🔑

Join the Family Network

Our movies, shows, music, photos & audiobooks live on a little computer at home. To watch them from anywhere, your phone joins a private network only our family is on. One free app does it. This page walks you through it.

🖼️ The Big Picture

How to join: open Tailscale, point it at our network, paste your key

The 5-Minute Version (do this once)

Install Tailscale — free, from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android).
Point it at our network — in Tailscale: menu → Accounts → Use an alternate server → type https://headscale.tiruviluamala.com
Sign in with your key — Accounts → Use an auth key → paste the key the family admin texts you → Log in.
Install the watching app — Streamyfin (iPhone) or Findroid (Android).
Add the server — when the app asks, enter the server address the admin gives you and log in with the username + password you were given.

✅ That's it. From now on, just open the app — as long as Tailscale's switch is green, everything works.

How It Actually Works (the friendly version)

Think of our home server as a house at the end of a private road. The internet is the public highway — anyone can drive it, but they can't turn onto our road. Tailscale is the gate key that lets your phone onto that private road.

   YOUR PHONE                THE INTERNET              OUR HOME SERVER
  (anywhere)             (public highway)            (private house)
      |                        |                           |
      |  Tailscale builds an   |                           |
      |  encrypted private road|                           |
      |  =====================================================  |
      |  nobody else can see or drive on it                     |
      |                                                         |
  [Tailscale]                                         [your movies,
   gate key                                            photos, music...]

Tailscale = your gate key (the private road).
Streamyfin / Findroid = the TV remote (plays what's in the house).
The auth key the admin gives you = your personal copy of the gate key. Don't share it.

🔒 Nothing here is public. There's no address strangers can type to get in — your phone has to be holding the gate key first.

Step-by-Step (with the why)

1. Install Tailscale

The free Tailscale app is the secure tunnel between your phone and our server. It only carries traffic to our house — it does not watch or reroute your normal browsing.

2. Point it at our network

Most people use Tailscale's own servers. We run our own (it's called Headscale), so you tell the app to use ours: menu → Accounts → Use an alternate server → enter https://headscale.tiruviluamala.com

3. Sign in with your key (no waiting!)

Accounts → Use an auth key → paste the key the admin texts you → Log in. You're on instantly — nothing to request, no approval to wait for.

4. Make sure it's ON

The main switch should be green / connected. If asked, turn on MagicDNS and Allow LAN access.

5. Install the watching app — use the app, not the browser

⚠️ Watching in a web browser often stutters, because browsers are bad at the high-quality video format our movies use (10-bit HEVC). The app handles it smoothly. So: Streamyfin (iPhone) or Findroid (Android). Don't stream from Safari/Chrome.

Enter the server address the admin gives you (it starts with https://).
Log in with your given username + password.

✨ Why Streamyfin is the easy button

Streamyfin is built for exactly this. You sign in with your account and it just works — no settings to fiddle with, smooth playback, downloads for offline. For 95% of people the whole job is: install Streamyfin → enter the server → log in → done.

🦈 Streamyfin = "streamy-fin," like a shark fin cutting through the water. Get Streamyfin, and boom — you're streaming.

Trouble connecting?

Problem	Fix
App won't load / spins forever	Tailscale is probably off. Open it, make the switch green, retry.
"Can't connect to server"	Check the address starts with `https://` (the s). Make sure Tailscale is on first.
Worked before, now it doesn't	Toggle Tailscale off/on. Turn off Low Power Mode / any other VPN.
Movie is choppy	Usually your internet. Lower the quality in the app's playback settings.
Want a movie that isn't there	Use the Request page on the family home page (the admin will share the address).

Still stuck? Text the family admin: which device, which app, and what the screen says (a screenshot helps).

Glossary

Term	What it is	Analogy
Tailscale	The app that puts your phone on our private network	The gate key to a private road
Headscale	Our own server that runs the network	Owning the gate instead of renting it
Auth key	Your personal sign-in code for the network	Your copy of the gate key
Streamyfin / Findroid	The phone apps that play our movies & shows	The TV remote
MagicDNS	Lets you use nice names instead of number addresses	Saved contacts instead of phone numbers