So far, so good. Just looking for one more feature…
It’s so easy to take a speedy internet connection for granted, but there still are (and may always be) times and places where offline capabilities are needed. I’d really love the ability to download some of my media to my device. It’s technically feasible, but Plex hid that feature behind. paywall. The only other app that provided download ability was playerXtreme, and it went under. So how ‘bout it, Jellyfin?
This app is the bomb. Totally free, open source server software, easy to use, and looks super sharp. It took me less than half an hour to set up the server software on a 11 year old Windows desktop, and it scanned my 1.5 terabytes of media, grabbing all images, chapters, and descriptions, in only about 6 hours (not bad for the 600kbps internet and old Phenom CPU). I also installed the client on a Raspberry Pi running OSMC, and it integrated seamlessly. The software provides a beautiful web interface that any browser can use (I’ve had no trouble with Firefox on Windows or Mac, Chromium on Raspbian, and for my 2012 iPad, Firefox mobile 8.0). The old PC has no trouble running the server, and multiple 1080p streams simultaneously have been no problem. (I do have a very nice Nighthawk router, so gigabit-speed WiFi LAN might be filling the scales in my favor). Overall, wonderful app, my only complaint is the lack of a download feature. However, the server software does have the option to run UPnP, and I can download to VLC mobile using that. So not a big deal, but the only thing keeping this from being perfect. Question for the devs: any chance of getting a tvOS app in the near future?
Amazing app that allows me to view my OWNED media in a completely new and wonderful way! Can’t recommend this app enough! Update: So I do have a few gripes and issues to address. The first major issue I have is the subtitles. Often, when subtitles (embedded and srt) are enabled, they are usually synced incorrectly, or do not play at all. This is not an issue with the subtitles, media or server as they play just fine on my other Jellyfin clients (Web, Tizen, Media Player (PC)). I’m hoping this will be addressed as I don’t want to get halfway through another show only to realize it’s had subtitles the entire time. My other complaint has to do with the current caching issue. The issue could be server side, however it appears that when connecting to a new server or updating the app while still connected to the old one, there is a glitch with the caching and the UI doesn’t appear at all. This was also an issue on all my other clients. To fix the PC media player, I deleted the media player cache in local app data and reconnected just fine. For iPhone, the only method I’ve found is to delete and reinstall the app. As a side note. It would be nice if the “Reset Application” button cleared the web cache as well.
Sees everything on my Jellyfin server, but can’t play *any* of it, while Jellyfix plays it just fine (not that the Jellyfin server works all that well). UI is great for showing library, but once you (attempt) to play a video, there’s no way to go back to the main screen - most you can do is pause the video and your’re left with an empty video screen with no controls other than play/pause. Why does every dev insist on hiding controls and trying to “look cool”, instead of making things work and be intuitive? After 2 years of trying to make Jellyfin do what it says on the package, I’m about done. Overhyped, clunky, barely works…on dedicated new hardware. Windows Media sharing and VLC works better, and that’s saying something. Paying for Plex is looking pretty attractive about now.
The developers that maintain this open source application deserve big kudos, as it is a lot of work to keep up with Apple’s ever moving goal posts just so we can use Jellyfin on iOS. Massive hat tip to you guys for keeping this updated so I can watch all my content on my phone. I would love some ability to download videos to my device and have some sort of local cache to watch videos when I’m on the go but I know that would probably be difficult to implement. Thanks again for keeping this app going!
Until I found Jellyfin, I had been pulling my hair out trying to find a local solution to play my media without tracking, online services, or having any pay walls. My setup is simple. I run Jellyfin on a Windows virtual machine, and watch my media on Apple TV or iPad. I had previously used Plex, reluctantly. They track usage, cause issues when you want to connect offline, and certain features require Plex Pass. So then I looked to Emby, but only some of the app is open source, and they still have the premium pricing for certain features, the most basic being able to play media on the iPad app. As a privacy minded person I have been searching for an alternative for a long long time. Finally Jellyfin checks all of the boxes. Dev feedback: Please add a feature to download media offline. That would be amazing. Thanks for the effort you are putting into this open source project. It has been needed for a very long time.
