Jellyfin & SMB Video Player: before you buy
Based on: Our test bench: Apple TV 4K (1st gen, 2017), iPhone 13, a macOS SMB share, test servers; the app's sourcetvOS: 26 on the test Apple TV; the app needs tvOS 18 or laterChecked
Short answer
Buy it if your films sit on a Jellyfin server or an SMB share on your home network and you want MKVs to play in Apple's own player without transcoding. It does not support Plex, Emby, Kodi, DLNA or USB. HDR10 metadata is kept and Dolby Digital Plus (including Atmos) is handed to Apple TV, but DTS and TrueHD are decoded on the box, because no Apple TV passes them through to a receiver.
Where your films can come from
Sources
- Two source types: a Jellyfin server (username and password sign-in) and an SMB share. Plex, Emby, Kodi, DLNA, WebDAV, FTP, USB and iCloud Drive are not supported.Our app
- Jellyfin playback asks the server for the original file, so there is no server transcoding. Plain-http Jellyfin servers on your home network are allowed.Our app
- For SMB, you sign in, then pick a share from the list the server returns. The scan collects mkv, mp4, m4v, mov, avi, ts, m2ts and wmv files, up to 8 folder levels deep.Our app
- SMB was measured with a macOS share and an SMB2 test server on the same Wi-Fi.Tested
- A real Jellyfin server end to end (the Jellyfin path was measured as an http stream with the same profile), NAS brands (Synology, QNAP, Unraid, TrueNAS), SMB1, guest shares, remote access, VPN and https servers.Not tested
What it plays
| File | What happens | Status |
|---|---|---|
| MKV, H.264 or HEVC, with AAC / AC-3 / E-AC-3 | Re-wrapped without re-encoding and played by Apple’s player | Measured |
| MKV, HEVC 10-bit HDR10 2160p | Plays; the stream Apple TV receives keeps PQ and BT.2020 (our test TV is SDR, so nothing is claimed about a panel) | Measured |
| MKV with DTS or TrueHD only | Decoded on the Apple TV by the built-in software player | Measured |
| MKV with FLAC, Opus or MP3 | Decoded by the software player | Measured |
| MP4 over http | Played directly by Apple’s player | Measured |
| M4V, MOV, TS, M2TS, AVI, WMV | Routed in the app’s code | Not tested |
| AV1, VP9, MPEG-2, VC-1 | Routed to the software player in code | Not tested |
| Dolby Vision (any profile) | No sample tested | Not tested |
Measured on a 2017 Apple TV 4K over Wi-Fi unless the row says otherwise.
Start and seek times are on the measurement page. On the test Apple TV, a real 2160p film over SMB took 4.45 seconds to its first frame; on a network barely faster than the film’s bitrate, expect much longer waits.
Sound
Audio, plainly
- Apple TV’s audio route offered Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Plus Atmos and multichannel PCM. Never DTS or TrueHD.Tested
- A film with TrueHD Atmos first and Dolby Digital Plus Atmos second plays the Dolby Digital Plus track through Apple’s player.Tested
- What a receiver shows for Atmos, and what it receives from decoded DTS or TrueHD. Our bench has no Atmos receiver.Not tested
- One audio track is carried when an MKV is re-wrapped. Commentary and audio-description tracks are never picked automatically.Our app
Subtitles
What we measured
- Embedded text subtitles (SRT, ASS, WebVTT) show up in the system subtitle menu; a forced English track was selected automatically.Tested
- Bitmap subtitles (PGS, VobSub): no sample tested.Not tested
- Subtitle download (OpenSubtitles) and chapter selection are available only when a file plays in the built-in software player.Our app
Devices
- Needs tvOS 18 or iOS 17 or later. Tested on a 2017 Apple TV 4K and an iPhone 13.
- Apple TV HD, newer Apple TV 4K models and iPad have not been tested on hardware.
If your setup matches the “measured” rows, the player is built for you. If you rely on a “not tested” row, try it with a short file first; Apple’s refund page covers App Store purchases, and you can write to us at [email protected].
Questions people ask
Does it work with my Synology or QNAP NAS?
It speaks SMB, which NAS boxes offer, but our measurements used a macOS SMB share and a test server. No NAS brand has been tested yet, so we cannot promise a specific model.
Can I watch from outside my home network?
Every measurement used a server on the same Wi-Fi. Remote access, a VPN and https servers have not been tested.
Will my receiver show DTS or Dolby TrueHD?
No Apple TV sends DTS or TrueHD to a receiver. The player decodes those tracks on the Apple TV instead. Dolby Digital Plus tracks, including Atmos, are handed to Apple TV's own audio output.
If you would rather not fiddle with it
Jellyfin & SMB Video Player
Plays MKV and MP4 from a Jellyfin server or an SMB share on Apple TV. MKVs are re-wrapped for Apple's own player without re-encoding; DTS, TrueHD, FLAC and Opus files are decoded by a built-in software player.
View on the App Store$6.99 once, no subscription
We make this app. Everything above is true whether or not you use it.