dongyubin/IPTV: A Chinese-Language Playlist and Tool Index, Not a Player

What the dongyubin/IPTV Repository Actually Contains

This is not a player and not a maintained channel feed. It is an index. The README opens with a plain definition of a live source as a stream address kept in a format such as m3u, and gives a two-line sample pairing a channel name with an .m3u8 URL. Everything after that is organisation: sections for mainland channels, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, sports, international channels, and a separate list of tools.

The audience is Chinese-speaking viewers who already have a player and need somewhere to point it. The stated goals are narrow and honest about it: save time collecting sources, save the cost of video subscriptions, and provide usage guides. The repository also ships a set of standalone markdown guides in its top level, covering how to add an online source in APTV, Televizo and TiviMate, how to add sources in TVBox clients, how to deploy 4GTV on a VPS, and how to sideload third-party apps onto specific set-top boxes and TVs. One of those guides, the CloudCone VPS self-deployment walkthrough for Pixman-4gtv, is marked in its own filename as no longer working. That kind of labelling is more useful than silent rot.

The last push to the default branch was on 2026-08-20. The repository is not archived.

How a Playlist, an EPG and a Checker Fit Together

The data flow is simple and worth stating because the README treats it as background knowledge. A playlist file lists channel names and stream URLs. A player loads that file, resolves each URL, and plays the stream. An EPG supplies programme listings so the player can show what is on now and next. A checker tests whether the URLs in a list still respond, which matters because the sample addresses in the README are plain HTTP endpoints on specific hosts and ports, and those change or disappear without notice.

The README lists the tool categories it indexes: EPG programme guides, live source search tools, source validity checkers, and TXT to M3U format converters. It splits players into two groups, those that ship with their own sources and those that need you to configure a source, naming IPTV Pro as an example of the second kind. It also links a TV icon library, fanmingming/live, described as a directly reachable TV and radio logo library and tool project, permanently free, fully open source, supporting IPv4 and IPv6 dual-stack access.

That is the whole architecture. There is no server component in this repository, no build step, and no code. The mechanism is a reader following links and pasting URLs into a client.

Getting Started: From the Repository to a Playing Stream

There is nothing to install from this repository. Clone it and you get markdown files and images, so the first real use is opening a guide and following it in your player. The README gives this sample format for a playlist entry, which is what a client expects to parse:

CCTV-1综合,http://121.24.98.226:8090/hls/9/index.m3u8
江苏卫视,http://121.24.98.226:8090/hls/38/index.m3u8

Save lines in that shape as a .m3u or .m3u8 file, or paste a subscription URL into a client, and the player should show a channel list. The README states that PotPlayer and VLC both support loading live sources, and that watching through a local player avoids the advertising that comes with app-based viewing.

For Apple TV users the repository includes a dedicated guide, IPTV-APTV如何添加在线直播源.md, and the same pattern applies to Televizo and TiviMate through their own files. For TVBox clients there is IPTV-TVbox系列软件及播放源.md. The README's own description of the m3u subscription product is that it is an m3u subscription address, and the same two-line entry format above is what such a list contains.

What you should see after loading is a channel list grouped by region or category, depending on the list. If it stays empty, the list is dead or the URL is wrong, which is exactly the problem the checker tools in the index exist to solve.

The Paid Subscriptions Sit Outside the Repository

This is the part a reader needs to understand before anything else. The repository itself distributes no channel feed. The README points to subscription tiers sold through shop.wwkejishe.top, with backup purchase links, and describes two products in detail.

The first is a 300-plus channel package using XSTREAM CODES login rather than an M3U subscription URL, supporting APTV on Apple TV, Televizo and TiviMate, with three lines optimised for different carriers. Its stated restriction is one device per account, with no more than two devices playing at once, and automatic banning if you share it. The README also states that you cannot switch tiers after purchase, so the tier you buy is the tier you keep. A two-hour trial costs 3 yuan, a 90-day card 110 yuan, and a 365-day card 330 yuan.

