Comparison

ShallowTV vs Orion

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ShallowTV

Stream your M3U playlists on Apple devices with a modern, intuitive media player. Organize content by category, enjoy live channels and on-demand videos, and resume playback seamlessly. Features include a mini player, favorites, and intelligent search.

Highlights
  • Import M3U playlists via URL or local file
  • Stream live channels and on-demand video
  • Automatic content categorization
  • Persistent mini player for multitasking
  • Mark favorite channels and videos
  • Intelligent search across playlists
  • Auto-refresh for updated playlists
Read full description

ShallowTV is a modern, native media player for streaming your M3U playlists on all your Apple devices. Import your own playlists and enjoy a beautiful, intuitive viewing experience. FEATURES โ€ข Import M3U Playlists Add playlists via URL or local file. Smart parsing automatically organizes your content by category. โ€ข Live Channels & Video On Demand Stream live content with real-time playback. Watch videos with progress tracking and resume from where you left off. โ€ข Smart Categories Content is automatically organized into categories like Entertainment, News, Sports, Kids & Family, and more. โ€ข Persistent Mini Player Keep watching while you browse. The mini player lets you control playback from anywhere in the app. โ€ข Favorites Mark your favorite channels and videos for quick access. โ€ข Search Find content across all your playlists instantly with intelligent search. โ€ข Beautiful Interface Designed specifically for Apple platforms with a clean, intuitive interface that feels right at home. โ€ข Full-Screen Playback Immersive viewing experience with intuitive overlay controls. โ€ข Auto-Refresh Playlists automatically stay up-to-date with smart change detection. SUPPORTED FORMATS โ€ข M3U and M3U8 playlists โ€ข HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) โ€ข Standard video formats (MP4, MOV, etc.) IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER ShallowTV is a media player application only. We do NOT provide any streaming content, channels, playlists, or media links. โ€ข Users must provide their own M3U playlists โ€ข Users are solely responsible for the content they access โ€ข Only stream content you own or have permission to view โ€ข ShallowTV does not host, distribute, or control any content For support: shallowtv.com Contact: contact@shallowtv.com

About

Orion

Features
Read full description

Your sources change. Your setup shouldn't have to. Orion is an IPTV player built around the sources you already use. When your source changes, Orion helps preserve the favorites, mappings, and organization you set up โ€” instead of making you rebuild by hand. BRING YOUR OWN SOURCES Orion does not provide channels, playlists, provider accounts, media, or content subscriptions. You connect only sources you are authorized to use. KEEP YOUR SETUP WHEN SOURCES CHANGE Playlist changes shouldn't mean rebuilding everything by hand. Setup Rescue can reconcile changed source entries so supported favorites, mappings, and personal organization can survive a source update. Autopilot can handle high-confidence routine changes automatically and bring uncertain replacements to you for review. PLAYBACK THAT REMEMBERS WHAT WORKED Network Sense uses stored playback reliability history to help choose between available playback options that have performed well under similar connection conditions. Instead of relying only on a fixed backup order, Orion can use what has worked before as part of future playback decisions. A GUIDE BUILT AROUND YOU Smart Guide helps turn your own EPG into a more focused experience. Follow programs, teams, and topics you care about and surface relevant live or upcoming entries from your own guide data. Event Ready can connect what you follow with matching broadcasts already available in your configured sources. Orion does not provide or add those broadcasts. MORE WAYS TO WATCH Bring multiple live streams together with Multiview. Continue where you left off, use Picture in Picture where supported, and access catch-up or replay when your source provides it. BUILT FOR APPLE DEVICES Orion is designed for iPhone and iPad with supported native playback and system integrations. SOURCE COMPATIBILITY Connect supported M3U and Xtream sources and add XMLTV/EPG data. Use multiple sources and organize your own viewing setup in one place. ORION PRO & PREMIUM Orion Pro is a one-time purchase for the local power-player feature set. Orion Premium is a monthly or annual subscription for ongoing reliability automation, source-continuity handling, and sync across your devices. Premium is not a subscription to TV channels or media content. Some features depend on the data, playback options, and capabilities provided by your configured source. LEGAL Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://orionapp.site/privacy/

Screenshots

ShallowTV4 screens
Orion4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShallowTV at none against Orion's 3. ShallowTV also leads on device support (5 vs 2). Orion's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Orion sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. ShallowTV asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShallowTV ships an update every 2 weeks, Orion every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 4 level
ShallowTV versus Orion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShallowTVOrion
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 6 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
MonetizationFreeโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size60 MB88 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperYing CongStefan Borkent

In-app purchases

None

ShallowTV

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Orion

Subscriptions2
  • Orion Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Orion Premium Annual$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Orion Pro$8.99

Questions

Is ShallowTV free?
ShallowTV is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orion free?
Orion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ShallowTV or Orion have ads?
Neither ShallowTV nor Orion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShallowTV or Orion?
ShallowTV ships an update every 2 weeks, and Orion every 6 days. Most recently, ShallowTV was updated on October 24, 2026 and Orion on October 23, 2026.

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