Swiftfin Player fails over Tailscale while Native Player works

[kellery82]

This issue respects the following points:

• This is a bug, not a question or a configuration issue; Please visit our forum or chat rooms first to troubleshoot with volunteers, before creating a report.
• This issue is not already reported on GitHub.
• I have read the Common Issues documentation and this issue was not mentioned there.
• I'm using an up to date version of Swiftfin; We generally do not support previous older versions. If possible, please update to the latest version before opening an issue.
• I agree to follow Jellyfin's Code of Conduct.

Description of the bug

When trying to play videos accessing Jellyfin (192.168.1.40:8096) through a Tailscale subnet router on the iPhone using the latest Swiftfin iOS client and the Video player type of "Swiftfin" the video does not play at all - just a black screen (no playback at all). If I try the same using the Video player type of "Native" it plays fine.

The Video player type of "Swiftfin" has no issues whilst on the LAN.

There doesn't appear to be anything in the logs that indicate the failure except that Jellyfin records the failed Swiftfin attempt as "DirectPlay". It is also worth noting that Safari and Moonfin work directly through Tailscale and reinstalling the app and re-adding the server also didn't help.

Reproduction steps

1. Disconnect from wifi on the iPhone.
2. Ensure that Tailscale is connected.
3. Open the Swiftfin iOS client
4. Under Settings ensure that Video player type of "Swiftfin" is selected
5. Play a video

Platform

iOS

Application version

1.6

Where did you install the app from?

App Store

Device information

iPhone 15 Pro

OS version

26.6

Jellyfin server version

10.11.11

Screenshots or videos

No response

Relevant log output

[JPKribs]

Is your Tailscale configured to utilize TLS 1.3? Swiftfin player is based on VLCKit which only supports TLS 1.2 and below. See:

https://github.com/jellyfin/Swiftfin/blob/main/Documentation/common_issues.md

[kellery82]

Hi @JPKribs

Thanks for your reply. I don't think TLS 1.3 fits here because of the following:

• Tailscale is not configured to provide HTTPS for Jellyfin
• My saved server URL is http://192.168.1.40:8096
• I do not use reverse proxy here, therefore VLCkit never negotiates TLS with Jellyfin.
• The "Native" player and Safari work through the same Tailscale route whereas Swiftfin/VLCkit does not.

[turkishfilms]

i just spent forever figuring this out i just switched to native

[kellery82]

i just spent forever figuring this out i just switched to native

Were you also trying to connect through Tailscale with the Swiffin player working ok over LAN? Also can you confirm your iOS and Swiftfin versions and whether you used direct HTTP or HTTPS/reverse proxy.