Why I made this

A note from Thomas, who built Tapeside Video

One evening I was trying to explain to my kids what renting a movie used to be like. You drove to the store on a Friday night. You walked the aisles. You picked up boxes and read the backs, and you argued about which one to take home. If the one you wanted was gone, you found something you'd never have picked otherwise.

It's a hard thing to describe to someone who has only ever scrolled a menu. While I was telling it, my wife and I realised how much we missed it.

So I built the store.

Tapeside Video takes the movies and shows your family already has, on a Plex or Jellyfin server, and puts them on the shelves of a neon rental store. You walk the aisles, step up to a rack, pick up a tape, flip it over to read the back, and press play.

I wanted it to be fun and inviting for kids, not a serious simulation. On Apple TV it works with just the remote. There are staff and customers to talk to, a popcorn machine, a gumball machine, and three arcade cabinets you can really play. In October the store dresses up for Halloween, and in December for Christmas.

I also wanted to use it every night, so the fun sits on top of a proper player. It plays 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Vision on Apple TV, plays MKV files as they are, and has the audio tracks, subtitles, chapters and Skip Intro you'd expect. And for the nights when the grown-ups just want to press play, there's a Simple view: the whole library as a grid of box art.

It's free for 25 titles, for as long as you like. If your family enjoys it, one purchase unlocks your whole library on every Apple device you own. There's no subscription, no account, no ads and no tracking.

I hope it gives your family a few good Friday nights.

Thomas

Walk the demo store in your browser App Store: iPhone, iPad, Apple TV Mac App Store Microsoft Store