Subscription and backup
Three topics that belong together because they all concern “what is mine and where does it live”: the subscription, the backup of your setup and privacy.
This wiki names no prices and no terms. What the subscription costs and how long a trial lasts is shown by the app alone, on the purchase screen; it can differ by country.
The subscription model as the app shows it
Neverlag can be used without a subscription – in demo mode with the built-in demo catalogue (channels such as “Nordkanal” or “Sportwelt”). “Demo mode stays fully usable without a subscription.” To use your own sources (your Xtream login or your M3U playlist), the subscription is needed. That is why the purchase screen is called “Unlock your own sources”.
“One subscription for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.” It runs through your Apple Account (App Store); Neverlag has no account of its own and sees no payment details. Family Sharing is possible; with “Ask to Buy” in the family, the purchase waits for approval and then becomes active by itself.
The notice on the purchase screen: “Requires your own M3U playlist or the credentials of an IPTV provider. This app contains, delivers and brokers no content.”
The states
Under Settings → Subscription you see your state as the app knows it:
| Display | Meaning |
|---|---|
| No subscription — demo mode | You have never started a subscription. Demo catalogue usable, your own sources not. |
| Trial — 5 days left (until 14 Oct) | A trial is running (if the purchase screen offers one). Everything unlocked. |
| Active — renews on 14 Nov | Subscription is running and renews automatically. |
| Active — ends on 14 Nov | You have cancelled; everything stays unlocked until the date. |
| Expired on 14 Oct | Subscription or trial is over. |
If the subscription has expired: “Your subscription has expired. Your provider data is saved — with the subscription, everything carries on.” You lose nothing; providers, favourites and tags stay until you decide. Playback of your own sources alone is paused.
Managing, cancelling, restoring
- Manage subscription opens the subscription management of your Apple Account. That is where you cancel or change plan. On the Apple TV: Settings → Users and Accounts → Subscriptions.
- Restore purchase asks Apple whether a subscription belongs to your account. Needed after a reinstall or a change of device, or if the app shows “No subscription” even though you have one. If it fails: “Restore failed. Check your internet connection and your App Store account.”
The expiry date of your provider login is something different from the subscription: it comes from your provider’s server and is shown under Diagnostics → Provider overview. See Troubleshooting → Login expired.
Backing up and restoring the configuration
Under Settings → Providers → Backup:
- Export backup… writes “providers, credentials, favourites and tags as an encrypted file — protected with your password. The file stays with you, never with us.” Password at least 8 characters. “Without this password the file can no longer be opened — not even by us.”
- Import backup… brings it back, “for example on a new device. You need the password from back then.” If the file comes from a newer app version, you have to update the app first.
Not in the backup: recordings, timeshift buffer, journal, history, parental controls PIN (that lives in the keychain of each device) and the playback settings.
On the Apple TV there is no export and import: “Export and import run on iPhone, iPad or Mac. On the Apple TV you fetch the setup via ‘Transfer from iPhone’.” See Getting started → Pairing.
When to back up: before a change of device, before Remove provider, and once just because.
Privacy: what stays where
From the privacy policy in the app: “Neverlag collects no data. There is no account, no tracking, no analytics, no advertising and no server of its own.”
| What | Where it lives | Leaves the device? |
|---|---|---|
| Credentials of your providers | Keychain of the device | To the provider itself alone; with pairing/backup, encrypted to your other device |
| Channel list, programme guide | Locally on the device | No |
| Favourites, tags, playback positions | Locally + your private iCloud database | To your iCloud alone, which nobody but you can access |
| Diagnostics, history, journal | Locally on the device | Only if you share the journal yourself – then anonymised |
| Parental controls PIN | Keychain, as a checksum alone | No |
| Recordings | Your device or your NAS | No, no cloud |
| “Already seen” hints, settings | Locally | No |
Pairing (iPhone → Apple TV/Mac): “The connection runs over your local network. If that is not possible, via an encrypted iCloud mailbox that is deleted after the transfer.”
Network test: “fetches an Apple page to check your line. No data is transmitted in the process.”
Crash reports “go to Apple alone, and only if you have allowed that in the system settings.”
The app’s sole persistent connection is the one to your provider. There is no Neverlag server to which the app could send anything.
The full policy: Settings → About → Privacy policy.
Further reading
- Settings → Subscription
- FAQ → Privacy and legal
- Contributing – how this wiki is maintained