The Best Jellyfin & Emby Player for Every Screen

JellyWatch is widely considered the best Jellyfin and Emby Android TV client in 2026. It is the only client that supports both Jellyfin and Emby from the same app with automatic server detection, and combines SyncPlay (watch together in real time), trickplay thumbnails, theme songs, display rate switching, Stats for Nerds, Home Screen Channels, admin dashboard, Seerr integration, local PGS and ASS/SSA subtitle rendering, online subtitle search (OpenSubtitles via server plugin), TrueHD Atmos passthrough with force mode, FFmpeg audio decode, AV1 software decoding, live quality switching, and Home Assistant cinema mode (smart home automation on play/pause/stop) in a single native Compose for TV app. It works on all Android TV, Google TV, and Amazon Fire TV devices.

Yes. JellyWatch Player connects to both Jellyfin and Emby servers. When you type your server URL on the login screen, the app probes the server automatically and detects whether it is Jellyfin or Emby — no manual selection needed in most cases. Emby accounts get full access to libraries, Continue Watching, Live TV channels, recording timers, and playback (Direct Play and transcoding). Jellyfin-exclusive features such as Skip Intro, Trickplay thumbnails, SyncPlay, remote subtitle search, and theme songs are automatically hidden when you are connected to an Emby server.

Yes. JellyWatch Player runs on all Android TV, Google TV, and Android devices including Google TV (Chromecast, Onn 4K Pro, Sony Bravia), Amazon Fire TV (Stick 4K, Cube, Fire TV Stick Lite via sideload), NVIDIA Shield, Xiaomi Mi Box, and any device running Android TV 8.0 or above. The app is available on Google Play and Amazon Appstore.

JellyWatch Player is the only Jellyfin and Emby player that combines automatic server detection, SyncPlay, trickplay thumbnails, theme songs, display rate switching, Stats for Nerds, Home Screen Channels, admin dashboard, Seerr integration, local PGS/ASS subtitle rendering, online subtitle search (OpenSubtitles via server plugin), TrueHD Atmos and DTS:X passthrough with force mode, FFmpeg local audio decode, AV1 software decoding, live quality switching, and Home Assistant cinema mode (automatic smart home automation on play/pause/stop) in a single native Compose for TV app. Other clients like Wholphin, Findroid, or Moonfin offer some of these features individually, but none combine them all with the same intelligent 3-level fallback — and none support both Jellyfin and Emby.

Yes. When you scrub the timeline with your remote, a live preview thumbnail appears above the seek bar showing the scene at the target position. This requires trickplay to be enabled on your Jellyfin server (10.9+). If trickplay is not available, the player works normally without thumbnails.

Yes. The player uses ExoPlayer with hardware decoding, FFmpeg audio extension for local TrueHD and DTS-HD MA decode, libass for pixel-perfect ASS/SSA subtitles, and local PGS bitmap subtitle rendering. It detects your device's real capabilities (codecs, levels, HDR), and attempts Direct Play first. It supports H.264, HEVC, AV1 (with software libdav1d fallback), VP9, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby TrueHD Atmos, DTS:X, DTS-HD MA, FLAC, and more. If a codec fails, it falls back to FFmpeg local decode, then server transcoding automatically.

Display rate switching (also called "Match Frame Rate") automatically changes your TV's refresh rate to match the video content. For example, a 24fps film will set the display to 24Hz, eliminating the "3:2 pulldown" judder that occurs when playing 24fps content on a 60Hz display. Enable it in Settings → Playback.

JellyWatch (admin app) is a monitoring and management app for your Jellyfin server. JellyWatch Player is a dedicated player for TV, mobile and tablet. They complement each other and share the same Watch Pass subscription.

Yes. JellyWatch Player detects intro, credits, recap, preview, and commercial segments provided by your Jellyfin server (10.9+). Each type is independently configurable: Off, Auto-skip, or show a Skip button. The skip banner is smart, it won't appear for credits when the Up Next overlay is already showing, avoiding any conflict at episode end.

Yes. The integrated Seerr/Jellyseerr client lets you search, discover trending content, and request movies or TV shows directly from your remote.

Yes. During playback, tap the subtitle button and choose "Search online". Enter a language code (en, fr, de…), browse results sorted by community rating and download count, and tap one to download it. The subtitle is stored on your Jellyfin server and activates immediately in the player. No account or API key is needed in the app; the server handles the provider connection. Your Jellyfin administrator needs to install a subtitle provider plugin (OpenSubtitles, OpenSubtitles V3, etc.) from the server dashboard. Downloaded subtitles are saved permanently and appear in the normal subtitle track list for everyone next time that item is played.

SyncPlay lets you watch any movie or series in perfect sync with friends or family, wherever they are. Create a group from the SyncPlay screen, share the group name, and invite others to join. All play, pause and seek actions are broadcast to every participant in real time. If someone starts buffering, playback pauses for everyone and resumes automatically when everyone is ready. Clock synchronisation and drift correction run in the background so the video stays in sync even over imperfect network connections.

After a configurable number of consecutive episodes (2, 3, 4 or 5) without any remote interaction, JellyWatch shows a gentle dialog asking if you are still watching. If you don't respond, playback pauses. This prevents your TV from playing all night while you sleep. You can disable it or adjust the threshold in Settings.

Audio Night Mode applies dynamic range compression to the audio output. It reduces the volume of loud peaks (explosions, action scenes) and boosts quiet dialog so you can watch at a comfortable volume late at night without disturbing others. Enable it in Settings → Playback → Audio Night Mode.

TV Quick Login lets you sign in without typing your password on a TV keyboard. On the login screen, choose Quick Login and a short code appears. Enter that code in the JellyWatch app on your phone or in your Jellyfin server's QuickConnect page. Your TV signs in automatically. No keyboard, no password entry on the big screen.

Yes. JellyWatch Player includes a dedicated Kids Profile with a custom home screen designed for children. It features large poster cards, a hero banner, a colorful animated background, the Fredoka rounded font, and three color themes (Blue, Orange, Green). A parental PIN is required to leave Kids mode, switch to another profile, or access Settings. Content filtering is handled entirely by your Jellyfin server user policy.

Yes. When you press the Home button during video playback, JellyWatch automatically enters Picture in Picture mode and the video continues playing in a small floating window. Tap the window to return to full screen. PIP works on all Android TV and Google TV devices running Android 8.0 or above.

Yes. A 10-band parametric equalizer is built into the music player. Open it from the Now Playing screen during music playback, choose a preset (Bass Boost, Flat, Vocal, and more), or adjust each band manually. Changes apply in real time without interrupting playback.

Yes, with Linked Profiles. Add your accounts from each server, then go to the "Who's watching?" screen and tap the link icon under a profile. A dialog lets you pick the second account to link to. Once linked, they appear as a single combined card on the profile picker. Selecting that card loads a unified home screen: Continue Watching, Next Up and Recently Added are pulled from all linked servers simultaneously, so you never have to switch between them. Each account keeps its own watch history and preferences. Kids profiles cannot be part of a linked group.

Yes. JellyWatch Player includes a Home Assistant cinema mode integration. Enter your Home Assistant server URL and a Long-Lived Access Token (generated from your HA user profile), then configure a script or service to call when playback starts, pauses, or stops. For example: dim your lights to 20% when you press Play, restore them to 80% when you pause, and turn them back on fully when you stop. Supports scripts (script.my_script), scenes (scene.cinema), and direct service calls (light.turn_off). Everything runs locally over your LAN, no cloud, no third-party service required. Configure it in Settings → Home Assistant.