Kinostrata User Guide | Browsing, collections and playback

Who's watching

Choose who is watching first. Each person keeps their own Continue Watching, Watchlist and Home.

A profile with a PIN or password asks for it.
Plex: your Plex Home users appear here. A friend with their own Plex account links their own Kinostrata to it.
Emby and Jellyfin: username/password setup uses your signed-in account. A hosted installation using an API key can offer the server's users; protected profiles ask for their password.
Direct TV mode: Emby and Jellyfin stay with your own login. Other server users are not offered.
Someone else's Continue Watching? Check the name at the top right.

Parental limits apply to playback

A title the server does not allow for a profile will not play for that profile, from any screen.

Choose libraries

Setup → Layout → Libraries chooses which libraries this profile sees.

OK ticks or clears a library.
▶ picks one up, ▲ ▼ move it, OK puts it down.
Back saves.

All libraries includes ones added later.
Switching a library off removes its titles from this profile. To hide only the tab, use Layout → Top menu.
Your server still decides what each profile may watch.

Home

The big picture at the top is the Spotlight. ◀ ▶ change film, OK opens it.
Below are your rows. Continue Watching comes first unless you move it.
A row heading with › opens the whole list.
The highlighted film's tagline shows under the row.
Libraries that do not fit along the top fold under More.
Setup → Layout → Spotlight → Home Spotlight hides the Spotlight; your rows move up into its space.
Setup → Layout → Spotlight → Spotlight recess sets the Spotlight a few inches into the wall. It is not used with a Black background.

Background and Play animation

Setup → Layout → Look → Background: Black, Selected film (the highlighted film's own picture, darkened), or a colour, from Charcoal and Dark charcoal to Teal and Steel. On a computer you can pick any colour. Every colour is darkened just enough to keep the text easy to read.
Setup → Layout → Look → Play animation: a short home cinema scene as a film starts. The disc spins up, the receiver shows the film's sound, and the film comes up on the screen. Choose Films and TV, Films only or Off. Back during it cancels.

The remote

←→↑↓Move the highlightAlong a row, or between areas.

OKOpen or chooseOn an episode, a quick press plays it; hold OK for more.

BackGo back one stepChanges are saved on Back.

While a film plays (Fire TV, Shield): ◀ ▶ skip back and forward, OK pauses, ▲ opens audio, subtitles and scenes, Back closes the menu and then leaves the film.
On a Zidoo: the Zidoo's own player controls the film.
On a computer: the arrow keys and Enter work like the remote, and Escape is Back. W marks the highlighted film or episode watched.

Home rows

Setup → Layout → Home rows chooses the rows on Home and their order.

OK shows or hides a row.
▶ picks a row up and ▲ ▼ move it. ▶ again sends it to the top.
◀ on a row: rename it, number it or feature it in the Spotlight. A featured collection does not need to be on Home as a row too.
Back saves.

Long list? Press ▲ at the top and type part of a name.
New suggestions arrive hidden, so Home never changes by itself.
Each profile has its own Home. In hosted mode, a change made on a laptop shows on the television within seconds.

A playlist as a row

Find it under Your playlists.
OK to show it.
Back saves.

Lists from MDBList

On mdblist.com, copy your API key from Preferences.
Open Setup → Settings → Online details. Paste it under Your MDBList lists and choose Save.
Setup → Layout → Home rows: your lists are under Your lists.

Seasonal

Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s, Easter and Thanksgiving each get a row from your own films, only around that day. Near the day the Spotlight joins in.

The row: Setup → Layout → Home rows → Seasonal, OK shows or hides it.
The Spotlight: Setup → Layout → Spotlight turns Seasonal films and Seasonal backdrop on or off.

Collections

Franchises in the top menu: your server's film sets, such as Alien.
Collections in the top menu: every collection, yours and your server's.

Make your own

Setup → Collections → My collections → New collection.
Choose Films and TV shows I pick, Films that match a rule, TV shows that match a rule or Nested collections.
Name it and choose Save collection.

