Emby 4+

Works, but could be better

The entire feel of the app is a beta product. It works as long as you do everything exactly how the developers envisioned you to use it.

I feel like I have to force close the app to make sure it works, even basic stuff like just walking away from my home will cause the app to become entirely non-responsive (stop preferring IPv4 locally if you want that to stop devs). Videos should not play if the subtitles haven’t been loaded (how am I supposed to understand what is being played?). I have WiFi 6E, my “auto” bitrate should not be 1.5mbps even though I can pull 1.6gbps over WiFi (even remotely, I have fiber), I’ve even set my “internet” bandwidth to the maximum possible.

Compared to plex? 8/10, it’s most of the way there. Compared to Netflix? 4/10, I still get random “Playback errors” on my iPhone 15 Pro Max for incredibly basic H.264 streams that work fine on everything else.

Great looking App but has issues and is not for pc novices

Pros- App is gorgeous both on iPhone and on home PC. It really is like having your own Netflix etc. It manages to pull images and info with ease and combines it into a lovely user friendly package that I use daily.
Cons - iPhone app struggles at time to stay connected to Chromecast and the app’s ‘remote control’ function regularly fails to connect stopping the using from all forms of program control (skipping, pausing etc). Constant restarts needed over and over again.
Don’t get this app if you your primary usage will be for music as it you will be very dissatisfied. It can’t manage music at all. Grouping, search and almost all features you get from programs like iTunes or any other similar products are missing or do not work. It’s simply bad.
Connecting outside of your local network is very difficult and to date after many help articles, lots of reading and many attempts I have still been unable to get it to work. It’s a shame because it would be great to be able to use it away from home and would encourage me to recommend it to friends and family. I’m quite experienced with building pc’s, setting up home and office networks etc so for the average computer user I would foresee this being a very difficult solution to implement properly.
Devs - Please keep up the improvements as I would love the above issues be resolved before another suitable solution comes along.
Good luck!

Developer Response ,

Thank you for the 4 star review. If you are having any connection issues, please visit our community forum website where you can get help: https://emby.media/community/

We work very hard on Emby and appreciate your support.

Easier than Plex, but Premiere required

I host my own media server and got fed up with Plex requiring registration of my server with my online account because my server wasn't showing up. Enter Emby Media Server!

Easy to install, and no requirement to register anything in order to access my media locally.

HOWEVER... You cannot watch your hosted media on iOS without being forced to purchase. I understand devs need to eat, and the devs have done great work with Emby, but if users can't watch their own media on their own server in their own home without having to purchase a feature, then make the app $4.99 to download. Making it a free download and then requiring a purchase to use is borderline bait-and-switch in my book. Premiere service should unlock extra features and extra media available online through my account that I don't already own-- I would be willing to spend money on that. Premiere should not be required for basic functionality.

That one flaw dropped my rating from 5 stars to 3. Still prefer Emby over Plex, but instead of paying for extra content I'm now deleting this app.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for the review, we appreciate it. We are constantly updating this app, so please let us know in the forums of any new features or requests you may have for it. https://emby.media/community We work very hard on Emby and value your support.

The app does say clearly explain this in the store. It allows you to see how the app works, the GUI, all the screens, etc

You can either unlock the app with a one time purchase or can get an Emby Premiere License which will unlock iOS and every other app we have.