# TV Anarchy — one-pager

*For journalists, forwards, and five-minute introductions.*

---

## Napster for Netflix

**TV Anarchy** is a native macOS app (plus an iOS companion) for a **personal media
stack**: browse a library, play on the TV or laptop, search and manage downloads —
all from one interface, on hardware you control.

Netflix taught everyone what watching TV should *feel* like. TV Anarchy does that
for a library that lives on **your** server and **your** disks — not a streaming
catalog you rent.

---

## Three things it does

1. **Watch** — Home, continue watching, unified queue, play on local VLC/QuickTime
   or a remote player (e.g. HDMI TV via mpv). Media keys and Now Playing follow
   the active screen.

2. **Library** — Scans your collection, enriches metadata, shows episode titles
   (not raw release filenames). Grouping, watch state, adult library support.

3. **Download** — Search, add torrents, monitor health, custody on an always-on
   host so magnets stay alive. Governor daemon keeps the stack warm 24/7.

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## Who it's for

| Fit | Not fit |
|-----|---------|
| People running a home media server | Anyone wanting a one-click Netflix replacement |
| Homelab / self-hosted enthusiasts | Users without an always-on storage host |
| Households with Mac + TV + server | Mass-market "sign up and stream" |

**Today:** best for a **single home install** (laptop + media server). Friend
federation and cross-install sync are on the roadmap ([technical appendix](./technical-appendix.md)).

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## Platform

| Surface | Status |
|---------|--------|
| macOS (SwiftUI) | Primary — full experience |
| iOS (companion) | Library, downloads, remote control via bridge |
| Linux / Windows helpers | CLI tooling; not the consumer story yet |

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## Differentiators (honest)

- **Native control plane** — talks to VLC and mpv directly; no Electron shell.
- **Hybrid architecture** — UI in Swift; heavy lifting in proven CLI subsystems.
- **Local-first** — catalog and state on your machines; no vendor account.
- **Roadmap: Net** — sync TV *facts* (intro skip markers, quality prefs) between
  trusted installs via small encrypted editions — not video bytes, not a central DB.

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## Screenshots

> Replace placeholders before external send.

| | |
|---|---|
| **[SCREENSHOT: Home / Continue Watching]** | Rail of in-progress shows; clean episode titles |
| **[SCREENSHOT: Library grid]** | Poster grid with watched badges |
| **[SCREENSHOT: Player]** | Transport + queue; optional Winamp chrome |
| **[SCREENSHOT: Search → Downloads]** | Blur titles if needed; show health UI |

Demo video: see [demo-script.md](./demo-script.md) → `assets/demo-90s.mp4`.

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## Boilerplate

**Short:** TV Anarchy is native home-theater software for people who own their
media library. Tagline: *Napster for Netflix.*

**Medium:** TV Anarchy unifies playback, library browsing, and download management
for a personal media stack — Mac app plus iOS companion, local-first, built for
always-on home servers and the laptops that control them.

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## Contact & links

| | |
|---|---|
| Product | TV Anarchy |
| Repository | *(add public URL when applicable)* |
| Technical depth | [technical-appendix.md](./technical-appendix.md) |
| FAQ | [faq.md](./faq.md) |

---

## What we are not (pull quote)

> "We're not Netflix. We're not a tracker. We're the app you open when your shows
> already live on a disk in your house — and you want that to feel as good as
> streaming."

## Privacy & economics (if asked about piracy)

Press-safe: *Personal library software, local-first — no ad IDs, no centralized
watch graph; ownership vs subscription stack.*

**Tagline:** *Napster for Netflix*

Founder-level counters to studio claims (three args):

1. **Surveillance asymmetry** — ad/tracking data → government access
2. **Budget asymmetry** — Netflix undercut Blockbuster, then stacked SVOD raised total bills
3. **Resilience** — open source → forkable; no single vendor kill switch

[privacy-positioning.md](./privacy-positioning.md) · [academic-research.md §9](./academic-research.md#9-streaming-economics-netflix-blockbuster-and-subscription-stacking)