Why does Emby register sessions on the same device as separate ones?

[AngelSing 27]

Hi everyone,
I’m new to Emby. I recently switched from Jellyfin and purchased a lifetime Emby Premiere license. So far, I’m satisfied with the service, but I’ve come across something that has raised some questions, and I’d like to understand it better.

I understand that Emby Premiere has a limit of 25 devices, which is perfectly fine for my needs. However, I’ve noticed that if I use Emby on the same physical device but with different clients (for example, switching between the Microsoft Store app and the Edge browser on Windows), Emby registers these sessions as two separate devices.

 

Could someone explain how Emby’s device tracking logic works? Am I misunderstanding something? I’d like to know how this tracking is performed and why each client is treated as a separate device, even though they share the same hardware and IP address.

Thank you in advance for your responses!

Best regards,

 

Edited November 25, 2024 by AngelSing
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[AngelSing 27]

Hi again,

I’ve been researching more about how Emby handles the 25-device limit in Premiere, and I found information stating that the devices shown in the "Devices" section of the server are not necessarily the ones counting towards the Premiere limit. This raised a new question for me.

Where can I see exactly which devices are using the 25 slots of my Emby Premiere license? I’d like to have clarity on this to know how many slots I have available and better manage the devices connected to my server.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

[ebr 15435]

Hi.  Please see: Is there a limit to Emby Premiere?

It should answer your questions.

[AngelSing 27]

8 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Please see: Is there a limit to Emby Premiere?

It should answer your questions.

I’ve read the documentation and resolved some of my doubts. From what I understand, there is currently no way for users to see exactly how many devices are occupying the Emby Premiere slots at any given time. Should I suggest this as a new feature in the suggestions section?

[ebr 15435]

1 minute ago, AngelSing said:

Should I suggest this as a new feature in the suggestions section?

Hi.  No, that won't be necessary.  The reason why is detailed in that document as well.

[AngelSing 27]

7 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  No, that won't be necessary.  The reason why is detailed in that document as well.

Yes, I read it. But as Premium users, how can we know how many slots we have available? Does this mean that, in theory, we will never be able to see this information? This should be added as a new feature because it’s important for a user who has purchased a Premium license to know which devices are occupying their slots and how many are still available, don’t you think?

[Luke 38825]

Quote

between the Microsoft Store app and the Edge browser on Windows

Here's the technical answer - there is no way to uniquely identify a browser, therefore there is no way to know that these two are from the same machine. Web apps do not have access to any hardware information.

We can take a guess based on IP address, and that might work some of the time, but it's better to design solutions that will work universally.