Comparison

Presto! IPTV Player vs Darkwave IPTV Player

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

Head to head
About

Presto! IPTV Player

Features
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Presto! is built for speed. Bring your own Xtream Codes account or M3U playlist and get to what you want to watch in seconds β€” on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, with one subscription across all of them. Big playlists are where an IPTV app is really tested: tens of thousands of entries to fetch, parse, sort and search. Presto! is engineered around exactly that. BUILT FOR SPEED β€’ Opens straight into your catalogue. Your channels, movies and shows are stored on device and ready before any network request finishes β€” no waiting on a refresh to start watching. β€’ Parallel refresh. On Xtream accounts Presto! fetches your categories, channels, movies and series at the same time, so a full refresh takes about as long as the slowest single request instead of the sum of all of them. β€’ Instant browsing and search. The catalogue is indexed on device, so switching category, sorting and searching stay immediate as your playlist grows. β€’ Nothing heavy on the main thread. Parsing, indexing, sorting and search all run in the background, so scrolling stays smooth β€” even while a refresh is running. β€’ The programme guide is parsed once and kept ready, so opening the EPG for any channel is immediate rather than re-reading the whole guide. β€’ Artwork is cached in memory and on disk, so rails and grids fill instantly when you come back to them. PRIVATE BY DESIGN β€’ No ads, no analytics, no third-party trackers β€’ Your accounts, catalogue and downloads stay on your device β€’ Passwords are kept in the secure iOS Keychain β€’ Presto! talks only to your provider, and automatically uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection whenever your provider supports one β€’ An optional, off-by-default film-info lookup keeps browsing private Presto! ships with no channels or content of its own. You connect the service you already pay for (or any source you're entitled to use), and Presto! turns it into a fast, organised library. WHAT YOU CAN DO β€’ Live TV with a full programme guide (EPG) β€” a scrollable grid across all your channels, with "on now" highlighting β€’ Catch-up: jump back to a programme that has already aired, on providers that keep an archive β€’ Movies and shows, organised by category, with seasons and episodes β€’ Fast search across your entire catalogue β€’ Favourites, bookmarks, Recent Channels and Continue Watching that remembers where you stopped β€’ Offline downloads on iPhone & iPad to watch without a connection β€’ Picture-quality badges (SD, HD, FHD, 4K), subtitle selection and 10-second skip controls β€’ Sleep timer, aspect-ratio control and quick channel zapping β€’ Background audio with lock screen and Control Center playback β€’ Works with Xtream Codes and M3U / M3U8 playlists, plus XMLTV guides A PLAYER, NOT A PROVIDER Presto! does not provide, sell or include any TV channels, films or streams. Use only content you are legally entitled to access β€” your own provider subscription, free over-the-air streams, or other sources you have the rights to. PRESTO! PREMIUM Fast. Smooth. Presto! A subscription unlocks the full player across iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, including offline downloads on iPhone and iPad, and starts with a 7-day free trial. Presto! Premium is an auto-renewable subscription. β€’ Monthly and Annual options are available; prices are shown in the app and may vary by region. β€’ New subscribers get a 7-day free trial. β€’ Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. β€’ Your subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. β€’ Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. β€’ Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://presto-privacy-policy.pages.dev/

About

Darkwave IPTV Player

Features
Read full description

arkwave IPTV Player is a modern media player for media sources that you own or are authorized to use. Darkwave does not provide TV channels, movies, series, playlists, IPTV subscriptions, or access credentials. You connect only a source that you are authorized to access. FEATURES β€’ Live TV with clear channel and bouquet navigation β€’ EPG / TV guide for program data configured by the user or provided by the connected source β€’ Movies and series from the connected user-provided media source β€’ Favorites and viewing history β€’ Xtream, M3U and Stalker/MAG compatibility β€’ Stalker/MAG with a visible virtual app MAC for portals that use MAC-based client registration β€’ Channel filters: collapse duplicate channel variants, prefer best quality, filter HD/FHD/UHD/SD β€’ Bouquet filters: Select All, Deselect All, German Only, English Only, manual selection and bouquet search β€’ Parental controls and age/FSK filtering β€’ bundled public Sample Library for exploring the player without external credentials β€’ optional premium features such as MultiView, AI Lab and film-selection games, depending on the selected Darkwave plan Bouquet and channel filters never modify or delete playlist data. β€œSelect All” restores the complete bouquet view from the connected source at any time. STALKER/MAG For compatible Stalker/MAG portals, Darkwave can use a persistent virtual app MAC. This identifier belongs only to the Darkwave app and is not the hardware MAC address of the iPhone or iPad. SUBSCRIPTIONS BASIC, PRO and ULTRA are auto-renewable monthly subscriptions offered through the App Store. LIFETIME is a one-time in-app purchase. Price and duration are displayed by the App Store before purchase. Purchases can be restored in the app. Darkwave is a player only. Responsibility for the source, access and media rights remains with the user and/or the respective provider. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://darkwave.gmbh/privacy.php

Screenshots

Presto! IPTV Player4 screens
Darkwave IPTV Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Darkwave IPTV Player at 15.0 against Presto! IPTV Player's 18.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Presto! IPTV Player sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Darkwave IPTV Player sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Presto! IPTV Player ships an update every 5 days, Darkwave IPTV Player every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Presto! IPTV Player versus Darkwave IPTV Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPresto! IPTV PlayerDarkwave IPTV Player
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days β€” betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size51 MB56 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperEITCAndre Lampenscherf

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Presto! IPTV Player

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
4 purchases

Darkwave IPTV Player

Subscriptions3
  • Darkwave_basic$2.991 Month
  • Darkwave Pro$5.991 Month
  • Darkwave Ultra$9.991 Month
One-time1
  • Livetime$229.00

Questions

Is Presto! IPTV Player free?
Presto! IPTV Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Darkwave IPTV Player free?
Darkwave IPTV Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Presto! IPTV Player or Darkwave IPTV Player have ads?
Neither Presto! IPTV Player nor Darkwave IPTV Player shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Presto! IPTV Player or Darkwave IPTV Player?
Presto! IPTV Player ships an update every 5 days, and Darkwave IPTV Player every 10 days. Most recently, Presto! IPTV Player was updated on October 6, 2026 and Darkwave IPTV Player on October 8, 2026.

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