Jellyfin is a fantastic media streaming platform. Originally a fork of Emby, the package has become its own offering, enticing users of Emby and Plex, among others, to make the switch to an open-source frontier.

I thoroughly enjoy using Jellyfin to access all my purchased content and owned media, though there's one area it has always lacked compared to the competition: official apps. Whether it's on Android TV or Android and iOS-powered smartphones, these official offerings are lacking in functionality and features. It's the one thing I'd love to see changed with Jellyfin.

Jellyfin apps are good enough

But they fall short of what's available elsewhere

If all you wish to do is stream a movie to your tablet while in bed, you're good to go with the official Jellyfin app. It's good enough for handling direct playback of whatever you happen to have cataloged, but there's always a niggling feeling while using the apps. They're just not as polished and dependable as Spotify, Netflix, Plex, or Emby. Whether you're coming from paid subscriptions or another self-hosted media streaming platform, what Jellyfin offers from the developers can feel lacking compared to the competition and third-party solutions.

There's a stark difference between usable and enjoyable. Just because something works doesn't mean it's a pleasant experience to use, and that's how I'd largely explain my run-ins with the official Jellyfin apps. This is especially true for music playback and offline usage, both of which are major features I need to have for my media streaming app. Then there's auto support, which is only possible with Android Auto, and even that isn't fully set in reliability stone. What this leaves me and many others in Jellyfin with is a dilemma. What else do we use instead?

When searching through Jellyfin forum threads and GitHub issues, you'll often see complaints that music playback through official Jellyfin mobile apps is largely unreliable. I've had music streams suddenly stop when the phone screen locks unexpectedly. Should cellular connectivity get spotty for a short while, the app will struggle to pick up where it left off — though we have this same issue with the excellent third-party app Manet. This isn't an annoyance; it can fundamentally ruin the Jellyfin experience and lead a newcomer to regret their decision or look to move elsewhere.

Music on the go is cumbersome

Signal is often patchy enough to interrupt streaming, which is why I prefer to make full use of internal storage. Though I understand the official app is positioned as such, to warrant the ability to remotely stream content from the server, offline playback, and enhanced media support really should be one of the staple selling points to match the server package offering. It's no good to me when the app either stops playing for no apparent reason or shuffling halts halfway through a playlist. It's challenging to see third-party alternatives offer these features out of the box.

But there are other times when offline playback would really change up the mood. Think of a long-haul flight or a trip through a city's metro system. Both of these methods of transportation will often provide very little wireless connectivity, if any at all. It's a shame because it means those who really put music at the forefront of their media consumption can't rely on the official apps and instead have to turn to alternatives, myself included. For Android, I use Symfonium. For Apple hardware, it's Manet. They're both great and have their issues, but at least it's better than Jellyfin.

Another issue is that this is platform-agnostic. Whether you're on Android or iOS, you'll have the same problem.

This matters for everyone

Particularly those new to Jellyfin

When installing and setting up a new self-hosted package, what would you search for when prowling through the App Store or Google Play? The official name, of course. After installing Jellyfin and moving across media to stream, it's likely many will search for the official Jellyfin apps. They may appear fancy, with a similar web UI and decent functionality, but they will quickly notice these limitations, especially for music playback. These are must-haves for music consumption. I'm talking about playback, offline downloads, smooth transitions, top-notch playlist support, and integrated controls.

The official Jellyfin apps on all platforms that I use the service on at least don't check all the boxes. Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, TIDAL, and even many podcast players all offer solid background playback and offline modes. Jellyfin prides itself on free and open-source media freedom, but it almost encourages you to move to alternatives or use third-party apps, some of which charge for the luxury, to truly enjoy streaming as you'd imagine it to work. I love Jellyfin as our streaming platform and have heard no complaints from family members who connect and use the server, but the apps continue to feel lacking.

I would love for the apps to receive some much-needed love. Work on the UX some more, add all the necessary vehicle support for Android and iOS, implement truly native offline playback support for all media, and transform the official apps into ones users feel proud to have installed and pegged to the home screen. Third-party apps have shown what is possible with some development time, and I reckon with the prowess that is the development skillset behind Jellyfin, I can't see it taking too long for the team to cook up something incredible.