I have a WebDav server that contains some movies and shows. I use Infuse on Apple stuff and NOVA Video Player on Android to watch these. The directory is not organized, file names aren’t manually adjusted, and the movies and shows are mixed together. Yet, both of these programs are able to index recursively, get metadata, create a library and let me watch my media without issues.
Kodi, on the other hand, seems to be unable to index nested directories, requires you to tell it what type of media is in the individual directories and cannot identify anything correctly unless I go and manually rename directories/files. It also is exclusive for TV usage and not very suitable for desktop.
So, are there alternative programs to Kodi, ideally better suited to desktop usage or extensions I can install to make it work properly?
Ok but Jellyfin is a web service. Not really suitable for a Home Theatre PC. If there was a frontend application that worked in a kiosk type way, then it would replace Kodi.
Not sure where you got that idea, but it’s absolutely what I use it for. That I can also watch content from multiple sources as well is part of the appeal. Plus no constant upsell like Kodi and Emby.
So how do you interact with the jellyfin server from your HTPC?
Using the native Jellyfin app available for Amazon’s fire tv stick.
Fire stick is not a HTPC
Sorry but it doesn’t sound like you know what you’re talking about. Jellyfin is a server. Sure you can use a web client but there are many others too
So recommend a client suitable for a dedicated HTPC? I’ve yet to find one, as the Kodi add-on for jellyfin is buggy in my experience.
Well if you want a windows pc app there’s this. There’s a list of official clients but it sounds like you already know it
To be fair I didn’t know that existed because I don’t use windows. I would expect it would be fine if I did. However, I use Linux.
Yes jellyfin is a server, and the question asked was what to replace Kodi with. Kodi is a frontend. Jellyfin doesn’t solve the problem.