The second product is an M3U subscription aimed mainly at mainland channels, supporting APTV, 酷9, Televizo, iplaytv, Kodi, IPTV Pro, PotPlayer, VLC, 影视仓 and TVBox, at 1080P with IPv4 and IPv6 support and an update frequency of twice a day. Its stated limit is different: more than four IPs in 24 hours, or frequent network switching, triggers a ban. Pricing runs 30 yuan monthly, 150 yuan for 180 days, 280 yuan for 360 days.

Both tables show the same exclusions. Sports memberships tied to iQiyi, Migu, Tencent and Now are not included, which matters because the repository description advertises F1 and sports sources. The README carries a warning that this does not solve every problem, that compatibility varies by device, and that virtual products are non-refundable.

Where This Index Falls Short

The README says it plainly: the lists are collected, not tested, and readers are invited to leave comments about what worked. That single sentence defines the quality bar. You are not getting a verified feed. You are getting pointers, some of which will be dead by the time you read them.

The sample URLs are a good illustration. They are bare HTTP addresses on a specific host and port, with no TLS, and nothing in the repository guarantees they resolve today. The repository also carries no licence file, so the terms under which the markdown and images can be reused are unstated. If you need to redistribute any of it, that is an open question the repository does not answer.

There is a second, sharper limitation. The paid tiers that do offer stability are sold by a third party, not by this repository, and their terms include device-count bans and no refunds. Anyone expecting an open source project to behave like open source infrastructure will be surprised here: the repository is the shop window, and the product is elsewhere. And if your need is a single reliable playlist for one region, the index format works against you, because it hands you many candidates and leaves the filtering to you.

Alternatives and How They Differ

The closest alternative named in the README is fanmingming/live, which the repository links as its icon library. The difference in approach is real: fanmingming/live is described as a TV and radio logo library plus tooling, permanently free, fully open source, and supporting IPv4 and IPv6 dual-stack access. It is a project with its own artefacts, not an index of other people's links. If your problem is icons and EPG-adjacent tooling, that is the more direct dependency.

For the player side, the repository's own guidance points to PotPlayer and VLC on desktop, and to APTV, Televizo, TiviMate, IPTV Pro, Kodi and TVBox on devices. Those are the alternatives to the subscription products, not to the repository. The practical split is this: VLC or PotPlayer plus a list you maintain yourself is free and fully under your control, while the subscription route trades money for someone else doing the daily updating. The README states the subscription updates twice a day; a self-maintained list updates when you update it.

If you want a checker or a TXT to M3U converter, the repository points at third-party tools rather than providing them, so evaluating those means leaving this repository.

Maintenance, Licence and Upgrade Cost

The last push to the default branch was on 2026-08-20, and the README carries an update date of 2026-08-20 with a pointer to a changelog section. That is the maintenance signal available: the index is being edited, but the repository is a document, so an update means text changed, not that any channel list was re-verified.

Upgrade cost is essentially zero in the software sense. There is no package to bump, no dependency graph, and no migration. Pull the repository and you have the current text. The cost that does exist is the subscription renewal: 110 yuan per 90 days or 330 yuan per 365 days for the Xtream Codes tier, and 30 yuan monthly, 150 yuan per 180 days or 280 yuan per 360 days for the M3U tier. The README states you cannot switch tiers after purchase, so choosing wrong is not recoverable by paying the difference.

On licensing: the repository has no licence file, which means no permission is granted by default under most interpretations. The README does not address reuse of the markdown or images. This is a description of what the repository states, not legal advice, and anyone intending to republish the content should treat the absence of a licence as a stop sign rather than a green light.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt this repository if you already run a player such as VLC, PotPlayer, APTV, TiviMate or Televizo and want a Chinese-language starting point for M3U lists, EPG and checker tools, and read the per-file guides before buying anything. Skip it if you want a single self-contained playlist or a player, because the README is explicit that the lists are collected rather than tested, the subscription tiers are sold through shop.wwkejishe.top with a stated no-refund policy, and the repository carries no licence file. Verify three things first: whether the channels you need still resolve, whether your client speaks Xtream Codes or only plain M3U, and whether the subscription terms fit your device count.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. dongyubin/IPTV on GitHub
2. Issues
3. Project website
4. README