timeshift
Can Neverlag record?
Yes. You schedule recordings from the programme guide – a single programme or a series rule, with pre- and post-roll; you record a running programme with a single key press. Recordings are created losslessly as MKV. A recording counts as a connection at the provider – playback and recording of the same channel share one. → Recordings and Timeshift
Where are recordings saved?
On the Mac, in a folder of your choice or on network storage (NAS) via WebDAV. On iPhone and iPad, in the app’s folder (Files app) or likewise on the NAS. The Apple TV has no storage of its own for recordings and writes directly to the NAS. Nothing is uploaded to a cloud. → Recordings and Timeshift → Where, Settings → Recordings
Can I record when the device is off?
No. A recording runs on the device that started it: on the Mac, Neverlag must stay open; on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, the recording ends as soon as the app goes into the background or the device sleeps. For scheduled recordings, the Mac with sleep disabled is the most reliable way. → Recordings and Timeshift → Limits per device
Can I rewind live TV?
Yes, on every channel. Neverlag buffers the running programme: pause, jump back a bit, back to live. The window grows for as long as you stay on the channel and starts afresh on channel change. If Neverlag fetches a new connection in the background, the buffer is kept. With “Timeshift on disk”, up to two hours. → Recordings and Timeshift → Timeshift
Privacy and legal
What data does Neverlag collect?
None. No account, no tracking, no analytics, no advertising – there is no Neverlag server the app could send anything to; the single connection it makes is to your provider. Credentials are stored in the keychain; playlist, programme guide, history and diagnostics locally on the device. → Subscription and backup → Privacy
Is IPTV legal?
IPTV is, first of all, just a technology: television over the internet instead of cable or aerial; many broadcasters and providers use it entirely legally. Whether a specific offering is lawful depends on whether the provider holds the rights to the content. Neverlag is a tool like a browser: it contains, supplies and brokers no content and does not check where your playlist comes from – the responsibility for the source lies with you. → Home
Why is the app rated 16+?
The 16+ age rating applies in the App Store to apps that play content from user-provided sources without curating it. Since Neverlag plays any playlist you enter, nobody can rule out that it contains adult content. The rating says nothing about the app itself. You can lock the app via your device’s Screen Time, and individual channels and categories via parental controls. → Parental controls