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Media servers

Connect Jellyfin, Emby or Plex, reach it away from home, and put its libraries on your Home screen.

Adding a server

Go to SettingsMedia ServersAdd Server. On the Mac the same page has three buttons instead: Sign in with Plex, Sign in with Emby Connect and Add Server Manually…

Plex

  1. Choose Sign in with Plex. Strand shows a short code.
  2. On your phone or computer, go to plex.tv/link and enter the code. On iPhone and iPad, Open Plex to sign in does this for you.
  3. Back in Strand, Choose a server.
If the Plex code won't go throughSign in to plex.tv in a private browser window first, then enter the code again. It's a quirk of Plex's own sign-in, not of Strand.

Emby

Use Sign in with Emby Connect if you have an Emby Connect account, or fill in the server's address and your user details as below.

Jellyfin, or any server by address

  1. Server URL: the address you'd type into a browser, with the port. Jellyfin and Emby usually use :8096, Plex :32400.
  2. Remote URL (Optional): an address that works away from home, so the server can be reached from anywhere.
  3. Credentials: the username and password you use on that server.
  4. Display Name: what Strand calls it.
  5. Tap Connect.

If you enter a home-network address and no Remote URL, Strand warns you the server will only work at home. Tap Add Anyway if that's what you want.

Showing your library

Connecting a server doesn't change your Home screen by itself. The rows you see at first come from TMDB. To put your own library on Home:

  • Add a row: SettingsShelvesAdd Shelf, pick a style, then Media Servers → your server → Libraries, Collections, Favourite Collections or Playlists.
  • Use the server's own layout (Jellyfin and Emby): SettingsShelvesServer Home Rows adds one row showing the server's libraries and collections, in the order and with the covers set on the server.
  • Only your server: turn on Only Show My Server's Content in Media Servers. Home, Search and Explore then hide every title that isn't in your library. Live TV isn't affected.

The other switches

SettingWhat it does
Show Badge on PostersA small mark on any poster you can play from your server. Called Show Media Server Badge on Posters on Apple TV.
Search Media ServersAdds a row of results from your servers to Search.
Use Server ArtworkUses your server's posters and backdrops for titles in its library. Text details still come from TMDB.
Track Only With Your Tracking ServiceIgnores the server's own watched marks, resume points and Continue Watching, and stops reporting playback to it. Your tracking service becomes the only record; the server still supplies the artwork and the video.
Requests → Connect SeerrAsk for a title that isn't on your server from its page, if you run Seerr.

Editing or refreshing a server

Open the server in Media Servers to change its Server URL, Remote URL or Display Name, Sign In Again, or Re-index it. Re-index when you've added a lot to the server and it isn't showing up in Strand yet.