- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Casting support is still available on older Chromecast devices or TVs that support Google Cast natively, according to Netflix’s support page
You must log in or register to comment.
The kind of people they’re pissing off with this, are the same people most likely to switch to bittorrent.
Hell BitTorrent is outdated, these days you just watch the movie through an online streaming site. It requires zero technical knowledge
And (in the experience of hypothetical pirate goblins I’ve hypothetically spoken to) won’t result in your ISP shutting your internet off until you agree to be nice and never do that again.
Nope. Either they can’t view(encrypted )it or they don’t care. The isps that actually do something, will send you multiple warnings, like 7 plus.
Then you just get a VPN and carry on as usual. In 25 years or so I have gotten 2 warnings.
What are they gonna do? Not accept your monthly payment in protest? /s
my favourite netflix client is jellyfin tbh. it fixes all of netflix’s probems.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to run a self-hosted Jellyfin server without having to run an entire data center on your house? I could do something simple like a NUC or equivalent and a tiny NAS, anything else?
There’s people running old raspberry pis with USB hard drives.
It’ll run on just about anything.
Though, you’ll only be able to stream original quality, no on the fly quality changes for low speed connections and such.
NUCs (specifically Intel 8th?-gen or later) are pretty much ideal for serving Jellyfin because the Intel integrated graphics can do video transcoding and the software is actually not very demanding otherwise, so the low-power CPUs are fine.
If you were buying hardware specifically for Jellyfin (i.e. didn’t want to cobble together something used), I’d suggest an N100 or N150-based NAS mini-PC like this: https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-me-mini-n150
I run a cheaper Bee-Link mini PC for mine with a USB connected hard drive array. They really don’t need much power. Storage is your biggest issue(I’m up to ~40TB)
I have my jellyfin running on ubuntu server on a 12 year old PC with a bunch of salvaged HDDs added in, plugged into my standard home internet. I have like 10 people I share it with. So far it’s not made a noticeable dent in either the internet usage or the electric.
Mine runs on my desktop that I built in 2016. So yes. I also tested it on a Lenovo tiny (similar to a NUC) that I’m using as a self host “server” and it seemed fine but I didn’t try any heavy transcoding yet.
Running on a 2016 intel processor with an old Nvidia 2070. I can watch about 3 streams on different devices at the same time.
You absolutely can. Currently running mine off of my desktop, but it’s overkill and have a few coworkers that used nucs/cheap mini PCs to setup jellyfin. Biggest thing is to make sure you have enough storage to hold all of your media, then you’re fine.
You can definitely run it on those sorts of machines. You’ll want plenty of storage, but apart from thst it’s not too demanding if you don’t load it up with very high res videos.
My buddy had success running it off a pi.
But he had to encode everything ahead of time as h264.
I could do something simple like a NUC or equivalent and a tiny NAS
Literally me rn. A tiny second-hand Dell Optiplex with a 8th gen i3 and a 2TB SSD.
Maybe not the most future thinking solution since it can only fit 2.5" HDDs and NVMe’s, which are both more expensive than conventional big fat HDDs, but hey, works great.
If you can find one for cheap locally and get a decent deal on a compatible drive you’re set. You could stretch a Terabyte or two for a while as long as you’re not trying to host Jellyfin for too many people (and are OK deleting watched Shows/Movies when you start running low)You can probably run it off your existing hardware just using an external drive(s).
Your biggest issue self hosting JF will likely be port forwarding and the infrastructure required so external users can connect via WAN. Plex abstracts a lot of this away since you just have to open the port and Plex will access your library and broker the data between your server and the client. This now requires the server owner have a Plex Pass. The easiest way to host JF is allowing users LAN access via WireGuard (pivpn) but then you start hitting limitations to which devices they can install WireGuard on (smart tvs). I use Plex and JF, Plex for external users since I bought the lifetime pass 10 years ago, and JF as a backup as the enshittification of Plex continues full steam.
Don’t port forward Jellyfin. That’s terribly insecure. Just install tailscale or similar and invite the people you wish to allow access.
Don’t port forward Jellyfin. That’s terribly insecure. Just install tailscale or similar and invite the people you wish to allow access.
I don’t disagree with you. My earlier comment that mentions port forwarding and infrastructure comes from guides that direct admins to set up a tunnel through Cloudflare, expose JFs port at the router, and point the tunnel at it. Not only is it insecure and likely to offer poor performance, it’s probably a violation of CF ToS (tunneling video data). Going the Plex or pivpn routes will require a port being forwarded, Plex more a beginner option, pivpn only slightly more complicated, but both still expose an attack surface. Tailscale looks appealing from a security perspective, no port forwarding required, plus I find full mesh networks really neat. I just don’t want to rely on tailscale’s coordinated servers to stand between my network devices since I rely on WireGuard for more than media streaming. Tailscale is definitely a great solution for users with CGNAT-based ISPs though.
