From first launch
to film night.

01

Start here

CineDock gives the Plex, Emby or Jellyfin library you already run a new look — in a browser, on Windows or Mac, and on the television. Your server keeps doing everything it already does: files, users, permissions, streaming, watched history, resume points. CineDock changes how the library looks and how you browse it, nothing else. There is no cloud behind it, no account and no subscription.

Three doors in. Pick the one that matches where CineDock will live:

What you need

• A working Plex, Emby or Jellyfin server.
• An account that can access the libraries you want to see.
• For the desktop edition: a Windows PC or Mac. For browsers, Amazon Fire TV or NVIDIA Shield TV: a server or NAS that can run the CineDock container.
• Optional: a TMDB API key for fuller cast biographies and library filmographies.

02

Install on your server or NAS

One container, every platform. Whatever runs it, two things stay true: CineDock listens on port 8945 inside the container, and everything worth keeping lives under /config.

Unraid

1. Find CineDock in Community Applications.
2. Choose any unused port on the Unraid server. CineDock suggests 8945, but you can use another free port.
3. Keep /config mapped to persistent appdata. This preserves your settings, Watchlists and caches when the container is updated.
4. Optional: the template has fields for your media server's address and API key (Plex, Emby or Jellyfin) and a TMDB key. Anything you fill in here is offered ready-made during setup — useful when setup will happen on a television, where typing is a chore.
5. Install, then open http://YOUR-UNRAID-IP:HOST-PORT.

Docker, Portainer or another NAS

Map any free host port to CineDock's internal 8945. This example uses host port 8955:

docker run -d --name cinedock -p 8955:8945 \ --restart unless-stopped \ -v /path/to/cinedock-config:/config \ ghcr.io/cinedock/cinedock:latest

You would then open http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:8955. Replace 8955 with whichever free host port you choose.

The same host-to-container mapping applies to Docker Compose, Portainer, Synology Container Manager and QNAP Container Station.

TrueNAS Apps

CineDock is in the official TrueNAS Apps catalogue (Community train). The app uses the same CineDock container, but TrueNAS handles its port differently from the Docker example above:

1. Open Apps → Discover Apps, search for CineDock and choose Install.
2. Leave WebUI Port at the default 31080, or replace it with another unused port. TrueNAS gives that port directly to CineDock. Unlike the Docker example above, you do not need a separate HOST-PORT:8945 mapping.
3. For CineDock Configuration Storage, keep the default ixVolume for the simplest setup, or choose an existing Host Path. TrueNAS prepares /config for the app's fixed 568:568 identity.
4. The standard resource defaults are 2 CPUs and 4096 MB memory. Leave them in place for the initial installation.
5. A TMDB API key is optional. It adds fuller biographies, library filmographies and improves Spotlight selection; CineDock works without it.
6. Install the app, then use its Web Portal, or open http://YOUR-TRUENAS-IP:31080 when using the default port.

03

Install on Windows & Mac

The desktop editions are the whole of CineDock in one file. They are unsigned test builds for now, so both operating systems will ask you to vouch for them once.

Windows 10 or 11

Mac

04

Install on your TV

First confirm CineDock works in a computer browser, then put it on the television. Allow about ten minutes for a Fire TV; Shield and Zidoo are quicker.

NVIDIA Shield TV

Sideload the signed APK with your preferred sideloading method, then open the app and enter your CineDock address as described below.

Zidoo players

Zidoo uses a dedicated two-app release: Playback Helper 1.5.8 and CineDock Zidoo 0.2.11. From the Zidoo release page, install the Playback Helper first, then install CineDock Zidoo and open CineDock Zidoo. Install both over any existing versions; do not uninstall either app, clear application data, or factory-reset the box. The helper has no screen of its own.

Pressing Play then hands the film to the Zidoo's own player, so HDR, Dolby Vision, lossless audio passthrough and frame-rate switching behave as they do for local files. The pair keeps progress, return from Back, natural endings and next-episode playback working. Proven on a Z9X 8K with an uninterrupted 43-minute Plex episode and a final Emby Back check.

