Pixette on Apple TV and Android TV

Play your Synology Photos, Immich, WebDAV or SMB library as a slideshow on the biggest screen in the house. Set the TV up from your phone with a QR code, without typing a password with the remote.

Apple TV
Android TV
Google TV

Install it on the TV

Apple TV

tvOS 15 or later

Search for Pixette in the App Store on your Apple TV. It is the same app as on iPhone and iPad, so a Premium subscription on the same Apple ID works on the TV too.

App Store

Android TV and Google TV

Android 7.0 or later

Install Pixette from Google Play on the TV or streaming box. Videos play through the built-in VLC player, and Pixette can also be the TV's screen saver.

Google Play

Set it up from your phone with a QR code

Typing a server address and a password with a remote is slow. Set up Pixette on your phone first, then send that setup to the TV in a few seconds.

On your iPhone, iPad or Android phone, connect Pixette to your photos as usual. The setup guides cover every NAS.
Open Pixette on the TV. On the first setup screen, choose Set up from your phone. The TV shows a QR code.
On the phone, open Settings, choose Set up a TV, and scan the code on the TV screen.
Choose whether to copy your slideshow settings too, then tap Send. The TV connects to your photos and starts indexing.

Encrypted, and never through the internet

The phone sends the server and its login straight to the TV over your home network, encrypted with a key that only exists in the QR code. Each code works once and expires. Both devices must be on the same network.

What the phone copies

Your photo source and its login. If you choose, also the timing, transitions, playback order, framing, Ken Burns, background, overlays and weather, sleep schedule, excluded folders and language. Custom margins stay behind, because a TV's edges are not a tablet's.

Prefer to type? The TV has the same setup screens as the phone. On Apple TV you can type on your iPhone when the keyboard notification appears.

Made for the remote

No touch screen needed. The slideshow answers to the buttons you already have.

Left / Right: Previous or next photo
Play/Pause: Pause or resume the slideshow
Select or Down: Show the controls
Up: Photo info: date, place and camera
Back / Menu: Close the panel, or leave the app

Any button wakes the screen during the sleep schedule. Settings open in two panes sized for a TV, so most changes take a few presses.

What's different on a TV

Your NAS, not the TV's storage

Synology Photos, Immich, WebDAV and SMB all work. A TV has no photo library of its own, so photos stored on the device are for phones and tablets.

Always on, asleep at night

The screen stays on while Pixette plays. During your sleep schedule the picture goes black, and an Apple TV may go to sleep, which switches most TVs off.

Videos

Android TV plays nearly any format through VLC. Apple TV plays what it supports itself, such as H.264 and HEVC in MP4 or MOV, and skips the rest.

Phones and tablets only

Spatial Motion, motion-aware sleep (it uses the front camera), picture-in-picture and photos stored on the device need hardware a TV doesn't have.

One Premium for every screen

Premium follows your Apple ID or Google account. On the TV, open Settings, go to Premium and choose Restore Purchases.

Your photos as the Android TV screen saver

On Android TV and Google TV, Pixette can also take over whenever the TV sits idle. Apple TV does not allow screen savers from other apps, so there Pixette stays open as a full-screen frame instead.

Set up the screen saver

Questions about the TV app

Which Apple TV models work?

Any Apple TV on tvOS 15 or later: the Apple TV HD and every Apple TV 4K. Pixette for Apple TV is in the App Store, the same app as on iPhone and iPad.

Does my phone have to stay nearby?

No. The phone sends the setup once. After that the TV reads your NAS on its own, and the phone can be switched off or leave the house.

Can I set up several TVs?

Yes. Scan each TV's code in turn. Every TV gets its own copy of the setup and keeps its own slideshow.

The phone says it can't reach the TV. What should I check?

That both are on the same Wi-Fi or home network, that Pixette may use the local network on the phone (on iPhone: Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network), and that the TV still shows the code. If the code expired, show a new one on the TV and scan again.

Put your photos on the TV

Free to download. Set up your phone first, then pair the TV in under a minute.