Every setting, what it does, and how to fix the common problems. Looking for something specific? Search below.
On the PIN screen, tap Forgot PIN? and prove you own the servers: Sign In with Plex with the same Plex account the app uses, or enter the user name and password of a Jellyfin or Emby administrator and tap Verify. RexyView then removes the PINs of the adult profiles (those without a rating limit) and of the profile you were opening. Set a new one in Settings → Profiles. More about Forgot PIN.
On the limit screen, enter your PIN with Parent PIN Here, or have them tap Ask a Parent on Their Device and approve it from the notification on your iPhone. See Bedtime & viewing limits.
Turn off Ask Who’s Watching at Launch in Settings → Profiles.
Try Settings → Library & Cache → Clear Video Cache, then play it again. If it still won’t, set Settings → Playback → Video Quality to 8 Mbps or 720p so your server converts it. See Why won’t my file play?
On your iPhone: Settings → Server → Approve a Sign-in Code…, then enter the code your Apple TV shows.
That’s normal. After you sign in on the Plex page, tap the X to close it, then wait a few seconds on the RexyView screen while the app finishes signing in. Don’t tap Cancel during those few seconds.
The Plex sign-in was cancelled or restarted before it finished. Nothing is wrong with your account. Tap Sign in with Plex again and follow the steps above.
SIGN-IN SCREEN · SETTINGS → SERVER
Settings → Server → Add Server lets you add Plex, Jellyfin or Emby. You can sign in to more than one Plex account. Each server appears in Switch Server.
On an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Vision Pro: Settings → Server → Approve a Sign-in Code…. Choose the account under Sign In With, type the code the other device shows (Plex’s plex.tv/link code or a Jellyfin Quick Connect code) and tap Approve. The other device then signs in to that account.
Turn on Combine Libraries (Settings → Server) to browse every server as one library. Cards show small P, J and E badges. When the same title is on more than one server, Play From lets you pick which copy plays — or set a Preferred Server. Nothing on your servers is copied, moved or changed.
Settings → Appearance → Home Screen lists every Home row. Switch a row off to hide it, and press and hold a row to drag it somewhere else — for example, put Favorites above Continue Watching, or drop Recently Added Episodes. On Apple TV, select a row for Show on Home or Hide from Home, Move Up and Move Down. Add a Row… adds ready-made rows (Recently Released, Top Rated You Haven’t Seen, Shows You’re Watching and more), a genre, a library’s newest titles, one of your server’s collections, a playlist, or your own Smart Row. Library, collection and playlist rows belong to the server you added them on. Each profile has its own Home; Reset Home puts everything back.
Shortcut tiles near the top of Home: Browse by Theme, Under 1 Hour, Surprise Me (a random film you haven’t watched), the current holiday and Your Year. In Settings → Appearance → Home Screen → Discover Tiles you can reorder them, switch on Downloads and Playlists tiles, and add a tile for any genre. Press and hold a tile on Home and choose Hide This Tile to hide it.
Find titles by theme — Christmas, time travel, heists, dinosaurs and dozens more. Pick one or more themes, then narrow it with Time You Have and Genre. Themes come from each title’s name, tags and summary, matched on your device. Open it from the Discover row or from Search.
Around holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving and more, depending on your region) a row of matching titles from your library appears on Home. It’s called Holiday Picks in Settings → Appearance → Home Screen, where you can hide or move it.
Your own Home rows built from filters. Settings → Appearance → Home Screen → Add a Row…: add a ready-made row (“Unwatched in 4K”, “Started but Not Finished”, “Under 2 Hours, Not Seen Yet”, “Family Films”, “Best of the 90s”) or tap New Smart Row… and choose Show, Watched, Quality, Film Length, Decade, Genre and Order. Tap a Smart Row in the Home Screen list to edit it. Each profile has its own Smart Rows.
Press and hold any poster for Play, Mark Watched, Add to Favorites, Add to Playlist…, Rate, Go to Show (episodes) and, for server owners, Edit Details…. On episodes you can also Mark Earlier Episodes Watched.
These are saved on your server, so every device and app signed in to the same account sees them. On Plex, Favorites are your Plex Watchlist; on Jellyfin and Emby they’re the server’s favorites. A Favorites row appears on Home. Playlists open from the playlist button on the Collections screen. Ratings are stars on Plex and thumbs up/down on Jellyfin and Emby.
