Jellyfin’s desktop app has new features and a new name
Jellyfin, the self-hosted media server software, just revamped its official desktop client. The Jellyfin Media Player is now called Jellyfin Desktop, with an update to Qt 6, multi-profile support and other new features.
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Jellyfin offers a web application for media playback on desktop computers, but in 2021 the project also released an official client for Windows, macOS and Linux. Much like Plex’s desktop app, it had the same interface as the web app with many shared components, but with broader support for media formats and easy access. It’s also supposed to work better with game controllers and remotes than the web client. Mac owners on Apple Silicon also have the option of installing the iPhone and iPad app from the App Store.
The major update v2.0 of the application is now here, with a new name: it is now “Jellyfin Desktop” instead of Jellyfin Media Player. If you had the old version installed, this upgrade is also a clean slate: you need to log in to your server(s) and configure your settings again.
Jellyfin Desktop is now built with the Qt 6 and MpvQt libraries, the latter of which is a wrapper around libmpv, which should improve overall performance and media playback capabilities. Multiple profiles and MPRIS for media control are now supported for the first time, and pressing the Escape key now exits full-screen mode.
There are also new options to force the HTML5 player, movie/show background to appear before playback (matching web app options), playback speed, and other features. The full changelog is below.
Jellyfin Desktop 2.0 Release Notes
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Rename Jellyfin Desktop
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Change the launcher/taskbar/dock name to “Jellyfin”
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Upgrade to Qt 6
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Add a dependency to the MpvQt library
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Edit the configuration paths (Jellyfin Media Player settings will NOT be migrated):
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Linux:
~/.local/share/jellyfin-desktop -
macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Jellyfin Desktop -
Windows:
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Jellyfin Desktop
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Add MPRIS support for media control
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Add initial multi-profile support (CLI flags only)
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Requires D-Bus for screen saver management
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Show movie/show background before playback starts (corresponds to Jellyfin-Web)
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Add an option to force use of HTML5 player
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Add an option to disable UI zoom
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Added the ability to exit full screen mode with the Escape key
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Add log rotation (10 most recent)
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Add
--config-dirAnd--log-levelCLI options -
Pack
native/assets directly in the application binary (no more separate files) -
Change the boot server connection to retry indefinitely (cancelable with Escape)
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Change app ID to
org.jellyfin.JellyfinDesktop -
Update playback rate options (corresponds to jellyfin-web)
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Fix various window geometry, magnification, and full screen window issues
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Fixed audio mute not persisting between tracks
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Fixed audio to only disappear when stopping playback (matches Jellyfin-Web)
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Fixed cursor sometimes not hiding in full screen
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Fix determining server base URL (matches jellyfin-web)
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Fix CORS and CSP (no more security bypass hacks)
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Use the XDG execution directory for input and singleton sockets
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A bunch of various bug fixes and optimizations
At the same time, Jellyfin Server 10.11.5 is also deployed. This is primarily a bug fix update, with some significant changes to AV1 decoding, blocked playback, background image removal, server policy management, and other features.
Jellyfin Desktop 2.0 will be released soon for Windows, macOS and Linux from the project download page. Arch Linux AUR already has the update and it should appear on Flathub “very soon”.
Source: GitHub
