Setup guides
Backing up and restoring your setup
There is no account and no server, so your playlists and settings exist on one device only. A backup file is the whole of your safety net, and it is also the fastest way to set up a second device.
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InoxTV has no sign‑up, no account and no server holding your configuration. That is deliberate; there is nothing on our side to leak, and nothing to lose access to. The cost is that everything you configure lives on one device, and a factory reset or a cleared app takes all of it.
A backup file closes that gap, and it does something else useful along the way: setting up a second device becomes a thirty‑second restore instead of typing a playlist URL with a remote control.
What the file contains
| Included | Not included |
|---|---|
| Playlists, with their type, credentials and per-playlist settings | Recordings, which are media files on the device |
| Favourites and My List | Downloaded programme guide data, rebuilt at the next update |
| Group arrangement, hidden groups and sorting | Watch history beyond what settings retain |
| Remote key assignments for every context | The app itself — install it before restoring |
| Playback, appearance and language preferences | |
| Parental configuration |
The file holds your credentials
Xtream usernames and passwords, and portal MAC addresses, are inside it because they have to be for a restore to work. Treat it the way you would treat any file with a password in it: keep it somewhere you control, and do not post it in a forum thread asking for help.
Taking a backup
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Open the General settings
Settings › General. Backup data and Restore data sit together there.
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Choose Backup data and pick a folder
The Storage browser opens with Select a folder to save the backup at the top. Open a drive, pick a folder, and choose Backup. If a USB stick is plugged into the television, use that, a backup that only exists on the device it is protecting is not much of a backup. System picker switches to Android's own picker if the built‑in browser cannot see the location you want, and on a device where neither works the app says so plainly: No file picker is available on this device. Use a connected USB drive or the in-app browser.
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Wait for it to finish
Backing up data... shows while it works, then Backup completed. It is quick; a large playlist does not make it slow, because the playlist definition is saved rather than its contents.
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Move the file somewhere else
Copy it to a computer, a USB stick or cloud storage. This is the step that turns the exercise into an actual backup.
Worth doing after any change you would not want to redo: a new playlist, a session spent reassigning remote keys, or a group arrangement you spent time on.
Restoring
Install InoxTV first, then open Settings › General › Restore data. The browser opens on Select a backup file (*.pls). That extension is what a backup is saved as, so if you are hunting through a USB stick for it, look for .pls. Pick it, and the app shows Restoring data..., then Restore completed. Restarting app... and restarts itself. When it comes back, your playlists are there.
Two consequences of a restore being a replacement rather than a merge:
- Anything on the device and not in the file is lost. If the target device already has a setup you care about, back that up first.
- The programme guide starts empty. Guide data is not in the file. Your sources and their settings are restored, so the next update fills it in — choose Update TV guide rather than waiting for the interval.
Setting up a second device from a backup
This is the use worth planning around. Configure one device properly, including the fiddly parts, playlist credentials, favourites, groups, then take a backup and restore it everywhere else.
Do the configuring on a phone if you have one. Typing a long URL and a password is trivial there and genuinely unpleasant on a television. Then move the file to the television by USB stick or cloud storage and restore.
Remote key assignments are the one part that does not carry usefully in that direction: a phone has no keys to assign, so a phone backup restored on a television leaves the key map at its defaults. Set those up on the television afterwards and take a fresh backup there.
When it does not work
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Selected file is not a valid InoxTv backup file. | Wrong file, or a truncated one. Messaging apps and some cloud clients deliver partial or renamed files; copy it again, or transfer by cable. |
| Backup cancelled. / Restore cancelled. | The file picker was dismissed before a file was chosen. Nothing was changed. |
| Backup failed: with a reason | Usually no room at the destination, or a location the app cannot write to. Choose somewhere else. |
| Restore failed: with a reason | The file was readable but could not be applied. Confirm it came from InoxTV rather than another app. |
| Backup data is not available yet. | The app is still starting up or still importing a playlist. Wait for that to finish and try again. |
| Unknown backup error. / Unknown restore error. | The case the app could not identify. Try a different destination or a fresh copy of the file; if it repeats, send the details including the device and app version. |
Making it a habit
There is no scheduled backup, because writing your credentials to storage without you asking is not a decision the app should make on its own. Two triggers cover almost everything in practice: back up after any change you would resent redoing, and back up before a device reset or a factory restore.
Keeping the previous file rather than overwriting it is worth the space. If a playlist stops working after a change, an older backup lets you compare rather than guess.