What is Emby? Things You Need to Know About Emby

Emby is the open source media centre application that enables you to organize your media files and access them whenever you want. Emby brings all your media files such as Videos, music, Photos together in a single place. Similar to Plex the Emby also uses the Client-Server setup. Moreover, the Emby Server is available for various platforms such as Windows, MacOS, Linux, and FreeBSD. It is easy to connect to the server from the client, that is available on the wide variety of platforms including HTML5 and mobile platforms like Android and iOS.

Emby Media Server
Emby Media Server

Emby is also accessible on streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV. Furthermore, it is also accessible on the Smar TV and gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox. Therefore you can stream the stored content to any device that uses the Emby client Software. You can grab IPTV feeds and cast them through your Chromecast and DVR support. Overall, it is the all in one solution for your media online streaming.

Table of Contents:

Emby Supported Devices

As we have seen already, the Emby supports various platforms, streaming devices, and gaming consoles. Here are the list of platforms and devices that Emby Media Server and Emby apps supports.

Emby Media Server:

  • Windows
  • Mac
  • Linux
  • FreeBSD
  • docker
  • Nvidia Shield
  • Compatible Network Attached Storage devices

Emby Apps:

Emby Premiere

In general, streaming media with Emby Server is free, but if you want to enjoy some advanced features of clients, you need an active Emby Premiere Subscription. With Emby Premiere you can have various useful features such as Offline Media, Cinema Mode, Emby DVR, Free Apps, Cloud Sync, Emby Theater, Media Conversion, Folder Sync, Cover Art, Podcasts, Smart Home and Backup & Restore. You can activate the Emby Premiere to your server by entering the Emby Premiere key. As of now, the Emby Premiere costs $4.99/mo, $54/year, and $119/lifetime subscription. The payment can be made using PayPal and Credit/Debit cards. Live TV and DVR functions are only applicable to the Premiere users.

Emby Premiere
Emby Premiere

Emby Plugins

Similar to Kodi Addons, the Emby Plugins extend the functionality of Emby by offering additional features and services to the Emby apps. You can manage the plugins by opening the server dashboard and getting into Plugins, will shows you the list of installed plugins on your Server. You can manage your plugins by tapping the menu icon next to the respective plugins.

Emby Plugins
Emby Plugins

Emby Connect

Emby Connect is a service that is available for free, this allows you to sign in your Emby apps when you are away from home. With this, you can manage your connections to multiple servers. In general, signing into the server needs three things such as Server IP address, Username, and Password. It is also possible to connect to the server without even knowing the server IP address. This can be done using Emby Connect.

Emby Connect
Emby Connect

Emby Theater

Emby Theater is the client for Emby Server, that organizes your videos and music into a library that can be streamed and accessed from any device. The software runs on Windows 7 and its higher versions. You can stream your favourite audio and videos on any computer on the network. The transcoding feature of this enables you to run any kind of media, without even downloading or sharing the file. you can also configure the built-in player with the customizable audio and video rendering options. It also supports syncing of media to the cloud, where it will be safely backed up and can be easily converted or archived. In addition, you can also store your contents in different resolutions So that it is easily accessible on any of your devices.

Emby Theater
Emby Theater

Emby Live TV

As we have mentioned earlier, Emby offers live TV programs for free of cost. But it is only limited to the Emby Web app. With Emby Premiere subscription you can watch the live TV on other devices. With the help of live TV plugins, you can use various tuners on Emby.

Emby Live TV
Emby Live TV

Emby Alternatives

Even though Emby is great software, there are plenty of other media streaming applications available. You can use them as an alternative to the Emby. Here are some of the best alternatives to Emby app.

Kodi Media Player

Kodi is the most versatile media player, that allows you to access an enormous amount of contents in various genres. It is the free and open source software, that is available for all major platforms. It also has a lot of addons, that lets you enhance the streaming capability of your Kodi. It can be the best alternative to Emby app. You can stream a lot of contents through this application, its simply beyond your expectation.

Kodi Media Player
Kodi Media Player

Related: Everything you need to know about Kodi Media Player

Universal Media Server

Universal Media Server is another great alternative to Emby. It allows you to host your entire media library videos, pictures and music and broadcast them easily to a wide range of different devices. It streams various media formats by transcoding them into the compatible media format. If you want to organize and stream media files then its better to go with Universal Media Server after Emby.

Universal Media Server
Universal Media Server

Plex

Plex is the another best alternative to Emby. It is also the most popular media centre application that offers almost the same features as Kodi and Emby. Like Emby the Plex also uses the client-server setup. You can also access premium content through the Plex Pass service and other plugins. You can use this app to organize all your media in a single place, just like what you do with the Emby.

What is Plex Media Server
What is Plex Media Server

Related: Everything you need to know about Plex

Emby Review & Wrap Up

Emby is a great source for organizing and streaming all your personal media together in one place. It has the user-friendly interface, that lets you navigate to all of the movies, TV shows and other digital media files that you own. The Emby Premiere subscription allows you to enjoy many additional features on both the server and Emby apps. But you can unlock the basic functionality with Some apps, But the premiere subscription only allows you to get full set of features on both the server and Emby apps.

Thank you for reading this post. If you have any queries regarding this, please leave a comment in the comment box below.

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