Bref — a media player that just plays

An all-format, multi-device player for people with messy local media libraries

Problem

People who collect local video files end up with a chaotic mix of formats and codecs. An MKV, RMVB, or TS file that works on Windows often won't play on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV without transcoding, and there's no single player that handles everything without hassle. They just want one player that opens almost anything on every device they own.

Solution

A self-hostable media player with broad codec coverage and automatic transcoding, so the huge format matrix collapses into a 'just press play' experience. Playback progress and artwork sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV through one account, and local network direct play works without any cloud service.

Users

Home theater enthusiasts with large local libraries, people who collect videos from many sources, and multi-device users who want simple playback

MVP

Broad format playback with hardware decode; LAN discovery and playback progress sync across devices; simple media library with artwork scraping; folder scanning for common video sources; ship macOS/iOS first, Apple TV later

Revenue

One-time purchase with device or format limits on free tier; optional yearly plan for cross-device cloud sync and transcoding acceleration

Why now

Local media and private clouds are mainstream, yet players are still fragmented by platform and format; an indie dev can ship a usable core in weeks using open codec libraries and SwiftUI/Flutter