For your own Jellyfin, Emby or Plex server
UNDERSTAIRS plays the films, shows and music on your own server. On your phone, Smart downloads keep your next episodes ready. On your TV, Home opens on what you were watching.
Preview film coming soonSintel, by the Blender Foundation (CC BY)
Where you can use it
Every app has its own page and its own feature list. Apple Watch and CarPlay come with the iPhone app. None of them is in a store yet.
Reasons to buy
Each one says which apps have it. The small print is in Good to know, at the end of the page.
On iPhone and Android phone
Tell your phone to keep the next 1, 2, 3 or 5 episodes of a show ready.
Finish one and the next is already there. The one you watched clears itself off, even if you watched it on your TV.
When a new episode arrives, the app gets it ready and gives you a nudge. Downloads wait for Wi-Fi unless you say otherwise.1
On Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone and Android phone
Home opens on what you were watching, and on the next episode of your shows.
Each one shows the title’s own logo. Press OK, or tap, and it plays. There is no page to open first.
On Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone and Android phone
One press jumps over the intro. Another jumps over the credits.2
On a phone, it can skip them for you.
On Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone and Android phone
The app asks your TV, stick or phone what it can play, and sends the film as it is.6
Your server converts only what your screen cannot play.
On Fire TV and Android TV
Dolby sound goes to your soundbar or TV exactly as it is. DTS does too.7
Prefer plain stereo? Switch it off in Settings > Sound.
On Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone and Android phone
Watch your server’s live channels and open the guide.3
Record a programme or a whole series. Start a live programme again from the beginning.
On iPhone
Your music on the car screen: Home, Library, Search and the music you downloaded.4
Say what you want and it plays. Switch server, shuffle, repeat and see what is next.
On iPhone, with Apple Watch
Your music on your wrist.5
It works on its own, with albums and playlists saved on the watch, or as a remote for your iPhone.
Set a sleep timer, and turn the crown for volume.
On Fire TV, Android TV, iPhone and Android phone
Everyone in the house gets a profile of their own, with their own history.
Add a PIN if you like.
On every app
Add Jellyfin, Emby and Plex side by side, and switch between them in a moment.
The app looks for servers on your network, so you may not need to type an address.
On the TV
The TV app is made for the remote: big artwork, a selection ring you can always find, and Continue Watching first. Scroll down to see it in action.
01
Home opens on a big banner, then Continue Watching and Next Up. Press OK on a film or an episode and it plays.
02
You see the artwork, the title’s logo, the cast and a short story. Play, Trailer, Watchlist and Mark watched sit right underneath.
03
Pick your language, your subtitles or your quality from one bar. The app asks your TV what it can play, so your server converts only what it has to.
04
Hold OK on any poster and a menu opens with Play, More info and Mark watched. You never leave the row.
05
Open an album and press Play or Shuffle. Add songs with Play next or Add to queue.
Shown with the Blender Foundation’s open films.
On your phone
Smart downloads keep your next episodes ready, so you can watch on a train or a plane with no signal. Your music comes with you too.
Every feature
One page lists every feature in every app. Each one says Yes or No, and the small print is spelled out, so you know before you buy.
Your server
JellyfinEmbyPlex
UNDERSTAIRS has no films or channels of its own. It shows what is on your Jellyfin, Emby or Plex server, and talks to that server directly. You do not need an account with us.
With Jellyfin and Emby, type the address or let the app look for your server. With Plex, you approve a link code on plex.tv, so the app never sees your Plex password.
UNDERSTAIRS is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Plex Inc., The Jellyfin Project or Emby LLC. Their names only say which servers it works with.
Seven themes
Midnight, Slate, Ember, Crimson, Forest, Dusk and Cinema are in the TV and phone apps. The phones also have a Light theme and OLED black. Try one here. It lasts until you leave the page.
Private
The apps have no advertising, analytics or crash-reporting code, and we run no server for them to talk to. They talk to your server, and to Plex if you use Plex. The privacy policy lists exactly what is stored and what leaves your device.
Questions
Yes. UNDERSTAIRS shows what is on your own Jellyfin, Emby or Plex server. It has no films or channels of its own.
Until you add a server, you only see the sign-in screen.
It works on Fire TV sticks, the Fire TV Cube and TVs with Fire TV built in. It is one app from the Amazon Appstore, and your device gets the right version.
The small print is under Good to know on the TV page, with the Fire TV devices it affects.
Yes. It is the same TV app as on Fire TV, made for Android TV and Google TV too. It is coming soon to Google Play.
iPhone and iPad with iOS 16 or later, and Android phones and tablets with Android 8.0 or later. Apple Watch and CarPlay come with the iPhone app. The watch app needs watchOS 10 or later.
Each app is £1.99, paid once, with no subscription: Fire TV, Android TV and Google TV, iPhone and iPad, and Android phone and tablet. Each store sells its own app, so each one is bought on its own. The iPhone app covers your iPad too, and Apple Watch and CarPlay come with it. None of them is in its store yet. Email us and we will tell you the day each one arrives.
Yes, if your server can be reached from where you are. A server you reach over the internet works like one on your own network. Films you downloaded to your phone play with no signal.
No store has it yet. The Fire TV app is coming to the Amazon Appstore. The iPhone app is coming to the App Store. The Android TV and Android apps are coming to Google Play.
Email support@understairs.tv and we will tell you the day each one is out.
No. UNDERSTAIRS is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Plex Inc., The Jellyfin Project or Emby LLC.
The small print
Each note says who it affects, what you need, and why. The small numbers on this page point here.
Amazon runs these on its newer system, Vega OS. They are the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, the Fire TV Stick HD and the Fire TV Stick 4K (3rd Gen). Its other Fire TV devices run Fire OS. The app works the same on them, Sign in with Plex included. Here is what differs.
