Docs

Otterplay documentation

Everything you need to stream your home videos from the servers on your network.

Getting started

Otterplay plays video from media servers on your local network — a NAS, a DLNA/UPnP media server, a plain shared folder over SMB, or an NFS export. There's no account and nothing to configure in the cloud.

Install Otterplay on your phone, tablet, or TV.
Make sure the device is on the same Wi-Fi network as your server.
Open the app — the Servers tab lists what it finds. Tap one to start browsing.

Local network access is required. On first launch, allow Otterplay to find devices on your local network when prompted — without it, discovery can't see your servers.

Adding a media server

Automatic discovery

Open the Servers tab and Otterplay scans for DLNA/UPnP, SMB and NFS servers. Found servers appear under “Found on your network.” Tap one to add it and jump straight into browsing.

Adding by address

If a server doesn't advertise itself, add it manually with Add media server and enter its address — an IP like 192.168.1.20, or the full URL if it uses a non-standard port, for example:

http://192.168.1.20:8200/rootDesc.xml

Otterplay reads the server's name and content from the address, so you only ever type it once.

Server status

Each saved server shows a status dot:

Online — reachable and ready to browse.

Checking — Otterplay is probing it now.

Not reachable — off or asleep. This is a normal state, not an error.

If a server comes back at a different IP address, Otterplay recognises it by its identity and reconnects automatically — you don't need to re-add it.

SMB & NFS shares

SMB (Windows / macOS file sharing, and most NAS boxes) is supported for both browsing and playback. Discovered SMB servers appear alongside DLNA ones.

Signing in

Otterplay tries guest access first. If the share needs credentials, a sign-in card appears:

Enter your username and password, or choose Connect as guest.
Turn on Remember on this device to store them for next time.

Saved credentials are kept in the device's secure keychain (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore) — never in plain storage, never uploaded, and never written into your history or logs.

NFS exports

NFS shares are discovered and browsed just like SMB, but with no sign-in — NFS uses host-based access, so there's nothing to type. Tap the share and start browsing. On some servers (notably macOS), playback is most reliable for files at the share's top level; for deeply-nested folders, SMB is the more robust choice.

Browsing & the library

The Servers tab lists the servers you've added. Tap one to walk its folders; each level shows folders and playable videos. A server that's unreachable simply won't open — the others stay browsable.

Your library

The home screen is your library — a wall of thumbnails, so you can start watching without digging through folders. To fill it, add folders to your library: browse into a folder on a server and add it. Otterplay indexes that folder's videos and keeps them on the home screen, ready to play. Folder browsing stays available whenever you want it.

Playback

Tap any video to play. The player keeps controls out of the way and brings them back on a tap.

Skip — the −10 / +10 buttons, or double-tap the left or right side of the screen.
Speed — from 0.5× to 2×.
Fit / fill — switch between letterboxed (whole frame) and filled (cropped to the screen). Pinch to zoom as well.

On phone and tablet, video plays full-screen in landscape.

Resume

Otterplay remembers where you stopped, per video, on that device. Continue-watching titles sit at the top of the home screen with the time remaining — tap to pick up exactly where you left off.

Subtitles

Both embedded subtitle tracks and external sidecar .srt files are supported. Open the subtitle control in the player to see every available track and switch, or turn subtitles off, mid-playback.

For a sidecar subtitle to be picked up, keep it next to the video with a matching name, e.g. Holiday.mkv and Holiday.srt.

On the big screen

Otterplay runs natively on Apple TV and Android TV. The interface is built for a remote: focus moves with the D-pad, playback controls are reachable without a touchscreen, and the same servers and resume points carry over from your phone.

Known limitations

NFS is environment-dependent. NFS browsing works in many setups, but some servers or networks don't cooperate — most often on Android. If an NFS share won't browse or play, add the same folder over SMB instead.
Deeply-nested NFS folders. Files at an NFS share's top level play reliably; videos buried several folders deep may not. SMB handles deep folders more robustly.

Privacy

No account, no cloud. Otterplay talks only to the servers on your own network.
No tracking. There's no analytics calling home.
Credentials stay local. SMB passwords live only in the platform secure store on that device.

Troubleshooting

My server doesn't appear

Confirm the device and the server are on the same Wi-Fi (and not on a “guest” network that blocks local traffic).
Check that local network permission is granted (in the OS settings for Otterplay).
Some servers are slow to advertise — give discovery a few seconds, or add the server by address.

A video plays sound but shows a black picture

Make sure you're on a current build. If it persists on one specific file, its codec may need a transcoding server — try a different title to isolate it.

SMB sign-in keeps reappearing

Double-check the username/password and that the share allows your account. If the NAS was asleep, wake it and retry — a sleeping server can look like an auth failure.

Otterplay is in active development — features and screens are evolving.