JellyFin is a superior media server. Takes a little know how to get it properly set up but when it is- it’s the Hallelujah moment you’ve been dreaming of! Streaming your own content to any device in your home without the extra fees or all the added “bloatware” that PLEX adds to your media library is a game changer. So happy with this app! Finally have a superior way to serve my media and share my favorite content with friends and family. Deleted PLEX from all my devices. It’s obsolete. Thank You JellyFin developers. Great work!
This app won’t connect to my server either from remote or on the same lan. Using Plex and have no issues with connecting. Also live tv not working with hd home run guide. Tried to fix but devs point to using a different app for this functionality, won’t be able to use until both items fixed. Advertised support for hd home runs but it’s only supported by using different software. Kodi and Plex both do not suffer this. Would love to see this software step up to being functional on what it advertises support for. That and getting the iOS app to connect would be cool too
Sarcasm, this app is crap. What is the point of making an app if you’re not able to make a functioning one? Keep it in alpha and the embarrassment hidden. You are able to do a little market research to see what other apps are capable of right? Well don’t get there yet I guess, prob be smart to make the basic things work that an app like this should be able to do first. Aka play music or movies consistently and effectively. Think the articles saying Jellyfin is something great are wrote by biased and/or very vested people. Pretty sure I’d be better served with lugging around a boombox, some cassettes, some vhs’s, vcr and a CRT, than what this is doing for me. Boy does it make stuff look purdy though.
I’ve got the Chromecast Google TV running, and the only time I was able to get the “Cast” button to show is when I had the Jellyfin open on the Chromecast. I’m going to try bringing back my old Chromecast Ultra and see if it works any better. That said, I love how fast Jellyfin is, so much better than Plex in that respect.
It’s okay. It’s basically the same port as the one for desktop. It’s better suited when one wants to actively watch streaming video on iOS device. Although it “can” stream music, it won’t play in the background, so it will stop playing when your iOS device goes to sleep. That alone makes this app limiting. Finamp is better alternative for music listening, and can also download to the device.
I see no point of having this app. The UI looks the same as the web interface, so the feature is the same. But since it is not a web browser, it loses the benefits of Safari, like zooming (the text look small) and there is no playback control UI in the notification are or on the Lock Screen. You’d better just use Safari and the web interface than using this app.
I searched quite a bit on the web and keep seeing Jellyfin as an alternative to plex without a paywall. The server program itself is fine, but I was pulled into thinking the app could stream to Chromecast. They even have the share icon in the top right, but after more digging I see that it doesn’t actually work. If they could make it cast it would be a good alternative to plex or emby. As of yet, I guess I’ll keep looking.
I’m *this close* to being able to replace my existing media server application with Jellyfin. It feels faster and more responsive than the competitor, but is currently missing Chromecast support. It’s the only thing keeping me from using it full-time instead of that other one.
It works fairly well but there are some pretty glaring differences compared to some of its main competitors. 1) there isn’t a way to mark individual episodes as read - you can only do entire shows or maybe seasons. 2) there isn’t any way to download a episode or even a season for away from home playing.
EDIT: Works great. My firewall was causing problems. Doesn’t connect. Tried my computers IP that has the JF Server installed on it and no luck. Tried the IP with port 8096 and no luck. Tried local host stuff. Tried http and https and no luck. Too difficult to figure out something that should be simple. Back to Emby.
First, to those who cannot connect to their server: be sure to add port :8096 at the end of your URL. This app is great and the only missing thing is the ability to download media to the local device (iPad) for later offline consumption. If the devs can add this, it would be great!
I’ve had issues with playback on several other Jellyfin apps, but Finamp has been flawless. The UI is bare bones, but intuitive and perfectly functional, which are pluses for me. I’d happily chip in to support further development here!