In a library, open Sort & Filter to sort by title, date added, release date, rating, last watched or runtime. On a show’s page, Shuffle plays every episode in random order. On a collection, Shuffle plays a random film (unwatched first).
From the Discover row: films and hours watched this year, shows, top genres, favorite decade and longest film. Tap Share to send it as a picture — no server names are on it.
Press and hold a film or show → Edit Details…. Change the Title, Sort Title (where it appears in A–Z), Poster or Background from the artwork your server already has. Fields you change are locked, so the server keeps your changes when it refreshes. This changes the title for everyone who uses the server.
If subtitles are early or late, open the Subtitles menu → Show Earlier (−0.5 s) or Show Later (+0.5 s). It’s remembered for that title. Reset Timing puts it back.
No subtitles, or not in your language? Open the Subtitles menu → Find Subtitles…, choose a Language and pick a result. The new subtitles turn on once your server has added them. The search runs on your server: Plex searches OpenSubtitles; Jellyfin and Emby need a subtitle plugin, such as Open Subtitles, installed by the server owner. If your account isn’t allowed to download subtitles, the owner can turn on Subtitle Management for you. Works on every device, Apple TV included, but not for downloaded videos.
Jumps back 15 seconds with subtitles on for just that moment, then turns them off again. Press and hold the back button, press W on a keyboard, or choose it from the player menu on Apple TV.
Pause for a few seconds and the picture dims to show the summary, cast, chapter and when it ends. (Not on Apple TV, whose own player shows info when paused.)
When an episode ends, Up Next shows the next episode full screen with its length, when it will end and a short summary. The Play Now button fills up as it counts down; tap it to start straight away, or Cancel to stop. With Ask If Still Watching on, after a few episodes in a row it asks before continuing.
Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts lists them all.
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| Space | Play / pause |
| Esc | Close the player |
| ← → | Skip back / forward by your Skip Duration |
| ↑ ↓ | Volume up / down |
| M | Mute / unmute |
| S | Subtitles on / off |
| [ ] | Slower / faster |
| W | What Did They Say? |
Anywhere in the app: ⌘F Search, ⇧⌘T Browse by Theme, ⌥⌘L Downloads and ⇧⌘R Resume Watching. On Mac and iPad, the Go menu also has ⌘1 Home, ⌘2–⌘8 your libraries and ⌘, Settings.
Swipe down on the Siri Remote in the player for Subtitles (with Subtitle Timing), Playback Speed, Audio Enhancement, Sleep Timer, What Did They Say? and Info. Skip Intro and Skip Credits appear as buttons when your server has the markers.
IPHONE · IPAD · MAC · VISION PRO
Tap Download on a film or episode, or the download button next to a season to get all of it. Files Apple devices can’t play are converted by your own server first, so you’ll see it prepare on the server, then download. On iPhone and iPad, downloads keep going when you leave the app, with progress on the Lock Screen (and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone).
On a show’s page tap Auto-Download (Auto on iPhone) and choose Next 3, 5 or 10 Episodes. RexyView keeps that many unwatched episodes downloaded, on Wi-Fi only, and removes the ones it added once you’ve watched them. It never removes downloads you added yourself. It checks when you open the app.
The first time you download, RexyView asks whether to notify you when downloads finish or fail. It only uses notifications for downloads (and, if you turn it on, parent approval requests).
Apple TV doesn’t download; it always streams.
SETTINGS → PROFILES · APPLE TV: SETTINGS → SERVER → MANAGE PROFILES
Profiles are optional. Each profile picks which user to use on each of your servers — your Plex account or a Plex Home user, a Jellyfin or Emby user — or hides a server. Switching profile switches them all at once, each with its own Continue Watching and watched marks. With two or more profiles, RexyView asks Who’s Watching? at launch.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Name, colour, photo | How the profile looks. Choose Photo uses Apple’s private photo picker — RexyView only receives the one photo you pick. | — |
| Plex | Account owner, a Plex Home user, or Hidden. A Plex Home user with a PIN asks for it when you switch. | Owner |
| Jellyfin and Emby | Which signed-in user to use on each server, or Hidden. Add a User signs in another user. | — |
| Maximum Rating | Hides titles rated above this on every server. With a limit, unrated titles are hidden too and the IMDb button is off. | No Limit |
| Bedtime & Viewing Limits | See Bedtime & viewing limits. | None |
| Require PIN | A 4-digit PIN asked when someone switches to this profile. | Off |
| Ask Who’s Watching at Launch | Shows the profile picker each time the app opens. Off: it opens the last profile used. | On |
Give every adult profile (one without a rating limit) a PIN. An adult profile linked to a Plex Home user with a Plex PIN already counts as protected: that Plex PIN works as its parent PIN. A Plex PIN is checked with plex.tv, so on a device where it hasn’t been entered yet, parent profiles stay locked while the internet is down; a RexyView PIN also works offline. Until every adult is protected, Settings → Profiles shows a warning with a Set a PIN button, and Manage Profiles is hidden on Who’s Watching. Once an adult has a PIN (RexyView’s or Plex’s), changing profiles needs it.
