Lobbycard brings a native Jellyfin client to Apple TV and Fire TV
A developer on r/jellyfin has announced Lobbycard, a native player that connects to Jellyfin as well as Emby, Plex and network shares. It is available now for Apple TV and Fire TV, according to the announcement post. Versions for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android TV/Google TV, LG and Samsung are described as coming soon.
What it does with Jellyfin
Sign-in works with a password or Quick Connect, and servers on your local network are discovered automatically. The most interesting design choice is profiles: a "Who's watching?" selector keeps separate Continue Watching lists and watched status per person, stored inside your Jellyfin account. That means no admin rights and no extra Jellyfin users to manage, and the state syncs between devices through the server.
Playback is direct-play first. MP4 and MOV files stream straight from the server, while MKV files with native codecs are only remuxed, not re-encoded. On Apple TV the app handles Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K HDR and Match Content for frame rate and dynamic range. Where Apple's player falls short, mpv steps in as a fallback engine for VC-1, MPEG-2, AV1 and PGS/ASS subtitles. Dolby Vision profile 7 is played as HDR10. For DTS and TrueHD audio, the app picks another track in the same language or lets the server convert audio only while keeping the picture intact. If an engine fails mid-film, it switches and resumes at the same second.
Other features listed include skip intro, recap and credits, a next-episode button and episodes row, subtitle size and timing controls, adding your own subtitle files or sending one from your phone, trailers from your server's trailer files, and combining several servers in one library. On Apple TV there is also a Top Shelf row with Continue Watching and the newest titles. The app ships in 14 languages and the developer states there are no analytics, ads or tracking.
Why it matters
The Apple TV has long been a weak spot for Jellyfin users, with free clients such as Swiftfin and the official apps carrying much of the load. A paid native option that leans on direct play and remuxing rather than transcoding can mean less CPU load on modest servers, and per-profile state without extra accounts is a practical touch for shared households. The developer is openly asking the community what a paid client should offer, so feedback is welcome in r/lobbycard.
Commentary for self-hosters
Treat this as a client decision, not a server one: nothing changes in your Jellyfin setup, and your existing libraries and users stay as they are. Before paying, check the codecs you actually store. If your library is mostly MP4/H.264, direct play should be straightforward; heavy VC-1, MPEG-2 or AV1 content will lean on the mpv fallback, and DV profile 7 will land as HDR10 rather than Dolby Vision. If you run a low-power box, the remux-only approach is worth testing against your current client. And if you extend Jellyfin with plugins for accounts or access control, see our Jellyfin plugins to keep the server side consistent while you evaluate a new player.