Fire TV Stick or Cube, step by step

These instructions work on compatible Fire OS-based Amazon Fire TV Sticks and Fire TV Cubes; the wording of one or two menus can vary by Fire OS version.

9746448

https://cinedock.tv/apk

On televisions, a cold launch shows a short CineDock splash while the app loads. A warm start skips it and goes straight to Home. Container updates need no new APK: the app loads its interface from your container.

05

Connect your server

You do this once, and each server connects differently. Afterwards nothing changes on the server: same users, same watched history, same artwork.

If the container was installed with the server details already filled in — the template fields on Unraid, or environment variables anywhere Docker runs — setup offers that server ready-made: choose it and there is nothing to retype.

CineDock only ever asks for a profile's password in one place — the Who's watching screen, and only when that profile has one on the server. Setup itself never wants anybody's password.

Enter an address that opens from the device running CineDock. Do not use localhost when the media server is on another computer: localhost always means the device you are currently using.

06

Remote viewing

Watching away from the server — another house, another town, another country. What carries over from your media server's own remote access, what does not, and the setup that makes CineDock at a distance behave exactly like CineDock at home.

Does my server's own remote access carry over?

No. Plex remote access, Emby Connect and Jellyfin relays all work the same way: the server's own apps sign in to the server's own service, and that service finds your machine for them. It carries those apps and nothing else. CineDock is a different front door: a distant viewer's device must reach CineDock's address, and no media server's remote access creates that path. CineDock has no cloud, no account service and nothing phoning home — which also means no free relay. Self-hosted means the remote path is yours to provide. Your family's existing remote Plex, Emby or Jellyfin apps keep working untouched either way.

One address is all they need

Everything streams through the CineDock container — browsing, playback, trailers, artwork. A distant viewer's device needs to reach exactly one address: CineDock's port. Your media server itself never has to be visible outside your house at all.

Recommended: Tailscale, once per device

Tailscale creates a private network between your machines and your family's devices — free for personal use, and there is a Tailscale app for Fire TV and Android TV. The one-time setup:

1. Install Tailscale on the machine that runs CineDock (or on the NAS — most platforms have a package) and sign in.
2. Each faraway household installs the Tailscale app on their Fire TV or Android TV and signs in with their own free account.
3. From your Tailscale admin page, share the CineDock machine with each of those accounts.
4. On their television, the CineDock app's address becomes the machine's Tailscale address with your CineDock port — for example http://100.101.102.103:8955.

From then on their CineDock behaves exactly as it does on your own sofa — same profiles, same Home, same resume points. The address is remembered on the device, so this setup is a one-off.

If you already run a VPS

A second route, for people who already have one: a private tunnel from home to your own VPS, with the VPS presenting CineDock and an allow-list of your family's home addresses. Nothing is installed on their television at all, which suits relatives who would rather not be talked through software over the telephone. The cost is that home addresses change, so the list needs occasional attention.

If you already run a reverse proxy or access gateway with proper authentication and know how to secure it, browsers can work through it — but interactive login walls fight the TV app's player, so for televisions far from home, prefer a private network.

Content-delivery networks

A CDN or tunnelling service in front of a home server can also work. Each has its own terms about carrying video, so it is up to you to choose one and follow its rules; this guide does not cover them.

Two things to bear in mind

• The bandwidth is yours. Because streams proxy through the container at source quality, every distant viewer rides your connection's upload speed. A 4K remux needs serious upstream; if remote evenings stutter, that is the first place to look.
• What CineDock stores: connection settings, its per-profile Watchlist and Home arrangement, hidden Continue Watching choices and artwork caches. Plex, Emby or Jellyfin still controls account security, library permissions and streaming.

07

Who's watching

Choose the person who is watching before browsing. The profile determines which libraries appear and keeps Continue Watching, watched titles and resume points with the right person. The Home screen arrangement and the Watchlist also belong to the profile.