SETTINGS → PROFILES → (PROFILE) → BEDTIME & VIEWING LIMITS
| Setting | What it does | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Bedtime | After this time nothing new starts until morning. | None, 6:00 PM–11:30 PM |
| Until | When bedtime ends. The viewing day also starts here, so daily limits reset at this time. | 5:00–10:00 AM (7:00 AM) |
| Viewing Time a Day | Total watching time per viewing day. | No Limit, 30 min–4 hr |
| Episodes or Films a Day | How many different titles can be started per day. | No Limit, 1–6 |
When a limit is reached, what’s already playing can finish, but nothing new starts and Up Next stops. The screen says It’s Bedtime or That’s All for Today. These are RexyView’s own limits, separate from Apple’s Screen Time.
SETTINGS → PROFILES → FAMILY SHARING
Shares your profiles, their photos, PINs, ratings, bedtime and viewing limits, and today’s viewing time through iCloud. Viewing time adds up across devices, so switching from the iPad to the Apple TV doesn’t reset the clock. Everything stays in your own iCloud — RexyView has no servers and no account.
Stop Sharing (owner) or Leave Family (member) ends it; every device keeps the profiles as they are.
SETTINGS → ICLOUD SYNC
Sync Settings with iCloud (off by default) makes your settings follow you to your other devices on the same Apple ID. Choose what syncs:
| Group | Includes | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance & Home | App colour, artwork options, Home rows and their order, Discover tiles, Smart Rows, cast headshots. | On |
| Playback & Subtitles | Skip buttons and auto-skip, Up Next, still watching, languages, subtitle style, resume and watched thresholds, chapters, previews. | On |
| Libraries & Servers | Library order, hidden libraries, Combine Libraries, Preferred Server, Sync Watched Status. | On |
| Streaming & Download Quality | Video Quality and Download Quality. Leave off if one device should stream lower, for example on cellular. | Off |
Never synced: downloads, caches, network, HomeKit, audio output, volume boost, sleep timer and video enhancement. If another device already saved settings, you’re asked whether to Use iCloud Settings or Use This Device’s Settings.
Off by default. When on, a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Vision Pro on your Apple ID can sign in to all your servers with one tap (Use Sign-ins from Your Other Devices). Passwords are never stored — only sign-in tokens, end-to-end encrypted by Apple. Turning it off removes them from iCloud Keychain; every device stays signed in.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Skip SDH/CC Subtitles | Hides hearing-impaired subtitle tracks from automatic choices. | Off |
| Auto-Play Forced Subtitles | Shows translations of foreign dialogue and on-screen text automatically. | On |
| Video Quality | Maximum streaming quality: Original, 40/20/8/4/2 Mbps, 720p or 480p. Lower values make your server convert the video. | Original |
| Preferred Audio | Language picked automatically when a file has several audio tracks. | Device language |
| Preferred Subtitles | Language of subtitles to turn on automatically. | Off |
| Preview Thumbnails | Thumbnails while scrubbing (your server must generate them). | Off |
| Chapter Controls | Chapter list, previous/next chapter buttons and timeline marks for files with chapters. | Off |
| Swipe for Brightness and Volume | iPhone and iPad: swipe up or down on the left of the video for brightness, or on the right for volume. | On |
| Auto-Play Next Episode | Starts the next episode when one ends. | On |
| Up Next Countdown | How long before the next episode starts: Instant, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. | 10 s |
| Ask If Still Watching | After 2, 3 or 4 episodes play on their own, asks before starting another. | Off |
| Skip Intro / Skip Credits Button | Shows the skip button when your server has intro or credits markers. | On |
| Auto-Skip Intro / Credits | Skips automatically after the Auto-Skip Delay instead of showing a button. | Off · 5 s |
| Skip Duration | How far the skip buttons and arrow keys jump: 10, 15, 30 or 45 seconds. | 30 s |
| Resume Threshold | Starts from the beginning if you’d watched less than this much. | 5% |
| Mark Watched At | Marks a title watched once you’re this far through. | 90% |
| Normalize Volume | Brings quiet dialogue closer to loud scenes. | Off |
| Volume Boost | +6, +12 or +18 dB for quiet content. Use with care, especially with headphones. | Off |
| Default Sleep Timer | Stops playback automatically after 15 min–2 hr. | Off |
