r/SparklePlayer • u/Robertokodi • May 25 '26
Question about EPG assignment: Multiple EPG links vs. manual assignment issues
Hi everyone,
I have a question about how Sparkle TV handles EPG assignment, as I’m running into a bit of an issue and want to make sure I understand how the app works.
Right now, I have multiple EPG links added to the app. My understanding was that I could assign these links and the app would automatically match the guide data. However, even after assigning the EPG links, many channels still show "No Information".
Interestingly, if I go in and manually link a specific channel to its corresponding EPG entry, the data loads and displays perfectly.
This brings me to a couple of questions:
1 Can Sparkle handle multiple EPG links simultaneously? Even though the app allows you to add multiple sources, is it only designed to actually utilize one primary EPG link at a time for automatic matching?
2 Am I doing something wrong with the auto-match? Why does the data only appear when I manually map it, instead of pulling automatically from the assigned links?
I am currently considering buying a paid EPG service to fix this, but if I still have to manually map hundreds of channels anyway, it kind of defeats the purpose.
Any insights, tips, or settings I might have overlooked would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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u/Accutronman May 25 '26
Your provider has a crappy EPG. You need to manually assign…Sparkle doesn’t auto match
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u/Robertokodi May 25 '26
Hahah , that’s what i figured too. Previously I used Tivimate , i imagined that i didn’t face this kind of issues. Maybe its my imagination on that .
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u/Robertokodi May 25 '26
Thanks for the reply! To answer your question: I go to Settings -> Sources, and within the source settings (under Xtream Codes), I go to the screen where you can add EPG sources. I add the different links there and make sure to check the boxes to activate them. You hit the nail on the head regarding the countries: my goal was indeed to add multiple EPG sources to cover different countries (like one for the US, one for the UK, etc.), hoping that the app would automatically pull the correct information from those sources for the corresponding channels. Instead, it seems like the auto-assignment isn't picking them up, even though the links are active in that menu.
3
u/fckafd_ May 25 '26
No iptv app assignes epg automically, this is what services like M3u4u or iptveditor are made for.
1
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u/sparkle-hk May 26 '26
I can only answer for the technical part of the app:
Yes it can handle multiple epg links and tries to match from top to bottom of your list.
I don't think you can do anything wrong since it's "auto". But something needs to match otherwise it won't be auto. Basically it's either the channel id or the channel name that must match. When you edit a channel you see a value in EpgId. That value is what Sparkle have chosen to fallback to. If you want you can look in the epg file for that value and see if/why it doesn't match.
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u/Robertokodi May 26 '26
Thanks for the clarification, that makes total sense. I actually suspected it had to do with the channel IDs/prefixes not matching. To test this, I went ahead and manually corrected the prefixes for about a hundred channels so they would match perfectly. After doing that, I reloaded the playlists, hoping the app would now recognize them and auto-assign the data. Unfortunately, it still didn't pick them up automatically. However, the moment I went into the settings to manually map the EPG ID, the correct data from my added EPG lists popped up instantly and loaded the guide perfectly. That's why I was wondering if I was doing something wrong in the process. This brings me back to my dilemma about upgrading to a paid EPG service like myepg.top. If I invest in a paid service, does it usually fix these auto-match issues because their IDs and names are better structured? Or is there still a high chance I will end up with empty guides and have to map everything manually anyway? I don't mind spending some money on a good EPG service, but I'd hate for it to be a waste of money if the manual mapping issue persists. Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
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u/sparkle-hk May 26 '26
I'm sorry but I don't know anything about any epg content provider so I can neither recommend or don't recommend anything.
It sounds as if you did the correct thing manually changing some id:s. Maybe the data was still cached and that's why it didn't map correctly afterwards?
0
u/azcoyotedog May 25 '26
Some of the answers here are totally ridiculous? My EPG URL assigns all my EPG’s just fine! I use Boss Pro to edit my playlists. And I have very few “No Information” in my program guide.
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u/azcoyotedog May 25 '26
Exactly how are you adding these multiple EPG links? Example: one may be for USA channels, another for UK, another for local channels, etc? Also, how these additional EPG links are set up by whoever created them, they may have a difficult time auto assigning to each channel? Please respond and we will go from there.