Who we are and how we test
iBostreaming Test & Editorial is the team behind the IPTV player app comparisons on this site. We are not an independent consumer publication — we are iBostreaming's internal testing and support team. This page explains how we test, what that means for our reviews, and where the conflict of interest actually sits.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure
iBostreaming is an IPTV subscription service. On /en/best-iptv-player we compare TiviMate, IPTV Smarters Pro and iBo Player Pro — three free player apps that iBostreaming does not compete with and has no commercial relationship with. So the ranking itself isn’t where our interest lies. The conflict is narrower and more specific: every one of those comparisons ends by recommending an iBostreaming subscription as the thing to load into whichever app you choose. We measure the three apps on the same criteria regardless of that, but you should know the recommendation at the end isn’t neutral — it’s our product. If you want a second opinion on the apps themselves, independent player-app communities on Reddit are a reasonable next stop.
Who we are
We are iBostreaming’s internal testing and support team — not affiliate marketers, not contracted copywriters. Day to day, this team runs the IPTV infrastructure itself, verifies streams against the common player apps, maintains EPG data, and helps customers through setup problems on Firestick, Smart TVs, Apple TV and phones.
That work is where the comparisons come from. When we say TiviMate has the best guide or that it doesn’t run on iOS, that’s from actually installing and using it, repeatedly, across the support tickets and setup calls this team handles every week — not from reading the developers’ own marketing pages and summarising them.
Our testing method
Every app in the current comparison was installed and used across real devices, not judged from a feature list. Specifically, we check:
- 1
Real-device install
Each app installed fresh on the devices it actually supports — Firestick and Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone, and Apple TV where applicable. We note install friction, permission prompts, and first-launch time.
- 2
Xtream Codes setup
Every player is loaded with a live iBostreaming subscription using the Xtream Codes login flow, not a plain M3U link. We note how many steps it takes, what happens on a wrong-field mistake, and how fast the full channel list and guide populate.
- 3
Guide (EPG) quality
How complete the programme guide is, how many days ahead it shows, and how quickly it loads — this is where the players differ the most, and it is the main reason TiviMate is rated ahead of the others for guide quality specifically.
- 4
Peak-time stability
Each app is used during a live prime-time sports window, not just a quiet afternoon test. We note buffering, crashes, and how the app recovers after a dropped connection.
- 5
Device coverage check
We verify platform claims directly rather than repeating developer marketing — for example, confirming TiviMate has no iOS or Apple TV version before recommending it only for Android and Fire TV.
What we don’t do
- ✗ No payment from TiviMate, IPTV Smarters Pro or iBo Player Pro's developers to rank one ahead of another. We don't have a commercial relationship with any of the three app makers.
- ✗ No invented reviewer personas with fabricated credentials. This byline is a team, not a made-up person with an implausible "IPTV expert since 2008" bio.
- ✗ No self-scoring. iBostreaming is not one of the three items being compared on that page — it's the subscription we recommend loading into whichever app you pick, and we say so plainly rather than pretending to be neutral about that part.
- ✗ No inflated platform claims. If an app doesn't run on a device, we say so, even when it means recommending a competitor's page (a different player) instead of steering everyone toward one favourite.
Update policy
Player apps change — new versions ship, features move between the free tier and Premium upgrades, and platform support shifts. We only bump the “last updated” date on a comparison when its actual content changes, not on every site deploy, so that date means something.
Check the “updated” note at the top of any comparison. If it’s more than six months old, treat specific claims about app features or platform support as a starting point and confirm directly with the app before relying on it.
Found something wrong? Tell us.
If a detail in one of our comparisons is off — a feature that changed, a platform that’s no longer supported, a price that moved — let us know. We’ll correct it and update the date next to the change.
Report a correction by emailOur EN comparisons