| Enhance Video | A sharper, cleaner picture, processed on your device. Works only when a video plays directly (MP4, M4V or MOV) or from Downloads; streams your server converts, and HDR video, play as they are. Sub-settings: Upscale, Deband, Sharpen and Denoise; Reset to Defaults restores them. Uses more battery. | Off |
| Subtitle Style | Size, position, font, bold, colour and background, with a live preview. | M · Bottom · White |
Apple TV only: Automatic HomePod Audio (on) turns on HomePod 5.1 Surround when audio goes to HomePods, and plays files directly to TV speakers and receivers. Turn it off to choose HomePod 5.1 Surround and Alternate HomePod Audio Mode yourself.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| App Color | Background colour of the app. | Black |
| Blurred Poster Background | A blurred poster behind title pages. | Off |
| Background Atmosphere | A subtle gradient depth on the background. | Off |
| Stylized Title Logo | Uses the title’s logo art instead of text when available. | Off |
| Landscape Art | Wide artwork instead of posters in grids and rows. | Off |
| Continued Watching Style | Poster or landscape style for the Continue Watching row. | Default |
| Home Screen | Show, hide, reorder and add Home rows, and choose the Discover tiles (see Home). Per profile. | As before |
| Continue Watching Widget | Lets the widget show what you’re watching. Off keeps titles off your Home Screen. | On |
| Show in Spotlight | Your films and shows in the device’s search, following the profile in use. | On |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-download All Images | Saves every poster and thumbnail for instant, offline browsing. Turning it off deletes them. | Off |
| Sync Cache | Checks your server for changes now instead of waiting. | — |
| Local Video Buffering | Buffers video to the device as it plays for smoother playback (always on for Apple TV). | On |
| Clear All Caches / Clear Video Cache | Frees space. Clearing the video cache often fixes a video that won’t play. | — |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Manage Downloads | Your downloaded titles; play, delete or retry them. | — |
| Download Quality | Original, 1080p, 720p or 480p. Original keeps the server’s file unless Apple devices can’t play it. | Original |
| Smart Downloads | The shows kept downloaded automatically; Turn Off for each. | — |
| Auto-Delete After Watching | Removes downloads once you’ve watched them. | Off |
| Delete All Downloads | Removes every downloaded file from this device. | — |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Show Headshots | Actor photos in cast lists. | On |
| Image Source | None, Server Only, TMDB Fallback or TMDB Only. | Server Only |
| TMDB API Key | Your own free key from themoviedb.org/settings/api, for TMDB images. Stored in the Keychain. | — |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Switch Server | Which server you browse (with more than one). | — |
| Combine Libraries | Uses all your servers together as one library. Never changes anything on your servers. | Off |
| Preferred Server | Which copy plays when a title is on several servers, or Ask Every Time. | Ask |
| Sync Watched Status | Marks the same title watched or unwatched on your other servers. Whole seasons aren’t copied. | Off |
| Accounts | Your Plex accounts and Jellyfin/Emby servers: Users, Remove, Sign Out, Add Server. | — |
| Approve a Sign-in Code… | Signs in another device by entering its code. | — |
| Server Address | Plex only: an address to try first if automatic discovery is blocked on your network. | Automatic |
| Show Admin Tools | Server owners: Now Playing in the toolbar, to see who’s streaming and stop playback. | On |
| Libraries | Reorder libraries, or tap the eye to hide one from the tab bar. | — |
| Trusted Certificates | Servers whose self-signed certificate you trusted; Revoke to stop trusting. | — |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Connection Timeout | How long to wait for a server before giving up: 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds. | 15 s |
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Playback Start scene | A HomeKit scene to run when the player opens or the video starts (for example dim the lights). | None |
| Playback Stop scene | A scene to run when the player closes, the video ends, or either. | None |
| Trigger on Extended Pause | Runs the stop scene after a long pause (2–15 min); resuming runs the start scene again. | Off · 5 min |
Create scenes in Apple’s Home app first; they then appear here.