• Emby and Jellyfin: CineDock shows the users returned by that server through the configured API key. A profile that has a password on the server is asked for it when chosen, exactly as a protected Plex profile asks for its PIN; profiles without one walk straight in.
• Plex Home: the linked Plex account and its managed Home users appear in the profile picker. Protected profiles ask for their PIN.
• Plex friends: a friend is a separate Plex account, not a Plex Home profile. They should link their own CineDock instance or configuration to their own Plex account.

Parental limits apply to playback

A profile's library permissions and parental limits are enforced when a title is played, not only when browsing. A title the server hides from a profile will not play for that profile from any screen — shelves, Search or Continue Watching. The message shown is “Your profile is not allowed to view this title.” If CineDock cannot reach the server to check, playback is refused.

If Continue Watching belongs to somebody else, check the profile name at the top-right before changing anything else.

08

Choose libraries

Open Settings → Libraries to choose which already-authorised Plex, Emby or Jellyfin libraries appear in this profile's top menu and library-led Home rows. This is a display choice in CineDock, available in the browser and on TV; it does not grant access to a library.

• Press OK on a library to select or clear it; ▶ picks one up and ▲▼ move it to change the order. Keep at least one selected. Back saves, and CineDock reloads with the new selection.
• All libraries (including new ones) follows every library this server user is allowed to see, including ones added later. Choose individual libraries when you want a fixed selection.
• Back with nothing changed leaves without saving.
• The choice applies to the top menu and library-led Home rows, and is saved for this profile. Search and Continue Watching may still include any title the selected server user is authorised to access.

Your media server remains the authority. Hiding a library in CineDock does not change Plex sharing, Emby or Jellyfin permissions, watched history, or media files. Plex sidebar pins are separate Plex preferences and do not choose CineDock libraries.

Home shelves is a separate choice: use it to arrange rows within your chosen libraries. A library can remain in the menu while its Home shelf is switched off.

09

Home

The Home screen is a Spotlight billboard above your shelves. The top menu starts with Search and Home, then the selected profile's chosen media-server libraries, then Playlists, Watchlist and Collections — and Requests when the owner has connected Seerr. Library names therefore differ from one installation to another. However many libraries you have, the bar never overflows: the ones that do not fit fold behind More.

Spotlight

• The billboard features titles from your own library and plays their trailer where one is available — with sound, silently or not at all, as chosen in Settings → Home screen; static artwork advances by itself.
• Left and Right move to the previous or next featured title. OK opens More Info.
• During seasonal takeovers the featured titles come from the seasonal shelf — see Seasonal.

The rows

• Continue Watching is first by default. It can be moved or switched off — see Home shelves.
• Rows that are a repeatable query carry a › on their heading: open it (or press Left from the row's first tile) for the full grid.
• A shelf longer than the screen shows a selection, and the selection changes daily — see Home shelves.

The remote

• D-pad: Move the visible highlight. Left/Right follows the order of buttons or posters; Up/Down moves between areas.
• OK / Select: Activate the highlighted item. A quick press on an episode plays it; hold OK for watched and playlist actions.
• Back: Close the current menu or return one screen. Home-row and library changes are saved on Back.
• Keyboard: Use arrow keys and Enter in TV view, Escape to go back, or click controls in browser view. W marks the focused episode (otherwise the season or the film) watched or unwatched.
• Fire TV / Shield playback: Left/Right seeks; OK pauses or resumes; Up opens audio, subtitles and scenes. Back closes a player menu first, then leaves playback.
• Zidoo playback: The Zidoo system player supplies its own playback menu and Back confirmation. Follow its on-screen controls to end the video and return to CineDock.

A browser can preview TV view with ?tv=1; ?tv=0 selects desktop view and ?tv=auto restores automatic detection. The native TV app’s Menu/Settings key opens its saved CineDock-address screen.

10

Home shelves

What appears on Home, and in what order, is chosen in the Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows picker. Everything your server can offer is in one list: your own collections, genres, library rows and CineDock's built-in shelves, with a live preview of what Home will look like.

