I built Plavio — a free streaming app for Android and Android TV

Description and use

A lightweight, ad‑free streaming app for Android and Android TV that uses server‑side caching to deliver fast playback on slow networks.

Problem

Developing a lightweight, ad‑free streaming app that works on both Android phones and Android TV while remaining fast on slow networks.

Outcome

Plavio delivers a fast, ad‑free streaming experience on Android devices, with server‑side caching that improves performance on slow networks and shared libraries across phone and TV.

Workflow

• 1. Create core Plavio app for UI and playback.
• 2. Develop PlavioHD add‑on to fetch and cache streams server‑side.
• 3. Build PMeta add‑on for metadata (posters, cast, ratings).
• 4. Implement Plavio Search for fast title lookup.
• 5. Integrate optional add‑ons (subtitles, downloads, debrid services).
• 6. Optimize for slow networks by caching streams.
• 7. Ensure phone and TV apps share account and library.
• 8. Release free app and source code.

Evidence

Plavio is a small family of pieces that work together: Plavio app — the interface and player; PlavioHD — my addon for streams: movies, series and live TV; PMeta — my metadata addon: posters, cast, ratings and full info; Plavio Search — a big search index, so titles are found fast

Source

PlavioHD checks and caches its streams on the server side, so inside the Plavio app a stream opens almost instantly.

Source

Clean interface, no clutter, no ads; Fast loading — what loads first shows first; Phone and TV apps sharing the same account and library; Free to use

Source