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RadicalMuffinMan edited this page Sep 23, 2026 · 7 revisions

Installation

The app stores are the easiest way to install Moonfin, and they keep it updated for you. Start there. The files on the Releases page are for people who can't use a store, want a version the store doesn't have yet, or run Linux.

Once installed, Getting Started walks you through connecting to your server.

The easy way: app stores

Your device Install from How
Android phone or tablet Google Play Open the link on the phone, or search for Moonfin in the Play Store
Android TV, Google TV (Chromecast with Google TV, Shield, Sony, TCL, Philips and others) Google Play Open the Play Store on the TV and search for Moonfin
Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Cube Amazon Appstore Search for Moonfin on the Fire TV home screen, or send it from the link
iPhone, iPad App Store Open the link on the device
Apple TV App Store Open the App Store on the Apple TV and search for Moonfin
Mac App Store or Homebrew App Store link, or brew install --cask moonfin in Terminal
Windows winget or the installer winget install Moonfin.Moonfin in a terminal, or download and run the installer (see below)
Arch Linux and derivatives (Manjaro, EndeavourOS, CachyOS) AUR yay -S moonfin-bin (or paru -S moonfin-bin, pamac build moonfin-bin)
Other Linux Releases page Pick a package format below
Web browser Nothing to install Served by the Moonbase server plugin, see Web

Minimum versions: Android 7.0, Fire OS 6, iOS 16.0, tvOS 17.0, macOS 14.0 (Sonoma), Windows 10.

Samsung (Tizen) and LG (webOS) TVs aren't covered by this app. They have their own Moonfin client, from the Smart-TV project.

Both Jellyfin (10.8 or newer) and Emby (4.8 or newer) servers work.

Installing a release file yourself

Go to the Releases page, scroll down to Assets, and pick the file for your device. <version> in the names below stands for the version number, for example 2.5.1.

Platform File
Android phones and tablets Moonfin_Android_v<version>.apk
Android TV, Google TV, Fire TV Moonfin_AndroidTV_v<version>.apk
iPhone and iPad Moonfin_iOS_v<version>_unsigned.ipa
Apple TV Moonfin_tvOS_v<version>_unsigned.ipa
Windows, normal PCs Moonfin_Windows_v<version>.exe
Windows on ARM (Snapdragon laptops) Moonfin_WindowsARM64_v<version>.exe
Mac Moonfin_macOS_v<version>.dmg
Linux, normal PCs Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.AppImage, .deb, .rpm, .flatpak, .snap or .tar.gz
Linux on ARM (Raspberry Pi 5 and similar) Moonfin_LinuxARM64_v<version>.<same formats>

Not sure whether your Windows PC is ARM? Open Settings > System > About and read the System type line. Almost everyone needs the normal Windows file.

Android phone or tablet

  1. Open this page in the phone's browser and tap the Moonfin_Android_v<version>.apk file. Confirm the download if the browser asks.
  2. Tap the finished download in the notification shade, or open the Files app and tap it there.
  3. Android asks whether to allow installs from this app (Chrome or Files). Tap Settings, turn the switch on, go back, then tap Install.
  4. Open Moonfin from the app drawer.

If Android says App not installed and you already have the Play Store version, uninstall that one first. The two are signed with different keys and Android won't let one replace the other. You will sign in to your server again afterwards.

Android TV and Google TV

The Play Store on the TV is the easy route. To install the file instead:

  1. On the TV, install the Downloader app from the Play Store (by AFTVnews, orange icon).
  2. Open Downloader and type github.com/Moonfin-Client/Moonfin-Core/releases/latest in the address box. Scroll down to Assets and click Moonfin_AndroidTV_v<version>.apk.
  3. When the download finishes, Downloader offers to install. If the TV blocks it, it opens the settings page for you. Turn on Unknown sources or Install unknown apps for Downloader, go back, and install again.
  4. Moonfin appears in the apps row. If it doesn't, look under Settings > Apps > See all apps.

Other ways that work: copy the APK to a USB stick and open it with a file manager app on the TV, or use the Send files to TV app from a phone.

Fire TV

The Amazon Appstore listing is the easy route and updates itself. To install the file instead:

  1. Turn on unknown apps: Settings > My Fire TV > Developer Options > Install unknown apps. If there is no Developer Options entry, go to Settings > My Fire TV > About, select the device name seven times, then go back one screen.
  2. Install the Downloader app from the Amazon Appstore and allow it in the Install unknown apps list.
  3. Open Downloader, type github.com/Moonfin-Client/Moonfin-Core/releases/latest, scroll down to Assets and click Moonfin_AndroidTV_v<version>.apk.
  4. Install when asked. Moonfin shows up under Your Apps & Channels.

iPhone and iPad

The App Store is the way for nearly everyone. The file on the Releases page is unsigned, which means Apple hasn't approved it for your device and you have to sign it yourself on a computer. That's called sideloading, and it has real limits:

  • With a free Apple ID the app stops opening after 7 days and has to be signed again. You can only have three sideloaded apps at once.
  • With a paid Apple Developer account it lasts a year.
  • Push notifications may not work in a self-signed copy.

