IPTV Player Comparison 2026: Maximus vs TiviMate, Smarters, GSE and OTT Navigator

If you searched for an IPTV player comparison and landed on a listicle, there is a good chance it was written in 2023 and quietly re-dated. That matters more than usual this year, because the IPTV player landscape has changed in ways most of those articles have not caught up with: one of the most-recommended apps has not shipped an update since 2022, another has disappeared from the Google Play Store entirely, and a third still has no iPhone version despite being recommended to iPhone users constantly.

Maximus IPTV Player is our app, so treat the conclusion accordingly. What we can do is show our work. Every factual claim below was checked against the developer's own App Store or Google Play listing on 30 July 2026, and where we could not verify something we say so instead of guessing.

Key Takeaways

• GSE Smart IPTV has not been updated since November 2022 — nearly four years — and its free versions have been removed from both stores. It is still recommended in dozens of "best of 2026" articles.
• OTT Navigator is no longer on Google Play. The developer's main listing returns a 404; the app is distributed by sideloading. A similarly-named app that is on Google Play is from a different, unaffiliated developer and carries ads.
• TiviMate has no iPhone, iPad or Apple TV app. Searching the App Store for it returns apps from other developers entirely. It is Android TV software, and it is good at that.
• "IPTV Smarters" is now two different companies shipping similarly-named apps, and their store listings no longer mention IPTV, Xtream Codes or EPG at all.
• Maximus IPTV Player is free on both stores, was last updated in July 2026, runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android phones, tablets and Android TV, and carries no ads.

How we checked, and what "not advertised" means

Comparison tables usually present a wall of ticks and crosses with no indication of where any of it came from. Ours is built on the developers' own store listings, because that is the one source each company controls and is accountable for.

That creates an honesty problem worth naming. If an app's listing does not mention offline downloads, that does not prove the app lacks them — it may simply be undocumented. So where a feature is absent from a developer's own materials, this article says "not advertised" rather than "no". Where we confirmed something, we say yes.

This cuts against us in places. It is still the right way to do it, because the alternative is repeating claims about other people's software that we cannot stand behind.

Which apps run on which devices in 2026?

This is where the biggest surprises are, and it is the question most people actually need answered. Remember that "not advertised" means the feature is absent from the developer's own listing, not that we confirmed it missing.

• Maximus IPTV Player — iPhone and iPad: yes. Apple TV: yes. Android phone and tablet: yes. Android TV and Google TV: yes.
• TiviMate — iPhone and iPad: no official app. Apple TV: no official app. Android phone and tablet: installable but explicitly not optimised. Android TV: yes, and this is what it is built for.
• Smarters Pro — iPhone and iPad: yes. Apple TV: not in the app's device list. Android phone and tablet: yes. Android TV: yes.
• GSE Smart IPTV Pro — iPhone and iPad: yes, paid, but a 2022 build. Apple TV: not in the app's device list. Android phone and tablet: yes, also a 2022 build. Android TV: not advertised.
• OTT Navigator — iPhone and iPad: no evidence of any Apple build. Apple TV: no. Android phone and tablet: yes, by sideload. Android TV: yes, by sideload.

Read that list again for the Apple column. Of the four alternatives, one has no Apple app at all, two do not list Apple TV support, and one of those has not been rebuilt since 2022. That is the gap that made us build Maximus IPTV Player in the first place.

TiviMate deserves a fair hearing, because it is genuinely well regarded. Its own Google Play listing states it is "designed for Android TV and remote control navigation" and "not optimized for touch devices such as phones or tablets." That is not a weakness, it is a deliberate focus, and on an Android TV box it shows. But the constant recommendation of TiviMate to iPhone owners is simply wrong: a search of the App Store returns more than a dozen similarly-named apps, none of them from TiviMate's developer.

That leads to the single most practical piece of advice in this article, and it has nothing to do with which app you pick.

The copycat problem nobody warns you about

Search any well-known IPTV player's name in either store and you will find multiple apps with near-identical names from unrelated developers. Some are harmless, some are ad-laden, and some carry in-app purchases running into the hundreds of dollars.

