Wholphin - an OSS Android TV client for Jellyfin

"Never half-phin two jellies. Always wholphin one jelly."

Wholphin is an open-source Android TV client for Jellyfin. It aims to provide a different app UI that's inspired by Plex for users interested in migrating to Jellyfin.

This is not a fork of the official client. Wholphin's user interface and controls have been written completely from scratch. Wholphin supports playing media using either ExoPlayer or MPV.

Features

User interface

• Customize the home page to see the content you are interested in
  • Use poster or thumb images, show/hide titles, add/remove/re-order different types of rows!
  • Option to combine the Continue Watching & Next Up into a single row
  • Pin collections, playlists, favorites, genres, and studios
  • Remove series from next up
• A navigation drawer for quick access to libraries, favorites, search, and settings from almost anywhere in the app
• Integration with Seerr to discover new movies and TV shows
  • Note: only available when installed from GitHub or the Play store
• Customize library display
  • Option to show Movie/TV Show titles
  • Choose image types & size
  • Choose from grid or list layouts
• Play theme music, if available
• Customize subtitle style for plain text subtitles with separate HDR settings
• Search & download subtitles (requires compatible server plugin such as OpenSubtitles)
• Multiple app color themes
• Protect user profile switches with PIN code or require server login
• Change the user interface language per user
• In-app & Android OS screensaver support

Playback

• Different media playback engines:
  • ExoPlayer w/ optional extra audio, SSA/ASS, & AV1 software decoding
  • MPV for direct playing anything with great SSA/ASS subtitle support
• Plex inspired playback controls:
  • Using D-Pad left/right for seeking during playback
  • Quickly access video chapters & queue during playback
  • Optionally skip back a few seconds when resuming playback
• Live TV & DVR support
• Music & music video support
• Cinema mode/pre-roll intro support (requires compatible server plugin such as Intros)
• Auto play next episodes with pass out protection
• Option for automatic refresh rate & resolution switching on supported displays
• Trickplay (video preview) support
• Subtly show playback position along the bottom of the screen while seeking w/ D-Pad

Roadmap

See here for the roadmap

Installation

Using Google Play or Amazon appstore are the fastest way to install. But you can follow these instructions to install without needing an app store

Downloader Code: 8668671

1. Enable side-loading "unknown" apps
   • https://androidtvnews.com/unknown-sources-chromecast-google-tv/
   • https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-sideload-apps-android-tv/
   • https://developer.android.com/distribute/marketing-tools/alternative-distribution#unknown-sources
   • https://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-enable-apps-from-unknown-sources-on-an-amazon-fire-tv-or-fire-tv-stick/
2. Install the APK on your Android TV device with one of these options:
   • Install a browser program such as Downloader, use it to get the latest apk with short code 8668671 or URL: http://aftv.news/8668671
   • Download the latest APK release from the releases page or http://aftv.news/8668671
     • Put the APK on an SD Card/USB stick/network share and use a file manager app from the Google Play Store / Amazon AppStore (e.g. FX File Explorer). Android's preinstalled file manager probably will not work!
     • Use Send files to TV from the Google Play Store on your phone & TV
     • (Expert) Use ADB to install the APK from your computer (guide)

Upgrading the app

After the initial install above, the app will automatically check for updates. The updates can be installed in settings.

The first time you attempt an update, the OS should guide you through enabling the required additional permissions for the app to install updates.

Note: if installed via an app store, the app store will handle updates.

Compatibility

Requires Android 6+ (or Fire TV OS 6+) and Jellyfin server 10.10.x or 10.11.x (tested on primarily 10.11).

The app is tested on a variety of Android TV/Fire TV OS devices, but if you encounter issues, please file an issue!

Seerr integration is generally tested with the latest stable version. Older versions may not work as expected. The Seerr server should configured with integration to your Jellyfin server for full compatibility.

Contributions

Issues and pull requests are always welcome! Please check before submitting that your issue or pull request is not a duplicate.

If you plan to contribute, please read the contributing guide!

You can help translate Wholphin!

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to the Jellyfin team for creating and maintaining such a great open-source media server
• Thanks to the official Jellyfin Android TV client developers, some code for creating the device direct play profile is adapted from there
• Thanks to the Jellyfin Kotlin SDK developers for making it easier to interact with the Jellyfin server API
• Thanks to numerous other libraries that make app development even possible

Additional screenshots

Customized home page

Movie library browsing

Movie page

Series page

Genres in library

Playlist