Short answer: PlayStation is the most restrictive of the major living-room devices for this, and it's worth knowing that before you go looking. There's no sideloading of any kind, the store carries very few media player apps, and — the part that surprises people — the PS4 is actually better suited to it than the PS5, because the PS4 has a usable web browser and the PS5 does not offer one. If your service has no PlayStation app, the realistic answer on a PS5 is that a €40 streaming stick solves in five minutes what the console will not solve at all.
At a glance
IPTV on PlayStation
| Sideloading | None, on any model |
| PS4 browser | Present and usable |
| PS5 browser | No proper one — a real limitation |
| Own files | Media Player handles USB and DLNA |
| Verdict | App or nothing |
The most closed of them all
Worth establishing at the outset, because it saves a lot of searching.
Roku won't let you sideload. Samsung and LG have developer modes that are technically real if impractical. Xbox has a paid developer mode that genuinely works. PlayStation has nothing — no consumer developer mode, no sideloading route, no way to install software that didn't come from the PlayStation Store.
Sony's developer programme exists for licensed studios, not for individuals who want to install an app on their own console. There is no equivalent of the Xbox route here, at any price.
So the entire question reduces to: does the thing you want exist in the PlayStation Store, or can you reach it in a browser? And on the PS5 the second half of that sentence has largely gone away.
The PS4 has a browser. The PS5 doesn't.
This is the genuinely counterintuitive part, and it's why an older console can be the more useful one here.
The PS4 includes a web browser as a normal, visible application. It's not fast and it's not a joy to navigate with a controller, but it opens web pages, plays web video and can sign in to sites. If your service has a web player, a PS4 can very often reach it.
The PS5 does not offer a general-purpose browser to users. There's browser technology inside the system — it's what renders sign-in screens for certain services — but Sony hasn't exposed it as an app you can open and type an address into. Various indirect routes circulate online; they're inconsistent, they change with system updates, and they aren't something to build your television viewing around.
So a household with both consoles under the TV should reach for the PS4 for anything browser-based. And someone whose only console is a PS5 should know that the "just use the browser" advice that works on Xbox does not transfer.
What's in the PlayStation Store
With sideloading impossible and the browser unavailable on the newer console, the store is the whole story on a PS5.
Mainstream streaming services are present — the large subscription catalogues and the major broadcaster apps in most markets. As an ordinary streaming device, a PlayStation is perfectly serviceable.
What's largely absent is the general-purpose media player category. The selection is thinner than on Xbox, which is itself much thinner than on Android. If your service expects you to bring your own player, there is a good chance nothing suitable exists.
The store is also region-bound to your account's country, so an app available to someone else's console may not be listed for yours.
Two minutes of searching the store settles it. If your service publishes a PlayStation app, you're finished. If not, the rest of this page is about managing that fact rather than working around it.
Your own files: Media Player
One area where PlayStation does well, and it's underused.
Sony's Media Player app plays video from a USB drive connected to the console, and from DLNA media servers on your home network. So a NAS, a computer or a media server elsewhere in the house can feed the console without anything being installed beyond the free app.
Format support is reasonable for common files, though less broad than a dedicated media player on Android, and very large or unusual files can refuse to play.
This won't help with a live subscription service. It does mean that if part of your viewing is your own recordings or file collection, the console handles that competently and you may need less from a separate device than you assumed.
Remote Play doesn't help
Worth heading off, because it comes up.
Remote Play sends your console's screen to a phone or computer elsewhere. It moves the console's output outward; it doesn't bring anything new onto the console. It's not a route for running an app the console doesn't have.
Nor is there a Chromecast-style casting target on PlayStation. A phone can't send a stream to it the way it can to a Chromecast or a Fire Stick. The console receives from its own store and from your local network's DLNA servers, and that's the extent of it.
The honest verdict
Three cases, stated plainly.
Your service has a PlayStation app. Use it. The console is a capable streaming device with gigabit ethernet built in and proper audio output, and there's nothing further to think about.
No app, but you have a PS4. Try the browser and a web player. It's clumsy with a controller, but it works often enough to be worth twenty minutes.
No app and a PS5. Buy a streaming device. That is the real answer, and pretending otherwise wastes people's evenings. A certified stick costs less than a couple of months of most subscriptions, runs on far less power than a console, leaves the PlayStation free for games, and can be moved to another television. There's no cleverness available here that beats simply plugging in the right device.
Quick answers
Can I watch IPTV on a PlayStation? Only through an app in the PlayStation Store, or — on a PS4 — through a web player in its browser. There is no sideloading on any PlayStation model.
Does the PS5 have a web browser? Not as a usable application. Browser technology exists inside the system for sign-in screens, but Sony doesn't provide a general browser you can open and type an address into. The PS4 does.
Can I sideload apps onto a PlayStation? No. Unlike Xbox, there is no consumer developer mode and no route to install software from outside the PlayStation Store.
Can a PlayStation play files from a USB drive? Yes, using Sony's Media Player app, which also reads DLNA servers on your home network. Format support is reasonable but narrower than a dedicated player.
Can I cast to a PlayStation from my phone? No. There's no Chromecast-style receiver on PlayStation. Remote Play works the other way round, sending the console's screen out to a phone.
PS4 or PS5 for streaming? The PS5 is the better console, but the PS4 is more useful here because it has a working browser. If your service has a PlayStation app, either is fine.
Console features, store catalogues and system capabilities change with firmware updates and vary by region and account country — check current details on your own console. Checked September 2026.