Zerk Play (name not final) – A Native, Netflix-Style Desktop Client for Emby (Looking for Feedback)

[florinp93 4]

Hi everyone
I’m currently building Zerk Play, a standalone native desktop application for Emby servers, and I wanted to share the idea here to gauge interest and collect feedback.

The goal is to offer a premium, binge-focused experience that goes beyond what the standard Emby web client can do—both in UI polish and in how discovery, playback, and requesting content work together.

---

Core Idea

Zerk Play is designed around three principles:

• Native Performance – Runs as a dedicated desktop app (Electron), not a browser tab.

• Unified Discovery – Search once: if it’s on your server, play it; if it’s not, request it instantly.

• Binge-First UX – Seamless “Next Up”, skip options, and immersive player controls.

---

Key Features (Implemented & Planned)

Unified Search & Requests (Emby + Jellyseerr)

This is the main differentiator.

• Search queries your local Emby library and TMDB at the same time

• Clear status indicators:

  Available (already on your server)

  Requested

  Processing / downloading

• One-click requesting via Jellyseerr without leaving the app

---

Smart Library Normalization (No Duplicates, No Chaos)

Zerk Play is aware that many users organize their media across multiple folders—by quality, codec, source, genre, or personal preference.

• Automatically detects and groups identical movies/shows across different folders
  (e.g. 4K / 1080p / REMUX / Anime / Genre-based directories)

• Presents one clean entry per title, instead of cluttered duplicates

• Seamlessly exposes:

  Available qualities

  Different versions (HDR/SDR, codec, bitrate)

• No need to reorganize your filesystem—Zerk Play handles the mess for you

The goal is simple: your library looks clean and unified, regardless of how complex it is on disk.

 

---

Advanced Custom Player

Built for power users and long watch sessions:

• HLS streaming via hls.js with adaptive bitrate

• Manual quality selection (Direct Play, 1080p, 720p, etc.)

• Fast audio & subtitle switching

• “Next Up” overlay with countdown, episode info, and instant play—ideal for binge-watching

---

Modern “Zerk” UI

A UI designed to feel closer to Netflix than a traditional media server client.

• Dark + red custom theme

• Dashboard sections:

  Continue Watching

  Top Rated

  Recently Added

• Visual Genre Explorer with randomized backdrops pulled from your own library

• Smooth transitions and animations powered by Framer Motion

---

Security & Privacy

• Tokens and credentials stored securely using system keychain integration

• Direct connection to your Emby server (no third-party relays)

---

Technical Stack (for those interested)

• Desktop: Electron

• Mobile & TV: Capacitor

• Frontend: React + TypeScript + Vite

• Styling: Tailwind CSS

• Routing/State: React Router + Context API

• Playback:

  Desktop: Custom HLS player

  Mobile/TV: Native ExoPlayer (Android) / AVPlayer (Apple)

---

Multi-Platform Plan: 

Zerk Play is designed with Android, Android TV, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS in mind from the start.

Native Playback Bridges

This is not just a web wrapper.

• Android / Android TV

  Direct bridge to ExoPlayer

  Direct play of high-bitrate MKV

  HEVC/H.265, HDR10 / Dolby Vision

  DTS / TrueHD passthrough

• Apple (iOS / tvOS)

  Native AVKit / AVPlayer

  System-level Picture-in-Picture

  AirPlay 2 support

  Better battery efficiency than web playback

---

Adaptive Input System

The UI adapts automatically to the device:

• TV Mode: Full D-Pad / remote navigation with proper focus handling (no mouse emulation)

• Touch Mode: Gesture-based controls (seek, volume, brightness)

• Desktop Mode: Mouse + keyboard shortcuts for power users

---

Current Status

Active development

• Desktop app is nearing feature completeness

• Android TV native bridge is currently in progress

• Not publicly available yet

---

Looking for Feedback

I’d really appreciate input from the community:

• Would you use a client like this?

• How do you currently handle duplicate movies / multi-quality libraries?

• What do you feel is missing or poorly implemented in existing Emby clients?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Edited December 30, 2025 by florinp93
Fixed deleted images

[YoungToaster 0]

Would love to see this and try it out to help with testing if you want feed back

!

[AJV_20 57]

How would it work on iOS? Is it an app in the AppStore?

[Suliamu 36]

On 12/30/2025 at 6:58 PM, florinp93 said:

I’d really appreciate input from the community:

• Would you use a client like this?

• How do you currently handle duplicate movies / multi-quality libraries?

• What do you feel is missing or poorly implemented in existing Emby clients?

Yes absolutely. 
I've created multiple minipc-streaming clients for friends and family with Linux Kiosks that at the moment load a browser, and only a browser with emby. 
My objective is basically taking as much configuration away from them as possible. 
It would be cool if one could somehow make a hard config per (desktop)-client in a config-file where you define the max-resolution of the client and if it has HDR-capability or not. 
So that in the client it choses the right "version" of the content. 
On a TV with UHD HDR capabilities you would set in the config something like a max-res=3840x2160 and hdr=1 and when playing content where a UHD-HDR version is available it plays exactly this. And if there is max-res=1920x1080 and hdr=0 set it plays the 1080p-Version of the movie and does not transcode the UHD-HDR-version and doesn't even show it in the library. 

Edited January 25 by Suliamu