Apps & devices
The desktop app
Install tofa desktop player on a Mac, a Windows PC, or a Linux machine, and what it does that a browser tab can't.
tofa desktop player is the app for computers. It's in beta and it works on Macs with Apple silicon, on Windows, and on Linux.
These always give you the current beta. Further down: the steps for each system, .deb and .rpm packages for Linux, and what to expect the first time you open it.
Sign in with your tofa account to see your libraries and watch progress. The desktop player supports more video formats than a browser, so your server can often stream the original file without converting it.
Before you install#
| Your computer | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Mac | macOS 12 or newer, Apple silicon. Intel Macs aren't supported. |
| Windows | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. |
| Linux | 64-bit, and reasonably current: Ubuntu 22.04 or newer, Debian 12 or newer, Fedora 38 or newer, or an equivalent. Older releases won't start. |
The Windows and Linux downloads are large, around 150 to 240 MB, because the video player and everything it needs come with the app rather than being fetched later.
Mac#
- Download tofa desktop player for Mac.
- Open the downloaded file and drag tofa desktop player into Applications.
- Open it from Applications or Launchpad.
The app is signed and notarised with Apple, so macOS opens it without complaint. You never need to right-click to open it or change any security setting.
Windows#
- Download tofa desktop player for Windows.
- Run the installer. It installs for your user account only, so it doesn't ask for an administrator password.
- Open tofa desktop player from the Start menu.
Windows will warn you about the installer#
Expect a blue box that says "Windows protected your PC" and calls the app an unrecognised app from an unknown publisher. To continue, click More info, then Run anyway.
The Windows installer isn't signed yet. To check that your download matches
the file we published, compare its SHA-256 checksum with the .sha256 file
available beside each download. Add .sha256 to the download URL to get it.
Linux#
Pick the one that matches your system. All three are the same app.
- .deb
for Debian, Ubuntu, and anything based on them:
sudo apt install ./tofa-desktop-beta-linux-x64.deb - .rpm
for Fedora and openSUSE:
sudo dnf install ./tofa-desktop-beta-linux-x64.rpm - .AppImage
for everything else. An AppImage is not installed at all: make it executable
with
chmod +xand run the file directly. Double-clicking it in some file managers shows a generic error, which is expected. On recent Ubuntu releases you may need FUSE first (sudo apt install libfuse2t64), or you can run the file with--appimage-extract-and-run.
Hardware video decoding uses your GPU where the drivers allow it, on Intel and AMD through VA-API and on NVIDIA through NVDEC. If something looks wrong, tell us and include which graphics card you have.
Signing in#
The first time you open the app it asks you to sign in, and hands you to your web browser to do it. Approve it there and the app picks it up by itself.
Your servers appear the same way they do on app.tofa.tv. The app tries your local network first, then the internet, so a server sitting on the same network is reached directly rather than the long way round.
Updates#
The app checks for new versions on its own and tells you when one is waiting, in a banner on the home screen, on a pill in the top bar, and in your account settings. Nothing installs behind your back. You click, it installs, and the app comes straight back, which takes about a minute.
Settings has an About section showing which versions you're running: the app, the interface inside it, and the server you're connected to. Those three update separately, so it's the first thing to check when something looks odd, and the first thing we'll ask for.
What to expect from a beta#
- Windows shows the unsigned-installer warning described above.
- Intel Macs and 32-bit systems aren't supported and aren't planned.
- On Windows and Linux, two monitors set to different scaling is the setup we've tested least. Tell us if the picture lands in the wrong place.
- If the app can't reach any server, it stops at the sign-in screen rather than showing you an offline library.
If something breaks, send a report from inside the app: open the account menu in the top right and choose Support. Reports sent this way now say they came from the desktop app and carry its version, which saves a round of questions. More ways to reach us are in help and feedback.