The picker

• OK switches a shelf on or off. ▶ picks a shelf up to move it — press ▶ again to send it straight to the top. Page ▲▼ jumps through a long list. Back saves and returns.
• The panel on the right shows Home will look like — your running order, updated as you choose, with a count of what's on and what's hidden.
• Collections you make yourself arrive switched on. Anything CineDock guessed at arrives switched off and marked New, so Home never rearranges itself behind your back.
• On a large server the list is long, so the picker has its own search box: press ▲ at the top of the list and start typing. Back clears the search, Back again leaves. Every row says where it came from — your lists, your playlists, genres, your collections — and the ones you made yourself are grouped first.
• Everything you arrange is per profile.

Continue Watching

Continue Watching starts first on Home but is not fixed there. Move it wherever you like, or switch it off — when off, it waits at the top of the picker so you can find it again in one press. Switch every shelf off and Home says so plainly and points you back at the picker; nothing is lost.

Shelves rotate daily

A shelf longer than the screen shows a selection. The selection is seeded on the date, the profile and the shelf: it stays the same all day, changes overnight, and is different for each person in the house.

Two shelves from your own data

CineDock adds two shelves of its own, both built from the server's records rather than anyone's taste — it does not curate for you. Keep, move or hide them in the picker like any other shelf.

• Recently Watched — what the selected profile finished lately.
• Playlists — an optional shortcut to the top-level playlist index. Off by default for new installations; existing choices are kept.
• Any one of your playlists — listed under Your playlists and off until you pick it. Its whole list becomes a row on Home, in the order you arranged it.

11

Seasonal

Five themed shelves, one per occasion, each drawn from your own library:

• Love Is in the Air — Valentine’s
• Hop To It — Easter
• Fright Night — Halloween
• Gather Round — Thanksgiving
• ’Tis the Season — Christmas

The facts:

• A shelf exists only inside its season. Outside the window there is no shelf at all, never an empty one.
• Titles are matched by TMDB identity, not by name, so films that share a title do not end up in the wrong season.
• In the days around the occasion itself, Seasonal takes over Spotlight: the featured titles in the hero come from the seasonal shelf, and a seasonal backdrop frames the billboard.
• It is turned off in Home shelves. The shelf’s single toggle controls both the shelf and the takeover, and the entry (Seasonal) is in the picker all year, so it can be positioned or switched off before its season arrives. Per profile, like every shelf.
• A season with no artwork never changes the look — the shelf still runs, the takeover simply stays off.
• The matching lists ship inside the container and the matching happens on your own server. Nothing is sent anywhere.

12

Collections

You create the collections; your family decide which ones to use. Build them on the server however you like — franchises, directors, themes — and each person chooses which appear on their own Home, with Home shelves. One person's franchise wall never takes over anyone else's evening.

• Your own collections. In Settings → Collections any profile can make its own film, series or mixed collections, or add a suggested one, without changing the media server; each can be shown on Home.
• Films and TV series in one collection. Give a collection the same name in a film library and a TV library and CineDock joins them into one shelf — the films and the series side by side, with a line saying which libraries the titles came from. Most servers keep the two apart; CineDock puts the whole franchise on one row. Works on Plex, Emby and Jellyfin.
• The Collections tab opens every collection on the server as a poster grid, with an A–Z rail on large servers. To choose what appears on Home, open Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows.
• Search finds collections as well as titles, and opens the collection directly.
• Recently Watched is described under Home shelves. Your server's video playlists have their own Playlists tab and an optional Home shelf.

13

Playlists

Open Playlists in the top menu, after the libraries and before Watchlist. It shows video playlists available to the selected server user. Each playlist opens as a grid of films and episodes in its saved order. Music playlists are not shown.

Create a playlist

• Choose Create playlist. The name field receives focus; enter a name, then press Enter, the keyboard’s completion key, or Create playlist.
• Choose Open playlist to inspect the new list, or Save to close the success screen. An empty playlist is valid; fill it while browsing.
• In TV view the actions sit below the heading, above the posters. From the top row press Up to reach them; Left/Right follows the visible action order. In a browser you can click each action directly.

