I’d say it’s specific rather than bad. I’ve named my media the same way for decades using the old XBMC naming standard. And things have been picked up by Kodi, Plex, Emby and now Jellyfin.
The instructions are clear - https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/media/shows/. Apps like Beets, Music Brainz Picard, Tiny Media Manager do all the hard work making things pristine.
No issues with Smiling Friends:
I’m no fan of software subscriptions. I have only one and it’s Infuse. Took the plunge mainly for Apple TV playback a few years ago and I’m glad I did.
It’s not just relying on FOSS through JF, but allows connection to Plex and Emby servers. And just as importantly direct NAS playback (side note - I honestly think a lot people go through the hassle of setting up a full JF/Emby/Plex server when this option would work just as well for them for single client playback). They also update regularly, and generally adhere to native OS design standards so it feels at home - https://firecore.com/releases
Back to the point, I pay the cost of a McDonald’s meal a year and I’m happy. IMHO it’s fantastic value. And I’ll continue to wait patiently for the official Jellyfin Apple TV client rework (Swiftfin). If it’s great and ticks the boxes I need I’ll cancel the Infuse subscription, if not we get enough value for £8.99 a year to make it a no brainer decision to continue.
I moved to Manet, native iOS look and feel (plus CarPlay) - https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/manet-music/id6470928235
Although there are others, like FinAmp (the TestFlight is better than the released version which I’d recommend if you don’t like Manet) - https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/finamp/id1574922594
I’ve never used it, and it’s not been updated for a while. But maybe worth a shot.
Shows:
And a tweak for Movies:
As a Brit I’ve always preferred Lock Stock to Snatch. Both great films.
Think it’s the Apple Music Classical app.
These Netflix miniseries are catalogued on both IMDB and likely more importantly The Movie Db (the default Jellyfin metadata agent, possibly what you’re using if you’ve not changed it) as 2 different shows. Not 2 seasons of 1 show.
Hill House is 10 episodes. Bly Manor is 9 episodes.
So you should have 2 top level folders under your TV show folder using them names, folder structure:
—[Root folder] Shows ——[Folder] The Haunting of Hill House (2018) ———[Sub folder] Season 1 ——[Folder] The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) ———[Sub folder] Season 1
If in doubt always follow what the metadata agent you’re using in Jellyfin has on their app/website. I’ve never had an issue when doing this.
Yeah it’s a setting and it works fine for me. I’m not at home but here’s the setting on the iOS version (Settings > Playback > Resume Playback On):
I’m a huge Infuse fan. I started on Xbox Media Player on the OG XBox. Which turned into XBMC then Kodi. I moved to Plex then Emby and now JF. With lots of other software tested without becoming a daily driver.
Infuse is my favourite client of all time. It’s polished, looks good, has all the features I need for a TV client and feels like an app designed for tvOS should.
I too don’t really do software subscriptions. But for Infuse I’ve made an exception. A couple of reasons for this.
First all the features listed above deliver a solid experience.
Second this isn’t a static piece of software - here is the change log: https://firecore.com/releases. It gets regular, often meaningful updates (and if you go into their forums and make a worthwhile suggestion, within reason, there’s a chance it’ll be implemented).
So the devs deserved to be paid. Whatever model that is - £10 every few years for new versions or a similar monetary value as a sub.
What I wouldn’t do is buy the lifetime version. It’s £100. I pay yearly at £8.99 which is about the cost of a coffee + croissant or a burger meal, a single cinema ticket is about £15. Infuse comes out at 17p a week. I use it most days, easily 10 hours a month. It’s a relative bargain. I plan to subscribe until the official Swiftfin client matures enough to be used. Like you say it’s got a few issues at the moment. Let’s say that takes another 3 years. That’s still only £27. I’d have to sub to Infuse for 11 years for the lifetime version to be worth the cost. I’m hoping Swiftfin will be ready for prime time by then.
My setup isn’t too fancy. Apple TV connected to a Denon amp which powers a 3.1 system and an LG OLED as the screen. It looks and sounds fantastic through Infuse. No real issues I can think of for my needs. It plays back every file format I’ve tried.
Would be useful to know what issues you’ve been having with Swiftfin and Infuse so people can better advise on these alternatives.
I’ve tried Mediora but didn’t really like the UI. And Swiftfin is still quite buggy/lacking polish (I’ll retest after large upcoming uplift).
But overall much prefer Infuse over everything on tvOS (my fav client of all time Kodi or Plex or Emby or Jellyfin).