EPG Not Updating: How to Fix the IPTV TV Guide

Why is my IPTV guide not updating?

Usually because the app hasn’t downloaded fresh guide data, or it downloaded it and is showing it at the wrong time. What you see on screen tells you which.

How does the TV guide get into your IPTV app?

The guide is a separate file from the channels. Your app downloads it, stores a few days of listings, and matches each channel in your list to a channel in that file. Any of those three steps can fail on its own.

The file uses a format called XMLTV. It lists every channel with an ID, then every programme with its channel ID, title, and start and stop times. Each time carries an offset from UTC, so the app can convert it to your local time.

• With an Xtream Codes login (server URL, username and password), most apps fetch the guide from the same server automatically. You don’t add anything.
• With an M3U playlist link, the app needs a separate guide link, unless the playlist itself names one at the top. If you only added the M3U link, the guide may never have been set up.
• Matching uses the channel ID in the playlist, often called tvg-id, and the ID in the guide file. If they don’t agree, that channel shows “No information” even though the guide downloaded fine.

The guide and the stream are independent. A channel can play perfectly with a blank guide, and a guide can be perfect for a channel that won’t play. If channels won’t play, that’s a different problem, covered in our article on IPTV error codes 401, 403, 404, 500 and 509.

How do you add a guide link if you signed in with an M3U playlist?

Add the guide link as a separate source in your app, or switch to an Xtream login so the app finds the guide by itself. If you only pasted an M3U link at setup, this is the most common reason for a guide that has never worked.

Xtream-style servers usually publish their guide at an address built from the same details as your login: the server URL, then /xmltv.php?username= your username &password= your password. Your provider can confirm the exact link. Treat it like a password, because it contains yours.

• TiviMate: Settings > EPG > EPG sources, add a source, paste the link, then run Update EPG.
• IBO Player: re-add the playlist on the IBO website using your Xtream details, which carry the guide with them, or the guide link if the form offers a field for one. Then restart the app.
• IPTV Smarters Pro and XCIPTV: these work best with an Xtream login, which carries the guide with it. If you used an M3U link, add a new user with your Xtream details instead.

Typing a long link with a TV remote is painful. Most of these apps accept a paste if you set them up from a phone or the app’s website, which is also less error-prone.

Why does the guide change before the show changes on screen?

Because the live stream runs a little behind the broadcast, while the guide follows the official schedule. A show listed for 7:00 p.m. may start on your screen slightly later, and the guide will say the next show is on while the last minutes of the previous one are still playing.

That small gap is normal for internet TV and is not a guide fault. Don’t add an app offset to “fix” it; an offset moves the whole guide and creates bigger errors later. If the gap is several minutes on one channel only, mention it to support with the channel name.

How do you force an EPG update in TiviMate?

Open Settings > EPG and choose Update EPG. That pulls a fresh copy of the guide from every source attached to your playlist.

1. Open Settings. From the main screen, open the left menu and select the gear.
2. Select EPG. This screen holds the guide sources and the update options.
3. Select Update EPG. Leave the app alone until the progress finishes. On a large guide and a Fire TV Stick, that can take a few minutes.
4. Check the guide sources. Under EPG sources, make sure your source is listed and turned on. With an Xtream login, TiviMate adds it for you when you add the playlist. With an M3U link, add the guide link your provider gave you here.
5. Set the update schedule. On the same screen, set the update interval to once a day and turn on updating when the app starts, if your version offers it. More often than daily only adds load.
6. Leave the time offset at zero for now. Each source can carry an offset. Fix the device time zone first (see below); only use the offset if times are still wrong after that.
7. Refresh the playlist too. Go to Settings > Playlists, select your playlist and choose Update playlist. New or renamed channels won’t match the guide until the channel list itself is current.

Labels move a little between TiviMate versions. If one isn’t where we say, look in the EPG section of Settings; the options are rarely anywhere else. The developer’s site, tivimate.com, lists the current version and its features. For a full first-time setup, see our TiviMate on Fire TV Stick guide.

Re-match one channel in TiviMate

In recent versions, highlight the channel, press and hold the select button to open its menu, and choose the option to edit the channel. There you can pick its guide entry by hand from the guide file. Search by the channel’s name and pick the regional version you actually watch.

How do you refresh the guide in IPTV Smarters Pro?

Use the guide refresh on the home screen if your version shows one, and check the EPG time shift in Settings. Smarters builds for Android phones, Fire TV and smart TVs look different, so the same option can sit in different places.