Add films, episodes, seasons or a whole series

• For a film, open More Info and choose Add to playlist, then choose an editable playlist or create one.
• For an episode on a series page, use the episode’s own Add to playlist button, or hold OK on its number and choose Add to playlist. A quick OK plays the episode. In a browser, use the episode’s Add to playlist action in its detail or action menu.
• For a whole programme, choose Add series to playlist on the series page. For one season, select that season first, then choose Add season to playlist. The two adjacent buttons have different icons and show their names when focused.
• The picker previews the available episode count. Series and season additions append available episodes in season/episode order. Episodes already present are skipped; the existing playlist is not rearranged.
• Adding a film or episode already in the list does not duplicate it. The existing entry remains usable.

Watch a mixed film-and-TV sequence

• Play at the top starts the first unfinished entry, or the first entry when everything is watched.
• To start elsewhere, open that entry from the playlist and press Play or Resume on its information page. On completion, CineDock continues to the next entry in that playlist, including a film or an episode from a different series. It stops at the last entry.
• For an MCU-style chronology, place films and individual episodes in the order you want. Adding a season or series does not work out a fictional universe’s chronology for you.
• Opening the same episode through its normal series page continues that series instead. Membership of a playlist does not change ordinary series playback.
• Resume positions and watched state belong to the selected media-server user. Watching an episode in a playlist also updates it in the series, and vice versa, when Report what I watch is enabled.

Reorder, remove or delete

• Open the playlist, choose Manage playlist, then choose the entry to manage.
• Plex and Emby: where the list is editable, use Move up or Move down to adjust the order. The beginning and end only offer directions that are possible. CineDock does not offer reordering for Jellyfin unless it signs in with a media-server account rather than an API key alone, and never for a list whose entries the server cannot tell apart; arrange those in the server's own client.
• Choose Remove from playlist and confirm to remove that entry. Its film or episode remains in the media library.
• Delete playlist names the list and asks for confirmation. It deletes the playlist, not its films or episodes.
• Successful add, move, remove and delete actions are applied to the server immediately. Save closes the management screen; Back or Cancel does not undo changes already confirmed.
• Smart playlists and other lists the server does not let you edit remain read-only. Controls depend on the selected user’s permissions.

Put playlists on Home

In Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows, enable the optional Playlists shelf. It is off by default for new installations; existing choices are kept. New lists also appear on that shelf when it is enabled. Its heading or See all opens the same top-level index.

Put a playlist on Home, in your own order

Any playlist can become a row on Home, showing the whole list in the order you arranged it.

1. Open Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows.
2. Find it under Your playlists, the group just below the shelves already on Home. Quicker still: press ▲ at the top of the list and type part of its name.
3. Press OK, or click the row, to switch it on.
4. Press Back. Your choice is saved.

The row holds the whole playlist and has no “See all” card, because the row already is the list. A very long playlist is capped, and then the card returns and says how many titles there are.

Show lists from MDBList

If you keep lists at mdblist.com — a top ten, a chronology, a watch order — each one can be a row on Home. CineDock shows only the titles your own library has. You do not need MDBList to use CineDock; without a key nothing changes.

1. On mdblist.com, open Preferences and copy your API key.
2. In CineDock’s Settings in a browser (on a computer or phone), paste it under Your MDBList lists, then choose Save. CineDock says how many lists it found.
3. Open Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows. Your lists are there under Your lists.
4. Switch on the ones you want.

• Titles you do not have are skipped, so the row holds only what you can actually play.
• Lists are re-read every few hours, so a weekly chart stays current on its own.
• On Jellyfin the first list row can take a minute to appear: Jellyfin cannot be asked “do I have these?” directly, so CineDock indexes the library once in the background and the row appears by itself. Nothing waits for it.

14

Watchlist

• Watchlist has its own tab in the top menu.
• Open a title's More Info screen to add it to or remove it from Watchlist; the bookmark button shows filled when the title is on the list.
• CineDock stores Watchlist locally, per profile. It does not add titles to Plex Watchlist, Emby Favourites or Jellyfin Favourites.
• If the Watchlist is empty, press Up to return to the top navigation.

15

Browse & Search

Search for a person or a studio

Search finds people and studios as well as titles. Choose one and CineDock shows everything in your library they were part of.

