Large M3U playlist slow to load: why does it take so long?

What you see while it loads

Where	What you see	What it means
Add screen, after Add source	“Source added” and “Its catalog is loading in the background. Continue to browse it.”, with the Continue button	The source is saved, its content is not there yet.
Home, the first time it loads	A centred indicator with “Loading…”, with no tabs and no channels	There is nothing to browse before the end (see below).
Home, under the top bar	The name of the current step, with a bar. On Android TV, a ring around the refresh button, with the step name below it	See the steps below.
Settings → Sources, the source's card	The “Refreshing” badge and a bar	The load is running.

The steps the home screen shows:

• List: TIVERA downloads and reads the playlist. The bar has no percentage. This is the step of an M3U link.
• Catalog, with a percentage (“Catalog · 42%”): it saves the channels on the device.
• Sorting by language: the last step of the catalog.
• TV guide, with a percentage: saving the programme guide, when there is one.
• With an Xtream Codes account, the download runs as three lists, one after the other: “Live · 1/3”, “Movies · 2/3”, “Series · 3/3”, then “Catalog”.

What you can use while you wait

• With an M3U link, nothing before the end. TIVERA reads the whole playlist, then saves it in one go: the “Catalog” percentage moves, but the channels only appear at the end. After that you only have Live: an M3U link does not fill Movies and Series (see M3U or Xtream Codes).
• With an Xtream Codes account, the home screen can open before the end. Live loads first, movies and series after, and the progress keeps showing while you browse.
• The programme guide loads separately and is saved after the channels. With an M3U link, it only exists if the playlist declares one: see empty TV guide.
• If you leave the screen, the load carries on in the background. If the app is closed before the end, an M3U link has saved nothing: TIVERA starts the load again the next time you open it.

What depends on your provider, your network and your device

• Your provider decides the size of the playlist and how fast its server is. TIVERA loads everything the link contains: it has no setting to import only some categories.
• Your network. TIVERA gives up an attempt if a connection attempt to the server does not succeed within 15 seconds, or if the server stays 90 seconds without sending data. For a network outage or a server error, it makes up to three attempts in a row, and each attempt starts again from the beginning of the playlist. After the last one, the source's card shows “Refresh failed”.
• Your device reads the whole list into memory, processes it, then writes it to its database: the bigger the list, the more work it has, and a modest device takes longer.

What to do, in order

1. Let the load finish and do not restart it. The refresh button on the home screen does not react while a load is running. Refresh now, in a source's actions, can on the contrary queue a second full refresh, which starts again from zero as soon as the first one is done.
2. Keep a stable connection, preferably Wi-Fi close to the router or a cable: an interrupted attempt starts again from the beginning of the playlist.
3. Try an Xtream Codes account if your provider gives you one. It does not necessarily load less (it adds movies and series), but it loads as three visible lists, opens the home screen before the end and, on an automatic refresh, does not write again a part whose content has not changed. See add an Xtream Codes account.
4. Ask your provider for a lighter list, if they offer one (fewer categories): in TIVERA, nothing lets you reduce the amount imported.
5. If the load fails, read the source's card: “Refresh failed” or “Refresh incomplete”. See M3U link not loading. TIVERA tries again by itself.

The following refreshes

• TIVERA refreshes a source by itself, at most once every 24 hours: when you open the app, and in the background about once a day. If the last refresh was incomplete, it may retry sooner.
• While a refresh runs, your current catalog stays on screen. At the end, the new list replaces it and whatever is no longer in it disappears.
• An M3U link is read and rewritten in full every time. With an Xtream Codes account, an automatic refresh skips writing a part (Live, Movies or Series) whose content has not changed; a refresh you start yourself rewrites everything.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a large playlist take to load?

Neither TIVERA nor this guide can announce it: it depends on the size of the list, your provider's server, your network and your device. On a very large catalog, several minutes are possible. As long as the “Refreshing” badge shows on the source's card, a load is running; if it fails, the card says so.

Why does my source's card say “No channels yet: refresh the source.”?

Because the first save is not finished: the card has nothing to count yet. As long as the “Refreshing” badge is there, the load is running. Do not press Refresh now: it would be a second full refresh.

The load seems stuck: what should I do?

Open Settings → Sources and look at the card. As long as the “Refreshing” badge is there, TIVERA is working or waiting for the server's answer. After 90 seconds without data, it gives up the attempt and starts another, three at most. If all fail, the card shows “Refresh failed”: see M3U link not loading.

Does loading the catalog use my mobile data?

Yes, it can. Refreshing the catalog is not limited to Wi-Fi: it runs on whatever network is available. On a limited plan, add and load a big playlist on Wi-Fi.

My catalog is loaded but playback stutters: is it related?

Loading the list and playing a channel are two separate things. If a channel stutters once the catalog is loaded, see IPTV buffering or freezing.