Everything a set-top box does,
minus the box.
Flash STB is a playback client. It renders the interface your source describes and decodes the streams your source points at. It contains no content of its own and never will.
Read this before the feature list. Every capability below operates on data supplied by a third-party source that you configure. Flash STB ships with no channels, no playlists, no programme guide and no preconfigured servers. If a feature says "your provider supplies X", that is literal.
Playback
The part that has to be right, because everything else is cosmetic if the picture stutters.
Native hardware decoding
Playback is handed to the device's own media pipeline rather than decoded in software. On Tizen and webOS that means the TV's silicon does the work, so 4K HEVC runs at full frame rate on hardware that would choke on a software decoder.
Broad codec and container support
H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-2, VP9 and AV1 where the device exposes them. Containers include MPEG-TS, HLS, MP4 and MKV. Unsupported combinations fall back gracefully with a readable error rather than a black screen.
Adaptive buffering
Buffer depth adjusts to measured throughput instead of a fixed value, which matters on Wi-Fi. You can override it manually if you know your network better than the heuristic does.
Audio track and passthrough control
Switch between the audio languages your source offers, set an audio delay in millisecond steps, and pass multichannel formats through to a soundbar or receiver where the device permits it.
Subtitles
Renders embedded and sidecar subtitle tracks with adjustable size, colour, background opacity and vertical position — legible from a sofa, not just from a desk.
Aspect ratio and zoom
Per-stream aspect override with pillarbox, stretch, crop and custom zoom, remembered per source so you set it once.
Sources and navigation
How you point the app at the service you already pay for.
Set-top portal emulation
Presents itself to a portal the way set-top hardware does, so a portal designed for a physical box renders correctly on the TV. Each install is issued a stable virtual device identifier for this purpose.
Playlist and API sources
Standard playlist URLs and provider API logins are supported alongside portals. Enter whichever form your provider issued.
Multiple stored profiles
Save several sources and switch between them from the menu — useful if you keep a separate configuration for a second household or a different provider.
Programme guide rendering
Displays the EPG your source transmits as a now-and-next strip or a full timeline grid. Flash STB does not ship, scrape or resell guide data — it draws what it is given.
Timeshift, catch-up and recording
Pause and rewind live playback, step back into archive, and record to attached storage — each only where your source actually supports and permits it. The controls hide themselves when the source does not advertise the capability.
Favourites and sorting
Build your own ordered favourites list across whatever your source exposes, with search and per-group sorting. Stored locally on the device.
Living-room details
The unglamorous work that decides whether a TV app is actually usable.
Real remote-control focus
Every element is reachable with a D-pad. Focus order follows the visual layout, focus state is high contrast, and the back button always does the obvious thing.
Parental lock
PIN-protect the settings screen and any group you choose, so a source cannot be reconfigured — or reached — by someone else in the house.
Fast cold start
The app is built to reach a usable screen quickly on modest TV hardware, and to resume where you left off rather than replaying a splash sequence.
Interface languages
The player interface is localised into a growing set of languages, independent of whatever language your source is in.
Accessibility
Scalable interface text, high-contrast focus indicators and full keyboard/D-pad operation. No interaction depends on colour alone.
Diagnostics
A built-in report shows bitrate, dropped frames, buffer health and the last connection error — so a support ticket can start with facts instead of "it doesn't work".
What Flash STB deliberately does not do
Stated plainly, because it is the most common question we get and the most common misunderstanding.
| We do not | Why |
|---|---|
| Ship any channels, streams or playlists | The app is a player. It has no content and no default source. |
| Sell, resell or broker IPTV subscriptions | We have no commercial relationship with any content provider. |
| Recommend, list or link to providers | We take no position on where you get your service, and support cannot help you find one. |
| Host, cache or proxy any stream | Traffic goes directly between your device and your provider. It never touches us. |
| Include a search engine for streams | There is no discovery of third-party content anywhere in the product. |
| Bundle programme guide data | The EPG is rendered from what your source sends and nothing else. |
If you are here looking for a TV service, Flash STB is not it. You need an existing subscription from a provider you have chosen, and you need to be entitled to what you watch. Using the app with a source you are not authorised to access breaches our acceptable use policy and may be unlawful where you live.
Install it and see
Seven days, full functionality, no payment details. If the picture is not right on your hardware, you will know inside an evening.