Vela
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IPTV Smarters alternatives on iPhone

Looking for something other than IPTV Smarters on iPhone? Here's how a few well-known players compare on things each App Store page lets you check. We make Vela, so it's in the list, along with where it falls short.

First, which Smarters app?

On the App Store, the IPTV Smarters player from the developer WHMCS SMARTERS is called Smarters Player Lite. Several other apps have Smarters in their names and come from other developers, so check the developer's name under the title before you install one or pay for it.

What to compare

  • Price model: ads, a one-off purchase, a subscription, or a mix, as listed under In-App Purchases.
  • Sign-in types: an Xtream login, an M3U link or file, or a media server. Check yours is covered first.
  • The guide: a grid or just what's on now, and whether it takes a separate XMLTV link.
  • Casting: AirPlay, Google Cast (Chromecast) or DLNA, and in which plan.
  • Devices: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and Apple Vision Pro.
  • The privacy label, under App Privacy. “Data Used to Track You” may be used to follow you across other companies' apps and websites; “Data Not Linked to You” isn't tied to your identity; “Data Not Collected” means the developer says the app collects nothing.

Four players, side by side

The first three are taken from their US App Store pages. Where a page doesn't say something, it's left out here rather than guessed, so try the app to find out. Vela's entry is ours, for version 1.5.0.

Smarters Player Lite

  • Price: free, with ads. One in-app purchase, Buy Premium Version, at USD 1.99.
  • Sources: its description names M3U and JSON playlists, from local storage and remote sources.
  • Guide: its version notes say an EPG was added in version 1.4.0.
  • Devices: iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and the iPad app on Macs with Apple silicon and on Apple Vision Pro. Needs iOS 15.6 or later.
  • Privacy label: usage data that may be used to track you, and usage and advertising data not linked to you.
  • Languages: English.

IPTVX

  • Price: free to download, with subscriptions from USD 3.99 a month to USD 28.99 a year, a yearly plan with Family Sharing at USD 56.00, and other purchases such as themes.
  • Sources: Xtream, M3U and M3U8, Plex and SMB shares.
  • Guide: a TV Guide tab with an EPG grid, a separate EPG link (gzip supported), and catch-up.
  • Casting: AirPlay 2.
  • Devices: iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and the iPad app on Macs with Apple silicon and on Apple Vision Pro. It needs an iCloud account and syncs through it. Needs iOS 16 or later.
  • Privacy label: location and usage data that may be used to track you, and purchases, location, user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics not linked to you.
  • Languages: English and 10 more.

UHF

  • Price: free, with ads. Its PRO plan, at USD 1.99 a month, USD 17.99 a year or USD 49.99 once, removes ads and watermarks and adds sync between devices and an unlimited guide with alerts.
  • Sources: M3U8, Xtream, Plex, Jellyfin and Emby.
  • Guide: an EPG designed for touch screens, and catch-up.
  • Casting: AirPlay and Chromecast, on the free plan.
  • Also: downloads, a built-in VPN client, and recording through its companion server on a computer.
  • Devices: iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and the iPad app on Macs with Apple silicon and on Apple Vision Pro. Needs iOS 16 or later.
  • Privacy label: user content, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics, not linked to you. Nothing is listed as used to track you.
  • Languages: English and 11 more.

Vela

  • Price: free to download, with no ads. On the free plan, playback pauses for a moment every 10 minutes. Vela Pro is USD 14.99 a year or USD 29.99 once, after a 14-day trial of everything that starts when you first sign in.
  • Sources: Xtream logins, and M3U or M3U8 playlists by link or from Files, with an XMLTV guide; also home tuners and DVR software that serve M3U. No MAC-address portals.
  • Guide: a grid of channels against the clock with a line at now, now and next on every channel, and plain or gzipped XMLTV.
  • Casting: AirPlay, Google Cast and DLNA TVs, in every plan, with the phone as the remote.
  • Also: a match score on every film and series, with Top Picks for You and More Like This, worked out on your iPhone and never uploaded (Vela Pro), and search as you type (Vela Pro).
  • Devices: iPhone and iPad, and the iPad app on Macs with Apple silicon and on Apple Vision Pro. No Apple TV app. Needs iOS 17 or later.
  • Privacy label: Data Not Collected.
  • Languages: English and 11 more.

Where Vela differs, and where it doesn't

  • Different: no ads, where Smarters and UHF have them; a privacy label that reads Data Not Collected; casting to DLNA TVs, which none of the other three pages mention, as well as AirPlay and Google Cast, in every plan; and recommendations worked out on the device (Vela Pro).
  • Much the same: all four are free to download, UHF also casts on its free plan, and IPTVX also takes a gzipped guide link.
  • Where Vela is behind: Smarters' premium version costs less than Vela Pro. The other three all have an Apple TV app, and Vela doesn't. Vela doesn't record, sync through iCloud, or read Plex, Jellyfin or SMB shares. And its free plan pauses playback for a moment every 10 minutes.

Try them with your own login

Whichever you try, use the account you'll actually watch with: play a few channels and a film, open the guide and cast to your TV before you pay. Vela's 14-day trial covers all of it. How to choose an IPTV player for iPhone has more on what to look for, and VLC or a dedicated IPTV player covers where VLC fits.

Checked on 19 October 2026; apps change, so check each App Store page.

Vela includes no channels or content. Use it only with a subscription or playlist you're entitled to use.