The desktop app should have maximum encoding compatibility so you direct play. It's not guaranteed with browsers e.g. I believe Firefox doesn't and will never support HEVC.
My gripe with the desktop app is lack of ability to easily refresh like with a browser. The UI bugs out sometimes and I end up having to close and reopen the app.
you get that sweet playback, sometimes, plus all the instability of windows. win win!
If you right click anywhere you can get into a separate context menu from which you can reload/refresh. At least that's how it works for me
I really like Jellyfin MPV Shim, which supports casting from any jellyfin device and automatically opens mpv. E.g. I have jellyfin in my browser set to cast to the mpv shim by default, so after clicking play in Jellyfin web mpv automatically opens in fullscreen.
With MPV supporting almost any codec and proper HDR tone mapping, I don't worry about transcoding or whether the image looks right.
Jellyfin in the browser has been my preferred way to play media. I have the desktop app, but it constantly gets hung up on lossless music and movies over 480p. I could have screwed up a setting, but I don't know
You didn't expose it to the internet right?
What's the issue? I've run mine exposed for several years...
That's not a good idea as the internet if full of bots trying to compromise you. It might be fine for a while but when they find a weakness they strike.
You may of already been compromised.
Does jellyfin have known vulnerabilities for bots to exploit? It's been up for several years with, afaik, no problems.
System has usual steps taken to harden it, JF is behind an apache proxy, letsencrypt handles ssl certs, fail2ban is running, and users are required to have strong passwords with no option to reset or self-register.
It sounds like you've at least taken some steps to harden. For me it is trivial to use a VPN so that's what I do.
A VPN would not be practical for my situation, as the instance is used by various family members and friends. I'm happy for them to use my JF instance but I'm not providing VPN services as well.
If you're not referring to any specific vulnerabilities in JF then I feel confident there are no exceptional risks from allowing web access to JF? Just the usual ones?
You don't need to give them access to a internet connection, just the local device. There are many options for this including Netbird, Tailscale, and just plain old wireguard.
That's overly complicated for some of the users - most of them aren't very tech savvy, and they're watching via all kinds of devices - TV's, iOS, Kindle, etc.
I don't see any major security reason for access requiring a VPN. Are there particular vulnerabilities that you're concerned about, or just those that generally come from having a web-facing service?
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