ɳTV

ɳTV — ɳSelf documentation.

ɳTV is an open-source media player built on ɳSelf. It runs on six platforms, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and Web, from a single Flutter codebase. Users self-host the backend with the ɳSelf CLI and the ɳTV plugin bundle.

GitHub: nself-org/ntv License: MIT Status: Active

What ɳTV Does

ɳTV turns your ɳSelf backend into a personal media server you control. Your media library lives on your hardware. The ɳTV client on any supported device plays it back with server-side adaptive streaming, automatic metadata enrichment, and an electronic program guide for live TV.

Free Capability (no backend required)

Add any IPTV M3U playlist URL in Settings and browse live channels immediately. No account, no license key, no backend needed for this path.

Full Capability (ɳTV bundle, $0.99/mo)

With a self-hosted ɳSelf backend running the ɳTV plugin bundle:

Feature	What You Get
Library	Browse your full media catalog with TMDB poster art, ratings, and genres
Adaptive streaming	HLS/DASH with server-side transcoding for any bitrate
EPG	Electronic Program Guide for live channels, including recording with the `recording` plugin
Progress sync	Resume any title from any device
Media acquisition	Automated download and organization via `torrent-manager` and `content-acquisition`
Subtitle search	Auto-download subtitles from OpenSubtitles and sync them to playback

Platform Matrix

Platform	Video Engine	HLS	DASH	Background Play
iOS	AVPlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes (Info.plist audio)
macOS	AVPlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Android	ExoPlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes (foreground service)
Windows	platform video_player	Partial	Partial	TBD
Linux	platform video_player	Partial	Partial	TBD
Web	HTML5 + HLS.js	Yes (polyfilled)	Partial	n/a

Architecture

+---------------------------------------------+
|  nTV Flutter Client (6 platforms)            |
|  - Library browser                           |
|  - Video / audio player (chewie + video_player) |
|  - IPTV M3U channel browser                 |
|  - EPG viewer                               |
|  - Progress sync engine                     |
+------------------+--------------------------+
                   |
                   | Hasura GraphQL + plugin REST
                   |
+------------------v--------------------------+
|  nSelf Backend (user-hosted)                 |
|                                              |
|  PostgreSQL  <-- library schema              |
|  Hasura      <-- GraphQL API + permissions   |
|  Auth        <-- JWT issuance                |
|  Nginx       <-- TLS + routing               |
|                                              |
|  nTV Plugins:                             |
|    streaming     HLS/DASH segment server     |
|    stream-gateway stream URL routing         |
|    epg           electronic program guide    |
|    tmdb          metadata enrichment         |
|    media-processing encoding pipeline        |
|    torrent-manager BitTorrent client (free)  |
|    content-acquisition download orchestration (free) |
|    subtitle-manager subtitle search (free)   |
+---------------------------------------------+

The Flutter client speaks Hasura GraphQL for library data, watch state, and user preferences. Playback goes through the streaming plugin, which serves HLS segments from transcoded files stored in MinIO or a local media directory. Progress sync is a Hasura mutation sent every 10 seconds during playback.

ɳTV Plugin Bundle

ɳTV requires the ɳTV bundle for all backend features. The bundle costs $0.99/mo or $9.99/yr as part of the ɳSelf Pro tier.

Paid plugins (require license key):

Plugin	Purpose
`streaming`	Library API, HLS/DASH streaming, progress sync
`stream-gateway`	Stream URL routing and access control
`epg`	Electronic Program Guide for live channels
`tmdb`	TMDB metadata lookup and poster art
`media-processing`	Server-side encoding pipeline
`recording`	DVR recording from live streams

Free plugins (no key needed):

Plugin	Purpose
`torrent-manager`	BitTorrent client for media acquisition
`content-acquisition`	Automated download orchestration
`subtitle-manager`	Subtitle search, download, and sync

Quick Start

# Backend
nself init ntv-backend && cd ntv-backend
nself license set nself_pro_xxxxx...
nself plugin install streaming stream-gateway epg tmdb
nself plugin install torrent-manager content-acquisition subtitle-manager
nself build && nself start

# Flutter app
git clone https://github.com/nself-org/ntv && cd ntv
flutter pub get
flutter run

On first launch, the Library screen prompts you to enter your backend URL. For local dev use http://localhost:8000. For a remote server use your full https:// URL.

ɳTV