Jellyfin on Samsung and LG TVs: apps, install, limits (2026)

Checked in September 2026. The facts below come from Jellyfin's own downloads page and GitHub repositories, Jellyfin's project blog, and manufacturer support pages linked inline. Store availability for smart TV apps changes by region, TV model and firmware, so treat store screenshots and version numbers as a starting point, not a guarantee for your exact set.

TL;DR

Jellyfin has official apps for both platforms: Jellyfin for webOS is in the LG Content Store, and Jellyfin for Tizen reached the Samsung Tizen Store in May 2026 for Tizen 6 and newer — a real change after years of Samsung users having to sideload. Older Tizen TVs (5 and earlier) and any LG or Samsung TV where the store listing doesn't show up yet still need sideloading through developer mode. Kodi has no official Samsung app at all and only an official but developer-mode-only webOS build. Recent Samsung TVs dropped DTS entirely, and LG is doing the same on its 2025 lineup; Samsung has never supported Dolby Vision, using its own HDR10+ instead. Swiftly Player does not run on either platform — it's built for Apple TV and Android TV, and an Android TV box is one of the ways to get it onto a Samsung or LG screen anyway.

Official apps: Jellyfin for webOS and Jellyfin for Tizen

Both are maintained by the Jellyfin project itself, not third parties, and both are listed with their store links on jellyfin.org/downloads:

• Jellyfin for webOS — LG's smart TV platform. The README describes it as "a small wrapper around the web interface" from the main Jellyfin web project, distributed through the LG Content Store.
• Jellyfin for Tizen — Samsung's smart TV platform. Jellyfin's own State of the Fin update from 24 May 2026 announced that the Tizen client for Tizen 6 and newer is now in the Samsung Tizen Store, and that Tizen 5 and earlier can still sideload it.

The Samsung release is genuinely new. For years the only way onto a Samsung TV was developer-mode sideloading, and reporting on the launch describes a staged rollout — "first to new Samsung TV models, followed by older televisions" — with at least one Tizen 6.5 owner in the article's comments still not seeing it in their store. If Jellyfin doesn't show up when you search your Samsung TV's app store, that's consistent with the rollout still being incomplete for your model, region or firmware, not necessarily a sign your TV can't run it at all.

Installing Jellyfin on an LG TV (webOS)

1. From the LG Home screen, open the LG Content Store.
2. Search for Jellyfin and install it — it's a free app.
3. Open it and enter your server's address, then sign in as usual.

If you previously sideloaded Jellyfin through Homebrew or developer mode, the webOS README is explicit that you must uninstall that version first, or the store version won't install cleanly. If the app doesn't appear in your regional store at all — reported for example in a GitHub issue from a user in Brazil — the fallback is developer mode: register a free LG developer account, install the "Developer Mode" app from the Content Store, enable Dev Mode and the key server, and side-load the package from a computer. That path works but is a genuine developer workflow, not a one-tap install, and needs re-doing periodically as the developer-mode certificate expires.

Installing Jellyfin on a Samsung TV (Tizen)

1. On a Tizen 6 or newer TV, go to Home or Smart Hub → Apps, search Jellyfin, and install it directly — the same as any other Samsung app, per the Samsung Tizen Store link on jellyfin.org.
2. Open it and point it at your server.

If your TV runs Tizen 5 or older, or the store simply doesn't list it yet for your region, sideloading is the fallback. The jellyfin-tizen README documents the developer route: install Tizen Studio 4.6 or newer, set up a Tizen certificate through Samsung's Certificate Manager, build or download the .wgt package, enable Developer Mode on the TV, and install over sdb or Device Manager. Community tools such as Apps2Samsung package this into a friendlier one-click installer that handles device detection and certificates for you, but it's still sideloading, done at your own risk, and can be undone by a firmware update.