• Type a name and look at the top of the results: people and studios come first, labelled Person or Studio.
• Choose one to open a grid of their titles in your library.
• With a TMDB key saved in Settings, a person’s filmography comes from TMDB and is matched to your library, which is far more complete than most servers’ own cast data. Without a key, CineDock uses your server’s index instead.

Browse All

Open a library tab and choose Browse All, or choose a shelf heading marked ›, to browse everything in a full grid.

• The A–Z rail on the right jumps straight to a letter, with # for titles that start with a number.
• The header offers Sort (Title A–Z, Recently added, Release date, Rating), an Unwatched filter and a Genre filter.
• Each library also has a Genres page: every genre it actually contains, with artwork and a count, opening into the filtered grid.
• Back returns you to the exact spot you left — sort, filter and scroll position included.

Search

• Search finds titles across the selected profile's libraries.
• Search also finds collections, and opens the collection itself.

16

More Info

Open a title to see its description, available ratings, cast and media details. A focused action shows its name. The bookmark adds or removes the title from your CineDock Watchlist.

Films

Choose Play or Resume, Add to playlist, the watched action, or an available extra. Audio/video badges describe what the media server reports. Cast members open a biography and titles available in your library.

Choosing a film version

Own a film in more than one version — different cuts such as the Final Cut and the Theatrical Cut, or a 4K and an HD copy? Choose the one you want to watch. CineDock shows the film once, and its More Info screen has a Version box: press OK and choose. The badges change to match the version you pick, each version keeps its own resume point, and the version you choose stays chosen until you pick another.

Name each file Title (Year) {edition-Cut Name} — for example Blade Runner (1982) {edition-Final Cut}. This works with Plex, Emby and Jellyfin. Director's Cut, Final Cut, Theatrical, Extended, Ultimate, Unrated, IMAX and Special Edition are also recognised after the year without the tag. A version with no cut name is shown by its picture quality, such as 4K or 1080p.

• Recommended: each version in its own folder. The folders can be on different drives — 4K films on one, HD on another.
• Plex: all versions in one folder also works.
• Emby's own apps show {edition-…} names with a trailing bracket; CineDock shows them correctly.

Series, seasons and episodes

• A series with more than one season opens on its season posters: choose one with ◀ ▶ and press OK. A series with a single season goes straight to its episodes.
• The episode screen shows the chosen episode — its story, picture and sound details and its own Play, Mark watched and Add to playlist buttons — above the season buttons and the episode numbers. The next unwatched episode is marked NEXT and watched ones carry a tick. A quick OK on a number plays it; hold OK for its action menu.
• Add series to playlist adds available episodes from the programme. Add season to playlist uses the selected season. See Playlists for the preview and saved ordering.
• The watched action applies to the selected season. Remove from Continue Watching, when present, is a circular button in the main action row.
• Scroll below the episodes for cast, extras and More Like This. Back from the episodes returns to the season posters; Back again closes the series.

17

Cast & biographies

• Select a cast member on More Info to open their page.
• Without TMDB, CineDock still shows the cast information supplied by your media server. Add a TMDB API key for longer biographies and more reliable matching.
• In the CineDock library shows only the actor's films and programmes available to the selected profile. It is not a complete filmography from the internet.
• On a cast page, press Up for Read full biography, or Left/Right through their library titles.

18

Trailers & extras

CineDock shows trailers and bonus features already recognised by Plex, Emby or Jellyfin. It does not download trailers, and a file is not treated as a trailer simply because “trailer” appears in its filename.

Choose where trailers play in Settings → Home screen: the Home Spotlight, Home row and film information trailers can each be With sound, Silent or Off. The choice is kept on that television and never changes the film’s own sound.

• Plex: CineDock can use recognised local extras and trailers Plex exposes through its metadata service.
• Emby and Jellyfin: for reliable playback in Spotlight on Amazon Fire TV or NVIDIA Shield TV, use a local trailer recognised by Emby or Jellyfin. A YouTube link may work in a browser but is not reliable in the CineDock app on those devices.
• TMDB: the optional key enriches metadata; it does not download or supply trailer files.

