A viewer app doesn't scan for channels the way an old broadcast tuner did — that kind of automatic channel scan is a frequently requested feature in player-app communities precisely because it doesn't exist yet. Instead, the app reads a playlist link your subscription provides, usually in M3U or Xtream Codes format, and builds the guide from that. If you don't see a channel, the fix isn't rescanning; it's confirming the playlist loaded fully or that the channel group wasn't accidentally hidden in the app's settings. This distinction matters because a missing channel can look like an app bug when it's actually a settings state you set yourself earlier.

Adding channels to a favorites list is manual in every current viewer — you select channels individually rather than the app suggesting them. EPG data (the guide showing what's airing now and next) can come from the same source as your channel playlist, or you can mix in a separate EPG source; that's a real, distinct setup step, not something that merges automatically. If your guide shows blank listings for some channels, check whether the EPG source actually covers those channel IDs rather than assuming the subscription is at fault.

1. 1Favorites: added manually, not suggested
2. 2EPG: can be mixed from a separate source, but that's an extra setup step

No — the viewer displays whatever bitrate and resolution the subscription sends; it doesn't transcode or improve the stream itself. Where viewer choice does matter is stability at scale: apps that hold very large channel lists in memory can slow down or destabilize once the visible list climbs past roughly 18,000 channels, which is one real reason to hide unused channel groups rather than leaving everything visible. That's a viewer-side housekeeping step, separate from anything the subscription controls. Trimming visible groups to what you actually watch is a five-minute settings change that pays off every time the app opens.