I recently turned my old Android phone into a media server with a simple setup. It allows me to broadcast any media files saved in my phone’s storage and make them accessible for streaming on any device with a browser.
The media server feels like a streaming service because it remembers your last watched titles, resumes where you left off, and automatically downloads and enables closed captions. You can also create favorites, playlists, and separate collections of movies and TV shows. Here’s how you can do it too.
Getting the software
Sadly, there aren’t a lot of good options when it comes to turning your mobile phone into a media server. Trust me, I tried a lot of options. Most popular self-hosted streaming options, like Jellyfin or Plex, are off the table because they don’t have server apps for mobile devices, only client apps. So you can use them to turn a desktop into a server, but not a mobile device. The only app that I found to work well on Android is Emby. That’s what we’ll be using.
You can head over to the Emby website and download the APK file. There is a stable version and a beta version on the download page. Make sure you grab the stable APK file and install it (you may need to grant permission to load APK files).
The other thing you need is a phone or tablet. Any phone or tablet will do as long as it’s running Android Marshmallow (version 6 or higher) and has enough storage to hold your media files. If it’s an old phone that you no longer use, I suggest wiping it and resetting it to get the most out of the internal storage. Alternatively, you can expand the storage with a microSD card (if supported) or an OTG storage solution.
Phones with broken displays or touch screens are actually perfect for this job. You could use apps like Scrncpy to control the phone using a PC and set up the Emby server, and just leave it up and running. The media files could be easily transferred over USB or Wi-Fi.
As soon as you launch the Emby server app, it should start the server and show you an IP address where you can access the phone’s media. If asked, be sure to grant the app permission to run in the background; otherwise, Android’s battery optimization might kill the process at any point. As long as the server is running, you should see a persistent notification telling you so. Also, if you haven’t already, copy or move the media files that you want to broadcast to the phone’s storage.
You don’t necessarily need to be on the same network to access the server, but it will be the fastest. When possible, stick to your home network.
Now all you need is a client to access the server. There is an Emby client app for every platform imaginable: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android TV, PlayStation, Android Auto, Samsung TV, LG TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, NAS, and even Raspberry Pi. However, any device with a web browser and an active internet connection will do. Just type the IP address along with the port and the Emby web app should launch right away.
All we have to do next is go through the setup process, and we’ll be able to access the phone’s media right away. Give it a username and a password, so you can securely access your media server. Finally, we’ll create a new library, which means we’ll point Emby to the folders where the media files are stored on the phone. Select the content type, give the library a name, and add a folder path that contains the media files. There’s a drop-down menu for quickly selecting folder destinations, but it didn’t work for me. I ended up manually typing the folder address and clicking Add.
You can find the path of a folder by navigating to it in the phone’s file manager and tapping “info” or something similar on the three-dot menu.
Then click ‘Next.’ Allow Remote Access if you plan on streaming from this server outside your home network. Finally, agree to the terms of service, and you’re ready to go.
Stream using the mobile server
Go to the Emby sign-in page on the client app or the web app, enter the username and password you set up for the profile, and open it. The media files in the library should be available on the dashboard. You can stream the media with Emby’s built-in player, which auto-fetches subtitles. It’ll also remember where you left off and resume playback from that point.
If you want to add other folders or create new libraries, you can go to Emby settings > Library > New Library. If you added new files to an existing library, you can click ‘Scan Library Files.’
For data hoarders like me, a dedicated media server like this that runs on minimal power and costs $0 is the perfect solution. With one app and a quick setup, you can make a little streaming service of your own and share it with friends and family.