Other ways to get Jellyfin onto these TVs

Moonfin. The Moonfin-Client/Smart-TV project is a separate, community-built Jellyfin (and Emby) client aimed specifically at Tizen and webOS. Its README lists support for Samsung TVs from 2016 and LG TVs from 2016 on webOS 3.0 or newer, hardware-accelerated playback and — by its own description, not independently verified here — lossless audio passthrough. It isn't in either official app store; installation is the same sideloading path as above, Homebrew Channel for LG or a .wgt install for Samsung.

Kodi. Kodi has no official Samsung Tizen build at all. On LG, Kodi does have an official webOS build as of mid-2026, but installing it still means enabling developer mode and manually loading the IPK file — it isn't a Content Store download either. If your household already runs Kodi elsewhere, this is more setup than most people want just for a TV app.

DLNA and casting. Jellyfin's server-side DLNA plugin lets a DLNA-capable smart TV, including many Samsung and LG models' built-in "Smart Share" or media player, browse your library directly and lets the Jellyfin mobile and web apps "Play To" that TV over the local network — no app install on the TV itself, at the cost of a much plainer interface and no user accounts on the TV side. Casting from a phone using the Jellyfin Android app to a TV with a Chromecast built in is a similar no-install option, though it depends on the TV or an attached Chromecast device supporting it, and Jellyfin's iOS casting is the weaker of the two.

An external streaming box. Plugging in an Apple TV, an Android TV or Google TV box, or an Nvidia Shield turns "install Jellyfin on my TV" into "install Jellyfin on a device built for this," with a real app store, regular updates, and — as covered in the Atmos and TrueHD passthrough guide — often better audio passthrough than a smart TV's own limited app platform.

Codec and HDR limits on recent Samsung and LG TVs

Even where an app installs cleanly, the TV's own decoder and HDR support set a ceiling no client can get around.

The DTS gap matters most for anyone with a library ripped from Blu-rays, where DTS and DTS-HD Master Audio tracks are common — on either brand's recent TV, a DTS track either has to be transcoded by the server to something the TV accepts, or routed to an external soundbar or receiver that still decodes DTS itself. Missing Dolby Vision on Samsung matters for libraries tagged with Dolby Vision metadata; Jellyfin will fall back to the file's HDR10 base layer where present, but a Dolby Vision-only file may need server-side tone-mapping to look right on a Samsung set.

When to buy a streaming box instead

A streaming box is worth the extra cost and cable when any of these apply: your Samsung TV is on Tizen 5 or older with no sideloading appetite, your LG or Samsung TV's app store simply doesn't list Jellyfin for your region yet, your library leans on DTS or Dolby Vision that your TV's platform doesn't decode, or you want a client with real audio passthrough and a wider choice of apps — including Jellyfin apps that don't run on Tizen or webOS at all, like Swiftly Player, Infuse or Kodi's fuller feature set. If your TV already runs the official app well and your library is mostly Dolby-format audio without heavy Dolby Vision use, there's no need to add a box just for Jellyfin.

FAQ

Summary

• LG webOS and Samsung Tizen 6+ both have official Jellyfin apps in their respective app stores; Samsung's arrived in May 2026 after years of sideloading being the only option.
• Older Tizen TVs, and any TV where the store listing hasn't rolled out yet, still need developer-mode sideloading — documented in each project's GitHub README.
• Kodi has no Samsung app at all, and its LG build needs developer mode, not the Content Store.
• Moonfin is a community alternative for both platforms, sideloaded either way.
• DLNA and Chromecast let you watch without installing anything on the TV, with a plainer interface in exchange.
• Recent Samsung and 2025 LG TVs have both dropped DTS, and Samsung has never supported Dolby Vision, using HDR10+ instead — check your library's audio and HDR formats against these gaps before assuming a smart TV app alone will Direct Play everything.
• Swiftly Player doesn't run on Tizen or webOS. It's an Apple TV and Android TV app, so reaching a Samsung or LG screen with it means adding a box.