Introducing Traxx, an Android music app built for Emby music libraries

[Hauzz 9]

7 minutes ago, GrimEvil said:

Tested this new version and looks like it has resolved the android auto issue and I can now see and play music and looks like the timeout error is resolved

Thank you so much for testing. So what's your opinion of the app, can you tell if there are missing functions other then the files view that was mentioned by @howlermonkey, I'm working on that. Is the UX/UI ok? Should I make changes?

[GrimEvil 87]

other feedback will follow now I can see it working on my setup

 

[GrimEvil 87]

So first but of feedback 

On android auto, is there away you can show larger album covers as an option instead of just the lost as I find it easier to scroll the album than a list as such.

[Hauzz 9]

On 6/19/2026 at 2:29 PM, GrimEvil said:

So first but of feedback 

On android auto, is there away you can show larger album covers as an option instead of just the lost as I find it easier to scroll the album than a list as such.

I've changed it in  a way that on selection of albums or artists, you'll get to choose either list or grid. Let me know what you think.

traxx-beta.apk

[Hauzz 9]

These screenshots show how Traxx is displayed in Android Auto. The app comes in three languages: Dutch, English and Spanish.

Edited June 21 by Hauzz

[GrimEvil 87]

that looks better, will give it a test and report back 

[GrimEvil 87]

So for me one issue is once I go into an album and click play it looks like the below

As you can see you see two play/pause buttons (small banner at the bottom)

 

I would expect it to look more like the above, where it maximises the now playing window. 

Hopefully from my rubbish screenshots it makes sense

I will try Android auto tomorrow. 

[GrimEvil 87]

Nothing broken on android auto and yes the new option for album covers is what I was looking for, thanks 

[LongMan 121]

Thanks for your efforts here. Nice app.
Two questions:

• Do you plan to honor audio/music libraries? (ie have separate libraries)
• Will you allow users without passwords

Edited June 29 by LongMan

[GrimEvil 87]

Forgot to add, when you select the display option on Android auto, you need away for it to remember your picked option, as currently everytime I open the app I have select the option I want be for it shows the albums 

[Hauzz 9]

14 hours ago, LongMan said:

Thanks for your efforts here. Nice app.
Two questions:

• Do you plan to honor audio/music libraries? (ie have separate libraries)
• Will you allow users without passwords

Thanks!

Yes, separate music/audio libraries are on my list. The idea is that Traxx should respect the Emby library structure instead of simply mixing everything together, especially for users who keep music, audiobooks, classical music, or other audio collections in separate libraries.
 

About users without passwords: at the moment I don’t plan to support passwordless users as a default use case.

Traxx is meant to be used as a mobile music app, including remote access to an Emby server. In that context, requiring a password seems like the safer and more sensible approach. I understand passwordless users can be convenient on a trusted local network, but that is not the main scenario I’m building for right now.

[LongMan 121]

Understood. Thanks for replying

[Hauzz 9]

12 hours ago, GrimEvil said:

Forgot to add, when you select the display option on Android auto, you need away for it to remember your picked option, as currently everytime I open the app I have select the option I want be for it shows the albums 

Good point, I'll look in to it

[Hauzz 9]

Traxx 1.0.14 test build - changes since June 22

This build is mainly focused on making Traxx easier to use with Emby music libraries, especially on Android Auto, playlists, large libraries, and switching between local and remote server access. Traxx supports three languages, Dutch, Spanish and English, and automatically uses the one that matches your phone’s language.

Latest update, July 6
- The tester build and the normal release build were rebuilt, signature-checked, and installed on the test phone.
- This update adds the search fixes and library cache refresh fixes listed below.

Library and browsing
- Albums and Artists can now be shown as either a list or a grid in the phone app.
- The List/Grid choice is saved separately for Albums and Artists.
- Android Auto uses the same List/Grid choice as the phone app.
- Changing List/Grid on the phone can refresh the open Android Auto view on supported head units.
- Android Auto no longer shows an extra List/Grid selection page before Albums or Artists.
- Artist album counts are shown more reliably.
- The app no longer shows unnecessary “Album artist” fallback text in the artist view.

Playlist improvements
- Adding songs to playlists is now easier.
- In the Songs list, long-press a song to start selecting multiple songs.
- Tap more songs to select or deselect them.
- The top bar shows how many songs are selected.
- Tap the playlist button in the top bar to add all selected songs at once.
- You can add the selected songs to an existing Emby playlist.
- You can also create a new playlist and add the selected songs to it immediately.
- Traxx skips songs that are already in the target playlist, so it does not add duplicates.
- After adding, Traxx shows how many songs were actually added.

