January 6, 2026
Streams, screams, and version dreams
State of the Fin 2026-01-06 – Jellyfin
Jellyfin turns 7, hints at 12.0 — Plex escapees cheer, Samsung TV crowd fumes
TLDR: Jellyfin celebrated 7 years, rolled out a major 10.11 database overhaul, and is eyeing a jump to version 12.0. Comments split between ex-Plex users cheering open-source freedom and frustrated TV folks demanding a proper Samsung app, with cautious upgraders watching fixes—proof the streamer wars are moving home.
Jellyfin just turned 7 and rolled out a big database overhaul in 10.11, while teasing a wild version jump to “12.0.” The devs say the “Experimental” web layout is now the default, themes are easier to tweak, and the desktop app got a rename—though Windows/mac users are still waiting on stable builds. Translation: lots of change, lots of feelings.
And the comments? A full-on Plexodus. s_dev says Plex’s rising costs are pushing people to Jellyfin, predicting the open‑source underdog will outrun the paid incumbent. epistasis went full nostalgia, bragging about reconnecting old music collections after the “Apple Music disaster,” with the cozy-home-network setup flex that screams “I use Arch, btw.” cheschire even thanked Plex for changing prices—it sparked an entire self‑hosted media empire at home.
But not everyone is clapping. gadders dropped the spicy: “JFC just write a proper Samsung client,” echoing TV users who want a plug‑and‑play app, not a developer portal scavenger hunt. Others are cautiously eyeing upgrades after the refactor, relieved by rapid point releases but still side‑eyeing performance and migration hiccups.
Meanwhile, the version-number drama has the crowd memeing: “Skip 11? Bold move.” Jellyfin’s vibe today: scrappy, faster, and very online—powered by loud, opinionated fans everywhere.
Key Points
- •Jellyfin celebrated its 7th anniversary and is considering revising its versioning scheme, potentially moving to 12.0.
- •Version 10.11 unified databases via an EF Core refactor, followed by extensive testing and a release with ongoing bug tracking in three categories.
- •Four point releases since 10.11.0 delivered over 100 changes, primarily addressing general and migration-related issues.
- •Upcoming fixes target music metadata display and watched status preservation; performance investigations focus on client-side enumeration/filtering of large datasets.
- •Jellyfin Desktop is rebranded and migrated to Qt 6, with releases on Flathub and AUR; stable Windows and macOS builds are not yet available.