IPTV Player

A desktop IPTV player for Windows, built with WPF and LibVLCSharp. Connects to Xtream Codes–based providers, browses live channels by category, and plays streams directly. All with a local SQLite cache so your channel list survives a restart without hitting the network.

This project was built as a practice exercise in C#, WPF, and EF Core - The architecture reflects that: it favors clarity over cleverness, and a few design decisions are called out below specifically because they were practicing moments.

Features

• Multiple provider profiles: save server URL, username, and password per provider, switch between them from a dropdown
• Xtream Codes API integration: authenticates and pulls channels via player_api.php, not raw M3U export (more reliable, avoids slow/timeout-prone playlist export endpoints on some providers)
• Category browsing: channels are grouped using the provider's real get_live_categories data, with a search box to filter categories (built to comfortably handle playlists in the 10,000+ channel range)
• Local caching via SQLite + EF Core: channels and profiles persist to a local database; reopening the app shows your last-loaded channel list instantly, no re-fetch required
• Playback via LibVLCSharp: handles HLS, MPEG-TS, and other live-stream formats VLC supports natively
• Playback controls: play/pause, stop, volume
• Dark UI: custom WPF styles and control templates (no default Windows chrome)

Tech stack

Layer	Choice
UI framework	WPF (.NET 10)
Video playback	LibVLCSharp / LibVLC
Data storage	SQLite via Entity Framework Core
Provider protocol	Xtream Codes JSON API

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 10 SDK
• An IPTV subscription using an Xtream Codes–compatible panel (server URL, username, password)

Setup

git clone https://github.com/MGanoub/IpTvApp.git
cd IpTvApp
dotnet restore
dotnet ef database update
dotnet run

dotnet ef database update creates the local SQLite database (%AppData%\IpTvApp\iptv.db) on first run. If dotnet-ef isn't installed:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

Using the app

1. Click New next to the Profile dropdown.
2. Expand Profile details and enter your provider's server URL (just the base, e.g. http://example.com:8080, no path), username, and password.
3. Click Save Profile, then Load Playlist.
4. Browse categories on the left, click a channel to play it.

Architecture notes

A few decisions worth explaining, since they weren't the first thing tried:

• Channels belong to a profile via a foreign key (Channel.PlaylistProfileId), not a join table. Each channel is provider-specific (its stream URL is built from that provider's credentials), so this is a genuine one-to-many relationship, not many-to-many.
• Category browsing is two-level (category list → channel list) rather than one grouped list. An earlier version tried grouping a single ListBox by category, which works fine for a few hundred items but caused serious memory/performance problems at the scale this app actually needs to support (playlists with 10,000+ channels are common with IPTV providers). Splitting into "pick a category, then see its channels" keeps both lists small regardless of total channel count.

Known limitations

• Credentials are stored in plaintext in the local SQLite database. Fine for personal use on a trusted machine; not suitable as-is if this were ever multi-user or handling more sensitive credentials.
• Tested primarily against one Xtream Codes provider panel implementations vary, so stream URL patterns (.ts vs .m3u8, port differences between the API and stream server) may need adjustment for other providers.
• No EPG (program guide) support yet.
• No favorites yet.

Roadmap

• Favorites (star a channel, view a dedicated Favorites list)
• Resume-to-live behavior after pausing a live stream
• Encrypt stored credentials

Disclaimer

This is a generic IPTV client. It does not provide, bundle, or endorse any specific content or provider. You are responsible for only using it with IPTV services you're legitimately authorized to access.