JellyTV vs TechDad Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JellyTV
Experience your self-hosted media library with a fast, modern client. Enjoy high-quality streaming, automatic progress tracking, and offline downloads across all your Apple devices. Unlock advanced features with an optional subscription.
- Connect to self-hosted Jellyfin server
- High-quality video and live streaming
- Automatic progress tracking and favorites
- Advanced search and Jellyseerr integration
- Offline downloads
- Full sync across Apple devices
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JellyTV is a premium Jellyfin client designed to deliver a fast, elegant and immersive media experience across all your Apple devices. Connect to your self-hosted Jellyfin server and enjoy your movies and series in a modern, fluid interface built for performance. Stream your content with high-quality video support, live streaming and transcoding. Pick up where you left off with automatic progress tracking and favorites. Smart Features – Advanced search by genre, actor, year and more – Seerr integration for request management – Push notifications for new content – Offline downloads for watching anywhere – Full sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro and Apple TV JellyTV+ Unlock advanced features with JellyTV+, available as an optional in-app purchase: – Admin interface for Jellyfin and Seerr – Trakt & AniList integration – Home screen customization – Exclusive app icons – iCloud settings sync JellyTV+ enhances the experience but is not required for core playback. Requirements – A self-hosted Jellyfin server is required – JellyTV does not provide media content – Jellyseerr requires separate installation – Some advanced features require JellyTV+ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
TechDad Player
Experience your media library with an ultra-lightweight, native player designed for the Apple ecosystem. Enjoy immersive visuals, instant launches, and customizable subtitles across all your Apple devices. This app offers a pure, ad-free viewing experience with flexible subscription options.
- Native Emby/Jellyfin streaming
- Ultra-lightweight and instant launch
- Immersive poster wall UI
- System-level subtitle customization
- Cross-platform Picture-in-Picture
- Smart hardware decoding
- Universal Purchase across Apple devices
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TechDad Player - The Ultimate Native Player "Minimal above all. Back to native. This may be the most beautiful and lightweight player you've ever seen." TechDad Player is more than just a media player — it is a piece of art crafted specifically for the Apple ecosystem. We reject the size compromises of traditional players, using an ultra-compact footprint of around just 10MB to unlock every ounce of power from Apple silicon. From the agility of iPhone to the immersive experience on Mac and Apple TV, TechDad Player delivers unprecedented visual fidelity and silky-smooth performance. 【Immersive Aesthetics: Unified Visual Experience Across All Platforms】 - Large-screen immersive UI: Poster wall designed for Apple TV, Mac, and iPad – your library becomes an elegant private theater - Unified experience: From iPhone to Apple TV, consistent native transition animations throughout - Native fluidity: 100% SwiftUI, every gesture follows physically accurate damping and bounce 【Ultimate Lightweight & Instant Launch】 - The 10MB miracle: Minimalist code, instant download, immediate launch - Native efficiency: Minimal memory footprint, significantly extended battery life 【Deep Native: Subtitle Aesthetics, Your Way】 - Supports System-Level Subtitle Customization: Deeply integrated with Apple's system-level subtitle settings. Personalize your subtitle font, size, color, background, border, and opacity — all to your liking. Whether you prefer the timeless "Classic" look or the clean simplicity of "Outline Text," your perfect viewing experience is entirely in your hands. 【Picture-in-Picture (PiP) Without Limits】 - Cross-platform PiP subtitles: Breaking system limitations – subtitles remain visible in floating mode - Seamless transition: From fullscreen to PiP with system-native smooth animations 【Smart Hardware Decoding, Smooth Playback】 - Native hardware decoding: Full utilization of Apple chip acceleration - All major formats: H.264, HEVC, AV1 and more, MKV/MP4 containers play seamlessly - Perfect HDR: Intelligent HDR color reproduction with Apple hardware acceleration - Embedded tracks: Perfect parsing of multi-audio and multilingual subtitles 【Apple Ecosystem Integration】 - Handoff continuity: Didn't finish on iPhone? One tap to continue on Mac - Universal Purchase: Buy once, use on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV 【Purity & Privacy】 - Zero tracking, zero collection: All data stays locally on your device - No ads: A pure tool, built only for watching 【Flexible Subscription Options】 - Monthly: Continuous updates with the latest features - Yearly: More affordable long-term option - Lifetime: Pay once, use forever on all platforms Subscription Note: Subscriptions auto-renew. Cancel anytime in Apple ID settings. Lifetime purchase requires no subscription – pay once, enjoy all platforms forever. Streaming Protocols: Emby, Jellyfin Supported Formats: MKV, MP4, MOV and more Subtitles: Embedded and external Local File Playback: MP4, MOV and more Terms of Service: https://techdad-player-legal.pages.dev/terms-of-service.html Privacy Policy: https://techdad-player-legal.pages.dev/privacy-policy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TechDad Player at 5.0 against JellyTV's 4.3. TechDad Player also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). JellyTV's advantage is review sentiment (79% vs 50%) and ratings volume (33 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. JellyTV sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and TechDad Player sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TechDad Player holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: JellyTV has 33 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of JellyTV's written reviews are positive against 50% of TechDad Player's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
JellyTV ships an update weekly, TechDad Player every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and July 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | JellyTV | TechDad Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (33 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 132 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Charly Manderrier | 少义 余 |
Customer experience
JellyTV
TechDad Player
In-app purchases
JellyTV
- JellyTV+ monthly$2.491 Month
- JellyTV+ monthly$4.991 Month
- JellyTV+ Yearly7 Days trial$17.991 Year
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- JellyTV+ Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
- Admin tools$14.99
- JellyTV+ lifetime$29.99
- JellyTV+ lifetime family upgrade$39.99
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- JellyTV+ for life$49.99
- JellyTV+ family for life$89.99
TechDad Player
- TechDad Player Pro (Monthly)$0.991 Month
- TechDad Player Pro (Yearly)$6.991 Year
- Lifetime$13.99









