IPTV player for Mac

What the Mac version does

1. 01

   Set up in three steps

   Settings → Providers → “Add Xtream account”: server address, username, password. Or “Add M3U playlist” with a link or a file. Neverlag loads the catalogue, sorts the channels into groups and fetches the programme guide (XMLTV) if your provider offers one.

   The password goes into the Mac’s keychain and nowhere else. There is no account at Neverlag.

2. 02

   A window, not a full-screen cage

   Neverlag runs in a normal Mac window: channel list on the left, player on the right, picture in picture when you work on something else. In full screen the display switches to the programme’s frame rate (“Match refresh rate to programme”) so sport runs evenly.

   Smart lists — On now, Favorites, Recently watched, plus tags and groups in the sidebar — exist on the Mac and the iPad. AirPlay sends the picture to a TV.

3. 03

   Recordings to a folder of your choice

   Pick a programme in the guide and record it — once or as a series rule, with lead-in and lead-out. The file is an MKV without loss, in a folder you choose or on a NAS via WebDAV. The Mac is the platform for reliable scheduled recordings: the app stays open, the Mac does not sleep, the recording runs.

   Timeshift works on every channel: pause, 30 seconds back, back to live.

   Measured: a 44-minute recording over the running playback connection, 0 connection-limit errors.

4. 04

   When the line drops

   Neverlag separates fetching the stream from playing it. One part keeps a reserve of 20 to 30 seconds; when the connection breaks, a new one is fetched in the background before the reserve runs out. The picture keeps running, the rewind buffer stays, nothing starts over.

   Measured: connection cut for 20 seconds — no freeze. Cut for 60 seconds — the picture stood for 40.3 seconds, and the stream did not start over. New connection 1.1 to 2.1 seconds after the server was back.

5. 05

   When the line is too slow

   If your connection delivers slightly less than the channel needs, Neverlag plays marginally slower instead of stopping to reload. You notice nothing; the reserve fills back up.

   Measured: 15 minutes on a throttled line — 0 freezes and 1 connection with the pace adjustment, 42 freezes without it.

6. 06

   Diagnostics instead of guessing

   Settings → Diagnostics says in plain words whether the provider, the line or the device was the problem — with a history per provider and channel over 30 days and a network test against a neutral host. Everything stays on the Mac; nothing is sent anywhere. For support you share the journal as a file.