Guide Choosing a source

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Choosing a source

A title page lists the sources of every stream addon you have, each with its size and the addon's description (languages, seeders…). They appear as each addon answers ("N more addons still loading…"), and a slow addon doesn't hold up the others. The same file from several addons is shown once ("also on …").

How they're ordered

1. Played before: the sources that played for this title, newest first (for a series, sources like the ones used for its recent episodes).
2. Then, by default, by resolution: 4K, 1440p, 1080p, 720p, SD, Other; within each, cached sources first, better release types, HDR, your addon order. All of this is yours to change in Settings › Playback › Source ranking.
3. At the bottom, in their own groups: sources you marked not suitable, ones with your words to hide, ones outside your size limits, ones with a format marked Not working or a resolution you don't allow (see Formats), then links that don't play here (torrents, without a streaming server). ▶ Play best and the next episode never pick these.

Playing one

• ▶ Play best (focused when the page opens) plays the top source. When you've a place to resume, hold OK on it for Play best, resuming at 12:34 or Play best from the start.
• Filter: next to ▶ Play best, Addon: All ▾ and Resolution: All ▾ (where there's a choice). Pick one to show only those sources ("Showing 9 of 40 sources"); ▶ Play best then plays the best of them. The filter stays while you're on the title and its episodes.
• Hold OK on a source to mark it not suitable for this title (wrong language, a fake…): it moves to the bottom, never picked by ▶ Play best or for the next episode; hold OK again to put it back. The mark follows the file. The same menu has Play from the start when you've a place to resume, Play through StremioK's service (HLS whose host wants headers), and ⬇ Download to USB drive with a drive plugged in (see Downloads).
• When a source doesn't start, the next one is tried ("Didn't start: trying the next source (2 of 4)…") at the same place, up to 3 more; when none starts, you're back on the list (how a start is judged). A debrid service's notice instead of the video: StremioK says what it means (Troubleshooting).
• Skip the source list (Settings › Playback › Source ranking › When you press Play) plays the top source as soon as the addons have answered. For the list: hold OK on an episode › Details, or Select source while it plays.
• The list is ranked again when you come back to it: a source that just played moves to Played before, one that just failed drops, and changed settings apply.

When addons are slow

• A title's sources are kept for 10 minutes. ↻ Re-scan asks the addons again (also on a "No sources found" page, where it's focused).
• 🕘 From earlier: when an addon doesn't answer in time, the sources you played from it (the last 3 for each movie or episode) are listed anyway, marked with when you played them. A link it gave a while ago may no longer play.
• The "No sources found" page says, addon by addon, why there's nothing: no sources for this, refused (with the server's answer: HTTP 429 · rate_limited), didn't answer in time, couldn't be reached, or what the addon said instead (AIOStreams' filters: "AIOStreams · 📅 Digital Release Filter: 'Other Mommy' releases in 2 days"). A live channel with nothing to play says the same in its note ("No playable source for this channel: PenguPlay refused…").