Your Emby library, as live TV.

Nostalgex is a free, open source Apple TV app that turns your Emby library into 130+ live channels in 14 bundles, with a retro TV guide. It's plug and play: Nostalgex finds your server on your network and shows its users, so you pick your name and enter your password. There's nothing to install on your server and no paid service needed.

Get it on Apple TV Try the web tuner, free
Download on Apple TV

Works with Emby on Apple TV (tvOS 18 or later) and in the free web tuner.

Three steps. Then you're just watching TV.

  1. 01

    It finds your server

    Open Nostalgex on the Apple TV and choose Emby. It finds your server on your network and shows the users it lists, so you pick your name and enter your password. The app talks straight to your server.

  2. 02

    Channels build themselves

    Your library gets sorted into channels automatically. Saturday morning cartoons, 90s sitcoms, the VHS vault, the stuff you rewatch constantly. No playlists to make.

  3. 03

    Start flipping

    Pull up the guide, pick a channel, or just surf. Everything is already playing, so you drop into the middle of a movie like real TV.

You self-host for a reason. Nothing leaves your house.

Typing a server password into somebody else's app is a fair thing to be suspicious about. So here is exactly what Nostalgex does with it.

  • Your server address and token are stored in the Apple TV Keychain and are never sent to us
  • Sign-in goes straight from the app to your server. We never see your username or password
  • We do not host, stream, or supply any media. Every frame comes off your own machine
  • No account to create, nothing sold to anyone
  • The app sends a short fixed list of anonymous usage events, like a channel being tuned. Never titles, library contents, or your server address
A full Nostalgex channel guide with a grid of channels and what is airing on each

How to set up Nostalgex with Emby on Apple TV

  1. 1

    Install Nostalgex free from the App Store on an Apple TV running tvOS 18 or later.

  2. 2

    Open it and choose Emby. Nostalgex looks for your server on your network and goes straight to it. If it can't find it, press TYPE AN ADDRESS and enter it with the scheme and port, the way another client uses it (for example http://192.168.1.20:8096).

  3. 3

    Pick your name from the users your server shows and enter your password. A user with no password is signed in on that press.

  4. 4

    Open the guide. Your channels are already on.

What's different on Emby

Straight to your server

Nostalgex connects directly to the Emby server you point it at. No bridge, no middleman service, and no account with us.

Your collections become channels

A Collection or BoxSet on your Emby server with at least three movies becomes its own channel once you switch on the collection Channel Packages and rescan.

Subtitles and audio tracks

Pick a subtitle and audio language once and the app remembers it. Files with several audio tracks behave the way you would expect.

130+ channels in 14 bundles

Switch whole bundles on and off in Settings, so the lineup fits your household.

Plays your file as-is

Direct play when the Apple TV can decode it, and it only falls back to transcoding when it has to. Movies split across two files play straight through as one programme.

Native on Apple TV

A real tvOS app from the App Store, built for the Siri Remote and the big screen. Not a web view pretending.

Emby tips and gotchas

  • There's no Quick Connect on Emby. Emby doesn't offer it, so you pick your name from the users your server shows and enter your password. If your server hides its users, type your username instead.
  • Say yes when your Apple TV asks about devices on your local network. That's how Nostalgex finds your server. Said no? Press TYPE AN ADDRESS and enter it instead.
  • On the web tuner, choose Connect with Emby. It has its own sign in, the same as the Apple TV app. Signed in through the Jellyfin option before? The tuner sees it's Emby and switches you over, so there's nothing to redo.
  • The web tuner needs https. Your Emby server needs an https address with a valid certificate for the browser to reach it. A plain http server on your network works fine in the Apple TV app.
  • Behind a reverse proxy? Allow requests from https://www.nostalgex.app and include the X-Emby-Authorization header in the allowed headers. The support page has the configs.
  • "Could not reach my server"? Type the scheme, host and port exactly as another client uses them, for example http://192.168.1.20:8096. The connect screen tells you which part failed.

No Apple TV? There's a free web tuner.

The same channels, running in any browser. It is the fastest way to see what this is before installing anything.

One caveat worth knowing up front. Browsers block a secure page from talking to a plain http server, so the web tuner needs your Emby server on an https address. If yours is http on the local network, use the Apple TV app instead. It has no such restriction. On the web tuner, pick Connect with Emby. Open the free web tuner.

Open the web tuner

Emby questions, answered.

Does Nostalgex work with Emby?

Yes, natively. The Apple TV app talks to your Emby server directly. There's no bridge, no middleman service and no Plex account involved.

Is there a Quick Connect style sign in?

Not for Emby, which has no Quick Connect. Nostalgex shows the users your server lists, so you pick your name instead of typing it, then enter your password.

Can I use Emby in the web tuner?

Yes. Choose Connect with Emby on the web tuner and point it at your Emby server's https address.

Can I connect Emby and another server at the same time?

Yes. The Apple TV app can connect to more than one server.

Does it change anything on my Emby server?

No. It reads your library to build the channels. It never adds, renames, moves or deletes anything.

What do I need?

An Apple TV running tvOS 18 or later and an Emby server you can reach from it. The app is free, open source under MIT, and needs no paid service.

All three servers. Natively.

Running Emby behind a reverse proxy? The web tuner CORS fixes include the Emby header.

Cable's back. Now on Apple TV.

Free, native, open source, and built for the couch.

Get it on Apple TV Open the web tuner