Emby Theater for Linux: Any Updates?

[QuarkSolution 5]

Hey hey! Currently, the Linux Flatpak version of Emby Theater is hilariously out of date, and with quite a lot of issues that come with being so detached from modern technologies. I saw a pinned topic here about a new app being developed, but the tester application is closed, and Flatpak had not seen any updates either. Are there any updates on this front?

Just for clarity, I am mentioning the issues that I still face with the Flatpak package:

• The current runtime (org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/22.08) that the app is bundled with breaks the actual app, you'd need to run the app using an older runtime (org.freedesktop.Platform/x86_64/21.08).
• Full-screen mode in Emby Theater grabs all user inputs (probably a side-effect of the app being a native X.Org application, instead of Wayland), so multi-screen computer usage is not possible with a full-screen Emby Theater in one display.
• Screen locking is not blocked. Your Linux computer will lock itself even when there's an active playback on Emby Theater (possibly an X.Org problem).
• Fractional scaling is broken (definitely an X.Org problem).
• The minimize, maximize, and close buttons remain tiny on high DPI monitors. Scaling (fractional or otherwise) does not help.
• The scroll bar is ugly, and breaks the app theme. The corners are always sharp, even if the global system theme forces rounded corners.

[vincen 71]

Hi

 

Don't expect something to happen soon for Linux unhappy  waiting since months not to say more for a working Linux client, the beta is not progressing since ages too and be careful if you complain too much or asks why they still list a non functionnal linux client on website since more than a year, it's censored by Emby

 

Vincèn

[QuarkSolution 5]

Huh, didn't notice it before, but Emby Theater might also break IPv6. As in, it refuses to connect to the server using IPv6, and only connects using IPv4.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, we are working on revamping this, so stay tuned:

 

[QuarkSolution 5]

Hey @Luke, thanks for getting back to me! I have already seen that post, but at this point it's almost a year old, and the tester application has been closed too without any alpha or beta release; which is why I opened this thread.

[vincen 71]

2 hours ago, QuarkSolution said:

the tester application has been closed too without any alpha or beta release; which is why I opened this thread.

It had few alpha releases at begin but it's dead since months now

[QuarkSolution 5]

16 minutes ago, vincen said:

It had few alpha releases at begin but it's dead since months now

 

@LukeI have a little bit of Flatpak and AppImage packaging experience, so while I definitely can't work on the actual app binaries (absolutely zero .NET, or Electron experience), I could help package it for Flatpak and AppImage.

In other news, Chromium and Firefox now have WebGPU APIs, so in a pinch, you could also look into a PWA style Emby Theater for Linux (and/or other platforms, since Chromium's WebGPU API is platform agnostic, while Firefox's WebGPU is still Windows only) packaged with Flatpak (and/or other native packaging formats), etc. Could be an easier way to deal with it, and ideally a lot more contributors too.

Edited July 20, 2025 by QuarkSolution

[vincen 71]

2 minutes ago, QuarkSolution said:

Emby Theater for Linux packaged with Flatpak

I don't know for others but for me I don't compromise my Linux systems with any Flatpack or SnapImage or similar ! It fhas to be a native Linux app.

[QuarkSolution 5]

2 minutes ago, vincen said:

I don't know for others but for me I don't compromise my Linux systems with any Flatpack or SnapImage or similar ! It fhas to be a native Linux app.

That's your prerogative, but it's crazy to expect a native package for every single distro out there. It is much easier for developers to use distro agnostic packaging format for Linux, especially when Flatpak containerizes the apps themselves to stop any major privilege escalation attacks. Does it stop all kinds of attack? No. But neither does any native packaging format.

Now we can start a flame war about why Flatpak is bad, but I don't think that contributes anything to this discussion. 

[vincen 71]

4 minutes ago, QuarkSolution said:

Now we can start a flame war about why Flatpak is bad, but I don't think that contributes anything to this discussion. 

yep you are right and so far alpha of the new player were distributed as a ZIP file containing all the files of the application

[Luke 42077]

On 7/20/2025 at 3:55 AM, QuarkSolution said:

That's your prerogative, but it's crazy to expect a native package for every single distro out there. It is much easier for developers to use distro agnostic packaging format for Linux, especially when Flatpak containerizes the apps themselves to stop any major privilege escalation attacks. Does it stop all kinds of attack? No. But neither does any native packaging format.

Now we can start a flame war about why Flatpak is bad, but I don't think that contributes anything to this discussion. 

I actually think it's more difficult. It might be quicker to build and package something that is platform-agnostic, but it is harder to troubleshoot given that the virtualization or runtime is adding an extra layer in between your app and the OS. It is much harder to troubleshoot if you have an app that needs to integrate with native system features like ours does. And the build and packaging savings are not really that meaningful because once you have an automated build that can produce outputs for debian/ubuntu and rpms then you've got the majority of what you need because most other platforms are derivates of those.

[csadoian 36]

For those waiting patiently (!) for a new Linux version of the Emby Theater app that actually works with the common distros like Debian, Ubuntu and other variants, I did discover a couple of things the last few weeks.

First, on one of my desktop computers, I changed from Linux Mint LMDE7 (Debian 13) to CachyOS.  Imagine my surprise when I installed Emby Theater and it worked GREAT.  So I said, FINALLY, I can watch my programs using the app instead of the web client.  The web client works ok, but it stutters a bit and there is a lot of transcoding going on, no matter what browser I use.

So I still use another Desktop in another room that remains on Linux Mint LMDE7 that I don't want to change at the moment.  So on a lark I install SNAP support (not native to Mint LMDE) and installed the SNAP version of Emby Theater.  Well, what do you know, that version works as well on Mint LMDE7.  So for the moment I'm happy!

I have also tested the SNAP version of Emby-Theater (v3.0.19) on Ubuntu 25.10 and it worked there as well.

So, if you are running distros based on Debian and Ubuntu the SNAP version of Emby Theater seems to be the way to go for now.  In addition, it also seems to work natively on CachyOS, which implies it will also work on other Arch based versions of Linux as well.   The version that I installed is 3.0.21, and I installed it using the instructions from the Emby web site.