What’s New has its own row in Settings and shows what changed in this version. Optional tips are in Support Development in Settings (Tip Jar on Apple TV).
Watch Together uses SharePlay to play the same film or episode for everyone on a FaceTime call, in sync. When someone pauses, skips or rewinds, it happens for everyone.
What you need: a FaceTime call with the people you want to watch with, RexyView on each person’s device, and each person able to play the title themselves.
Everyone needs the title. RexyView never streams your video to anyone else. Each person plays the title from a server they can use. Best: everyone watches from the same server. If it’s your server, share it with them in Plex, Jellyfin or Emby first, and they sign in to it in RexyView. Also works: each person has their own copy on their own server, and RexyView looks for the same title by its name and year. If someone doesn’t have it, RexyView tells them it isn’t in their libraries.
Copies have to match. Watch Together keeps everyone at the same point in the video. If people play different copies, they need to be the same version: the same cut (not an extended or director’s cut on one side), the same length, and no extra intro or credits. Otherwise you’ll see different scenes at the same moment. Watching from the same server avoids this.
Apple TV can join Watch Together when the FaceTime call is on the Apple TV, or when you move SharePlay to it from your iPhone. To start Watch Together, use an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Vision Pro.
If something goes wrong:
RexyView uses Apple’s built-in video player. It supports many common video formats, but not all of them. When a file isn’t supported, your server has to convert it while you watch. This is called transcoding. If your server can’t or won’t convert the file, it can’t play in RexyView.
Try this first:
Where to check transcoding:
Menu names can change between server versions.
What plays directly (usually straight from your server, with no conversion): MP4, M4V and MOV files, H.264 and HEVC video, and AAC, AC-3, E-AC-3, MP3, ALAC and FLAC audio.
What your server has to convert: MKV, AVI and other file types Apple’s player can’t open, DTS and Dolby TrueHD audio, some older video formats, picture-based subtitles (PGS and DVD), and subtitles embedded in the file.
Why doesn’t RexyView play these itself? Some formats are covered by patents and licensing rules, and using them properly can involve high costs. RexyView uses Apple’s player, which keeps the app within those rules. Apps with their own built-in players can play more files directly, so if your server can’t convert a file, one of those apps may be a better fit for it.
Things to know about converting: some files are easy to convert, but others need a powerful server, especially 4K video and burned-in subtitles. Converted audio may lose lossless quality or surround channels. Some Dolby Vision files may play as regular HDR. Away from home, playback also depends on your server’s upload speed, and Plex may require Plex Pass or a Remote Watch Pass.
Still not working? Right after the file fails, before closing the app, go to Settings → Help & Feedback → Report a Bug. The report includes the reason your server gave.
Both come from your server. Plex: turn on intro/credits detection and preview thumbnails. Jellyfin: an intro-detection plugin and trickplay images. Emby: intro detection and thumbnail extraction. Then turn on Preview Thumbnails in RexyView.
Your server account must be allowed to download (on Jellyfin and Emby the owner turns on “Allow media downloading”). Converted downloads need your server to support it — updating the server usually helps. Tap the failed download to retry.
Rating limits use the ratings your server supplies. Fix the title’s rating in your server’s web interface. Titles with no rating are already hidden in limited profiles.
That’s expected: sign-ins are kept in your device’s Keychain, which iOS keeps when an app is deleted. Profiles, however, are removed with the app unless Family Sharing is on. To sign out, use Settings → Server → Accounts.
Make sure you’re signed in to iCloud on each device (Settings app → your name) and that iCloud Drive is on. Changes arrive within a minute while the app is open, or when you return to it. A parent’s device only receives requests with Get Requests on This Device on and notifications allowed.
RexyView tries every address Plex knows for your server. When none answers, it’s usually one of these:
In the app, the same list is under Why Can’t I Connect? on the connection screen and in Settings → Help & Feedback.
For Plex, turn on Remote Access in Plex Media Server. For Jellyfin and Emby, use the address you reach the server at from outside (a domain or reverse proxy); RexyView can remember more than one address. If your network blocks Plex’s automatic discovery, enter the address in Settings → Server → Server Address.
Still stuck? Send us a message or see the FAQ.