Jellyfin not working with Safari

[dadrad51]

I have been having trouble getting Jellyfin to work on my Mac Mini. My version of macOS is 15.6.1, the latest Sequoia. I installed Jellyfin on the Mac by downloading the dmg and moving the app to my Applications folder.

It shows up as an icon on the right of the toolbar, and if I right-click and choose Launch, I get a message in my Safari browser that "Safari can't connect to the Server" (localhost:8096). Safari is my default browser, and I like it for most purposes. If instead I launch Google Chrome browser, and input localhost:8096 in the search bar, it goes to Jellyfin just fine. 

If I ask the question: does Jellyfin support Safari browser, the answer comes back Yes, so it's supposed to work. I called Apple helpline, and their "geniuses" worked with me testing all the settings in Safari, but they could not get it to work. I even tried localhost:8096 in Safari on an older MacBook Pro I have, and it also said "Safari can't connect to the Server". So it's not just my Mac Mini. 

So I'll ask the question: is the Safari browser in macOS fully supported by Jellyfin? If so, how can I get it to work for me?

[jimmyjammy]

Safari is supported, the connection issues with localhost on macOS Safari can be due to system privacy settings or network controls rather than lack of Jellyfin compatibility. Adjusting permissions and clearing browser cache often fixes the problem.
Common causes and potential fixes to try:

Local Network Access Permission: macOS has a privacy setting for granting apps access to the Local Network. Make sure Jellyfin has permission to access the local network in:
System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network
Sometimes the app needs to be restarted after enabling this.

Firewall or Network Configuration: Ensure no firewall or security software is blocking connections on port 8096 for localhost.

Try Explicit Protocol: In Safari, try entering the URL as http://localhost:8096 (including the "http://") instead of just localhost:8096.


Test on Another Browser: Since Chrome works fine, the issue is definitely related to how Safari handles local connections, possibly caching or cookie/session issues. Trying to clear Safari's cache or disabling extensions that could block local connections might help.

Multiple Jellyfin Processes: On macOS, sometimes only one instance of Jellyfin is running or the server process may not be fully started. Check the Activity Monitor for Jellyfin processes.

[dadrad51]

Thank you for your prompt reply, jimmyjammy. Here's what I found after much frustration. If I use this URL: 127.0.0.1:8096, then Safari connects to Jellyfin. No other URL that I have tried works, with or without http, and I don't know why.

Do you know a way to get this URL into the triangle for Jellyfin on the toolbar? If I choose launch, it always says Can't connect to Server. It seems like if I replace localhost:8096 in the app with 127.0.0.1:8096, the app will work. My workaround is to have a shortcut to 127.0.0.1:8096. This problem is really weird.