Snappier Server
Record live TV, and watch your IPTV provider, your Plex, Emby or Jellyfin library and your film and TV catalogs in one playlist — with the Snappier IPTV app on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad. It runs on your own computer, which needs to be on when a recording is due.
Needs Snappier IPTV Premium on your Apple TV, iPhone or iPad — in the app, Settings → Purchase / Restore App (Purchase / Restore on iPhone and iPad).
Quick Start
- 1 Download and install the app
- 2 Open Snappier Server — the setup wizard opens in your browser. (It didn't? Here's how to open it.)
- 3 Follow the wizard. It asks what you want to watch — or just to record — and ends by showing exactly what to type into the Snappier IPTV app.
Quick Start
- 1 Download the .zip for your system and unzip it. Install FFmpeg if you have not already.
- 2 Run it in a terminal — it prints the address of the setup wizard. Leaving it running on a server? Set it up as a service first, then open the wizard: the settings and token belong to the user it runs as.
- 3 Open that address from any phone or computer on your network, and sign in with the API token: in another terminal, run the program again with
--show-token— it prints the token and exits, and the server keeps running. Running it as a service? Print it as the service's user instead:sudo -u YOUR_USERNAME -H /opt/snappier/snappier-server-cli --show-token. The wizard ends by showing exactly what to type into the Snappier IPTV app. (More on the wizard.)
New here? The setup guide walks you through it step by step, including what to do in the app.
All setup details · Configuration
Already using Snappier Server? What changes
Install the update over the old one. Your API token, your recordings and the app's link to the server carry on, and Record to Server keeps working with the playlist you use now. Nothing changes in the Snappier IPTV app, and cloud sync can stay on. If the setup wizard opens after the update, nothing was reset: close it, or choose Don't show this again so it stops opening. Adding the server's own playlist is optional: your current playlist keeps its favourites and watch history, and the server's playlist starts with its own.
Already using the command-line version? What changes
Replace the old program with the new one and start it the same way, with the same --config and --port if you use them. Your API token, your recordings and the app's link carry on. Used the Linux desktop app (AppImage) before 2.0.4? Read Linux Installation first — without --config it starts afresh and your devices stop connecting.
How it works — recording, watching, and what the server does
Two jobs — both start with the link
Snappier Server does two jobs for the Snappier IPTV app. Both start the same way: link the app to the server, in the app's Settings → Snappier Server. Recording needs nothing more — it works with the playlist you already use, even one straight from your provider. Watching through the server needs its playlist as well.
The app sends recordings and downloads to the server
When you record a programme or download a film or episode, the app hands the job to the server, which does it on your own computer or NAS — even after the app is closed. Keep watching with the playlist you have now.
In the app: the link — Settings → Snappier Server, with the server's address, port and API token, on each Apple TV, iPhone and iPad you use. That is all recording needs. HowHow
The server as your playlist
The server gathers your live TV, your media library and your film and series catalogs into one playlist.
In the app: the same link first — the server only gives its playlist to a linked app — then add a playlist of the type Xtream Codes, with the server address, username and password the setup wizard shows. HowHow
Linked the server and expected new channels? The link adds none, and Test Server Connection only checks that the app can reach the server. Your channels still come from the playlist you use. For the server's channels, films and series, add its Xtream Codes playlist too.
What it does
- One playlist for everything — live channels, films and series from all your sources, with posters and details, in a single list.
- Record live TV from the TV guide, or automatically with rules that catch every episode of a show.
- Download films and series to your own storage, to watch whenever you like.
- A TV guide from your provider, or any XMLTV source you add.
- Commercial detection on recordings, so the app can skip the ad breaks.
- A playlist per person — each with its own login and its own view of the catalog — and a VPN or proxy for your provider's traffic if you want one.
What this is. Snappier Server is a personal video recorder for IPTV. It runs on hardware you own and records to storage you control.
What it is not. It supplies no content. It ships with no playlists, no credentials and no sources. Everything it plays or records comes from a service you configure, using credentials you hold.
Desktop App
The menu-bar and system-tray app for macOS and Windows. Everything it needs is inside, FFmpeg included — download, install, and the setup wizard does the rest.
— to check a download is exactly what we published.