Playback and Now Playing
- Tapping a song from an album or playlist now opens Now Playing directly.
- Album, playlist, and artist detail pages now have smarter Play/Pause behaviour.
- If the same source is already playing, the main button pauses or resumes it.
- If another album, playlist, or artist is selected, the button starts that source.
- Album shuffle no longer starts playback immediately. It only shuffles the visible track list; pressing Play then starts that order.
- The mini-player no longer appears immediately when simply opening an album, playlist, or artist page.
- After closing Now Playing, a compact “continue listening” bar appears instead.
- The queue view now opens directly at the currently playing song.
- Synced lyrics can now be shown inline in Now Playing.

Search fixes
- Selecting an album or artist from search now closes search mode and hides the keyboard.
- When returning from the selected album or artist, the item you opened is kept in view.
- Selecting a song from search now opens Now Playing directly.
- Song search keeps the search text after selection.
- Previous and Next now stay inside the visible search results, instead of jumping back to the full Songs list.

Android Auto
- Android Auto browsing has been improved for Albums, Artists, Playlists, and Songs.
- Album, artist, and playlist items now show better names and artwork instead of falling back to a generic “Traxx” item.
- Android Auto can prepare library metadata without needing the phone app to be opened first.
- Artwork loading for Android Auto is more controlled and happens in stages.
- Album artwork fallback is faster for large libraries.
- Android Auto gets better hints for list/grid display, while the car/head unit still decides the final layout.

Large library and artwork fixes
- The local library cache now handles large libraries more safely.
- This avoids crashes such as very large library rows becoming too big for Android’s local database handling.
- When Emby reports album removals or merges, Traxx now does a proper main library refresh.
- Old album and artist detail snapshots are cleared after those changes, so removed or merged albums should no longer stay visible as empty old entries.
- Temporary artwork server errors and timeouts are remembered for 24 hours, so Traxx does not keep retrying the same failing image over and over.
- The tester/debug build now has a clearer artwork problems screen: failed artwork is shown with a recognizable song, album, artist, or playlist name where possible, plus the reason, retry count, last error time, and Emby ID. Temporary errors can also be cleared so Traxx can try those images again later.

Server switching and connection handling
- Switching between a local Emby address and a remote/backup address is more stable.
- When moving away from the local network, Traxx can switch to the backup/remote address more reliably.
- When returning to the local Wi-Fi network, Traxx can switch back to the local server address when reachable.
- The current song should keep playing where possible during server switching.
- Upcoming queue items are updated to use the active server address, reducing playback failures after switching networks.
- Server addresses are compared more intelligently, so addresses with or without `http://` can still be recognized as the same server.

Cast and security
- Local HTTP Cast streams can now be routed through the phone relay when needed.
- Artwork provider access has been tightened.
- Release logging stays limited, while tester/debug builds include more diagnostics for troubleshooting.

Tester build
- The tester APK is a separate app: `Traxx Tester`.
- It is signed, obfuscated, and resource-shrunk like a release build.
- The tester build expires after 14 days from first install.

Edited July 7 by Hauzz

[Hauzz 9]

And here's the apk

traxx-beta.apk

[volkans 0]

hi and thanks for your work. Can we connect remotely using tailscale?  Or how can we? Thank again

[Hauzz 9]

3 hours ago, volkans said:

hi and thanks for your work. Can we connect remotely using tailscale?  Or how can we? Thank again

Hi, thanks! Tailscale creates a private encrypted network between your devices, so in principle it should be a good way to access Emby remotely without opening ports on your router.

I haven’t tested Tailscale with Traxx yet. Traxx currently restricts non-HTTPS connections to regular local network addresses, while Tailscale normally uses a 100.x.x.x address. Because of that, a standard Tailscale Emby address may currently be rejected.

I’ll investigate adding proper Tailscale support. Thanks for the suggestion!

[r5yk5 17]

Looks good.

Any chance of some sorting options, especially for albums? I use either Date Added or Random sorting in the Emby app to choose something to play.

And playback via DLNA? I have a few devices that don't support Google cast but do support DLNA.

Either way I'm glad someone is giving this a go.

Oh yeah, and I'd also like to connect remotely with tailscale.

Thanks

[Hauzz 9]

On 7/12/2026 at 10:05 AM, r5yk5 said:

Looks good.

