Parts list for this setup
- A computer: Windows 10 or 11, or macOS in a current version
- Your Vizwriting M3U link, plus the username, password and server URL
- VLC media player, which is free, and IPTV Smarters Pro for Windows or Smarters Player Lite for Mac
- Optional: an HDMI cable, to put the picture on a television
Set aside about 6 minutes. Nothing to type in yet? The Vizwriting 24-hour trial sends working details to WhatsApp. A paid term uses exactly the same format, so nothing here is redone after you buy.
The Windows PC and Mac setup, in seven steps
Check the login in VLC before anything else
Confirm the details work before installing anything new. In VLC on Windows choose Media, then Open Network Stream, or press Ctrl+N; on a Mac choose File, then Open Network, or press Cmd+N. Paste the M3U link from WhatsApp and press Play. VLC reads the whole list first, which takes a little while for a list this size, and then starts the first channel. If a picture appears, the login is good and everything that follows is about comfort.
Search the list by name
Open VLC’s playlist view, under View on Windows (Ctrl+L) or Window on a Mac, and use its search box: type news, or a network’s name such as Al Jazeera, and the list narrows as you type. Double-click to play. VLC has no program guide, so it cannot tell you when the next bulletin starts, which is the reason for the next step.
Install a player that has a guide
On Windows, install IPTV Smarters Pro from the developer’s own website. On a Mac, install Smarters Player Lite from the Mac App Store. Both take the Xtream login and show Live TV with a program guide, along with Movies and Series sections where the documentary shelves of the on-demand library are kept.
Sign in with the Xtream details
Choose the Xtream Codes login, name the profile anything you like, and paste the username, password and server URL from WhatsApp Web or the WhatsApp desktop app, which spares you the typing. Check that the server field includes http:// and the port. The first load fetches the channel list and the guide data together, so leave the window open until both arrive.
Arrange the screen for following a story
A computer’s advantage is space. Keep the player on one half of the screen and your reading on the other: on Windows, drag the window to a screen edge to snap it to half the display; on a Mac, hover over the green button at the top left for tiling options. A second channel in a second window is possible, but each playing picture is its own stream and needs a plan with two connections.
Put the picture on a television if you like
Connect the computer to a TV with an HDMI cable, then press the Windows key and P to choose Duplicate or Extend; on a Mac, use the Displays settings, or Screen Mirroring to an AirPlay television. Extend lets the television show the channel while the laptop screen stays free for notes, a map or the morning papers.
Close with a guide-against-clock check
Open the guide in the Smarters app, find a news channel whose bulletin starts within the hour, and play it as it begins. The guide entry and the picture should agree. If the listings are sixty minutes off, suspect the time zone on the computer rather than the service, and the faults below show where to fix it.
Once it plays: where the factual side lives
With the player signed in, the rest is finding things. Live channels arrive in groups, and the on-demand library keeps non-fiction on shelves of its own; the Vizwriting documentaries and news channels page explains how both are arranged. What airs next on most channels, the 9 p.m. bulletin included, is in the Vizwriting program guide. A bulletin that aired an hour ago can often be replayed through catch-up, on the channels that carry it.
Windows PC and Mac faults, by what the screen shows
VLC says it cannot open the MRL
VLC shows that message when the address it was given is incomplete. Copy the M3U link from WhatsApp again, making sure the whole line came across, including everything after get.php, then paste it into Open Network Stream with nothing before or after it.
Windows SmartScreen warns about the installer
SmartScreen flags installers it sees rarely. Continue only if the file came from the player developer’s own website or from the address support sent you. If in doubt, ask in the WhatsApp chat before running it, and never run a file that calls itself a Vizwriting app.
A channel plays in VLC with no sound
Check VLC’s Audio menu first: the output device it uses may be a monitor without speakers, so pick the computer’s speakers or headphones under Audio, Audio Device. If a single channel is silent while others are not, its audio track may be unselected; Audio, Audio Track lists the choices.
The guide is an hour out
Players draw the guide against the computer’s clock. On Windows, open Settings, Time and language, Date and time, and turn on automatic time and time zone; on a Mac, open Date and Time inside System Settings, General. Then refresh the guide inside the player.
Opening a second window stops the first channel
Your plan allows one stream at a time, and the second window took it. Close one, or move to a two-connection plan, $25 for a month or $119 for a year, if following two channels side by side is part of how you watch.
The screen sleeps halfway through a documentary
Video players normally keep the display awake, but mirrored or windowed playback sometimes does not. On Windows, lengthen the screen and sleep times under Settings, System, Power; on a Mac, adjust the display settings under Lock Screen in System Settings while you watch.
Nothing above matches? A photo of the screen sent on WhatsApp usually settles it faster than a description, and the Vizwriting not-working page covers faults that are not tied to one device.
Documentaries and the news on your Windows PC and Mac
News desks and factual networks among 25,000+ live channels, a 120,000+ title library with non-fiction shelves, and details on WhatsApp in under 15 minutes.
Read next: the players for Windows PC and Mac
M3U playlist
Vizwriting M3U link explained: one playlist address holding your login, with news and factual groups among 25,000+ channels, ready for VLC or Kodi.
IPTV Smarters Pro
Vizwriting in IPTV Smarters Pro: search 25,000+ channels for a news desk in seconds, star the ones you check daily, then find documentaries under Movies.
The Vizwriting setup index
13 guides filed by device and by player, for the next screen in the house that needs the news.
Asked about Vizwriting on Windows PC and Mac
Is there a Vizwriting desktop app?
No. Vizwriting has no app on any platform, the desktop included. On Windows, use IPTV Smarters Pro or VLC; on a Mac, Smarters Player Lite or VLC. Each takes the details from your WhatsApp chat. A download that calls itself the Vizwriting app did not come from us, so leave it alone.
Do I need to install anything to watch on a computer?
Only a player. VLC is the lightest option and opens the M3U link directly; the Smarters apps add a program guide and on-demand sections. There is no Vizwriting website account or browser portal to sign in to, because the login lives in your WhatsApp chat.
Can I watch two news channels side by side on a PC?
Yes, in two windows, provided your plan covers two streams at once. Each window plays its own stream, so on a one-connection plan the first stops when the second starts. Two connections cost $25 for a month or $119 for a year.
Does VLC show a program guide?
Not in a useful form. VLC plays the channels from the M3U link and lets you search the list, but it has no guide grid. To see what airs next, use IPTV Smarters Pro on Windows or Smarters Player Lite on a Mac, both of which load the guide through the Xtream login.
Can my computer and my television share one Vizwriting login?
Yes. Install players on as many devices as you like with the same details; the plan limits how many play at the same moment, not how many are signed in. The computer and the television playing together need a plan with two connections.