Parental Controls: Hiding Adult Categories on IPTV
The short answer
Every major IPTV player lets you hide or PIN-lock channel groups. In TiviMate use Settings → Parental Controls, in IPTV Smarters use the built-in parental lock, and in Smart IPTV hide groups from the playlist. The most reliable option is to ask your provider for a filtered playlist with adult categories removed at source.
Large IPTV channel lists include categories most households do not want on the television, particularly with children in the house. Every serious player has controls for this, and the provider can go further and remove the categories before they ever reach your device.
This guide covers both — the app-level controls you can set yourself in five minutes, and the account-level option that is more robust.
Key takeaways
- Hiding a category in the app is quick; removing it from the playlist is permanent
- TiviMate has the strongest parental controls of the common players
- A PIN on the app is only as good as the PIN on the device itself — set both
- We can issue a family-safe line with adult categories stripped out entirely, at no extra cost
- Hiding groups also makes a 20,000-channel list far easier for everyone to use
The most reliable option: ask for a filtered line
App settings can be changed by anyone who works out the PIN. A filtered playlist cannot, because the categories are not in the data your device receives at all.
Message us and ask for a family-safe line. We reissue your credentials against a playlist with adult categories removed at source, at no extra charge and with no change to anything else. This is the option we recommend for households with children.
This also solves a second problem: a 20,000-channel list is unwieldy for everyone. A filtered, grouped playlist is genuinely nicer to use.
TiviMate: hiding and locking groups
- 1
Open playlist settings
Settings → Playlists → select your playlist → Channel groups.
- 2
Untick the groups you want gone
Unticked groups disappear from the guide and the channel list entirely. This alone removes them from view.
- 3
Set a parental PIN
Settings → Parental controls → set a 4-digit PIN. Choose something a child will not guess — not the year, not 1234.
- 4
Lock the settings menu itself
Enable 'Ask PIN for settings' so the groups cannot simply be re-ticked.
IPTV Smarters and other players
The implementations vary in quality. TiviMate is the strongest; several players only hide categories without offering a PIN at all, which a determined teenager will undo in under a minute.
- IPTV Smarters Pro — Settings → Parental Control, set a PIN then lock individual categories
- Smart IPTV — hide groups when uploading the playlist on the developer's website
- GSE Smart IPTV — use playlist filters to exclude group names
- MAG boxes — Settings → Parental control, protected by the portal PIN
- Formuler MYTVOnline — hide categories in the channel group editor
Lock the device too, not just the app
An app PIN is pointless if the child can install a different player and enter the same credentials. Device-level controls close that gap.
On Fire TV: Settings → Preferences → Parental Controls, which can require a PIN for app launches and purchases. On Android TV, use a restricted profile. On Apple TV, use Screen Time restrictions.
Also consider where the credentials are stored. If the login is sitting in an unlocked family WhatsApp thread, none of the above helps.
A note on what we do and do not do
We do not market adult content and we do not treat it as a selling point. It exists in large aggregated channel lists, which is precisely why we offer a filtered line and document the controls properly rather than pretending the question does not come up.
If you want it gone, one message removes it from your account permanently.
Frequently asked
Can you remove adult channels from my subscription completely?
Which app has the best parental controls?
Will hiding categories reduce my channel count?
Can I set different restrictions per device?
What if my child knows the PIN?
Broadcast rights, fixtures and prices change. This page was last checked on 10 August 2026 — tell us on WhatsApp if you spot something out of date and we will correct it.