No Nickles, No Dimes
Buy Coax once and you'll get access to it on all of your devices. Family Sharing is enabled, too.
Channel-surf your home media serverJust like the old days. You sit down, and you see what's on. All you have to decide is how long you want to watch. |
What is it?
Coax turns your Plex Media Server into a linear cable channel guide.
It scans your
library, then automatically generates a schedule full of channels that you can flip through at your leisure.
| It's frictionless |
Zero setup required. The channel changes super-fast on a local connection, so it feels like the old days. Simple enough for everyone in the house to enjoy out of the box. |
|---|---|
| It's nostalgic |
It evokes that "ooh, this is on!" feeling you thought streaming killed. |
| It's serendipitous |
Stumble across a beloved TV show you forgot you had. Happen upon one of your favorite scenes in that movie you never think to put on. Everything is already playing, and surfing through is a breeze. |
| It's flexible |
You can tinker with your channels to your heart's content. Use Plex Collections to make fully custom channels. Combine TV and Movie libraries to rebuild the premium cable experience. |
| It's family-friendly |
Parental controls let you decide what gets scheduled. It's like autoplay that you can actually trust, because it's all your own content. |
Coax is fully private - no external web traffic apart from Plex authentication and an Apple entitlements check. If you have feedback or need support, please visit the r/coax subreddit. We'd love to see you there.
Turns out, we got some things right back then
"What do you want to watch tonight, honey?"
We got what we always dreamed of - instant access to all of our favorite movies and TV shows, tailored exclusively to our tastes and whimsy. But that created a new problem: when we can watch whatever we want, how do we actually make a decision?
BigAlgo's answer to this is to collect every single piece of data available on you, then serve you "recommendations". But it's just more slop, more invasion of privacy, more fine-tuning and experimentation.
The Coax approach to this is simple: make it the 1990s again through science or magic. Not only is it your favorite stuff, it's already playing, waiting for you to jump in.
Features & Benefits
But what can you do for me?
Customize to your heart's content
If you've got a more curated experience in mind, use Lineups. You can combine libraries, specify Collection channels, filter out specific Genres, set age and date ranges... customizable any which way you want.
Accessibility Support
Built with accessibility in mind, Coax honors system-wide settings for Closed Captions, Reduced Motion, and Dynamic Type.
Fast & Furious
No matter the size of your libraries, you'll have a full schedule in no time flat.
Trailers, Commercials, Music Videos...
Coax will fill the time between programs with other content from your server. Fully configurable, you can adjust how long the gaps between programs will be (to match your memory of linear TV). You can even choose to play trailers (if you have them!) for other items that have started recently in your schedule.
Turn the Page
Swipe through these gorgeous throwback-y newspaper style guides. Open Coax on your iOS device while watching something on your TV or Mac and you can even use this guide to change the channel remotely!
All The Way Back
The Retro Theme offers a blast-from-the-past so real, you'll want to put on some Hammer Pants.
Mos(t) Defs
Coax uses a custom player that supports everything that AVFramework does. 4K, HDR, DolbyVision - if you have the bandwidth, Coax can play it. For everything else, there's Transcoding™.
It's All Already On
Instead of picking from a static list of posters, you can browser through Coax's EPG (Electronic Program Guide). It's all your stuff, on a schedule, and it feels like magic.
As featured in
It's all about serendipity. You never know what you're going to get, and it's just delightful. It's like you're watching cable except you picked all the stuff.
It's a lot of fun, but surprisingly, it's more than a mere nostalgia burst.
The first time I tried Coax, it felt like magic.
From the App Store
A few words from the people already using it.
★★★★★
My Plex server is an ocean of content. Now, I can surf on it.
Excuse me… while I watch an endless stream of my own content complete with bumpers and commercials.- Letmevhsyou
★★★★★
Great app, incredible support
If you're a Plex user who misses just flicking through channels, give it a shot. 5 stars.- Joel.P
★★★★☆
Discover the Hidden Gems
Keep up the good work helping us to discover and rediscover what we already have!- zantaz66
Frequently Asked Questions
What you need to know.
Plex Server
How do I connect to my Plex Server?
Once you've signed in, you'll see a list of every Plex Server your account can access. Use "Automatic" to find the fastest connection, or use "Manual" to select how you want to connect.
If you use TailScale or a similar VPN, you can enter your server's IP address and port using the "Custom" connection.
Will Coax mess with my "Continue Watching" shelf?
Only if you want it to! By default, Coax doesn't send playback activity to your Plex server. You can toggle this behavior in the Lineup Config screen.
Do I need to make any changes to my Plex setup?
Enabling transcoding is highly recommended. Coax will attempt to direct play/stream first, but if you've selected a lower streaming quality (for remote viewing), or you're using image-based subtitles, then server-side transcoding will be required.
What media servers does Coax support?
Currently, only Plex Media Server. Additional server support is on the long-term roadmap. Coax does not provide or distribute any media - it only connects to content you already own.
Where do I get support?
The r/coax subreddit is the best place - bugs, feature requests, and setup help. You can also email relaxwithcoax@gmail.com.
Playback
Why don't I have Closed Captions?
Coax can only use the subtitles you already have on your Plex Server for closed captions. Prefer text-based subtitle files (like .srt, .vtt , or .ssa) so that the system can display them. Image-based subtitles will be burned in to your video stream, which requires a full server-side transcode.
Does Coax support multiple audio streams and subtitles?
Yes. Use the Stream Options button for a list of the streams associated with the current media item. These come from your server - if you want a different subtitle or an audio commentary track, you'll need to add it to your server.
Can it play 4K or HDR content?
Coax uses Apple's native AVPlayer for playback. Direct Play of Apple-compatible codecs works great. Certain video profiles (like DolbyVision) may need transcoding, which depends on your server's horsepower.
High Dynamic Range content can be played on devices that support it - if the display you're using to view Coax can't support HDR, then Coax can't play it.
Do I *need* to have transcoding enabled?
"Need" is a strong word. Server-side transcoding is necessary under the following conditions:
- You've forced a lower quality
You might have a slow connection to the server, and you value speed over quality. - You're trying to use an image-based subtitle file
Plex will have to "burn-in" the subtitles onto the video stream, which requires transcoding. - The item you're playing is encoded with an incompatible codec
Coax relies on Apple's AVFramework, which has a limited set of codecs it can play directly.
Scheduling
What's a Lineup?
A Lineup is the way you'll create your schedules. Combine libraries, set rules, determine which Channel Types you want… full customization if you want it.
What's the Chaos channel?
The only channel with a Shuffle button! Enable this to get a randomized stream of everything in the Lineup.
How do I hide content I don't want scheduled?
Create a Plex Collection called "NoCoax" (case-sensitive) and add any titles you want excluded. Coax skips them entirely during schedule generation.
What kind of scheduling options will I have?
As many or as few as you want! Most people are happy to just hit "Play", but if you want you can specify the number of channels, the date range, the Age Groups (ratings, but international!) for your content, which libraries you want to schedule… anything your heart desires.
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