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I am working with Android OS to try to stream from an M3U. I don't see why this is a big deal on Android, but for some reason it is. The M3U structure is simple, it's essentially a list of URLs to external MP3 files. However, when you click the M3U in the browser, it tries to launch and then tells me that it's an unsupported file type.

MP3 is documented as being a supported streaming protocol: http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html

This works flawlessly on the iPhone. I'd really like to believe that "Droid does" (as they advertise) and I don't want to hate on it too hard, but why isn't a simple M3U even supported?

Is there an external app that supports these that has to be installed first?

Thanks to anyone who can shed a little light on this subject. All I have to test with is the emulators currently, but my friends with devices can confirm that this is not working.

jocull
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5 Answers5

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That is known issue. Currently (that's 3.0.1), Android doesn't support m3u with HTTP links.

Please go to Android issue list and vote for issue, so it can be fixed.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=7028

And yes, free "Just Playlists" app from Market hepls to tackle the issue.

Slavik
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While MP3 is supported the playlist file M3U is not. You may be able to find a 3rd party player that supports this but the base OS / software doesn't.

Paul Gregoire
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  • Do you know of any 3rd party software that does this? Are .pls filetypes supported? – jocull Sep 06 '10 at 03:45
  • Personally I haven't used it but this looks promising: Ambient Music Player - http://www.baka.sk/ambient/ – Paul Gregoire Sep 06 '10 at 05:37
  • Theres also this app, but its not free although there is a light version: http://xiialive.com/ – Paul Gregoire Sep 06 '10 at 05:40
  • Didn't have any luck with them on the emulator. I got Ambient installed but it refuses to open the M3U, saying that there is a file permissions error. It doesn't make itself the default handler for m3u files either. – jocull Sep 06 '10 at 22:45
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  1. Download 'Just Playlists' from the Market (free version is fine)
  2. On your PC, in Winamp, add the streaming M3U URL to a new playlist. Save this playlist itself as an M3U file on the PC.
  3. Transfer the new M3U file to the phone's SD card inside the /justplaylists/playlists/ folder
  4. Start Just Playlists, press the left hand 'playlist' button in the app, and select the transferred M3U file.
Tom Westmacott
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Just Playlists works for me too. This is how I got it to open an M3U link from a website without downloading it first:
- Install Just Playlists.
- Open it and adjust the preferences.
- Open a browser and click on an M3U link in a website.
- You will be presented with a choice of apps to open the link in. Conspicuously Just Playlists is missing. I chose Chrome.
- You will be again presented with a choice of apps. This time Just Playlists is listed. Tap it.
- Just Playlists will open and start playing the playlist. To see the entire playlist and choose a different title, tap Settings, More, Now playing.

user2971883
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VLC worked nicely for me. After I installed it on my phone and then clicked on an m3u link in chrome, VLC was presented as one of the potential players for the m3u, and it worked just fine.

bobdc
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