Summary
- Jellyfin’s server is fast, lightweight, and a convincing free alternative to Plex.
- The default Jellyfin Android TV app felt rough; Wholphin delivers a polished, TV-first interface.
- Wholphin adds Jellyseerr, smoother navigation and TV features â it’s how I’ll use Jellyfin on TV.
For the better part of a decade now, Plex has been my media server of choice. I bought the Lifetime Pass a lifetime ago (pun intended), built my library around it, and never really felt the need to look elsewhere. So when I recently started setting up Jellyfin for a few friends (because let’s face it, Plex pricing is preposterous now), it wasn’t because I was planning to jump ship. However, curiosity got the better of me, and it was pretty impressive just how far the free and open-source alternative had come.
For the most part, Jellyfin was solid, the setup was straightforward, and my library imported without much drama. The problem, however, cropped up during the Android TV experience. No matter how much I wanted to like the default client, it always felt like the weakest link in an otherwise impressive package â a bare-bones offering that got the job done, but with caveats that sent me running back to Plex’s far more premium presentation. Thankfully, Wholphin was one of the first suggestions I found online, and with it, Jellyfin finally feels at home on my TV.
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