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Remote playback & clients

Orb is the server; you can reach it from a lot of places. The web app and the native apps are the primary clients, but Orb also speaks several open protocols so you can cast to a TV, play through existing apps, or have the native apps find your server automatically on the network.

Web app & PWA

The web UI is served by the server itself at the root URL — no separate web server to run. It's a full progressive web app, so on any browser you can install it (Add to Home Screen / Install) for an app-like, offline-capable experience.

Native apps

Native Tauri apps wrap the same UI and add the in-house native video player for source-passthrough/HDR playback, plus offline downloads. Desktop (Linux, macOS, Windows) and Android builds are attached to each GitHub release. The iOS app is in development — see the iOS player notes.

Server discovery (mDNS)

Native apps can discover Orb servers on the local network via mDNS, so users don't have to type an address. This is on by default; the advertised name is SERVER_NAME (or the hostname).

  • MDNS_ENABLED — toggle advertisement (default: true).
  • SERVER_NAME — the display name shown to clients.

Subsonic / OpenSubsonic API

Orb exposes a Subsonic-compatible REST API (with OpenSubsonic extensions) at /rest/*, so a wide range of existing third-party music apps work against your library — point the client at your Orb URL and authenticate with your Orb account. Scrobbling through the Subsonic scrobble endpoint is supported.

This endpoint is always available and authenticated per request; no configuration is required.

Chromecast

Orb includes a Chromecast proxy so you can cast audio and video from the web app to a Cast device on your network. Pick the target from the device picker in the player.

The proxy is off by default and intended for LAN-only use — its routes are public because cast devices can't present an Orb login, so anyone on the network who knows a media ID could fetch it.

  • CAST_ENABLED — enable the proxy (default: false).
  • CAST_BASE_URL — the base URL advertised to cast devices (default: auto-detected LAN IP + HTTP_PORT).

Admins can also flip the proxy off at runtime with the Disable LAN cast toggle in the admin settings, without restarting.

DLNA / UPnP

Orb can advertise itself as a DLNA/UPnP media server so smart TVs and DLNA renderers can browse and play the library. SSDP discovery is multicast on 1900/udp; the media is served over HTTP at /dlna/*.

Like Chromecast, DLNA is off by default and LAN-only — the HTTP routes expose the library without authentication.

  • DLNA_ENABLED — enable the server and SSDP advertisement (default: false).
  • DLNA_BASE_URL — the base URL advertised to control points (default: auto-detected LAN IP + HTTP_PORT).

Android Auto

The Android app supports Android Auto for in-car browsing and playback. For developing and testing against the Android Auto desktop head unit, see Android Auto emulator setup.

Next steps