The safest cross-server folder arrangement is:

Film Name (2024)/ Film Name (2024).mkv Trailers/ Trailer 1.mp4 Featurettes/ Making Of.mkv Deleted Scenes/ Alternate Ending.mkv

1. Add only files you have permission to store.
2. Scan the library and refresh that film's metadata.
3. Confirm the trailer or extra appears in the normal Plex, Emby or Jellyfin client.
4. Refresh CineDock or reopen More Info.

If the extra does not appear in Plex, Emby or Jellyfin, it will not appear in CineDock. H.264 video with AAC audio in an MP4 file offers broad compatibility on Amazon Fire TV and NVIDIA Shield TV.

Filling the Trailers folders

Adding trailer files one by one is a chore on a big library. Trailarr automates it: a self-hosted app that finds your media through Radarr and Sonarr, downloads a trailer for each title into the folder layout above, and names it so Plex, Emby and Jellyfin recognise it. It is a separate project with its own documentation and rules — how you source trailers is your choice, not something CineDock does for you.

19

Playback

Press Play from More Info. During playback on Amazon Fire TV or NVIDIA Shield TV, Left and Right seek, OK pauses, and Up opens the menu for subtitles, audio and scenes. Back closes that menu and the film keeps playing; Back again leaves the film. Available choices depend on the title, device and media server.

Audio

Choose from the audio tracks available for that title. Surround sound depends on the source, Fire TV or NVIDIA Shield device, and connected audio equipment.

Subtitles

Turn subtitles off or choose an available track. Plex may transcode or burn certain subtitles to keep them synchronised.

Scenes & chapters

Move across chapter cards and press OK to seek. Server artwork appears when available. If a chapter has no picture, the CineDock container can create one when your media folder is mounted read-only at /media. Without that mount, the chapter still appears as a text card.

Resume & watched

With Report what I watch enabled, playback progress returns to the selected media-server user. Mark watched/unwatched also updates that user. CineDock never writes to your media folders.

Resume

For a series, the episode you are up to is chosen for you and marked NEXT — the same episode however you reached the series: Continue Watching, Search, a shelf or Browse All. Its own button says Resume episode when you have started it, otherwise Play episode. When an episode finishes, the watched tick appears and Continue Watching advances without leaving the page.

Marking watched

• One episode: use its own Mark watched button, or press and hold OK on its number for a moment — a small menu offers Mark watched or Mark unwatched. A quick tap of OK still plays it.
• A whole season: the watched button in the action row marks the selected season. A film’s marks the film.
• Marking a whole season watched and removing a title from Continue Watching ask for confirmation first. Mark unwatched is available when you need to correct watched state.

Enable locally generated chapter pictures

Optional, and only needed when the media server does not already supply chapter artwork. Add the same media root to the CineDock container as a read-only mount:

-v /path/to/your/media:/media:ro

On Unraid, add another Path: set the container path to /media, choose the host folder containing your media, and set the access mode to Read Only. CineDock matches the media paths automatically and keeps a limited chapter-image cache under /config. Text chapters continue to work without this mount.

Playlist or series order

Start from a playlist to follow its mixed film/episode order. Start from a normal series page to continue the series. Resume and watched state are shared for the selected server user; see Playlists for detailed instructions.

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Requests

• If your household runs Seerr (Overseerr or Jellyseerr), connect it once in Settings and a Requests tab appears for everyone.
• Search for anything — in the library or not — and press Request. Seerr passes it to your Radarr or Sonarr exactly as its own app would; CineDock never talks to them directly.
• No Seerr configured, no tab.

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Settings and updates

On a television, choose your name at the right of the top menu; in a browser, open the cog. On TV, Settings gives access to Home screen (rows, poster size and trailers), Collections, Libraries, Who’s watching and Help, with a QR code for opening CineDock on a phone. The browser Settings page also carries server configuration and optional services.

