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Sofa King logo: a crown on a sofa

Sofa King

Your own media center. Sofa King good.

License: GPL-3.0 App: Kotlin Multiplatform Server: Ktor in Docker Platforms: Android TV, Android, desktop, iOS, Apple TV, web App CI Server CI OpenSSF Scorecard Documentation

The guide on Android TV: category chips, the focused channel's program beside its muted preview, and a grid of channels over the evening

A self-hosted media center for a home network. One server keeps live TV, a DVR and your own movies and shows; one app watches all of it on Android TV, Google TV, phones, desktops, iOS, Apple TV and the web. It needs no subscription or cloud account, and is free and open source under GPL-3.0.

  • Live TV in one lineup. Free streaming services, broadcasters' free feeds, HDHomeRun tuners, M3U playlists and XMLTV guides merge into one numbered lineup. A channel carried by several sources is matched by schedule, and when one fails the next takes over (source health).
  • A DVR that skips the boring bits. The server records programs and series from the guide into folders Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and Kodi scan, and finds the commercial breaks, learning them on streams that carry no markers. The app plays recordings, even while they record, and can skip the breaks (recordings).
  • Your own library. Movies, shows, other videos and music from a folder, read with the names Plex, Jellyfin and Kodi use, with details and artwork from .nfo files, tags, TMDB or MusicBrainz, Continue watching, Up next, Skip intro and scrub thumbnails, converted on the fly for a device that cannot play the file (media libraries).
  • Made for the couch. The guide previews the focused channel muted and opens it full screen on the same stream, and every screen works with a TV remote's D-pad. The household shares favorites, hidden channels, a watchlist and On Later, and kids mode sits behind the Settings PIN (using the app).
  • Channels of your own. Virtual channels play a library on a schedule, and multiview shows two to four channels at once.
  • Plays well with others. The lineup goes to Plex as an HDHomeRun tuner and to M3U and XMLTV players (third-party players); Sonarr and Radarr tell the server what changed (integrations); alerts go to a webhook, ntfy or Apprise (notifications).
  • No account, no telemetry. Nothing signs in to a cloud, and the one report is a crash, which the Android and desktop apps send to your own server unless you turn it off.

How Sofa King compares lists what it does not do, and coming from Plex or Jellyfin keeps your folders.

The player in the desktop app: a channel full screen with the info bar showing its number, name, program, rating, time and what is next, over the bar's buttons

Screenshots

Every platform's app against the same server, playing a showcase lineup of the Blender Foundation's open movies (Big Buck Bunny, Elephants Dream, Sintel, Tears of Steel and Caminandes, © Blender Foundation, under Creative Commons Attribution licenses) with a made-up guide. screenshots.yml takes them; Screenshots describes it.

Android TV

The channel list over a playing channel on Android TV The Library tab on Android TV: a spotlight of the focused title's backdrop and summary over the library chips and recently added movies A show's page on Android TV: its seasons, its next episode to play and the episode list A movie's page on Android TV: details, Play, Mark watched and the cast

Android phone

The guide on an Android phone The player on an Android phone with its info bar and buttons The Library tab on an Android phone A show's page on an Android phone

Android tablet

The guide on an Android tablet: nothing has focus on a touch screen, so the preview waits for a tap The player on an Android tablet with its info bar and buttons A show's page on an Android tablet

Desktop (Linux)

The guide in the desktop app with the focused channel's preview A movie's page in the desktop app

Web

The Library tab in a browser A show's page in a browser

iPhone and iPad

The guide on an iPhone A channel full screen on an iPhone The guide on an iPad The Library tab on an iPad

Apple TV

The guide on Apple TV: the focused program's preview and details over All and Favorites, Search, On later and a grid of channels

Light theme (phones, tablets, desktop and web; a TV stays dark)

The Library tab on an Android phone in the light theme The guide on an Android phone in the light theme The guide in the desktop app in the light theme

Admin portal

The admin portal's Home: what needs attention, channels on, guide coverage, Plex sync and who is watching The admin portal's DVR page: storage, upcoming recordings and series rules

Get it

Each part comes on two channels:

Channel Server image App
Stable, from the first release ghcr.io/jamesarich/sofa-king:latest (or :X.Y to stay on one minor version) The latest release, one per v* tag
Snapshot ghcr.io/jamesarich/sofa-king:main The snapshot prerelease, built from the latest main

Platforms lists what the app is published for. Getting started takes a Docker host to a playing channel, and the app's getting started installs the app and connects it to the server. Each README lists what is missing: server, app.

Part What it is
backend/ The server, with its documentation
app/ The Kotlin Multiplatform client, with its documentation
contract/ The wire types the server and the app share

The documentation index links every page and the shared glossary; the documentation site has the same pages with search. CONTRIBUTING covers the layout, conventions and CI, SECURITY reporting a vulnerability, SUPPORT getting help, and the code of conduct how everyone taking part behaves.

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Now put your feet up; it is Sofa King relaxing.