How to cast IPTV to your TV with AirPlay or Chromecast

Casting moves the picture from your phone to the big screen. With IPTV it is less simple than with a video app, because streams come in many formats and your TV device has to be able to play them. This guide explains the two ways to cast, what can and can’t go to the TV, and why a stream sometimes stops on your phone when the TV starts.

Should I use AirPlay or Chromecast?

Use the one your TV understands. AirPlay works from iPhone and iPad to Apple TV and AirPlay TVs. Chromecast works from iPhone, iPad and Android to Chromecast and Google TV devices. Both are free in iptvolt, and the buttons sit in the player’s bottom bar.

The difference that matters most: with AirPlay your phone’s native player streams to the TV, so whatever plays there can usually go over AirPlay. With Chromecast the TV device fetches and decodes the stream itself, so it can only play formats it supports. That is why iptvolt checks a stream before it sends it to a Chromecast.

No TV app is needed for either. Apps for Android TV and Fire TV, Samsung TVs and LG TVs are planned; until then, casting is the way to get iptvolt onto the big screen.

How do I AirPlay IPTV from iPhone or iPad?

Start the channel in iptvolt, tap the AirPlay button in the player’s bottom bar and choose your Apple TV or AirPlay TV. The native player streams to the TV, and seeking, the programme bar, behind-live, zapping and the sleep timer keep working from your phone.

AirPlay needs the stream to run in the native player. iptvolt has a second engine, based on VLC, for formats the native player can’t open, and that engine can’t send video over AirPlay. When a stream runs in VLC, the AirPlay button explains what to do:

• AirPlay needs the native player. The stream also exists in a form the native player can show. Tap Switch to native player, then choose your AirPlay device.
• AirPlay isn’t available for this stream. Its format can only be played by the VLC engine on this device, for example MKV, AVI, raw TS, RTSP or HEVC. Screen Mirroring from Control Center still works.

Your iPhone or iPad and the TV need to be on the same network, as with any AirPlay app.

What does iptvolt check before casting?

Whether the TV can play the stream at all. Before anything loads, iptvolt looks at the stream’s format, protocol, codecs and protection. Streams the Chromecast can play go to the TV; streams it can’t are refused with a reason, and borderline ones are tried with a warning instead of failing silently.

To cast, tap the Cast button in the player and choose your device. On iPhone and iPad, the first tap asks for access to your local network, which Chromecast needs to find the TV. While the stream is checked, the player says “Checking the stream for” your device, then “Starting on” it.

• Cast: HLS, DASH, MP4 and WebM over http or https. An Xtream live channel in TS format is sent in its HLS form, which Chromecast can play.
• Tried with a warning: plain http links (“Chromecast may refuse unencrypted (http) streams.”), sources that block playback on other devices, and streams that need special request headers, which Chromecast can’t send.
• Refused with a reason: everything in the next section.

While casting, the player on your phone becomes the remote: play and pause, the scrubber, skip ±10 seconds, live and behind-live, the sleep timer and zapping to the next channel all control the TV. Play on this device brings the stream back, and a movie resumes where the TV left it.

Which streams can’t be cast?

Protected (DRM) streams, MKV, AVI and raw MPEG-TS streams, links that use a protocol other than http or https, and streams with a video or audio codec Chromecast can’t decode, such as HEVC or MPEG-2. iptvolt refuses them before loading and tells you why, instead of leaving a black screen on the TV.

The messages you may see under Can’t cast this stream:

• Protected streams can’t be cast.
• Chromecast can’t play this format (for example MKV, AVI or a raw MPEG-TS stream).
• Chromecast only plays web links (http/https). This stream uses another protocol.
• This stream uses a video or audio codec Chromecast can’t decode.
• We couldn’t tell what format this stream is, so it can’t be cast.

On iPhone and iPad the sheet may add “AirPlay may still work for it.” For movies in MKV, which many Xtream libraries use, AirPlay is limited the same way, because those files play in the VLC engine. Watching them on the phone or tablet always works. Protected streams can’t be played by iptvolt at all, on the device or the TV.

If a stream passes the check but the TV still can’t play it, the player says the TV may not support this format or reach the source. That happens when the TV device can’t reach your provider’s server, or the server doesn’t answer it the way it answers your phone.

Why does my phone stop playing when I cast?

Because many IPTV accounts allow only a limited number of streams at once. If your phone kept playing while the TV starts the same channel, an account with one connection would refuse the TV. So iptvolt stops the stream on your phone first, then lets the TV load it, on every account.

The same happens in reverse. When you tap Play on this device or stop casting, iptvolt waits until the TV has let go of the stream before it starts playing on your phone again. That keeps you from hitting your provider’s limit with your own two devices.

If the TV still can’t start, another device may be using the connection: an old player, a TV box or someone else in your home on the same account. The connection limit is set by your provider, and the message All connections in use means you have reached it. Stop playback there, then retry. Account status in Sources shows how many connections are in use. How to add Xtream Codes explains the messages in more detail.

Do my streams go through iptvolt’s servers?

No. The TV device fetches the stream directly from your provider, exactly like the phone does. No stream ever goes through our servers, and iptvolt doesn’t record, convert or relay anything. Your login stays in the device’s keychain, and cast errors are kept as codes, without the stream address.

That is also why some streams can’t be cast: there is no server in the middle that could convert MKV for the TV, and there shouldn’t be. iptvolt is a media player. It provides no channels, playlists or content and is not affiliated with any provider.

More about the app on iPhone and iPad is on the iPhone page, and the Android side on the Android page. AirPlay and Chromecast are free; see pricing for what Pro adds.