You spend hours setting up your favourites. 20 channels. Perfectly organised. Then your app crashes. You reinstall. Your favourites are gone. Hours wasted.
Most IPTV apps can export your favourites list. Few users know this. Even fewer use it.
A backup-minded British iptv reseller will mention this during setup. "After you build your favourites, export them. Here's how."
The British iptv service I use has a backup guide. Step by step. Export favourites. Export settings. Export recordings schedule.
A careless IPTV reseller UK never mentions backups. When you lose everything, they say "sorry, that's your app's problem."
Here's how to export favourites in popular apps:
TiviMate: Settings > General > Backup data. This backs up everything: favourites, settings, EPG sources. Save the backup file to cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox).
IPTV Smarters: Settings > Backup & Restore. Same concept.
Perfect Player: Copy the "favorites.xml" file from your device's storage. Save it somewhere safe.
OTT Navigator: Settings > Backup. Creates a file you can save.
Do this monthly. Or after any major change to your favourites. Takes 30 seconds. Saves hours.
I learned this the hard way. My Firestick died. I replaced it. Reinstalled TiviMate. My favourites were gone. I spent 45 minutes rebuilding them from memory. Then I discovered the backup feature. Never again.
Now I backup monthly. I also keep a text file with my favourite channel names. "BBC One HD, ITV1 HD, Sky Sports Main Event, etc." Simple. Always accessible.
Ask your reseller: "Do you have a guide for backing up favourites?" A good reseller will either have one or will create one after your suggestion. A bad reseller will say "that's not our responsibility."
Your favourites list is your personalised TV guide. It's valuable. Treat it like valuable data. Back it up.
If your app doesn't support favourites export, take screenshots. Scroll through your favourites. Screenshot each screen. When you need to rebuild, you have a visual reference.
Also backup your app settings. Some apps let you export everything. Do this after any major configuration change. Save the file to cloud storage. If your device dies, you can restore everything in 2 minutes.
Backup your favourites today. Right now. It takes 30 seconds. Future you will be incredibly grateful.
Don't learn this lesson the hard way like I did. Backup. Now.