Your Jellyfin library, as live TV.

Nostalgex is a free, open source Apple TV app that turns your Jellyfin 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 puts a Quick Connect code on screen to approve from your phone. There's nothing to install on your server and no paid service needed.

Get it on Apple TV Try the web tuner, free
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Works with Jellyfin on Apple TV (tvOS 18 or later) and in the free web tuner. Open source under MIT, like the server you chose.

Three steps. Then you're just watching TV.

  1. 01

    It finds your server

    Open Nostalgex on the Apple TV and choose Jellyfin. It finds your server on your network and, with Quick Connect on, puts a code on screen to approve from your phone. 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 Jellyfin 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 Jellyfin. 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

    With Quick Connect on, the code is already on screen. Approve it in Jellyfin on your phone or computer, or press SIGN IN WITH A PASSWORD.

  4. 4

    Open the guide. Your channels are already on.

What's different on Jellyfin

Quick Connect

Approve the Apple TV from a browser you are already signed into on your Jellyfin server. No typing a long password with the remote.

Your collections become channels

A Collection or BoxSet on your Jellyfin 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.

Jellyfin tips and gotchas

  • 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.
  • Quick Connect has to be switched on in your Jellyfin server. If it's off, turn it on in your server's settings, or sign in with your username and password instead.
  • "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 names the cause, and each cause points to a different fix.
  • Tailscale, VPN addresses and hostnames work in the Apple TV app, including over plain http. If an older version refused, update the app.
  • The web tuner needs https. Browsers block a secure page from talking to a plain http server, so the web tuner needs your Jellyfin server on an https address with a valid certificate. A free tunnel like Tailscale Serve or a Cloudflare Tunnel can give you one. A plain http server on your network works fine in the Apple TV app.
  • Behind nginx, haproxy or Caddy? If the web tuner reports a CORS error, allow requests from https://www.nostalgex.app at your proxy. The support page has copy and paste configs.
  • Want to see the lineup first? The channel guide lists every bundle and what airs on each channel, so you can browse all 130+ channels before you install anything.

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 Jellyfin server on an https address. If yours is http on the local network, use the Apple TV app instead. It has no such restriction. Open the free web tuner.

Open the web tuner

Jellyfin questions, answered.

Does Nostalgex work with Jellyfin?

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

Do I have to type my password with the remote?

No. Nostalgex finds your server on your network and puts a Quick Connect code on screen, so you approve the Apple TV from your phone or a browser that's already signed in. Typing a server address and password still works.

Why won't the web tuner connect to my Jellyfin server?

Almost always because the server is on plain http, which browsers block from a secure page. Give it an https address, fix the CORS header if it's behind a proxy, or use the Apple TV app, which connects to http servers on your network.

Does it work over Tailscale or a VPN?

Yes, in the Apple TV app. Hostnames, VPN addresses and Tailscale addresses connect, including over plain http.

Does it change anything on my 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 a Jellyfin server you can reach from it. The app is free, open source under MIT, and needs no paid service.

All three servers. Natively.

Stuck connecting? The Nostalgex setup guide and the web tuner CORS fixes cover the usual suspects.

Cable's back. Now on Apple TV.

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

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