A rule can also Leave out genres, set an Age limit (U, PG, 12 or 15) or Leave out titles containing a word. A studio rule takes part of the name: Disney finds every Disney studio. Rule-based collections keep themselves up to date as your library grows.

Suggested collections: ready-made lists matched to what you own. Nothing is added until you choose one. Once added, it takes in films from its list as you add them to your library; one you remove stays out.
A film collection and a TV collection with the same name join into one row.
On a franchise page, Check for missing films shows the whole series.

Playlists

Your server's video playlists, each in its own order, films and episodes mixed.

Add: on a film or series choose Add to playlist. On a series you can add the whole series or the selected season.
Play: open the playlist and choose Play. It carries on to the next entry.
Change: open it, choose Manage playlist, then an entry: Move up, Move down or Remove from playlist.
Show on Home: open it and choose Show on Home.
New: choose Create playlist.

Watchlist

On any film or series choose ＋ Watchlist.
The Watchlist tab in the top menu shows them all.
It belongs to the profile and stays in Kinostrata. It is not your server's Favourites.

Library & Search

Library

Every library tab has Recommended · Library · Genres at the top.

Library: every title. Sort and Filter are at the top. The ticked sort shows its direction; choose it again to reverse it, including Critic Rating on Emby and Jellyfin. Titles without a date or rating are left out of the reversed view.
View changes the layout: Poster wall, Quick info (the highlighted title's picture, details and trailer) or List. Posters changes their size.
In a TV library the first button switches between TV Shows, Seasons and Episodes, each with its own Sort and Filter choices.
Genres: every genre in the library.
The A–Z rail on the right jumps to a letter, or # for a number. It appears for Title A–Z and Title Z–A.
Back returns you to where you were, keeping the sort, filter and scroll position.

Search

Search finds titles, people, studios and collections.
Choose a person to see everything of theirs you own.

A film or series page

Play or Resume. It also says when the film would end.
Chapters (films with chapters): the last button. Pick a chapter and press OK to start the film there. The chapter Resume would start in is marked.
＋ Watchlist, Add to collection, Add to playlist, Mark watched.
A series opens on its season posters. ◀ ▶ choose one, OK opens its episodes.
On the episodes screen, ◀ ▶ choose an episode. The buttons beside it add the series to your Watchlist, a collection or a playlist, mark the season watched, or open Extras.
An episode's cast includes its guest stars.
On an episode number, a quick OK plays it; hold OK to mark it watched or add it to a playlist.
▼ for cast, extras and More Like This.
More in this series shows the film's whole series.

Choosing a version

Own more than one copy, such as a 4K and an HD or two cuts? The film shows once, with a Version box.
OK on Version and choose. Each version keeps its own resume point.
Name each copy Title (Year) {edition-Cut Name}, for example Echoes of Orion (2024) {edition-Extended Cut}, best each in its own folder.

Cast

OK on a cast member opens their page: their story and the films of theirs you own.
▲ for Read full biography.
No films shown? Refresh that title in your server so it has a TMDB ID.

Trailers

Setup → Trailers: for the Spotlight, Home rows and film pages, choose With sound, Silent or Off.

On slow connections, we recommend Off for all three. The film and episode quality limit does not limit trailers; Kinostrata does not turn them off automatically.

Kinostrata plays the trailers your server already has. It does not download any.

Adding a trailer

Put it in a Trailers folder beside the film, as below.
Refresh that film in Plex, Emby or Jellyfin.
Check it plays in your server's own app.

Film Name (2024)/ Film Name (2024).mkv Trailers/ Trailer.mp4

Trailarr can fill the Trailers folders for you.