For some reason I can now only watch about half my movies streamed to my TV. All I get is an error every time I try to play certain movies. I have reset, re-installed everything and still unable to figure out the problem. If your wondering... all my movies are in the same format - .M4V It was working up until a couple weeks ago, but I have since uninstalled it altogether. Loved it, but now no longer works -- disappointed!!
This app and airplay is the single reason I’m still using Apple products. Works well, better than infuse and swiftfin. Only missing an option to cache a video for offline and long trips.
1. Please make the third part media player available. 2. Some settings on floder seems didn’t saved. 3. Add an option for del media data to make personal videos arrange well.
Overall it’s a great app but there’s a couple issues with playback like it stopping when I close the app or staying in the Notification Center but no sound
I have a NAS storing my media data, and I run Jellyfin server on Ubuntu. I have tried Plex, emby, and finally find Jellyfin to be the best solution. Once iOS Jellyfin client being released, everything is perfect! Cheers! To all the Jellyfin contributors!
Trouble free player, but it’s annoying that it plays continuously. There’s seemingly no way to have it play one episode then stop. The inability to download a video to the device is disappointing.
My server is always crapping out on me and also since updating my iOS it won’t connect to my server on my Roku either. It worked for only a month before it quit working and now when I try to open it all I get is a blank screen. It’s just a piece of trash software and I’ve done all the troubleshooting and everything
I set up the server and it seems to work on the desktop. Remote client (this app) literally only has a box to enter the server address. Tried a ton of possibilities and none work. The app has no help and no instructions. Obviously if I had networking experience the answer would be obvious, but I don’t. Can’t get it to work. Deleted.
This app is off to a solid start, but really does need offline/download capabilities. It will be pretty handicapped until that happens. Love the direction that Jellyfish is going though, and I’m excited to stick with them.
Love Jellyfin and the open source mission. But I can’t even connect to my server with this app on my iPhone 13 Mini. After inputting the address, the formatting gets all wonky and the server address moves to the top of the screen, obscured by the notch and unclickable.
Hi I am trying to install it on my ipad with iOS 9.3.5 but its asking for iOS 10 I am not able to install previous releases as well can you please allow it on 9.3.5 too
Please fix that following issues: The application does not switch off automatic sleep mode while playback: the iPhone locks down during and stops playback. The horizontal orientation on has only one direction: the left side. It is pretty annoying while charging that I cannot turn to the other side. Otherwise it works nicely.
When jellyfin app starts, it forces screen orientation to portrait mode. I have to shake this huge device to get back landscape mode. Very annoying. I hope minor fix could help.
I have wasted so much time trying to get this app to connect to my server, all my other devices (androids and Firesticks ) connect without any issues. Please fix this issue!
Thanks for your hard work, but since you seem to be migrating users to a newer app, may I suggest: 1. Rename this app to “Jellyfin (retired)” since it hasn’t been updated in years. 2. Change the app description to point users to the new Jellyfin video app (“SwiftFin iOS”) and the (unofficial??) FinTunes app, that are much more robust than this app. Thanks again!
It’s a bit rough around the edges. My primary gripes: Gaps between music tracks No offline play No transcoding (at least for audio-only media, I haven’t tried video) No lockscreen control panel for music Edit: videos do work, so for a hacky fix use a container like webm for opus audio or something instead of ogg.
The Jellyfin project is an open source, free software media server. No fees, no tracking, no hidden agenda. Get our free server to collect all your audio, video, photos, and more in one place. To use the app, you must have a Jellyfin server set up and running. Find out more at https://jellyfin.org With a Jellyfin server, you can: - Watch Live TV and recorded shows from your Jellyfin server (additional hardware/services required) - Stream your media to your iOS/iPadOS device - View your collection in an easy to use interface This is the official Jellyfin companion app. Thank you for using Jellyfin!