1. Look at the home dashboard first. Many versions show a refresh option for the guide, sometimes labelled Install EPG or shown as a refresh icon with a “last updated” time. Select it and wait.
2. Open Settings and find the EPG options. Look for an EPG time shift or similar setting. Keep it at 0 unless the device time zone is right and the times are still off.
3. Reload the user if there’s no refresh button. Go back to List Users, then open your user again. Signing back in pulls fresh channel lists and, in most versions, a fresh guide.
4. Clear the app’s cache. The device steps are further down. Then reopen Smarters and give the guide a minute to load.

If you set Smarters up a while ago and don’t remember which kind of login you used, our IPTV Smarters Pro setup guide shows both. An Xtream login brings the guide along automatically, so it’s the better choice.

How do you fix the guide in IBO Player, XCIPTV and on MAG boxes?

The fix is the same idea everywhere: reload the source, then check the clock. Only the menus change.

IBO Player

IBO Player manages playlists through its website, using your device’s MAC address and device key. The guide arrives with an Xtream login, or from the guide link if you used M3U. To refresh it, fully close the app and reopen it. If that doesn’t help, delete the playlist on the IBO website, add it again, and restart the app. Our IBO Player setup guide covers the website steps.

XCIPTV

XCIPTV signs in with an Xtream login and pulls the guide with it. Its settings include EPG options such as a time shift and a manual update. Update the guide there, then restart the app if the grid stays empty.

MAG boxes

On a MAG box the guide comes from the portal you’re connected to, not from a separate file. Reboot the box from its system settings, or unplug it for 30 seconds. Then check the time zone in System settings, usually under the advanced settings, and confirm the box’s time is right. Our guide for Formuler, BuzzTV and MAG boxes shows those menus with the portal setup.

Samsung and LG TV apps

Smart TVs usually go into standby rather than switching off, so the app never really restarts. Unplug the TV for a full minute, plug it back in and open the app again. That clears its memory and forces a fresh guide load.

Why are the guide times off by an hour or more?

Because the device thinks it’s in a different time zone from the one you’re in. The guide file is right; the app converts its times using your device’s clock, so if the clock’s time zone is wrong, every programme moves by the same amount.

• Off by exactly 3 hours: the device is on Eastern time in Vancouver, or Pacific time in Toronto.
• Off by 4 or 5 hours: the device is on UTC. Many Android boxes come set to UTC or GMT out of the box.
• Off by 1 hour after a time change: most of Canada falls back on Sunday, November 1, 2026 and springs forward on Sunday, March 14, 2027. A device set to automatic time handles it. An offset you typed into an app in the summer does not, so it becomes wrong by an hour on November 1.

The rule: fix the device’s time zone first, set every app offset back to 0, and only add an app offset if the times are still wrong. If you live on the West Coast, our Vancouver IPTV page lists how the big games line up in Pacific time.

Set the time zone on each device

1. Amazon Fire TV: go to Settings > Preferences > Time Zone and pick your zone.
2. Google TV and Android TV: go to Settings > System > Date & time, turn on automatic date and time, and set the time zone.
3. Apple TV: go to Settings > General and check the time zone; leave it on automatic.
4. Samsung TVs: on recent models, go to Settings > All Settings > General & Privacy > System Manager > Time > Clock, set the clock mode to automatic and choose your time zone.
5. LG TVs: on recent models, go to Settings > All Settings > General > System > Time & Date and set it to automatic.
6. Formuler, BuzzTV and other Android boxes: open the box’s main Settings > Date & time and pick your city’s time zone by name, such as Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton or Vancouver.
7. Restart the app. Most players only read the time zone when they start.

What if only some channels show “No information”?

That’s a matching problem, or a channel that simply has no listings. The guide downloaded; it just doesn’t know which entry belongs to that channel.

Regional feeds are the usual suspect in Canada

Big Canadian networks run many local stations. CTV, Global, Citytv and CBC each have separate stations for different cities, and their local news and some shows air at different times. If your Toronto channel is matched to the Vancouver station’s listings, the guide shows the wrong local news at the wrong hour. Re-match it to the right city in apps that allow it, such as TiviMate.

Some channels never have a guide

Event channels made for a single game, pay-per-view feeds, round-the-clock movie or series channels and some international channels often come with no listings at all. Nothing on your side will fill those in. Our service includes a TV guide and catch-up on supported channels, which means most, not every one. You can see what’s in the lineup on our channel list.

