Better Stream FAQ

Better Stream is a free browser extension that turns your browser into a video player and media library. It plays M3U playlists, Live TV with an EPG guide and HLS, DASH and MP4 streams, with subtitles, picture-in-picture and a watch history, all in one player.

Yes. Better Stream is free to install and use. There is no subscription, no account and no sign-up.

No. Better Stream ships with no content or sources of its own. Everything you watch comes from the plugins and M3U playlists you add, which are provided by third parties, not by us.

Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave and Opera on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS: any Chromium browser that installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Firefox and Safari are not supported yet.

Not at the moment. Phone and tablet browsers do not run desktop extensions, so Better Stream needs Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera on a computer. On a phone, the install button on our site sends you the link so you can open it on your computer.

Open betterstream.io in your browser and click the install button. It takes you to the right store for your browser, where you click “Add to Chrome” (or your browser’s equivalent) and confirm. Then click the Better Stream icon in the toolbar to open it.

Click the puzzle-piece Extensions icon in your browser toolbar and pin Better Stream so its icon is always visible. Clicking the icon opens the app in a new tab.

The app is available in 19 languages: English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Ukrainian. Change it in Settings.

A plugin is a small source definition that tells Better Stream where to find catalogs, streams, subtitles or live channels. Plugins are made by third parties. You choose which ones to install.

Open the Sources tab, paste the plugin URL and confirm, or open a .bsp.json plugin link directly in your browser. A starter repository is included so you can try it straight away. Plugins update with one click and duplicates are detected for you.

Yes. You can install Stremio-compatible addons as plugins. They can supply catalogs, streams, subtitles and live channels, just like native plugins.

Yes. Add your M3U playlist through a plugin in the Sources tab. Its channels appear in the Live TV grid, and if the playlist comes with an XMLTV guide you get a full program guide too.

Better Stream is an empty player until you give it something to play. Add a plugin or an M3U playlist in the Sources tab and your catalogs, channels and search results appear.

Better Stream is a video player, like any media player on your computer. It does not host, link to or provide any content. You decide which sources to add and you are responsible for using only content you have the right to watch.

HLS (.m3u8), MPEG-DASH (.mpd) and MP4 streams, including adaptive quality, multiple audio tracks and subtitles when the source provides them.

SRT, VTT and ASS. Character encoding is detected automatically, you can search several subtitle sources in parallel, shift the timing if subtitles are early or late, and your choice is remembered for each title.

Yes. The settings menu lets you switch quality (a badge shows what is playing), change playback speed and pick another audio track. Adaptive quality starts from your measured bandwidth.

Yes, both standard picture-in-picture and Document picture-in-picture, which keeps the player controls in the floating window.

Yes. Playback resumes exactly where you left off, and Continue Watching shows your progress. Series autoplay the next episode.

Yes. The player has full keyboard shortcuts for playing, pausing, seeking, volume and fullscreen. Fill and fit modes, seek-preview thumbnails, chapter markers and a sleep timer are built in too.

Try another source for the same title from the player, which switches without losing your place. If no source works, the stream is probably offline or blocked where you are. Better Stream reconnects automatically after short network drops. If a source plays elsewhere but not in Better Stream, tell us on the contact page.

Add an M3U playlist through a plugin. Its channels appear in the Live TV grid, where you can play any channel, filter the list and keep your favorites at the top.

An EPG (electronic program guide) shows what is on now and next for each channel. Better Stream reads XMLTV guides, so when your playlist or plugin provides one, the guide fills in automatically.

Better Stream checks each stream’s health and hides channels that are offline, so you are not clicking through dead links. Channels come back when their streams work again.

Yes. Filter by category, country and resolution, and star the channels you watch. Favorites stay with you between sessions.

No. There is nothing to sign up for. Install the extension and start watching.

In your browser. Your library, plugins, watch history and settings stay on your device and are never sent to us. Better Stream has no analytics, no tracking and no content servers.

To load streams and playlists from the sources you add, which can live on any website, and to set the request headers those sources require. Better Stream does not read or collect your browsing data.

Yes. Open Settings → Backup & Restore to export a backup at any time, then import it on another computer or after reinstalling. Your library, plugins and settings come back as they were.

Your browser removes the extension’s data when you uninstall it. If you plan to come back, export a backup first (Settings → Backup & Restore), then import it after reinstalling.

Your browser updates extensions automatically in the background. The latest changes are listed in “Latest releases” on our home page.

Click the install button on betterstream.io to add it again. If you exported a backup, import it in Settings → Backup & Restore to get your library and plugins back.

Yes. The app has dark and light themes and an adjustable interface scale, so text and controls can be as large as you like.

Use the contact page and pick “Bug Report” or “Feature Request”. Include your browser, the extension version (shown in the app under Settings → About) and what you were doing when it happened.

Better Stream does not host or link to content; streams come from third-party sources. If you believe a plugin infringes your rights, contact the plugin’s provider. You can also reach us through the contact page by choosing “Copyright / DMCA”.