Mac TV 0.17

Steadier

• Mac TV is now built with Swift 6's thread-safety checks, so mistakes that could cause rare crashes are caught before release instead of on your TV.
• MKV movies set up their picture on the main thread, as macOS expects.

Bug reports

• IINA's errors now show in full in the diagnostics report (Settings › About › Copy diagnostics report).

Under the hood

• The app's shared services are handed to each part that uses them, which makes Mac TV easier to test. Nothing should look or work differently.

Mac TV 0.16

Bug reports

• Copy diagnostics report in Settings › About (or Help › Copy Diagnostics Report) copies what's needed to look into a problem: versions, displays, sound, the remote, power, recent crashes and this session's log. It leaves out what you watch, titles, addresses and names. Paste it into a bug report.

Fixes

• Home now also closes Add App and Audio Output.
• Volume changes from the phone remote are quicker, and work the same with any output.

Polish

• Settings and Arrange Apps rows are one line each.

Under the hood

• Mac TV checks power, the battery, displays and the network only when macOS says they've changed, instead of every few seconds, and moving the pointer over the apps redraws less.
• The code is reorganised by feature, settings are kept in one place, and the phone remote's page is plain web files. Nothing should look or work differently.

Mac TV 0.15

Audio output

• Choose where sound plays: a new Audio Output sheet switches between the Mac's speakers, AirPods and other headphones, and a TV or monitor's speakers. Open it from the Audio tile in Control Center, or Settings › Sounds › Audio output.
• Volume and navigation sounds each have a slider in the same sheet. Use ◀ ▶ to change them and Select to mute. The Sounds on/off switch moved out of Control Center into this sheet; it's still in Settings too.

Under the hood

• The app's main controller is split into smaller parts for playback, the phone remote and the display. Nothing should look or work differently.

Thanks to pratikngupta for both changes.

Mac TV 0.14.3

Fixed: signing in to Jellyfin from some Macs

• Signing in failed with "The server answered 400" on Macs whose name has a character like the ’ in "Arun’s MacBook Air". Mac TV now sends the Mac's name the way Jellyfin's own apps do.

Mac TV 0.14.2

Fixed: Jellyfin over Tailscale

• Tailscale addresses work: when you add a server by its Tailscale address (100.x.x.x:8096), Mac TV connects using that machine's Tailscale name instead. macOS blocks plain-HTTP connections to the address from another Mac, but allows them to the name.

Mac TV 0.14.1

Fixed: Jellyfin servers on another Mac

• Tailscale names work: you can add a server by its Tailscale name, such as macbook-pro.tailnet-name.ts.net:8096, as well as by its address.
• Clear reasons: when a server can't be reached, Mac TV now says why: Local Network access is off for Mac TV, nothing is answering at that address, there's no answer, or the name can't be found. It no longer just says "Server not reachable".

Mac TV 0.14

Movies from your NAS and Jellyfin

• Jellyfin servers: sign in once to a Jellyfin server, at home or a family member's, and its movies and episodes join Movies, with posters. They play in Mac TV's own player; Jellyfin converts what the player can't open. Where you stop goes back to the server, so other Jellyfin apps pick up there too. Add one in Movies › Folders › Add Jellyfin Server… or from the phone. Only a sign-in key is kept, in your Mac's Keychain.
• Network shares: add a shared folder on a NAS or another computer (nas.local/Movies) and Mac TV keeps it connected at launch, after sleep and when the network comes back. Its movies keep their place in Continue Watching while it's offline. Add one in Movies › Folders › Add Network Share… or from the phone; the password stays in the Keychain.

On the Mac that runs the server, a film that's also a file on that Mac shows once, as the file.

Mac TV 0.13

Mac TV now updates itself

• Automatic updates: new versions download in the background and install only while nothing is in use, when the screen saver is showing or the screen is off at home. Mac TV comes back to the screen saver afterwards, so an update never interrupts what you're watching.
• Settings › About: Software update shows what's new and installs it straight away if you'd rather not wait. Turn off Automatic updates there to choose yourself.
• Safe: an update installs only if it's signed exactly like the Mac TV you have.

This is the last version you need to download by hand.

Also

• New installer: the download opens a window showing where to drag Mac TV.
• Fixed: Mac TV could crash when you removed a profile.

Mac TV 0.12

Wake the screen, pick the display, and a safer remote

• Wake screen: after Turn screen off, the phone can turn the display back on, and any remote press wakes it too. Power buttons work even while the screen saver is showing.
• Pick the display: move Mac TV to another connected display from the pairing screen or the phone's TV controls. Full screen is kept.
• IINA on the TV: movies opened in IINA play on the TV display, and pause, seek, volume and subtitles work from the phone without restarting the film. Home closes only that IINA window.
• Open a website from the phone: type an address to watch it without adding a tile.
• Pairing: the QR code shows at launch until a phone connects. Choose Full or Guest, 24 hours before scanning; guests get playback controls only.
• Safer remote: only phones on your own network or Tailscale can connect, with limits on connections and request sizes.
• Phone remote: a Home button in every playback mode, and website typing in its own sheet.

Your phone may need to scan the QR again after updating.

Websites still open in the built-in player unless you choose Brave in Settings › Watching.

Thanks to @allamaprabhuani for this work (#9).

Mac TV 0.11.1

Smoother home screen

• Every grid row in view: the app grid scrolls one row at a time, so apps further down come fully into view.
• Focus moves with its row: the focused tile lifts in step with the row as it scrolls, instead of moving on its own.
• Mouse stays out of the way: a resting pointer no longer takes focus while you use the arrows, remote or trackpad. Move the mouse to use it again.
• Steadier trackpad and mouse wheel: a swipe moves one row without skipping, and each wheel click moves one row.

Thanks to @pratikngupta for the fix (#10).