I’m working on an Android app where I get m3u8 URLs from Twitch live streams through a third-party site. Users can watch these streams directly in my app using the built-in video player.
The issue I’m facing is that these streaming URLs stop working after some time. Sometimes they work fine for many hours (even up to 10 hours), but other times they break after just a few hours of usage. When this happens, I need to get a fresh m3u8 link to make the stream work again.
I’m trying to figure out what causes these links to expire. Is there a maximum number of concurrent viewers allowed per URL? Or maybe there’s some kind of time-based expiration? The inconsistent behavior makes me think it might be related to how many people are using the same streaming link at once.
Yeah, those m3u8 links definitely expire - I’ve dealt with Twitch’s streaming setup before. The random timing you’re seeing is totally normal. Twitch rotates these URLs constantly for their CDN management and to prevent abuse. It’s not really about viewer limits per URL, more about their internal token refresh cycles and how they monitor stream health. I’ve seen the same thing when building streaming apps - sometimes a link lasts 30 minutes, sometimes several hours. Depends on server load and how stable the stream is. That third-party site probably grabs fresh URLs in real-time, but they’re just temporary tokens that Twitch kills regularly. Refreshing the m3u8 when it dies is exactly how you’re supposed to handle this.
yep, twitch m3u8 links are tricky. they expire when twitch sees weird access or based on popularity. it’s def a security measure. just keep refreshing them when they go down. not much you can do about the timing, it changes all the time!
Yeah, that’s just how Twitch works. Those m3u8 URLs have authentication tokens that expire - it’s part of their security setup. The timing varies because Twitch uses different token lifespans depending on stream conditions, viewer count, and their algorithms. I’ve seen this with other HLS streams too. They basically force you to re-authenticate regularly so they can control access and stop people from redistributing content. Refreshing the URL when it dies is the right move. Most streaming apps actually do this automatically - they detect when a stream goes down and grab new credentials right away.