Music additions for offline mode

[NitroNine 29]

So in tackling my dream of keeping everything in one application, I also just got a new phone to keep all of my music on it all the time, as I travel and where I live has terrible cellular coverage in a lot of areas.

Emby almost achieves this, but would love downloads to show the same way server music does, by artist etc.

Or maybe have a general offline mode toggle, so emby still looks the same way as it does connected to the server but using local storage.

[tmurphy2792 27]

I agree, the offline mode for Emby feels very lacking. You lose all organization and structure.

I feel like if I download a couple playlists it shouldn't JUST download the songs but also the actual playlists so I can play just one playlist or the other.

 

I haven't used the offline mode in forever, but iirc it just piles everything into one "downloads" section with almost no organization. I'd love to see it retain the library structure with collections and whatnot so that offline mode feels similar to online mode.

[NitroNine 29]

Seems like most kind of never thought of this, I fired up Plex for Plexamp and it's the same, no Artist>Album structure for downloads.  So strange.  Best solution I have found so far is Navidrome and an app on iOS called Arpeggi, it has a toggle for server and offline.  Layout doesn't change at all.  But i lose casting to Sonos which Emby does very well.

Shame Emby doesn't have a stand alone music app like Plexamp.

[ebr 16169]

14 hours ago, NitroNine said:

Seems like most kind of never thought of this

Hi.  It isn't that we haven't thought of it.  It is just a product of our client/server architecture.  All of the organization and filtering functions are provided by the server so, to have this when disconnected from the server, will require the apps to actually duplicate a bunch of features and that just isn't something we've done yet.

[NitroNine 29]

Would be nice to see some features moved to the Emby applications. Like the ability to cast ala Plexamp to Sonos etc. or hell a basic music only app would be amazing.

[howllor 26]

The emby app can already cast to Sonos. Look for the Sonos plugin.

[tmurphy2792 27]

57 minutes ago, NitroNine said:

Would be nice to see some features moved to the Emby applications. Like the ability to cast ala Plexamp to Sonos etc. or hell a basic music only app would be amazing.

So if you have Android I've recently discovered the symfonium app.

Have only just started using it, but the ux definitely has a more premium music feel to it.

It also solves one of the biggest pet peeves I've had with the Emby android app. In Emby android if I switch from being on wifi (lan) to mobile data (wan) it craps out and I have to completely close out the app and reopen so that it connects via wan address. In symfonium it just automagically works without all the fuss.

[Luke 42077]

7 hours ago, NitroNine said:

Would be nice to see some features moved to the Emby applications. Like the ability to cast ala Plexamp to Sonos etc. or hell a basic music only app would be amazing.

Yes there are already two ways you can cast to Sonos, using Emby Dlna or the Sonos plugin.

[NitroNine 29]

On 9/28/2025 at 7:32 PM, Luke said:

Yes there are already two ways you can cast to Sonos, using Emby Dlna or the Sonos plugin.

Yes but only if you self host Emby and don't use a seedbox. 

I am thinking of no longer running a server at home, so if I am not mistaken casting will not work correct?

[Luke 42077]

On 10/1/2025 at 6:57 PM, NitroNine said:

Yes but only if you self host Emby and don't use a seedbox. 

I am thinking of no longer running a server at home, so if I am not mistaken casting will not work correct?

Right so, what we need to do is make it more like Chromecast where it is handled by the app and not the server. Then it would be the client device that does the detection.

[NitroNine 29]

6 hours ago, Luke said:

Right so, what we need to do is make it more like Chromecast where it is handled by the app and not the server. Then it would be the client device that does the detection.

Exactly.  Once my current hardware dies at home, I'll most likely move to online hosting, because the cost and ease is great.

More importantly, as I requested earlier, having an offline mode for Emby so i can still view it as Artists, then tap on it, to see albums would be sooooo nice!

Edited October 9, 2025 by NitroNine