Watching

The web player

Watch from any browser at watch.wrentv.com. Sign in, pick a server, press play.

watch.wrentv.com is Wren TV in your browser. It shows every server you own and every server someone has shared with you, and plays video straight from that server.

#Signing in

Sign in with your Wren TV account's email and password. New here? Choose Create account. If someone shared a server with you, use the email address they invited, and the server appears as soon as you sign in.

To sign in without your password, choose Email me a sign-in code and enter the 6-digit code we send you.

Forgot your password? Choose Forgot your password?. The email has a link and a 6-digit code: open the link, or enter the code on the page that's waiting for it, then choose a new password.

#Choosing a server

If your account can see exactly one server, the player opens it straight away. Otherwise you get a list of servers. Each one shows whether it's yours or shared with you, and whether it's online.

To switch servers later, use the server icon in the sidebar.

#How the player reaches your server

The player tries every address the server has published, all at once, and keeps the first that answers:

1. Addresses on your home network, when you're at home. Video stays inside your network.
2. The owner's public URL, if they set one up (for example behind a reverse proxy).
3. The automatic public address under wrentv.net, from remote access.

The player remembers nothing about which address won last time. It checks again every time you open a server, so it picks the home address when you're home and the public one when you're out.

#"This server needs an HTTPS address"

Browsers only let a secure page like watch.wrentv.com play video from secure (https://) addresses. If a server only has plain http:// addresses, the player can't use it and shows this screen.

• If it's your server, turn on remote access. It gives the server free HTTPS addresses automatically, including ones for your home network. Or set a public_url behind your own HTTPS reverse proxy or tunnel.
• If it's shared with you, ask the owner to do the above. Meanwhile, the apps can still play it.

#What works in a browser

Browsers decode fewer formats than the apps. The player tells the server what your browser can play, and the server adapts:

• Video: H.264 everywhere. HEVC and AV1 when your browser and hardware support them. Anything else is transcoded.
• Audio: AAC, MP3, FLAC and Opus play directly, plus Dolby Digital (AC-3) and Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3) in browsers that support them, such as Safari and Edge. TrueHD and DTS are converted to FLAC losslessly while the video is copied untouched.
• Subtitles: text subtitles (SRT, ASS/SSA, WebVTT, MP4 text) show in the browser. Picture-based subtitles (PGS, VobSub) don't. Use an app for those.
• HDR: HDR10 and Dolby Vision play as HDR when your screen is HDR and the browser supports it (Safari on a recent Mac, for example). Otherwise the server tone-maps to SDR. For true Dolby Vision on a TV, use an app.

See Playback for the details.