If you still want to:

  1. Install a sideloading tool on your Mac or Windows PC. AltStore and Sideloadly are the common ones. Follow that tool's own setup guide.
  2. Connect the iPhone with a cable, open the tool, and add the Moonfin_iOS_v<version>_unsigned.ipa file. It asks for your Apple ID to sign the app.
  3. On the iPhone, open Settings > General > VPN & Device Management and trust the profile with your Apple ID on it.
  4. Open Moonfin from the home screen.

Apple TV

Again, the App Store on the Apple TV is the way. Sideloading onto an Apple TV needs a Mac with Xcode, or a sideloading tool that lists Apple TV as supported, plus pairing the Apple TV with the computer over Wi-Fi (on the Apple TV: Settings > Remotes and Devices > Remote App and Devices). The same 7 day limit applies with a free Apple ID. If those words mean nothing to you, use the App Store.

Windows

  1. Download Moonfin_Windows_v<version>.exe and double-click it.
  2. If a blue box says Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway. The installer is signed, but a freshly released version can still trigger this until enough people have installed it.
  3. Click Yes when Windows asks for permission. Follow the installer. It puts Moonfin in Program Files and adds a Start menu entry.

Prefer the command line? Open a terminal and run winget install Moonfin.Moonfin. Later, winget upgrade Moonfin.Moonfin updates it.

Mac

  1. Download Moonfin_macOS_v<version>.dmg and double-click it. A window opens with the Moonfin icon and an Applications folder.
  2. Drag Moonfin onto Applications.
  3. Eject the disk image (right-click it on the desktop or in Finder > Eject) and open Moonfin from Applications or Launchpad.

One download works on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. The app is notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings. If a warning ever appears, right-click the app and choose Open.

Homebrew users: brew install --cask moonfin installs, brew upgrade --cask moonfin updates.

Linux

Pick one format. If you're unsure: AppImage works on any distribution, deb on Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS and Debian, rpm on Fedora and openSUSE.

Format How to install
AppImage Right-click the file > Properties > Permissions > tick Allow executing file as program (or run chmod +x Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.AppImage), then double-click it. On Ubuntu 22.04 and newer you also need sudo apt install libfuse2 once
deb Double-click it in your software center, or sudo apt install ./Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.deb
rpm Double-click it, or sudo dnf install ./Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.rpm
Flatpak Set up Flathub first if you haven't (flatpak.org/setup), then flatpak install --user ./Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.flatpak. Start it from the app menu or with flatpak run org.moonfin.linux
Snap sudo snap install --dangerous ./Moonfin_Linux_v<version>.snap. The flag is needed because the file doesn't come from the Snap Store
tar.gz Extract it anywhere and run the moonfin program inside. You need mpv installed on the system for this one (libmpv), the other formats take care of it

On a Raspberry Pi 5 or another 64-bit ARM machine, use the Moonfin_LinuxARM64_... files.

Moonfin is built for Wayland desktops. If you use an X11 session and something looks wrong, try signing in to a Wayland session.

Advanced: Linux notes
  • The AppImage bundles libmpv and updates itself in place through zsync, so an update only downloads what changed.
  • The Flatpak uses the GNOME 50 runtime (org.gnome.Platform), which carries the WebKitGTK the in-app web views need. Flatpak fetches it from Flathub on first install.
  • The generic build also runs on openSUSE.
  • The AUR package moonfin-bin repackages the release tarball and is updated automatically on every release.

Web

Moonfin runs in the browser as an installable web app served by the Moonbase server plugin. Nothing needs to be installed on the client. Once your server admin has installed the plugin, open http://<your server address>/Moonfin/Web/ in the browser. On a phone, the browser's Add to Home Screen option makes it behave like an app.

Updating

  • Store installs (Google Play, Amazon Appstore, App Store) update themselves like any other app.
  • Release-file installs on Android, Windows, macOS and Linux tell you inside the app when a new version is out. Download the new file and install it the same way as before. Your servers, sign-ins and settings are kept.
  • Homebrew: brew upgrade --cask moonfin. winget: winget upgrade Moonfin.Moonfin. AUR: your normal system update.
  • Sideloaded iPhone or Apple TV copies have to be signed again with the new file.

To see which version you have, open Settings > About.

Moonfin

Using Moonfin

Going deeper

For developers

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