Yonto Player and the official clients

Yonto Player is one player for Jellyfin, Plex, Emby and plain files, with every format it plays and casting in the free app. Each official app is good at its own server, and Yonto Player does more around it: other servers, a NAS with no server, one search, setup from your phone. This page says where each is stronger, so you can pick without trying all of them, and the home page sets it beside Infuse and Kodi too.

At a glance

	Yonto Player	The official app for one server
Servers	Jellyfin, Plex, Emby and files, in one app	The one kind of server it is made for
Files from a NAS, a USB drive or a cloud drive	WebDAV, SMB, folders, and your own Dropbox or Box, with no server in between	Through the server
Search	One search across every source, the same title in two sources shown once, with Also on to pick the copy	Searches its own server
Setting up a server on a TV	From your phone, with a QR code, or on the TV with the remote	On the TV with the remote; Jellyfin’s Quick Connect and Plex’s `plex.tv/link` also sign in with a code
Account	None of ours	The server’s own account, and a Plex account for Plex
Price	Free with one source; Pro is one payment	Each vendor’s own terms; some features need the server’s paid tier
Watched marks and resume points	Reads the server’s, and tells the server what you watch unless you turn that off for the source	Kept on the server
Continue watching	Continue playing and History are kept on the device, for every source together, and Continue playing adds the server’s own list	The server’s own list, the same on every device
Watch later	A Watch list on the device, for every source together	Whatever that app offers: Plex’s Watchlist, favourites on Jellyfin and Emby
Watching offline	On an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad, downloads from every source whose videos come over the network, a live stream excepted, with Pro	Whatever that app offers; check each vendor’s current terms
Server features such as transcoding and live TV	A Jellyfin, Plex or Emby server converts what the device cannot play; no live TV	Everything the server offers

Yonto Player tells a Jellyfin, Plex or Emby server what the TV can play and the server converts the rest, as the official app has it do. HDR on a TV without it is the one difference between them: Emby tone-maps it only with Emby Premiere and Plex only with Plex Pass, and without it an HDR file plays as stored unless it needs converting anyway (4K on a 1080p box, say), when its colours are left as they are. Yonto Player reads your server’s watched marks and resume points, and tells Jellyfin and Emby where you stopped and what you finished, and Plex what you finished. Its Continue playing and History are its own, kept on the device, and Continue playing also adds what a Jellyfin or Emby server lists as Continue Watching, and Plex’s On Deck. Check each vendor’s current terms for what its app costs; they change.

Choose Yonto Player when

You use more than one server, or a server and some files.
You want one search that covers all of it.
You want to cast to a Chromecast, an AirPlay screen or a DLNA TV from an Android phone, in the free app, with a video the TV cannot play converted on the way (casting).
You keep AVI, WMV or RMVB files, or Blu-ray and DVD ISOs, on a share (video formats).
You hate typing an address and a password with a remote.
You would rather pay once for up to 5 devices than subscribe.
You want one history and one Continue playing for all of it.
You want your history and settings to stay on the device.

Choose the official app when

You use one server and its own features matter most (live TV and recording, for example).
You need the server to make a video smaller for a slow connection.
You rely on a feature the server’s own app has first.
You want the vendor’s support.

Try both

Both can be installed at once. Yonto Player is free with one source, so you can compare them on your own library before deciding. Move from the official app to Yonto Player says what carries over, and What Yonto Player does not do what you would give up. For Jellyfin, Play your Jellyfin library on Android TV in another app says what Yonto Player shows from a Jellyfin server. For Plex, Play your Plex library on Android TV in another app says what Yonto Player shows from a Plex server. Coming from Infuse, which is not made for Android? Is there Infuse for Android TV? says what Yonto Player plays for an Infuse user. Finding Kodi more than you need? A simpler Kodi alternative for Android TV says who Yonto Player suits instead, and what Kodi does that it does not. Sources says what each type asks for.

To set one up on a TV, step by step:

Yonto Player provides no content. Jellyfin, Plex, Emby, Dropbox, Box, Infuse and Kodi are trademarks of their owners, and Yonto Player is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.