Catch-up follows the guide

Catch-up shows past programmes laid out by their guide entries. If the guide for a channel is wrong or missing, its catch-up list will show odd names or gaps too. Fix the guide first, and catch-up usually sorts itself out.

If several channels you watch still show nothing after an update and a re-match, send us the channel names in live chat. Knowing exactly which channels, and which app you use, is what lets support check the guide data on our side.

Does clearing the app’s cache fix the TV guide?

Often, yes. A guide that’s stuck on old dates or half-loaded is frequently a damaged copy the app keeps reusing. Clearing the cache makes it download a clean one.

Cache is temporary data; clearing it is safe. Data is everything, including your login. Clear the cache first, and only clear data if that fails. Before you clear data, have your server URL, username and password ready from your activation email or live chat.

• Amazon Fire TV: Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications, pick the app, then Force stop and Clear cache. Amazon describes the same steps on its clear app data and cache help page.
• Google TV: Settings > Apps > See all apps, pick the app, then Force stop and Clear cache.
• Older Android TV and Android boxes: Settings > Apps, pick the app, then Clear cache.
• Apple TV: there is no cache button. Delete the app (press and hold it on the Home screen) and reinstall it from the App Store.
• Samsung and LG TVs: unplug for a minute first. If the guide is still stuck, delete and reinstall the app.

Is your device too slow to hold the full guide?

It can be. A guide for thousands of channels across a week of days is a big file, and older or entry-level sticks with little memory may time out or close while loading it.

• Keep fewer days. If your app lets you choose how many days of guide to keep, three days loads much faster than seven.
• Hide channel groups you never watch. In TiviMate you can hide whole groups; the guide then has less to draw and search.
• Pick the smaller lineup. At checkout you can choose Full channels (all countries) or English channels only. If you never watch international channels, the English-only package means a much shorter channel list and a lighter guide.
• Free up storage. On a Fire TV, uninstall apps you don’t use. A device that’s nearly full struggles to save the guide.

If the device still struggles after all that, it may simply be too old for a large lineup. A current Fire TV model or an Android TV box with more memory loads the same guide far more easily.

Could your home network be blocking the guide download?

Yes. Ad-blocking DNS, router security filters and some VPN servers can block or time out the guide download while the channels still play.

• Ad-blocking DNS: Pi-hole, AdGuard and filtered DNS services sometimes block the address the guide comes from. Check the blocked list for your device at the time you tried to update.
• Router security features: some routers and ISP security add-ons filter “unknown” domains. Turn the filter off for the streaming device for a test.
• VPN: a large file over a busy VPN server can time out. Try an update with the VPN off. Our article on whether a VPN helps or hurts IPTV in Canada explains the trade-offs.
• DNS errors: if the app says it can’t resolve or find the host, the device can’t look up the server’s name. See the best DNS for streaming in Canada.

A quick test: connect the streaming device to your phone’s hotspot for two minutes and run the guide update there. If it works on the hotspot and fails at home, something on the home network is in the way. Switch back to home Wi-Fi as soon as the test is done, so the stream doesn’t eat your mobile data.

In what order should you try the fixes?

Start with the quickest and safest, and stop as soon as the guide is right. Most people are done by step three.

1. Force an EPG update in the app and wait for it to finish.
2. Check the device’s time zone and clock, and turn on automatic time.
3. Set any app time offset back to 0, then restart the app.
4. Restart the device properly, or unplug the TV for a minute.
5. Clear the app’s cache.
6. Test without ad blockers, VPN or filters.
7. Remove and re-add the playlist or login, with your details ready.
8. Re-match channels that still show nothing, where the app allows it.
9. Tell support which channels are still blank, and which app and device you use.

When can’t you fix a missing guide yourself?

When the channel has no listings, or the guide data for it is late or wrong at the source. No setting on your device will change that.

Guide data for some channels can lag by a day, especially after a channel changes its schedule. Waiting for the next daily update is sometimes the whole fix. For a big game, the league’s own schedule is the most reliable source of the start time; the NHL schedule, for example, lists every game with its broadcasters.

If a full, accurate guide on every channel matters more to you than the channel count, be honest about it before you buy: IPTV guides tend to be most complete on the big Canadian, US and UK channels and patchier on niche and event channels. Try it first with our free trial, and check the guide on the channels you actually watch. Plans for IPTV Rich start at $17 for 1 month on 1 device, and every option is on the IPTV subscription page. If you’re stuck, our support desk answers live chat every day from 9 a.m. to midnight Eastern, and messages sent overnight are answered in the morning.