Before installing any IPTV player — including ours — check the developer name, not the app name. Maximus IPTV Player is published by AegonTech. TiviMate is published by Armobsoft FZE. OTT Navigator is from SIA Scillarium Studio. If the developer name does not match, it is a different app regardless of how familiar the icon looks.

What about the apps everyone still recommends?

GSE Smart IPTV was, for years, the default answer for iPhone users. On paper it still reads well: its listing documents Xtream Codes API support, XMLTV electronic program guide data, recording, parental controls, and — unusually — both Chromecast and AirPlay casting.

The problem is the date. The paid iOS version shows a last update of 14 November 2022, and the Android version 2 December 2022. The free versions of both have been removed from their stores. An IPTV player that has not been updated in almost four years has missed several iOS and Android releases, and any streaming-format changes since.

OTT Navigator is a genuinely powerful piece of software with the deepest source support of anything here — M3U, Xtream Codes and Stalker Portal, plus catch-up, timeshift and DRM. But its Google Play listing now returns a 404. The developer still publishes a companion app for licence management, and the app itself is obtained by sideloading an APK. For technical users that is a manageable trade; for most people, an app you cannot install from an app store is not really an option. Be careful here too: an app with a very similar name is currently on Google Play, from a different developer, and it is ad-supported.

Smarters is the most confusing case. There are now two companies shipping apps under that lineage, and their current store listings have been stripped back so far that they no longer mention IPTV, Xtream Codes, or the program guide. The Android apps carry a one-off $5.99 in-app purchase; the iOS apps are free. The software may well still do everything it used to. We simply cannot cite a source that says so.

Where Maximus IPTV Player actually stands

We built Maximus IPTV Player because the good options were Android-only and the iPhone options had stopped being maintained. What that produced:

• Sources: Xtream Codes, M3U, M3U8 and Stalker Portal. Multiple playlists combine into one library, with live counts of what each source contributes.
• Program guide: a real scrollable EPG with a now-and-next timeline, filtered by Sports, Movies, Kids and Favourites.
• Playback: adaptive HLS at 4K, HD and SD, with subtitle and multi-audio track selection.
• Casting: AirPlay and Chromecast — both, on iOS. AirPlay is Apple-only technology; Chromecast works from either platform.
• Offline downloads for movies and episodes, with a queue that survives the app being closed.
• Parental controls behind a PIN, with Face ID unlock on iOS.
• iCloud sync so progress follows you between iPhone and iPad.
• No ads and no tracking. This is the part we would most like you to check rather than take on faith.
• Free to download on both stores, with an optional premium subscription.

The honest comparison: on Android TV specifically, TiviMate is mature, focused software with years of refinement, and if that is your only screen it is a serious option. What Maximus offers instead is one app, actively maintained, that behaves consistently across every screen you own on both platforms — which is exactly the thing none of the others currently do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there an IPTV player that works on both iPhone and Android TV? Maximus IPTV Player covers iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android phones, tablets and Android TV from the two store listings. Among the apps compared here, that combination is currently unique.

Is TiviMate available for iPhone? No. There is no official TiviMate app on the App Store. Apps appearing under similar names are from unrelated developers.

Is GSE Smart IPTV still safe to use? It still functions for many people, but it has had no update since November 2022 and its free versions are no longer listed. That is worth weighing.

Do any of these apps supply channels? No, and be wary of any that claim to. These are players. You bring your own legal IPTV subscription, M3U playlist or Xtream Codes credentials. Maximus IPTV Player supplies no content of any kind.

What is Stalker Portal, and do I need it? Stalker Portal is a middleware system some providers use instead of a plain playlist. If your provider gave you a portal URL and a MAC address rather than an M3U link, you need a player that supports it. Maximus IPTV Player and OTT Navigator both document support; most others do not.

Will this article be updated? It reflects what the developers' own listings said on 30 July 2026. App availability changes; check the listing before you install.

Getting Started

If you already have an IPTV subscription, setup takes about two minutes on any of these devices.

For iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, download Maximus IPTV Player from the Apple App Store.

For Android phones, tablets, Android TV and Google TV, get it on Google Play.

Add your Xtream Codes login, M3U, M3U8 or Stalker Portal source, point the app at your XMLTV guide URL, and the library builds itself. Then judge it against everything above — including the parts where we said a rival does something well.