Family media library
Updated 2026-07-19 · 9 min read · By Ben Liu
Photos, movies, audiobooks, and a living-room friendly streaming core.
Separate sentimental from entertainment
Photos are irreplaceable; movies are replaceable. Put Immich originals on storage you can restore. Jellyfin libraries can live on larger cheaper disks with looser retention.
Audiobookshelf and Navidrome keep listening habits off proprietary lock-in — still verify you have rights to what you stream.
Remote access without drama
Cap remote transcodes and bitrates. Prefer VPN for family access when possible. Shared links should expire, especially for albums with children.
Projects in this collection
Tools in this stack are listed for context. This column leads with guides — open each project only when you need a deeper lab note.
Immich
Photo and video backup solution directly from your mobile phone (alternative to Google Photos).
Jellyfin
Media server for audio, video, books, comics, and photos with a sleek interface and robust transcoding capabi…
Audiobookshelf
Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes wi…
Navidrome Music Server
Modern Music Server and Streamer, compatible with Subsonic/Airsonic.