I have a WebDav server that contains some movies and shows. I use Infuse on Apple stuff and NOVA Video Player on Android to watch these. The directory is not organized, file names aren’t manually adjusted, and the movies and shows are mixed together. Yet, both of these programs are able to index recursively, get metadata, create a library and let me watch my media without issues.

Kodi, on the other hand, seems to be unable to index nested directories, requires you to tell it what type of media is in the individual directories and cannot identify anything correctly unless I go and manually rename directories/files. It also is exclusive for TV usage and not very suitable for desktop.

So, are there alternative programs to Kodi, ideally better suited to desktop usage or extensions I can install to make it work properly?

  • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
    18·
    1 day ago

    Ok but Jellyfin is a web service. Not really suitable for a Home Theatre PC. If there was a frontend application that worked in a kiosk type way, then it would replace Kodi.

    • SquiffSquiff@lemmy.world
      5·
      22 hours ago

      Sorry but it doesn’t sound like you know what you’re talking about. Jellyfin is a server. Sure you can use a web client but there are many others too

      • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        Yes jellyfin is a server, and the question asked was what to replace Kodi with. Kodi is a frontend. Jellyfin doesn’t solve the problem.

      • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        19 hours ago

        So recommend a client suitable for a dedicated HTPC? I’ve yet to find one, as the Kodi add-on for jellyfin is buggy in my experience.

          • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
            1·
            8 hours ago

            To be fair I didn’t know that existed because I don’t use windows. I would expect it would be fine if I did. However, I use Linux.

            • SquiffSquiff@lemmy.world
              1·
              8 hours ago

              Ok. I missed which sub I was in, sorry. There is a Linux desktop Jellyfin app but I haven’t used it myself. In my own case I am running Jellyfin on Linux. I use various clients, including web browser (laptop), Android and Roku (TV) and find it works really well. In the past I had tried with the ‘connect directly to the server’ route with XBMC (as Kodi was called then) and it never worked well, with similar issues those described in other comments.

    • Psiczar@aussie.zone
      9·
      1 day ago

      No, Jellyfin has a server backend which manages the media and serves it up to the client frontends which support most modern operating systems like Windows, Linux and Android. See https://jellyfin.org/ for details.

      I’d ditch the HTPC, and go for an Android based media player like the Shield, no moving parts, no keyboard/mouse and rarely requires an update. Had a HTPC for many years and anytime I wanted to watch something I had to mess about with it first before it would play.

    • digdilem@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      23 hours ago

      Not really suitable for a Home Theatre PC

      Not sure where you got that idea, but it’s absolutely what I use it for. That I can also watch content from multiple sources as well is part of the appeal. Plus no constant upsell like Kodi and Emby.