Tailscale actually uses wire guard as well. It can also be used as an exit node for mullvad so you can use tailscale as your full stack vpn solution.
Isn’t that like inviting all your friends and family onto your LAN? That would seem to have its own security risks.
No absolutely not. You invite their account to access a designated device or multiple devices on your tailscale network.
But then won’t your rack look a bit empty?
i mean i’m only using it for me and my family but i just run it on my desktop linux (and before i switched i was running it on my desktop windows with scoop install jellyfin)
I just run it on my gaming tower in a container
Mine runs on a mini PC(NUC) hooked up to a hard drive array for the storage. So it’s basically a tiny PC and another box full of hard drives(not required, but you’ll need space somehow…). Pc was around $250.
Very easy and you don’t need to set up an actual “server rack”. Hell, you can use an old laptop.
Also, keep in mind you can hook the miniPC up to your TV or another PCs monitor(assuming you have extra plugs). You don’t need a dedicated monitor for this. Mine uses the same monitor as my gaming PC on a different input. It basically lives on my keyboard tray tucked away running.
an entire data center
What are you on about?
Can you tell more about this please?
They’re probably saying that they run the self hosted jellyfin app and stream their own media. That’s what I do, and have been doing for like a decade because netflix and other shitty streaming companies can eat a bag of dicks (except Dropout, they’re real Gs) from the number of times I’ve gone to watch something on my watch later list only to find out they didn’t get the license this quarter so 🖕to my movie night
Thank you. Yeah I’m so fed up of netflix, all the free on-demand streaming services in the UK are better than Netflix now, and have the same amount of ads. I torrent a fair bit but I used to like Netflix for casually watching things I might not have found otherwise. The only thing is that there’s nothing to find on there anymore.
Yeah, I still remember when netflix was good. My absolute favorite feature they had was one I used on my PS3, was Max. It was this ‘assistant’ who would ask you a bunch of questions and then pick a number of suggestions you can look through to pick a movie when you didn’t know what to watch. It was fucking awesome, and I still periodically look for something similar for jellyfin.
dropout, beacon, and pbs are pretty much the only ones worth of a monthly sub :)
cough hoist the flag, and watch netflix shows on jellyfin cough
Use Jellyfin. Fill your server with treasures procured from the high seas. Watch on any device. Sync play with far away friends or family.
I tried jellyfin for about a month last year, but it lacked a lot of what I was used to in plex, so I returned to it. But lately plex is really going downhill… has jellyfin improved somewhat in this time frame?
I’m not sure what features you feel are lacking. And I haven’t used Plex at all.
For me, all I want is being able to connect to it from any device, and sync play.
I’m not sure what features you feel are lacking
As I said, it was about a year ago. I vaguely remember not liking the layout when displayed on my TV, sorting shows/episodes not working correctly, watched list not being properly updated… that and assorted little bugs that finally tired me and I went back to plex
What features? I have both and I vastly prefer Jellyfin. Plex is slow and the menus dont get right to the point.
Haven’t tried JF in over a year, but last attempt was full of errors. I’ll give it another shot.
Only reason I’m still on Plex is I have a lifetime pass, and it’s working. But it’s sure inshitifying every day… Remote play with plex pass is super easy, and plex amp was promising but replaced it with navidrome and so much happier. I’m ready to ditch Plex if JF is better now, I’ll install it next time I have time to mess with my setup.
I have had a lifetime pass for years since maybe 2014 or so? They added photo sync, that was awesome, then they took it away. That sucked.
I simply run both at the same time on my server, they point to the same library. The compose file is stupid simple (as is plex’s) so why not.
Better is relative, but I like Jellyfin better. Plex’s choices for my library layout suck. Jellyfin gets to the point, and fast.
Either way, doesn’t cost anything to run both, and set up is about 10 minutes if you already are using docker.
That’s it, the pain is coming back now. I didn’t use docker last time I tried, I don’t remember the issues I ran into, but I was running Plex on windows vm with the library on a nas share mounted locally through iscsi. Don’t ask why, it was a good setup at the time.
Plex is slow and the menus dont get right to the point
That is true. I also hate having to change each episode separatedly to change subtitle/audio track. Apropos, jellyfin didn’t have subtiles download integrated on their menus, has that changed since last year? Not having that means manually downloading and syncronizing subtitles, and life’s too short for that kind of drudgery
Jellyfin has a plug in for open subtitles. I think all my media already has subtitles so I don’t need to download them.
I love the syncplay feature i just wished it worked much better with large groups.
Oh yeah. My friend group starts having issues with more than 8 people watching. ^^;
Unfortunately the plugin seems to be abandoned.
i have a locked-down android tv dongle from my isp so i really wish i could cast from my jellyfin server, but then i looked at the setup guide and instantly ran out of spoons.
