JellyWatch for Android TV -- A dedicated Emby & Jellyfin client for the big screen

[asgard25 57]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to introduce JellyWatch for Android TV, a third-party media player built from scratch for Android TV, Google TV and Fire TV. It connects to both Emby and Jellyfin servers. The server type is detected automatically when you enter your URL, so there is nothing to configure manually.

JellyWatch is built natively with Jetpack Compose for TV and designed entirely around the D-pad remote. No phone UI stretched to fit a television. Every screen, every animation, every interaction is made for the big screen. 

The app was first published in June 2026 and has already crossed 10,000 downloads on Google Play in just a few months.

• Website: https://jellywatch.app/android-tv
• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellywatch.tv
• Amazon Appstore: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0H6F1KLQ4

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Emby support

JellyWatch works with Emby servers out of the box. When you type your server URL on the login screen, the app probes the endpoint and detects whether it is Jellyfin or Emby automatically. Emby accounts get full access to:

• All libraries (movies, series, music, books)
• Continue Watching and Recently Added
• Live TV channels and recording timers
• Full playback with Direct Play and transcoding fallback
• Admin dashboard with active streams and library statistics

Jellyfin-only features (Skip Intro, Trickplay thumbnails, SyncPlay, remote subtitle search, theme songs) are gracefully hidden when connected to an Emby server, so the interface stays clean and relevant.

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Playback engine

The player is where JellyWatch really shines. It uses an intelligent 3-level fallback system:

1. Direct Play passthrough -- your file plays as-is, no transcoding, no quality loss
2. Local FFmpeg decode -- if a codec is not supported by the device hardware, the app decodes it locally with FFmpeg before hitting the server
3. Server transcoding -- only as a last resort

Supported formats and features:

• 4K, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision
• H.264, HEVC, AV1 (with libdav1d software fallback), VP9
• Dolby TrueHD Atmos and DTS:X passthrough with force mode
• DTS-HD MA, FLAC, Opus
• Multichannel FLAC surround (5.1/7.1) delivered as Dolby Digital Plus over HDMI ARC/eARC automatically
• Two playback engines: ExoPlayer and MPV
• Playback speed from 0.5x to 2x
• Live quality switching (Original, 4K, 1080p, 720p, 480p, 360p) mid-stream without interruption
• Display rate switching to match video frame rate (24p, 25p, 30p, 60p) for judder-free playback
• Audio Night Mode for dynamic range compression (quiet dialog boost, loud peak reduction)
• Stats for Nerds overlay: codec, resolution, bitrate, HDR type, frame rate, dropped frames, buffer health, network bandwidth, display mode

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Subtitles

• SRT, ASS/SSA with full styling (rendered locally with libass), PGS bitmap subtitles
• Server-side burn-in option when needed
• Online subtitle search during playback via OpenSubtitles (requires a subtitle provider plugin on your server). Results are sorted by rating and download count. Downloaded subtitles are saved permanently on the server and available for all users.

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Home screen and navigation

• Resume right where you left off (Continue Watching)
• Next Up so you never lose track of a series
• Recently Added, organized by library
• Direct access to all your libraries
• Home Screen Channels: Continue Watching and Recently Added appear directly on the Android TV launcher, so you can resume without opening the app
• Fast search with content type filtering
• High-resolution artwork, smooth GPU-optimized animations
• Cinematic screensaver to protect OLED displays

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Exclusive features

These are features that, to my knowledge, no other Emby or Jellyfin Android TV client currently offers:

Kids Profile A dedicated kids mode with a custom home screen, large poster cards, hero banner, the Fredoka rounded font, colorful animated backgrounds, and three color themes. A parental PIN locks all exits from Kids mode and blocks access to Settings and adult profiles. Content filtering is managed by your server user policy.

Linked Profiles (multiple servers, one home screen) Have accounts on two different servers? Link them from the "Who's watching?" screen. Continue Watching, Next Up and Recently Added merge into a single unified home screen. No more switching between servers. Each profile keeps its own watch history and preferences.

Home Assistant Cinema Mode Connect your Home Assistant instance with a Long-Lived Access Token. Assign a script, scene or service call to play, pause and stop events. Press Play and your lights dim. Pause and they come back. Stop and everything returns to normal. Fully local, no cloud, no polling. Supports scripts, scenes, and direct service calls. Configure in Settings > Home Assistant.

Multichannel FLAC Surround FLAC 5.1 and 7.1 files play in full surround on ARC/eARC soundbars and receivers. The app detects multichannel tracks and delivers Dolby Digital Plus over HDMI with no server configuration needed.

Local Trailer Autoplay Place a Movie-trailer.mkv or Movie-trailer.mp4 next to your film on the server. JellyWatch plays it muted on loop as the backdrop on detail pages. No YouTube, no internet, no API key required.

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Additional features

• Theme songs: ambient background music plays automatically on movie and series detail pages, like a cinema lobby. Volume configurable (Off, Low, Medium, High).
• Trickplay thumbnails: scrub the timeline and see a live preview of the scene at the target position (requires Jellyfin 10.9+).
• Skip Intro and Credits: configurable per segment type (Off, Auto-skip, or Button). Supports intro, credits, recap, preview, and commercials. Smart coexistence with the Up Next overlay (requires Jellyfin 10.9+).
• SyncPlay: watch any movie or series in perfect sync with friends and family. Create or join a group, play/pause/seek together in real time. Automatic pause when someone is buffering (Jellyfin only).
• Admin Dashboard: real-time server monitoring on your TV. Active streams with backdrop artwork and transcode info, library statistics, connected devices grouped by user, library scan trigger, running task progress, server info and update alerts. Visible only for admin accounts.
• Seerr/Jellyseerr integration: search, discover trending content, and request movies or TV shows directly from the remote.
• Multi-account: switch between multiple accounts on the same device with avatar and quick switch.
• TV Quick Login: sign in with a short code on your phone, no TV keyboard needed.
• Picture in Picture: press Home during playback and the video continues in a floating window.
• Music player: browse albums, artists, genres and playlists. Persistent mini-player for background browsing. 10-band parametric equalizer with real-time presets.
• EPUB reader: browse your book library and read ebooks on your TV with dark, light and sepia themes, adjustable font size and D-pad page turning.
• Are you still watching?: after a configurable number of consecutive episodes (2-5), a dialog asks if you're still there. Prevents all-night playback. Can be disabled.
• Image cache management and optional animated backgrounds.

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Supported devices

JellyWatch runs on all Android TV devices:

• NVIDIA Shield
• Chromecast with Google TV
• Amazon Fire TV (Stick 4K, Cube, Fire TV Stick)
• Xiaomi Mi Box
• Sony Bravia
• Mecool and other Android TV boxes
• Any device running Android TV 8.0 or above

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Requirements

• Android TV 8.0+
• A Jellyfin Server 10.8+ or an Emby Server
• Local or remote network connection
• Trickplay thumbnails and theme songs require Jellyfin 10.9+

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Download

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellywatch.tv
• Amazon Appstore: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0H6F1KLQ4
• Website: https://jellywatch.app/android-tv

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Mobile companion app

JellyWatch also has a separate mobile app for server monitoring and management (not a player). Real-time session tracking, watch analytics, user management, Seerr/Jellyseerr/Radarr/Sonarr integration, and more. Available on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellywatch.app

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Disclaimer: JellyWatch is an independent third-party client. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Emby LLC or the Jellyfin project. "Emby" and "Jellyfin" are referenced for compatibility purposes only.

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Happy to answer any questions or take feedback. If you run into any issues with your Emby server, feel free to reach out here or on our Discord.

Edited 20 minutes ago by asgard25
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