Why so hard for iptv simple client to follow channel order

I’m stumped on this behavior of the IPTV simple client. Not so simple.

I have an m3u playlist with live tv links. I have the channels ordered in a certain way. They do not show up in that way relative to the order in the m3u file. Simple as that! Also, I have some intentional duplicate links. Only one appears. Does it automatically ignore duplicates? This should be an option to turn off but it’s not.

I played with the options in kodi with to use channel order from backend option and use channel numbering from backend options and weird things happen with the numbering and order. Doesn’t make sense. I don’t even have a backend. In fact, what the heck is the backend and how does the plug in use it?