Watch Telegram videos on TV while they download
Play Telegram chat videos on Android TV, Fire TV, Windows, macOS and Linux before the download finishes.
- LinkLoot access
- Free
- Provider costs
- Unknown
What you get from it
What it does
TMPlayer is an unofficial Telegram media player that streams videos from your own Telegram chats and channels across Android TV, Fire TV, Android phones, Windows, macOS and Linux. It starts playback within seconds while the file is still downloading, and seeking re-aims the download instead of waiting for it to finish. Sign in by scanning a QR code with your phone; only playable videos from the selected chat appear. No messages are read, no server is involved, and no account besides yours is required.
Who it helps
This suits anyone who stores or shares video content in Telegram chats and wants to watch it on a larger screen without waiting for downloads to complete. The project targets cheap hardware: it was built and tested on an 8 GB TV stick with one gigabyte of RAM, so low-end Android TV devices are the primary audience. Desktop users on Windows, macOS and Linux also get native installers rather than relying on a browser-based workaround.
Getting started
Android 8.0 and up (TV and phone share the same APK). On a TV with only a remote, install the free Downloader app from the Play Store, type tmplayer.org/apk, press Go, and allow the install when prompted. A Fire TV has its own setup guide at tmplayer.org/fire-tv. Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) use an MSI installer; because it is not yet code signed, SmartScreen will warn you—choose More info, then Run anyway. Linux x86-64 requires glibc 2.38 or newer and ships as an AppImage, with an Arch PKGBUILD available in desktop/packaging/aur (not on the AUR). macOS 26 Tahoe or newer on Apple Silicon (M1+) uses a DMG; this build is a preview, is not notarized by Apple, and Intel Macs are unsupported. All builds are on the GitHub release page, listed by platform at tmplayer.org/download. Building from source needs JDK 21, Android SDK platform 37, and your own free Telegram credentials from my.telegram.org placed in local.properties.
Limits and costs
The software is GPL-3.0 open source and free to use, but Telegram itself may impose rate limits or storage constraints outside TMPlayer's control. The macOS build is explicitly labeled a preview and the least tested; expect rough edges. The Windows installer is not code signed, and the macOS DMG is not notarized, so both trigger security warnings on first launch. Deb, rpm, Flatpak and Windows portable zip formats are no longer published; INSTALL.md covers migration paths. Hosting and distribution rely on the project's own GitHub releases and tmplayer.org; there is no paid tier or hosted service bundled with the license.
Source links
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