If you have Movistar + you can see it on your Mac with VLC

If you are subscribed to Movistar + you will know that there is no native app to be able to view this video platform on a computer. Yes, you have it for all mobile devices, whether on iOS, iPadOS or Android. If you want to see it on a Mac or PC, you have to use a browser (and not all of them are compatible) and go to the web. Its image and sound leave much to be desired.

Why? Simply for fear of piracy. Movistar does not want you to be able to obtain all the image and sound quality that its platform offers on a computer and thus be able to transmit said image received over the network. But with the VLC media player application you can play the Movistar + channels as if it were a decoder connected to the TV.

I'm subscriber to Movistar + and the truth is that I only see it when I am in front of the television in the living room, in the kitchen, or on the iPad. But in these days of confinement at home, it is good for me to be working on my iMac and to be able to have an open window to look at the news and current affairs of the difficult time we are going through.

Here the problems begin. There is no native Movistar application to view its platform on macOS. You have to turn to her viewed by web, and above Safari is not supported, forcing you to install other browsers like Chrome. Bad thing.

Luckily there is a solution: VLC Media Player. You only need meet two requirements to be able to see Movistar + with VLC on your Mac. The first, that you have to be subscribed to the platform. You will only be able to see the content of the channels that you are subscribed to, and from the Movistar router associated with your subscriber line.

That means that if you have Movistar + at home, you will be able to watch it on your Mac with VLC from your home, by cable or by Wi-Fi, but not from work, or from your brother-in-law's house. Therefore it's totally legal. You are not hacking the Movistar signal. You can only see what you have contracted. And Movistar does not force you to see it only from its decoder. So don't be afraid to use this system.

The second condition is that you must have the channel list. Each channel has a URL associated with it where it is constantly broadcasting. This list of channels usually changes from time to time, depending on the company that adds or deletes new channels. This list is very easy to find on the internet. It is no secret. It is convenient to look for an updated one. If you meet both requirements (you are subscribed and you have got the list), keep reading.

Install the app and channel list

The procedure is very simple. You just have to install the free app since official website. It is a very complete video and audio player, open source. It supports an infinite number of audio and video codecs, has the possibility of viewing by streaming from a URL, or from files hosted on a NAS.

The channel list must be a text file with the extension .m3U. Once downloaded, simply open the list with VLC, selecting the file in the Finder, right-click, open with, and select VLC.

Automatically already the first channel on the list will be opened. You will see that the video and sound quality is spectacular. To open the list and select a channel, just click on the bottom button with three horizontal lines, next to the stop button.

An advert. Movistar has known for years the existence of this system does not harm its use. But continuing with their fear that their channels will be broadcast on the internet, soccer matches are encode with DRM and they cannot be seen by VLC.

It seems that the company does not care much that the rest of the channels can be seen with this system. If I wanted to, I could have done the same with all the soccer channels for a long time, and close the tap to everything. In the meantime, let's enjoy the invention. At least for the duration of the confinement.