Play videos from a Synology NAS on Android TV

Yonto Player on Android TV plays the videos in your Synology NAS’s shared folder straight from the share, with no media server and no Video Station, and shows them as a library of films and series with posters and descriptions. It reads the folder over SMB, which DSM offers in Control Panel, or over WebDAV, which DSM offers through its WebDAV Server package. You need a DSM user that can read the shared folder, the NAS’s IP address, and a few minutes with the remote or your phone.

It works the same on an Android phone or tablet, where you type the address into the form yourself (In Yonto Player).

If you used Video Station

Synology’s Video Station page says “Video Station is not available on DSM 7.2.2”, and DS video, its app for Android TV, played Video Station’s library. Yonto Player needs no package on the NAS: it reads the shared folder over SMB or WebDAV, which DSM 7.2.2 still offers. It builds its own catalogue from the files rather than Video Station’s: a title shows the poster and description you keep beside the file (how they are named), and Yonto Player looks up online what the files leave out (what is sent). If you moved your videos into Plex, Jellyfin or Emby, Yonto Player plays those servers too (Plex, Jellyfin, Emby).

Which to choose

SMB is the simpler choice on Android TV and on Android phones and tablets. Yonto Player speaks SMB 2 and 3, not the older SMB 1, so there is no need to allow SMB 1 on the NAS.
WebDAV needs the WebDAV Server package installed. It is the one to choose on a Mac, since only the Android apps have SMB.
Folder in Files is for an iPhone or iPad: connect to the NAS in the Files app (tap ⋯, then Connect to Server), then choose Add source, Folder in Files and the share’s folder.

Each shows the shared folder the same way in Yonto Player: its videos grouped into films and series from their names, with its folders beside them, and the posters you keep beside the files or that Yonto Player looks up online.

On the NAS

Find the NAS’s IP address

If you open DSM in a browser at an address like 192.168.1.20:5000, the part before the colon is the IP address. If you do not know it, Synology’s help says to go to find.synology.com, or to use Synology Assistant from Synology’s Download Center.

Use the IP address in Yonto Player rather than the NAS’s name, which an Android TV may not be able to look up.

Let a user read the shared folder

Pick the DSM user Yonto Player will sign in as, or create one for it. In DSM, go to Control Panel > Shared Folder, select the folder with your videos and choose Edit, then Permissions. Give that user Read only or Read/Write: Yonto Player only reads, so Read only is enough.

Turn on SMB

In DSM 7, go to Control Panel > File Services > SMB, tick Enable SMB service and choose Apply. Under Advanced Settings, the Minimum SMB protocol can stay at SMB2 or above.

Or turn on WebDAV

Install WebDAV Server from Package Center and open it. Go to Settings > HTTP/HTTPS, tick Enable HTTP, Enable HTTPS or both, and choose Apply. Its ports are 5005 for HTTP and 5006 for HTTPS unless you change them.

In Yonto Player

On your Android TV, open Yonto Player and choose Settings, Sources, Add source. Choose Source type, then SMB or WebDAV.
Choose Set up from your phone and scan the QR code with your phone’s camera.
On the page that opens, enter the Server address, then Username, if it needs one and Password, which are the DSM user’s, and choose Send to the TV.
- For SMB, the address is smb://, the NAS’s IP address and the shared folder’s name, like smb://192.168.1.20/video. Add a folder inside it to open there, like smb://192.168.1.20/video/Movies.
- For WebDAV, the address is http://, the IP address, the port and the shared folder’s name, like http://192.168.1.20:5005/video. An http:// address is not encrypted, and the form says “This address isn’t encrypted, so the password crosses your network in the clear.” An https:// address, on port 5006, works only when the television trusts the NAS’s certificate.
The television’s form fills in. Choose Test connection, which reads that folder: “Connected successfully” means it worked. Choose Save.

Prefer the remote? Leave out step 2 and type in the form: pressing OK on a field opens an on-screen keyboard. Nothing is saved until you choose Save with the remote.

On an Android phone or tablet, tap Settings, Sources, Add source, tap Add SMB or Add WebDAV, type the same address, username and password, then tap Test connection and Save.

Play video files from a NAS or USB drive on Android TV goes through the same form with a video of each type.

Watching

Pick the source from the source chip at the top left of Home, then open Browse. It groups the videos into Films and Series from their names; Folders lists the folders and then the videos, by name with each video’s size, and OK on a video plays it. A title shows the poster and description kept beside it (how they are named), and Yonto Player looks up online what the files leave out.

A video you play goes into History, and into Continue playing on Home, under its file name. Choosing it there plays on from where you stopped.
Subtitles inside the file, and subtitle files beside it with the video’s name (Movie.srt or Movie.en.srt beside Movie.mkv), are offered under Subtitles in the player (Audio and subtitles on a phone or tablet).
What plays depends on the television’s own decoders: H.264 and H.265 in MP4 or MKV are the safe choice. On Android, Yonto Player decodes AC3, E-AC-3, DTS and TrueHD sound itself when the television cannot (DTS, TrueHD and Dolby audio on Android TV).

Free or Pro

The NAS’s shared folder is one source, and your first source is free. A second source, such as another shared folder or a Jellyfin server, needs Pro. Pro is one payment, not a subscription, for up to 5 devices, TV, phone and tablet together, and there is no Yonto account.

If it does not connect

These show in Browse, with Retry.

“Couldn’t reach the server. Check that it’s on and on the same network.” Check that the NAS is on, that the television is on the same network, and that the IP address in the Server address is the NAS’s. For SMB, check that the SMB service is on; for WebDAV, that WebDAV Server is running and the port in the address is its port. An https:// address also shows this when the television does not trust the NAS’s certificate: use http:// and port 5005 on your home network, or give the NAS a certificate the television trusts.

“The server didn’t accept the username or password. Check them in this source’s settings.” Go to Settings, Sources, choose the source, then Edit, and correct them. They are the DSM user’s.

“This folder is no longer there.” The shared folder’s name in the address does not match one on the NAS, or the folder was moved or renamed. Check the name under Control Panel > Shared Folder.

“This account can’t open this folder. Check the username in this source’s settings, or the account’s permissions on the server.” The DSM user has no permission on the shared folder, or the password is wrong and DSM, with its Guest account turned on, let the user in as the guest instead. Check the password too. Under Control Panel > Shared Folder, select the folder, choose Edit, then Permissions, and give the user Read only or Read/Write.

Troubleshooting lists every message the app shows.

Yonto Player provides no content. Synology and DSM are trademarks of Synology Inc., and Yonto Player is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.