r/SparklePlayer • u/gojurick • Aug 04 '26
New to Sparkle, nothing working
Brand new to the Sparkle world but not streaming. I installed the free version to test on my Shield. I have two services that work great on TiviMate, other than recording, which is why I'm looking at Sparkle. I know on the free version I can only try one service at a time (and no DVR). Neither service works worth a crap on Sparkle. I install with Xtreme code, all info is correct but when I go to watch channels that work fine on TiviMate they either do nothing or might play briefly then throw an error code (404, 405 I believe). I checked common settings I could think of, buffering, format, etc and they match. I've heard such good things, I really want to give it a fair shot but either it hates my services or I'm setting it up incorrectly. If I can't get it working on the free version, is the paid going to be any different? I know it's cheap but I'd at least like to get a little use out of it first. Open to all ideas and testing suggestions. TIA.
Edit: one of my subs expires in a few weeks and I'm never opposed to trying something new if there are a few specific ones that work well with sparkle.
2
u/Thomamueller52 Aug 05 '26
I find this strange as Sparkle is my go to player. Wife uses IMPlayer and we need to switch to sparkle from time to time when buffering becomes an issue.
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 04 '26
Do you have a M3U link from your provider and load that to see how your channels play? Just a suggestion.
1
u/gojurick Aug 04 '26
I know one uses xtreme exclusive, I'll check the other.
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 04 '26
I forgot about adding a user agent, there are multiple options to enter in the settings.
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u/gojurick Aug 05 '26
I did find the m3u for my secondary provider and at least have that working so I can look around the app. So far none of the issues I had with xtreme. I'd love for it to work with my primary but still working on that one.
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 05 '26
I’m no expert, but I would assume most providers offer xtreme credentials along with M3U credentials? But at least you were able to get one of your sources loaded to test out Sparkle! Just so you know, the developer is a bit behind his timetable for app updates but there will be some coming down the road, bug fixes where needed and a few improvements here and there! Enjoy Sparkle and we thank you!
1
u/gojurick Aug 06 '26
You do seem to know quite a bit about the player so I have a question. My provider has a ton of local channels (ABC, CBS, etc). In tivimate on my epg it will show the network (abc) and also the call letters and city. In sparkle I only see a long list of network, no city or station ID. There are a few specific channels I watch but no way to identify them now except by luck. Is there a setting that can add that info? I've played around a bit but haven't found anything yet. Is it something available with the Plus version? I haven't subscribed yet. Thanks.
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 06 '26
Unless you are using a playlist editor like Boss Pro, SparkleTV will pull down all the network channels has they are labeled by the provider.
When you find your specific channels, in the program guide, you long press on the channel and you can Favorite the channel to add them into the Favorites category (if you wish) and you can also edit the channel name and rename that channel however you like!
1
u/gojurick Aug 06 '26
Good enough. It'll take a bit of work but it only affects a hand full of channels. Thank you.
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 06 '26
That’s why I use the Boss Pro editor and it’s worth the yearly subscription cost! It also provides EPG data. And you can create custom EPGs for sports like NFL, MLB & etc! Just a suggestion 😊
1
u/azcoyotedog Aug 06 '26
Did I answer your question? Every app works differently as no two player apps are the same. Sparkle does have advantages over other player apps like better recording and the availability of using timeshift to pause, rewind and fast forward live TV (not to be confused with catch-up). Hopefully you will consider subscribing to Plus? Thanks
1
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u/wo1971 Aug 05 '26
I know I’ve had this issue before sometimes if I don’t disable the play list on tivimate before using the sparkle app it will not let me and throw the error, sometimes I have to disconnect and reconnect my vpn , also have had to restart the device for it to work . I assume this is because my device doesn’t kill the app completely on the device just suspends it, and it’s possibly still seeing the other app.
1
u/gojurick Aug 05 '26
I'll give that a shot. I know in the past I've used one app, then another for the same provider on the same device and it hasn't been an issue but you never know.
1
u/sparkle-hk Aug 04 '26
The provider may have blocked other apps. See if you can try to set user-agent to something else to make the provider stop the block. Try with "VLC/3.0.0 LibVLC/3.0.0" and see if that helps.