Xumo I’m guessing? Look for another streaming device. Anything with 4gb ram should carry you a loooong way. I just looked up the cheap 4k stream devices at Walmart, they support Jellyfin as well. In the interest of storage space over quality, most of my vids are 1080p, and they rarely stutter with pure software decoding.
i don’t want to use more than one remote
1936: any universal turing machine can mimic another
2025: unfortunately your turing machine has a shape we don’t like so we will block you from using it productively despite the fact that it has the exact same hardware inside that other machines
Changes like this are always made to “Enhance the user experience” yet the UX only goes backwards
They recently made everything massive blocks of color so now it’s impossible to read anything. Damn splash screen takes up a third of my TV
They’re made to “Enhance the
user experienceprofit”“Enhance the user experience” is just what the dev or documentation team writes when management dictates that they drop a feature. The only reasons they would have dropped it:
- Dev work vs actual customer usage (e.g. it wasn’t getting a lot of users but devs had to maintain it with each update)
- People were using it to intercept the stream and capture movies to pirate.
Every decision is about increasing profits first, and UX almost always takes a back seat to that
UX almost always takes a back seat to that
If it even makes it on the bus in the first place
Just go Piracy. Real-Debrid + Stremio, Torrent + Hayase or anything else that’s with Piracy.
My lazy ass just torrents on my pc and plugs the HDD into my Shield which has Kodi on it.
Homelab + Jellyfin.
kodi + elementum is the best combo i’ve found so far
qbittorent server + jackett + flaresolverr + jellyfin.
Just go Piracy.
go Servarr or go bust, despite it requiring some amount of tinkering with docker to run smoothly
The best part is how in the end-stages of capitalism, everything keeps getting worse for consumers. While prices go up, even. It’s awesome. /s
Vote with your dollar and go to Jellyfin, or even simpler, a folder with your media in it.
As a Chromecast user, it seems like Google is trying to kill this feature anyway.
Didn’t they just replace it with Google TV at 3x the price?
That and they are adding Google TV into all the old Chromecast and breaking functionality. It’s like they side loaded their own app and it… Is not ideal.
Thou shalt buy a smart tv or other device that we can pull metrics from and force advertising to.
And require to login too
Make no mistake, this was intentional before the holidays so families visiting relatives can’t just cast Netflix from their phone to watch something and will require someone to login and use it one of their authorized devices…or coerce them to upgrade if they already have too many authorized devices
What possible benefit does this offer to Netflix? Are they trying to avoid paying licensing fee or something?
Probably. Or they want to reduce their development and maintenance costs with the extra code for those devices. Or maybe they somehow make more money when users are watching on some other device/software.
IS IT extra code to maintain though? My understanding of casting is it effectively sends a URL to the receiving device. I would think there’s a negligible amount of development spent on maintaining it. And every media app under the sun supports it, now except for Netflix. 🤦
In that case maybe Google was gathering too much insight on the content Netflix users were watching. I’ve heard that Amazon (for a while) stopped including product information in their order confirmation emails because Google was gaining product purchase trend data.
This is a VERY interesting thought. I hadn’t considered all the data collection likely available to Google as a result of the casting protocol. This is definitely plausible.
I keep reading this sentence like I’m supposed to know what it means, but I don’t care. actually. I’m here to post and say that
The only good thing about Netflix is their diverse global library.
As in, a Netflix subscription plus a VPN, gives you access to a large library of global content.
Taking that into account, it’s probably still the best streaming service, which means they’re the shiniest turd in the toilet.
But still, Jellyfin FTW.
enshittification
Yeah… There goes my subscription. I’m casting everything to Chromecast on my older TV.
Seems like if you’ve got the ad-free plan and an older chromecast you’re still ok… For now. This is indicative though that the service may not be viable for long for you.
It’s been a minute, are there Netflix subscriptions which one pays for but which still have ads?
The cheapest tier is sold at low margin and recouped with ads.
Gross. That’s how it starts, and then the only thing cheap about is its cost relative to the other tiers.
I thought for Chromecast the “casting” part is just telling the Chromecast what to play. Do you need your phone on while Chromecast shows content?
You need the phone for any controls issued to the Chromecast like volume, subs, pause, seek, etc… But you don’t strictly need it once the video has started playing, presuming you’re not using any control commands.
Thanks for the details, seems like that may be why the older Chromecasts are still supported.
I mean, you still need it, the phone has to be on and connected to the same wifi as whatever it’s casting to.
Nah you can turn the phone off once the video has started. I only know this because my kids have regularly failed to charge the ‘phone that we only use for Chromecast to the tv’ and it sometimes dies while they’re watching something. Keeps playing until the end.
I guess I don’t do the casting thing much, but what would the application have to do with it? I mean you cast the presentation from the device, does it care what is on the screen at the time?
Yes. DRM
I had no idea. Stupid drm. My device dammit. It will play where I want it to.
