Windows App vs Browser

[Ahole 17]

Quick very generalized question -- I am setting up a new PC for my 94 year old mother.  I was in a bit of a hurry but downloaded Windows store version of Emby and quickly tried to show her how to use the app -- the first movie I tried stalled and stuttered twice in the first minute or 2 of use.
I esssentially never have that issue with the browser or iOS version of Emby.  I even routinely stream from crusie ship internet and mobile internet with no issues!

Has there been any experience from you guys  (from the perspective of a new Windows app user) that would suggest to direct my mom to just use the browser to watch Emby (vs the Windows app version)?

[Jdiesel 1431]

I don't have much experience with the windows app but the web browser version is always going to be the most reliable as it isn't dependent on outside factors or configurations. If your server can handle the occasional transcode I'd say get your mom using the web version because I doubt she'll notice or benefit from any of the Windows app features that improve the playback quality.

Is she exclusively watching on a PC or laptop? 

[Ahole 17]

I just set up new PC for her - so I could add a LARGE screen (the laptop was just getting hard for her to see)
But I have used Emby forever and no issues - and then all of a sudden trying to show her the new Emby app -- stutters , stalls on the first 2 attempts

 

Scrambled to see if there were any posts about the app and didn't see any

I'll just fix her a browser shorttcut

 

Thanks 

[pwhodges 2012]

1 minute ago, Ahole said:

Scrambled to see if there were any posts about the app and didn't see any

There are quite a few (largely concerned with refresh rate on screens with very high refresh rate - also lack of ability to specify alternate player or to customise built-in player).  I don't recall stuttering being an issue.

Paul

[Jdiesel 1431]

I haven't noticed any playback issues with the Windows app personally. It could be network related, or if it just looks choppy but isn't freezing, hardware acceleration related.

The browser client might be more conservative with the auto quality selection too.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Ahole said:

Quick very generalized question -- I am setting up a new PC for my 94 year old mother.  I was in a bit of a hurry but downloaded Windows store version of Emby and quickly tried to show her how to use the app -- the first movie I tried stalled and stuttered twice in the first minute or 2 of use.
I esssentially never have that issue with the browser or iOS version of Emby.  I even routinely stream from crusie ship internet and mobile internet with no issues!

Has there been any experience from you guys  (from the perspective of a new Windows app user) that would suggest to direct my mom to just use the browser to watch Emby (vs the Windows app version)?

Gonna need a lot more information. Screenshot, stats, mpv logs?

[Ahole 17]

1 minute ago, generiq said:

Gonna need a lot more information. Screenshot, stats, mpv logs?

“A quick VERY generalized question ….”

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, Ahole said:

“A quick VERY generalized question ….”

There's no answer to that.

[Ahole 17]

There is absolutely an answer to that

“ no I’m not aware of any obvious issues with the windows app ….:”

or

” or yes, I’ve had some issues where the windows app did not behave as well as the browser …..”

 

Clearly from my initial question, I did not have time to get into great detail, nor was that even the purpose of my question

This is my thread if you don’t like the question then just move on

[Luke 42077]

The installed apps will be able to play more formats without server transcoding, they'll have the download feature, and they'll be able to integrate with native features such as audio passthrough, refresh rate switching, etc.

[Ahole 17]

@LukeThanks for the answer
 

I’ve been with Emby for a long time    I was just hoping that there was some issue or problem with the windows app that just led me to give up and put a browser shortcut on her desktop
But I suspect it probably has something to do with some networking issues

I have a tailscale based site to site VPN that can be available at all times

But I have a basic wire guard VPN that allows me to connect directly remotely

It’s possible that the Emby app is trying to route through Tailscale instead of straight through the Internet via my HAproxy ,   https://emby.my domain.com

Whereas the browser did not route through Tailscale …. Maybe

I just know that I’m always able to play things through direct play from just about anywhere in the world because my Internet service is one gigabyte upload at my server location.  And the windows app was almost unusable with my first few attempts   so it appears that the problem is not the app and most likely something to do with my networking

originally, I was trying to spare everybody all of those detail details and just see if there was any issues with the windows app

Thanks for your time

Edited July 21, 2025 by Ahole

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Ahole said:

Quick very generalized question -- I am setting up a new PC for my 94 year old mother.  I was in a bit of a hurry but downloaded Windows store version of Emby and quickly tried to show her how to use the app -- the first movie I tried stalled and stuttered twice in the first minute or 2 of use.
I esssentially never have that issue with the browser or iOS version of Emby.  I even routinely stream from crusie ship internet and mobile internet with no issues!

Ok, wild guess. If everything plays fine in the browser (probably with server transcoding due to unsupported codec or something), then the bandwidth of the stream will likely be lowered and played smoothly. 

With the app, it can play everything. Sobthe server won't transcode due to compatibility. So this leaves bandwidth. The network bandwidth probably lagged a little which lead to the player's cache underrunning, known as buffer underrun.

If you want to test this, in the app, limited the bandwidth which will force transcoding and see what happens. 

Just throwing it out there...

[Luke 42077]

On 7/21/2025 at 4:46 PM, Ahole said:

@LukeThanks for the answer
 

I’ve been with Emby for a long time    I was just hoping that there was some issue or problem with the windows app that just led me to give up and put a browser shortcut on her desktop
But I suspect it probably has something to do with some networking issues

I have a tailscale based site to site VPN that can be available at all times

But I have a basic wire guard VPN that allows me to connect directly remotely

It’s possible that the Emby app is trying to route through Tailscale instead of straight through the Internet via my HAproxy ,   https://emby.my domain.com

Whereas the browser did not route through Tailscale …. Maybe

I just know that I’m always able to play things through direct play from just about anywhere in the world because my Internet service is one gigabyte upload at my server location.  And the windows app was almost unusable with my first few attempts   so it appears that the problem is not the app and most likely something to do with my networking

originally, I was trying to spare everybody all of those detail details and just see if there was any issues with the windows app

Thanks for your time

To answer these questions we would really have to look at a specific example:

How to Report a Problem

Thanks.