• Use Home screen → Arrange Home rows for row visibility and order; use Libraries to choose which already-authorised Plex, Emby or Jellyfin libraries appear in the top menu and library-led Home rows, and in what order: on a remote press ▶ on a library to pick it up, ▲▼ to move it and OK to put it down; Back saves. Both choices belong to the current profile.
• Report what I watch controls playback-progress reporting to the media server. Check it when resume or watched history does not update.
• Configure Seerr for Requests and an optional TMDB key for richer metadata. A TMDB key does not provide trailer video.
• Change media server only when you intend to connect CineDock to another server. Profiles and content can differ on the new server.
• Update the container through your normal Docker or NAS update action and preserve the persistent /config mapping. Reopen CineDock afterward so the page loads the new interface. With Docker Compose, run docker compose pull followed by docker compose up -d from your existing Compose project directory.
• Desktop editions share the container’s version number. Download the matching Windows or Mac build; quit the old app from its tray or menu-bar icon before replacing it.
• Television apps have their own version numbers. Fire TV and Shield use the standard CineDock TV 0.2.11; Zidoo uses CineDock Zidoo 0.2.11 together with Playback Helper 1.5.8 or newer. From 0.2.10 both update themselves: once a day they check cinedock.tv and offer Download or Later, and Settings → Check for updates asks straight away. On Zidoo the helper is offered first. An app older than 0.2.10 has to be installed over by hand once.

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Troubleshooting

Zidoo exits to its Home screen

If Zidoo returns to its Home screen, loses resume position, freezes during playback, or fails at a natural ending: confirm that both Playback Helper 1.5.8 (or newer) and CineDock Zidoo 0.2.11 are installed. Install the helper first, CineDock Zidoo second, then open CineDock Zidoo. The helper has no screen of its own. Install over existing versions; do not clear Zidoo application data, uninstall the apps, or factory-reset the box. If the exact working pair still fails, report the Zidoo model and firmware, both app versions, the CineDock container version, media-server type, and exact point of failure.

A trailer plays with sound but no picture

Seen on Fire TV. First update CineDock to 4.9.3 or newer and the TV app to 0.2.9 or newer: earlier versions could place the trailer picture off the bottom of the screen when More Info was opened from a row further down Home. If it still happens, close other video apps and reopen CineDock — another app holding the television's video decoder has caused this. If it persists, restart the box; that cleared it in testing on 17 September 2026 while the trailer was decoding correctly and the picture still never appeared. Sound with no picture is a condition on the television, not a missing trailer, so nothing needs fixing in your library or on the media server.

Playlists or controls look out of date

Reopen CineDock or reload the browser after updating the container. Check the build shown beside the wordmark, the selected server and the profile. A test app can still point to a different CineDock instance from the normal app.

Playlist playback goes to the next episode in the series

Start the entry from Playlists, or use Play at the top of that playlist. Starting from a normal series page deliberately keeps series order. Confirm both films and episodes are in the playlist’s saved order.

Wrong or missing content

Check Who’s watching, then Settings → Libraries for top-menu library choices on Plex, Emby or Jellyfin, and Settings → Home screen → Arrange Home rows for row choices. Plex sidebar pins do not control CineDock. Server permissions decide which titles a viewer can access.

No playback or connection

The TV app needs the CineDock address, not the Plex/Emby/Jellyfin address. Check the server is reachable and whether the same title plays in its own client. Audio and subtitle support depends on the device and source; server transcoding may be needed.

Trailer has no sound or will not start

Confirm the media server recognises the local trailer. H.264 video with AAC audio in an MP4 is a useful compatibility choice for trailer previews. A remote YouTube link may not work in a TV preview. A poster remaining on screen means the preview may still be loading; choose the title’s Play action to watch the main feature.

After an APK installation

Restart the device if playback or returning to CineDock behaves unexpectedly. Restarting has resolved post-install problems in testing, but is not a guarantee for every fault. Keep your saved app data when troubleshooting.

Still having trouble

Use cinedock.tv/support. Include the device, firmware, media-server type, CineDock version, exact steps and what happened. Do not include passwords or tokens. The full setup and usage guide is at cinedock.tv/guide.