Sources

A source is where your films and shows come from. You add one under Settings, Sources, Add source, and pick its type at the top of the form. Every form has Test connection and Save. Leave the name empty and the source is named after its address, like nas.local, or after its type when it has no address. A second source from the same address gets a number, like nas.local (2).

Yonto Player ships with no catalogs, and what you add is your responsibility. Only use sources you are entitled to watch.

Set up from your phone

On a television, the form has Set up from your phone at the top, so you can type on your phone instead of with the remote.

1. Choose Set up from your phone. The television shows a QR code, with its address beside it.
2. Scan the code with your phone’s camera, or open the address in your phone’s browser. A page opens with the same form.
3. Fill it in and choose Send to the TV.
4. The television’s form fills in and says “Filled in from your phone. Check it, then save.”. Nothing is saved until you choose Save with the remote.

On a source you already have, the page starts empty: fill in only what you want to change, and whatever you leave empty keeps what is saved. A code lasts ten minutes and takes one answer, and the television shows a new one before it runs out. What you type goes from your phone to the television through our relay (its page is on tv.yonto.app), encrypted so that the relay cannot read it, and is deleted once the television has it or the code runs out, apart from an encrypted copy the server’s disk snapshots keep for up to seven days (privacy policy). It is free, and only the television has it.

Jellyfin

For a Jellyfin media server you control. You are asked for a name, the Server URL, a Username and a Password. There are two optional fields: an API key, and a User ID that is only used together with an API key.

Plex

For a Plex Media Server.

1. Choose Log in next to Account.
2. Yonto Player shows a short code. Go to plex.tv/link on your phone or computer and enter it. A television also shows a QR code you can scan.
3. Yonto Player shows how long the code has left. When it runs out, Yonto Player replaces it with a new one, or shows a Get a new code button.

Instead of logging in, you can type your own server’s URL. Leave the URL empty to log in instead. A Plex token is only needed if your server asks for one.

Emby

For an Emby server. Its form is the same as Jellyfin’s. If Emby is not in the type list, your Yonto Player does not carry its plugin yet: under Settings, Plugins, choose Install from URL and paste https://github.com/yonto-app/yonto-player-plugins/releases/download/emby/emby.zip. After you confirm, Yonto Player takes you straight to a new source of type Emby.

Custom HTTP

For a service that speaks Yonto Player’s own HTTP contract. You are asked for a name, the Base URL and, if the service needs one, an Auth token.

Folder on this device

For video files on your phone or on a USB drive. Choose Folder on this device, press Choose folder, pick the folder in the system’s picker and allow Yonto Player to read it, then save. While this source is selected, Browse shows its folders and videos instead of posters: press a folder to open it, Back to go up, and a video to play it. What you watch shows in History like anything else. A television has no folder picker, so there you choose a storage instead, the box’s own or a USB drive, and allow Yonto Player to read the videos on it. That needs Android 10 or later, and a USB drive shows up once the box has scanned it. Only the Android apps have this so far.

WebDAV

For video files on a NAS, or on Alist or OpenList, which all serve WebDAV. Choose WebDAV, enter the Server address (the folder to open on, for example http://nas.local:5005/dav) and, if the server asks for one, a username and password, then save. Test connection reads that folder. Browsing and playing work as for Folder on this device. An http:// address is not encrypted, so the password crosses your network in the clear; Yonto Player says so under the address. The login is sent only to that server.

SMB

For video files on a NAS or a computer sharing a folder over SMB, which is how most NAS boxes and Windows and Mac shares are offered. Choose SMB, enter the Server address as smb://nas.local/media, which is the server and then the share, and then a folder inside it if you want to open there (smb://nas.local/media/Movies). Add a username and password, or leave them empty for a share that lets guests in, and save. Test connection reads that folder, and browsing and playing work as for Folder on this device. Only the Android apps have this: on an iPhone, connect to the share in the Files app and use Folder on this device.

Which video files play

A folder, WebDAV or SMB source lists files ending in mp4, mkv, avi, mov, wmv, flv, ts, m2ts, mpg, mpeg, webm, m4v, rmvb or 3gp. Whether one plays depends on what is inside it, because Yonto Player uses your device’s own decoders. H.264 and H.265 video with AAC, MP3, Opus, FLAC or AC3 sound, in MP4, MKV, WebM or TS, is the safe choice. Films with DTS or TrueHD sound, and often EAC3, may play with no sound, and AVI, WMV, FLV and RMVB files often do not play at all. 4K HDR and Dolby Vision depend on your device. On an iPhone, MP4, MOV and M4V with H.264 or H.265 play, and MKV does not. Subtitle files beside a video are not picked up yet; subtitles inside the file are, under Subtitles in the player.

Several sources

Open the source chip at the top left of Home to switch between your sources. In Settings, Sources, you can turn a source off without deleting it, and delete one you no longer need. Deleting a source you added yourself means entering its details again to add it back. One added from a repo goes back under the repo’s Not added, and comes back from there with nothing to type.

Many at once

A repo is one address that gives you many sources. See Plugins and repos.

MacCMS format

For one MacCMS server’s address, which you supply: Yonto Player includes no MacCMS server. You are asked for the API address, the format it answers in (API format, JSON or XML) and whether it supports search (Supports search). This form is in English whatever language the app is in. It reaches that one server and nothing else.