Any chance of some sorting options, especially for albums? I use either Date Added or Random sorting in the Emby app to choose something to play.

And playback via DLNA? I have a few devices that don't support Google cast but do support DLNA.

Either way I'm glad someone is giving this a go.

Oh yeah, and I'd also like to connect remotely with tailscale.

Thanks

Thanks for the feedback, and I’m glad you like the direction Traxx is taking.

Sorting options for albums, especially Date Added and Random, are useful suggestions. DLNA playback is also worth looking into for devices that do not support Google Cast.

Tailscale is not supported yet. Traxx currently only accepts the usual private internal IP ranges, while Tailscale uses addresses in the 100.x.x.x range. I will need to adjust that in the app before remote connections through Tailscale can work properly.

I’m very busy at the moment, so it may take some time before I have the opportunity to investigate and implement these options. I have added them to the list of things to look into.

Thanks again for the suggestions and encouragement.

[GrimEvil 87]

Sorry for the late reply, but from current testing everything looks to be working fine with no errors or other issues, thanks  

[Hauzz 9]

Traxx 1.0.14 updated – Tailscale Serve support

Changes

• Traxx can now use a private Tailscale Serve address as its Emby server.
• The same server address can be used both at home and remotely.
• Playback over Wi-Fi and mobile data has been tested.
• Google Cast also works when Traxx is connected through Tailscale.

What is Tailscale Serve?

Tailscale Serve makes a locally running Emby Server privately available to authorised Tailscale devices:

Traxx or Emby client
        ↓
Encrypted Tailscale connection
        ↓
https://nas-name.tailnet-name.ts.net
        ↓
Tailscale Serve
        ↓
http://127.0.0.1:8096
        ↓
Emby Server

Tailscale provides and renews the HTTPS certificate automatically. No public port forwarding, public domain name or manually renewed certificate is required.

Tailscale Serve is private. It should not be confused with Tailscale Funnel, which exposes a service publicly.

Installing a recent Tailscale version on a NAS

First check the app store or package manager supplied by the NAS manufacturer.

NAS app stores do not always contain the latest Tailscale release. If the included version is too old to support Serve, download the appropriate stable package from Tailscale itself:

• Official Tailscale stable packages
• QNAP installation instructions
• Synology installation instructions
• All supported installation methods

Always select the package that matches the NAS model, operating system and CPU architecture.

For example, on QNAP a downloaded .qpkg can be installed through:

App Center → Install Manually

On Synology, the corresponding .spk package can be installed manually through Package Center.

After installation, connect the NAS to the tailnet and verify that Emby is available locally on port 8096.

Enabling Tailscale Serve

On a system where the Tailscale command is available normally, run:

tailscale serve --bg 8096

The --bg option stores the Serve configuration and automatically restores it after Tailscale or the device restarts.

On QNAP, the CLI might not be present in the normal shell path. In that case use:

$(getcfg SHARE_DEF defVolMP -f /etc/config/def_share.info)/.qpkg/Tailscale/tailscale serve --bg 8096

On Windows, if Emby Server runs on the Windows computer, use an administrator terminal:

tailscale serve --bg 8096

On macOS, if Emby runs on the Mac, install the Tailscale CLI integration and run:

tailscale serve --bg 8096

The command displays the private address assigned to the server, for example:

https://nas-name.tailnet-name.ts.net/
|-- proxy http://127.0.0.1:8096

On first use, Tailscale may provide a web link asking the tailnet administrator to enable HTTPS.

Do not run tailscale funnel; Funnel would make the service public.

Configuring Traxx

Use the complete address displayed by Tailscale as the main server:

https://nas-name.tailnet-name.ts.net

No port number is required.

The backup-server field can remain empty. The Tailscale address works both inside and outside the home network and does not depend on NAT loopback or hairpin NAT support in the router.

Tailscale must be installed and connected on the client device. Users still sign in using their normal Emby account.

Local devices that do not use Tailscale can continue connecting directly over the LAN:

http://192.168.x.x:8096

Family members can be given access by sharing only the NAS through Tailscale machine sharing, without adding them to the complete tailnet.

app-beta.apk

Edited Wednesday at 07:42 AM by Hauzz

[Hauzz 9]

The last two updates don´t seem to be very popular. It would be nice to have some feedback so I know what is good and what isn't.
If there is no interest in the app, that's fine, really, but I'll have to consider to not share more updates, so please let me know, alright?