Each download has a SHA-256 hash, to check the file arrived intact, and a detached minisign signature proving we released it: minisign -Vm <file> -P RWTX5W4+F8l4vXGixpj7+eZtv1u4zxGZRdOMcxMzuQowFbYKm51XfcW0 (public key).
Windows
- Run the installer you downloaded (
snappierServer-…-setup.exe). It installs for your user account only, so it does not ask for an administrator password.ℹ "Windows protected your PC"? It appears because the app isn't signed with Microsoft yet. Click More info, then Run anyway. (To check the file first, press Show SHA-256 checksums and signatures above the downloads.) - Open snappierServer from the Start menu, if it has not started already. Its icon appears in the system tray, bottom right — click the ^ arrow if you can't see it.
- If Windows asks whether to let it on your network, allow private networks: your Apple TV, iPhone and iPad connect to it over your home network.
- The setup wizard opens in your browser and takes it from there. (It didn't? Here's how to open it.)
.zip. Quit the old copy from its tray icon, run the installer, then delete the old extracted folder. Your settings, API token and recordings are kept.
- Open the
.dmgand drag snappierServer into Applications. Upgrading? Quit the old one from its menu-bar icon first, and let the new one replace it. - Open it from Applications or Launchpad.
ℹ It is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so it opens normally. macOS may ask you to confirm, the first time, that you want to open an app downloaded from the internet — click Open. To check the file first, press Show SHA-256 checksums and signatures above the downloads.
- Its icon appears in the menu bar, top right. There is no Dock icon.
- If macOS asks whether it may accept incoming network connections, click Allow: your Apple TV, iPhone and iPad connect to it over your home network.
- The setup wizard opens in your browser and takes it from there. (It didn't? Here's how to open it.)
Command-Line Binary
Standalone executable with Node.js bundled in — no Node.js install needed (FFmpeg is still required). For headless servers and automated deployments. Docker and Home Assistant have community packages, below.
— to check a download is exactly what we published.
Each download has a SHA-256 hash, to check the file arrived intact, and a detached minisign signature proving we released it: minisign -Vm <file> -P RWTX5W4+F8l4vXGixpj7+eZtv1u4zxGZRdOMcxMzuQowFbYKm51XfcW0 (public key).
Windows
macOS
Run in a Docker container for headless deployments.
HA add-on with stable/beta channels. amd64 + aarch64.
These packages are community-maintained and are not built, signed or supported by this project. The SHA-256 hashes published on this page do not cover them.
On Linux, Snappier Server is the command-line version. It runs happily on a server with no display, and can start with the machine as a systemd service — on a server, set the service up before the setup wizard, since the wizard's settings and token belong to the user it runs as. Every step in more detail is in Setup Details.
Prerequisites
# FFmpeg is required
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install ffmpeg # Fedora/RHEL
sudo pacman -S ffmpeg # Arch- Download the Linux CLI
.zipfor your machine from the command-line section, unzip it, and run it:./snappier-server-cli-v…-linux-x64(or-linux-arm64). Leaving it running on a server? Set up the service first instead, then carry on here. - It prints the address of the setup wizard. Open it from a phone or computer on the same network; it asks for your API token: in another terminal, run the program again with
--show-token— or, under the service,sudo -u YOUR_USERNAME -H /opt/snappier/snappier-server-cli --show-token. - Connect the Snappier IPTV app, or open
http://YOUR-IP:8000/dashboardin a browser. It prints its addresses when it starts;hostname -Ishows them too.
~/.config/snappierServer/, and the command-line version keeps them — API token, playlist login and all — if you point it there: ./snappier-server-cli-v…-linux-x64 --config ~/.config/snappierServer/config.json. Without --config it starts afresh with a new token and playlist password, and your devices stop connecting. If you changed the port in Preferences, add --port with that number — the command line does not read it from the settings file. HTTPS certificates are read from certs/ in the folder you run it from, so copy ~/.config/snappierServer/certs/ there too if you had any. Recordings stay in ~/SnappierServer.
Previous releases
Older builds stay downloadable so a regression never strands you — roll back, report what broke, and update again when it is fixed. Every file ships with its SHA-256 and minisign signature; verify exactly as above.
Need a hand?
The setup wizard covers most of it. For everything else: