Support

VirtualChannels is a free app for macOS Tahoe on Apple silicon — download the .dmg. For getting set up and fixing issues, start with the Setup & Help guide: it walks through adding your media, building channels, and connecting Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or Channels DVR.

Setup & troubleshooting

The Setup & Help guide covers the full flow with annotated screenshots and a dedicated troubleshooting section. For a quick compatibility question (Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, Channels DVR, or your Mac model), see the FAQ or email us below.

Media & codec compatibility

VirtualChannels transcodes your source files on the fly using your Mac’s GPU (Apple VideoToolbox). H.264 and HEVC (H.265) libraries are hardware-accelerated on every supported Apple silicon Mac.

AV1 source files are a special case. Hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding is only available on Apple silicon with an M3 chip or newer (the M3, M4, and M5 families) — Apple added a dedicated AV1 decoder starting with M3 in late 2023. M1 and M2 Macs have no AV1 hardware decoder, so AV1 content can’t be hardware-transcoded for always-on channels on those machines. If your library includes AV1, plan on an M3-or-newer Mac; otherwise H.264/HEVC sources work everywhere.

On the output side, VirtualChannels transcodes to H.264/HEVC — the formats every supported client plays reliably. It does not output AV1 (mainstream Apple silicon has no AV1 hardware encoder).

Contact

Email [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.