This guide provides comprehensive information about compatible media players and detailed configuration instructions to ensure optimal movie tracking performance.

Media player configuration is a critical step for accurate movie tracking. While the application can work with basic window title detection, configuring your media players for advanced tracking significantly improves accuracy and reliability.

graph TD
    A[Tracking Methods] --> B[Basic Tracking]
    A --> C[Advanced Tracking]
    B -->|Window Title Only| D[Limited Accuracy]
    C -->|Player API Integration| E[High Accuracy]
    C --> F[Required Setup]
    F --> G[Player Configuration]
    G --> H[Optimal Performance]
    style A fill:#4285f4,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style C fill:#34a853,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style H fill:#fbbc05,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff

Follow the platform-specific instructions below to set up your preferred media player for the best tracking experience.

*MPV Wrappers: Celluloid, MPV.net, SMPlayer, IINA, Haruna, etc.

Note: The application currently supports movie tracking only. TV show support is planned for future updates.

Step-by-Step Configuration:

1. Open VLC Media Player
2. Navigate to Tools → Preferences
3. At the bottom left, change Show settings to All
4. Navigate to Interface → Main interfaces
5. Check the box for Web to enable the web interface
6. Go to Interface → Main interfaces → Lua
7. Set "simkl" as a password in the Lua HTTP Password field
8. Optional: Change the port number (default is 8080)
9. Click Save and restart VLC
10. Visit http://localhost:8080/
11. Enter Your Password (hint: simkl)

For Detailed Step by Step Config Config with Images - Make Sure to set a Password

Verification:

• The scrobbler will automatically connect to VLC on port 8080 (or your custom port)
• Play a movie in VLC to test - you should see accurate position tracking

Windows Configuration:

1. Locate or create the MPV configuration directory:
   • Press Win+R and enter %APPDATA% to open the Roaming folder Or
   • Navigate to %APPDATA%\mpv\ (create it if it doesn't exist)
2. Create or edit mpv.conf file
3. Add the following lines:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=\\.\pipe\mpvsocket
   

4. Save the file and restart MPV

Verification:

• Play a movie in MPV
• The scrobbler will connect to the pipe socket
• Position data should be accurately tracked

Windows Configuration:

1. Most MPV wrapper players use the same MPV backend configuration:

   • For MPV.net: Configure in %APPDATA%\mpv.net\mpv.conf
   • For Haruna Player: Configure in %APPDATA%\haruna\mpv.conf
   • For Celluloid: Configure in %APPDATA%\celluloid\mpv.conf

2. Add the following line to the appropriate configuration file:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=\\.\pipe\mpvsocket
   

3. Save the file and restart the player

Verification:

• Play a movie in your MPV wrapper player
• The scrobbler should connect and show accurate position data

Step-by-Step Configuration:

1. Open MPC-HC or MPC-BE
2. Navigate to View → Options
3. Go to Player → Web Interface
4. Check Listen on port: and ensure it's set to 13579 (default)
5. Click OK and restart MPC

Verification:

• Play a movie in MPC
• The scrobbler will connect to the web interface
• Position data should be accurately tracked

Step-by-Step Configuration:

1. Open MPC-QT
2. Navigate to View → Options
3. Go to Player → Web Interface
4. Check Enable web server
5. Ensure port is set to 13579 (default)
6. Uncheck the Allow Access From Localhost Only
7. Click OK and restart MPC-QT

Verification:

• Play a movie in MPC-QT
• The scrobbler will connect to the web interface
• Position data should be accurately tracked

SMPlayer is a versatile media player that can use MPV as its backend.

Configuration Steps:

1. Open SMPlayer
2. Go to Options → Preferences
3. Click on Advanced in the left sidebar
4. Select the MPlayer/MPV tab
5. In the Options: field, add:

   --input-ipc-server=\\.\pipe\mpvsocket
   

   (for Windows) or

   --input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

   (for Linux/macOS)
6. Click OK and restart SMPlayer

Verification:

• Play a movie in SMPlayer
• The scrobbler should connect to the MPV backend
• Position data should be accurately tracked

Syncplay allows synchronized playback across multiple users and can use MPV as its player.

