Home Video Channel for tvOS

Home Video Channel for tvOS turns your Apple TV into a beautiful, always-on showcase for your personal video library. Instead of browsing clips one by one, you get a lean-back, full-screen viewing experience that continuously surfaces your best memories on the biggest screen in your home.

Built as a self-hosted Immich client, the app connects directly to your server and intelligently plays videos from your collection with smooth transitions and TV-friendly controls. Whether you want a calming ambient loop during gatherings or a dynamic highlight reel for family nights, it keeps playback effortless and immersive.

Setup is simple: enter your Immich URL and the API key from your own self-hosted Immich instance, choose how you want videos selected, and press play. The app does not provide, unlock, or bypass paid content from any service. You can keep things fully random for discovery, or switch to chronological modes to relive moments in story order. Favorites-only playback is also available when you want a curated experience.

Under the hood, the app is optimized for real-world living room use. It syncs metadata into a local cache for faster performance, remembers playback progress in sequential modes, and gives you practical controls for crossfade, preload timing, and queue behavior so playback feels smooth and reliable.

It is designed for people who want their media library to feel alive, not archived. Home Video Channel for tvOS gives your videos a premium, hands-free presentation experience that is perfect for home ambiance, events, and everyday enjoyment.

Download on the Apple App Store Setup Help (QR Page) Support / Donate

Released March 2026. Latest update: tvOS version 2.5.

View on GitHub

Screenshots

Core Experience

Native Apple TV SwiftUI experience optimized for Siri Remote.
Continuous playback with random and sequential playback modes.
Minimum-duration filtering to skip short clips.
Favorites support and hide-forever workflow (archives in Immich).
Search-driven playback channels powered by Immich smart search.
Rich metadata and info overlay during playback.

Channels, Sync + Tools

Channel selector with tabs: Time & Place, Albums, People, and Search.
Library stats screen with totals, activity, and top values.
Local SQLite cache with sync controls for large libraries.
Playback tuning options for crossfade, preload, and queue target.
Feedback screen with QR flow and diagnostics summary.
Support the App screen with QR handoff to the website support page.
Localization-ready UI using String Catalogs (Localizable.xcstrings).

Version History (tvOS)

2.5

Added Support the App in Settings with a dedicated support screen.
Added large support QR flow to https://bananasystems.co.uk/home-video-channel/support.
Added optional non-sensitive support URL tracking parameters: source, app, av, bn.
Migrated user-facing text to modern String Catalog localization workflow.
Improved localization readiness for dynamic labels, formatting, and accessibility text.

2.4

Expanded channel navigation with richer tabbed channel browsing.
Improved synced metadata presentation with better albums/people context.
Added and polished phone-based QR flows around support/feedback experience.
Playback and focus stability improvements.

2.3

UI and setup polish pass for better living-room readability.
Settings and onboarding refinements for easier first-time configuration.
Quality and reliability improvements across playback and navigation.

2.2

Improved library stats UX and data visibility.
Playback control/focus fixes, including seeking behavior.
General stability improvements across everyday playback.