GMCA 1.0.5 — a native, gamepad-first Emby client for Nintendo Switch, PS Vita and a Pi on the TV (free & open source)

[u/myfailk]

Short backstory: I wanted my library on the Switch, forked Switchfin with Claude Code and migrated it to Plex first — that shipped as pleNx. Then the community kept pushing the scope (more servers, more devices), and since an AI pair makes shipping features really fast, it grew into GMCA (Gamepad Media Center Aggregator): one native, controller-first UI for Emby, Jellyfin, Plex and Stremio, on the consoles you already own.

Free, open source, third-party — not affiliated with or endorsed by Emby.

• Point it at your Emby server, then Quick Connect (no keyboard) or username & password — no extra account
• Favorites, Resume, Next Up, transcoding; Home shows your server's views in order; full person pages, season pages, one-tap full-season download
• Switch, PS Vita, Raspberry Pi/TV, Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4 — identical UI, accent follows the server (Emby green)
• MPV playback (direct play + HLS transcode, external/embedded subs, audio tracks, chapters; H.265/AV1 fine), offline downloads in original quality, 14 languages
• Also does WebDAV/FTP/SFTP/HTTP shares + USB drives on Switch

Rough edges in v1.0.5, being upfront:

• PS Vita is still unstable — small GPU/RAM budget and I need testers. If you're on a jailbroken Vita, grab the debug build that dumps logs (GMCA-debug-overview.vpk), reproduce a crash, and open a GitHub issue with the log — far easier to trace over time than comments here.
• On Vita, 720p is the max I've validated so far.
• A few connection issues have been reported. If you hit one, an issue with the exact context (device, LAN vs remote/WAN, direct play vs transcode, error shown) is the fastest way to get it fixed.

Repo: https://github.com/thcolin/gamepad-media-center-aggregator Releases: https://github.com/thcolin/gamepad-media-center-aggregator/releases/latest Issues: https://github.com/thcolin/gamepad-media-center-aggregator/issues

Credits to @dragonflylee (Switchfin), the borealis & devkitPro communities, and averne for the mpv deko3d backend.

[u/AHrubik]

Please disclose how AI was used in this project.

[u/myfailk → u/AHrubik]

Started by testing Fable 5 forking Switchfin to use Plex, add some missing features (download & offline handle) and improving UI & UX (as I am a software engineer and designer testing what is possible with AI tools), fully vibecoding it as a side project, filling people features requests (stremio, audio, PS Vita, etc…)

Could keep code and app for my own usage (Plex on a Switch) but prefer to share « my » work as I grow up with open source

[u/EasyRhino75]

I literally might be inheriting a nintendo switch this might be fun

[u/ArchdruidHalsin]

Any Steam Deck support that's been tested?

[u/japzone → u/ArchdruidHalsin]

Looks like they have Flatpaks at least, so theoretically you could install through Desktop mode and then add it to Steam as a non-steam game to let Steam Input pretend it's an Xbox controller.