Configuration Steps:

1. Open Syncplay
2. In the configuration dialog, set Media Player to mpv
3. In the Player arguments: field, add:

   --input-ipc-server=\\.\pipe\mpvsocket
   

   (for Windows) or

   --input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

   (for Linux/macOS)
4. Click Save and restart Syncplay

Verification:

• Start a Syncplay session and play a movie
• The scrobbler should connect to the MPV backend
• Position data should be accurately tracked

Follow the same configuration steps as shown in the Windows VLC section above.

1. Create or locate the MPV configuration directory:
   • ~/.config/mpv/ (create it if it doesn't exist)
2. Create or edit mpv.conf
3. Add the following line:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

4. Save and restart MPV

macOS Configuration:

1. For IINA:

   • IINA uses MPV as its backend
   • Configure in ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf or
   • Configure in ~/Library/Application Support/io.iina.iina/mpv.conf

2. Add the following line to the appropriate configuration file:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

3. Save the file and restart IINA

Verification:

• Play a movie in your MPV wrapper player
• The scrobbler should connect and show accurate position data

Basic window title tracking only. No advanced integration available.

Follow the same configuration steps as shown in the Windows VLC section above.

1. Create or locate the MPV configuration directory:
   • ~/.config/mpv/ (create it if it doesn't exist)
2. Create or edit mpv.conf
3. Add the following line:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

4. Ensure the socket path has appropriate permissions
5. Save and restart MPV

Linux Configuration:

1. Configure the appropriate MPV config file:

   • For Celluloid: Configure in ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf
   • For Haruna Player: Configure in ~/.config/haruna/mpv.conf

2. Add the following line to the appropriate configuration file:

   # Enable IPC socket for advanced tracking
   input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
   

3. Save the file and restart the player

For Celluloid (GNOME MPV):

1. Edit the MPV config as above
2. In Celluloid, go to Preferences > MPV Configuration
3. Add: input-ipc-server=/tmp/mpvsocket
4. Restart Celluloid

graph LR
    A[Player Integration Methods] --> B[Web Interface]
    A --> C[IPC Socket]
    A --> D[Window Title]
    B --> E[VLC, MPC]
    C --> F[MPV]
    D --> G[Other Players]
    E --> H[Position + Filename]
    F --> H
    G --> I[Filename Only]
    H --> J[High Accuracy]
    I --> K[Basic Accuracy]
    style A fill:#4285f4,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style J fill:#34a853,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style K fill:#fbbc05,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

With advanced tracking (properly configured players):

• Exact playback position is known
• Precise tracking of watch progress
• Accurate determination of when a movie is completed
• Better handling of pauses and skips

Without player configuration:

• Relies only on window titles
• Less accurate progress estimation
• May miss some watch events
• More prone to false positives/negatives

For optimal movie identification, follow these naming conventions:

graph TD
    A[Optimal Movie Filename Format] --> B["MovieTitle (Year).ext"]
    B --> C["Inception (2010).mkv"]
    B --> D["The Godfather (1972).mp4"]
    B --> E["Parasite (2019).avi"]
    style A fill:#4285f4,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style C fill:#d5f5e3,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style D fill:#d5f5e3,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style E fill:#d5f5e3,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

Recommended Format: MovieTitle (Year).extension

Examples:

• Inception (2010).mkv
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994).mp4
• Pulp Fiction (1994).avi

Additional Tips:

• Include the year for better identification
• Avoid extra text like quality info or release group names in main filename
• Remove unnecessary punctuation

1. Configure your media player according to the instructions
2. Start the Media Player Scrobbler for Simkl with debug logging:

   simkl-mps tray --debug

3. Play a movie in your configured media player
4. Check the logs for connection messages and position data
5. If successful, position data should appear in the logs

The best player for tracking depends on your platform and preferences, but properly configured VLC offers the most universal compatibility and reliable tracking.