Help

The first time you open Makimedia, choose Choose a folder and pick the folders where you keep your films and shows. You can pick several at once. Makimedia only reads the folders you pick.

To add or remove folders later, open Settings, Scan folders. Removing a folder takes its files out of the library, but nothing on your disk is ever touched.

There are no folders to pick. Tap Allow access to videos, and Makimedia finds the videos on the device by itself, including a memory card. When a new drive is plugged in, it asks whether to scan it.

On a TV you can also choose Continue without them, if your films live on a PC and you only want to stream from it.

Makimedia then reads your files and looks up each title on TMDB for its poster, overview and cast. This only takes long the first time. Each title is looked up once and kept on your device afterwards.

No internet? Your videos still appear and play. They're matched when the connection is back.

Makimedia works out what a video is from the name of the file and the folders above it. You don't need to clean names up, but a title and a year go a long way. Films are happiest in a folder of their own:

Films/
  Heat (1995)/
    Heat (1995).mkv

A show wants a folder per show and a folder per season:

Shows/
  The Wire (2002)/
    Season 01/
      The.Wire.S01E01.mkv

• Put the year in the name. It separates a remake from the original, and a film from a show with the same name.
• Episodes are recognised from S01E02, 1x02 or Season 1 Episode 2. S00E01 is a special.
• Everything after the year or episode number is ignored, such as resolution, source, codec or release group.
• Subtitles are found beside the film when their name starts with the film's, like Heat (1995).en.srt, or in a Subs folder next to it.

The full rules are in the app, under Settings, How your library is read on Windows, phones and tablets.

1. Set the network to Private. In Windows, open Settings, Network & internet, choose your Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection and set its network profile to Private. On a public network, Windows hides the PC from other devices.
2. Let Makimedia through the firewall. If Windows asks whether Makimedia may use the network, allow it on private networks. If you dismissed that question, allow Makimedia in Windows Security, Firewall & network protection, Allow an app through firewall.
3. Check that both are on the same network. A guest Wi-Fi network, or a router that keeps wireless devices apart from each other, stops them from seeing one another.

Makimedia finds the PC by itself, so there's no address to type in. If it still doesn't appear, write to us and choose Streaming help.

• Nothing plays on the PC while it streams. Its page shows what each device is watching instead. Press Stop streaming to use it again; each device keeps the place it reached.
• Closing the window can keep it streaming. Turn on Settings, Keep running when the window is closed, and Makimedia waits in the notification area. Right-click its icon to quit.
• Use the same version everywhere. A device running a different version of Makimedia from the PC is asked to update first.

Yes. No ads, no subscription, no account and no tracking. It's open source under the GNU General Public License, and the code is on GitHub.

No. It's a player, not a streaming service like Netflix. It has no catalogue of its own and plays only files you already have. See the legal notice.

Only to fetch posters and details, once per title. Your library and your videos work with the network off, and streaming from your PC only needs your home network.

No. Phones, tablets and TVs play the videos stored on them. A Windows PC is only needed to stream its library to your other devices.

Windows 10 and 11, Android phones and tablets, and Android TV.

These videos are added to the library: mkv mp4 avi mov webm m4v ts m2ts mts wmv flv mpg mpeg ogv 3gp divx vob rmvb.

These subtitles are picked up: srt ass ssa sub vtt idx. Whether a particular file plays also depends on what the device's decoder can handle.

Your library, watch history and settings stay on your device. To find a poster, Makimedia asks TMDB about the title it's looking up, and nothing else is sent anywhere. Read the privacy policy.

No. It only reads them. Removing a folder or a file from the library leaves it on your disk, and Settings can put anything you removed back.

Open the film or show and use Fix match. Search for the right title and choose it. Your choice is remembered, so a later scan won't undo it, and for a show it fixes every episode at once.

Titles Makimedia wasn't sure about wait under Suggested in the menu, and files it couldn't name at all are under Unmatched.

Yes. Open it and choose Remove from library from its menu. The file stays on disk, and Settings, Removed from library puts it back.

Name the subtitle file after the video and keep it beside it, and it loads by itself. While a video plays, you can also choose Add a subtitle file from the subtitles menu.

On Windows, Find subtitles online searches opensubtitles.com. It uses your own free opensubtitles.com account, which you sign in to under Settings, Subtitles.

In the app, under Settings: Keyboard shortcuts on a PC, Gestures on a touchscreen, and The remote on a TV.

• Check its format is one of the video formats Makimedia reads.
• On Windows, check that its folder is in Settings, Scan folders, and use Rescan all after adding new files.
• On Android, Makimedia needs access to all your videos. If only some were allowed, Settings shows a Videos on this device row that fixes it.
• Maybe it's there without a title. Look under Unmatched in the menu, then use Fix match.

When a file can't be played, Makimedia says so with This one will not play and gives the reason. The most common is that the device's decoder doesn't support the video's format; it may play on another device, such as your PC. Videos in 8K aren't supported.

The file was moved or deleted, or its drive is disconnected. Reconnect the drive, or rescan the folder the file is in now. Until then it stays in your library with its watch history.

Look at the top of the player while a video plays. Under the title it shows either hw: and the hardware decoder in use, or software decoding. Software decoding of large 4K videos can be too much for smaller devices.

On Windows, Settings, Force hardware decoding also tries decoders that are normally skipped. Turn it off again if you see artefacts or a file stops playing.

Picture-based subtitles (PGS, VobSub and DVB, common on Blu-ray and DVD rips) can't be shown on Android TV. The subtitles menu marks them as a picture subtitle the TV can't show. Use a text subtitle such as an srt file instead.

While the video plays, open Delay and shift the subtitles against the audio, a tenth of a second at a time.

If the device can't see the PC, follow The device doesn't find the PC. If the connection drops while you watch, the film stops where it was and picks up from there the next time you connect.