Playback

Fire TV and Shield

◀ ▶ skip back and forward. OK pauses.
▲ opens audio, subtitles and scenes.
Back closes the menu, then leaves the film.
Direct TV streaming quality: open Setup → Settings → Home & away → Video quality and choose 1, 2, 4 or 8 Mbps. Mobile is the default at 2 Mbps; Low data uses 1 Mbps. This limits films and episodes, not trailers; start the title again after changing it. The server may transcode to meet the limit.

Zidoo

The Zidoo's own player. Pause to see Kinostrata's information card (below).

Where you stop is kept for that profile, and the next episode is marked NEXT.
Not kept? Check Setup → Settings → Home & away → Report what I watch.
Started from a playlist, it follows the playlist's order.

Chapter pictures (optional)

Add your media folder to the Kinostrata container, read-only, at /media: -v /path/to/your/media:/media:ro. Kinostrata then makes the chapter pictures your server lacks.

The information card on a Zidoo

Pause a film and Kinostrata shows its poster, cast, ratings, plot and the playback details. Press Play and it goes.

Install the newest Playback Helper: in Kinostrata on the Zidoo, Setup → Settings → Check for updates.
Set up Zidoo path substitution for that library. A film that streams shows no card.
Display over other apps lets the helper draw the card over the film. On the Z9X 8K it is already on. On other Zidoos, open Kinostrata Playback Helper (called CineDock Playback Helper on older installs) once from the app list: it tells you if it needs turning on, and takes you there.

A film played from Zidoo Home Theater shows Zidoo's own panel instead.

Requests

If your household uses Seerr, connect it in Setup → Settings → Online details. The device running Kinostrata must be able to reach it.
A Requests tab appears. Search, then choose Request.

Setup and updates

On a television, press ▲ to the top menu, ▶ to your name at the right, then OK. On a computer or phone, choose the cog.
◀ ▶ change tab. ▼ goes in.

Layout: Home rows, Libraries, Spotlight, Look, Top menu. Spotlight and Look each open their own page.
Collections: My collections, Collections on your server, Playlists, Suggested collections.
Trailers: where trailers play, with or without sound.
Settings: Who's watching, then Home & away immediately below it; Requests, Online details, Zidoo path substitution, Help & about, Check for updates. A television using your home Kinostrata container also shows a QR code for browser setup. Direct TV mode is set up on the TV; its local page is not reachable from a phone or computer.

Updates

The TV app: Setup → Settings → Check for updates. It also checks once a day and asks first.
The container: update it the usual way for your NAS and keep its /config folder. With Docker Compose: docker compose pull, then docker compose up -d.
Windows or Mac: download the new version and quit the old one first.
Remote viewing: choose Away from home on the Kinostrata connection screen. Follow the numbered Remote viewing guide; this direct connection also works at home.
Home viewing and Away from home (Fire TV or Shield, in Home & away) each open your saved connection in one press, with no retyping or login. If none is saved, Home viewing opens the home-address form and Away from home opens server sign-in. Both buttons stay available in either mode. Remote setup stays saved, and Kinostrata opens the last connection you used on normal launches. Use Edit home connection to correct the home address, or Change remote server or account to change your remote login. Both choices use the same standard app and update feed.
Change media server sets up a different server inside the current connection.

Something wrong?

Zidoo goes back to its Home screen, or loses your place: update both apps with Setup → Settings → Check for updates. Do not clear the app's data or reset the box.
Wrong films or rows: check who is watching, then Setup → Layout → Libraries and Home rows.
Will not play: does the same film play in your server's own app?
TV app cannot connect: hosted mode needs the Kinostrata container address. Direct mode needs your Plex account or your Emby/Jellyfin address and login. Check remote access and playback permissions with the server owner.
Remote film buffers: choose Home & away → Video quality → Low data (1 Mbps) and compare the same film in your server's own app on the same network. Check the server's upload capacity and transcoding performance.
Trailer: sound but no picture (Fire TV): close other video apps. If it continues, restart the box.
Odd after an update: restart the device.
Still stuck: kinostrata.com/support. Say the device, the Kinostrata version and what happened. Never send passwords.