Jellyfin 12.0 adds major books and comics support, faster browsing, and FFmpeg 8.1

Jellyfin has released version 12.0, its new stable release, dropping the 10.x version scheme and continuing the database overhaul started in 10.11. It brings faster browsing, improved playlist and collection handling, better Continue Watching and Next Up performance, episode alternate versions with version specific resume data, and makes the Modern interface the default on desktop and mobile.

Books and comics get major native improvements, including OPF and ComicInfo metadata, EPUB and comic covers, page counts, audiobook chapters, ISBN support, and a redesigned reading interface with book and author views, PDF swipe navigation, reading progress indicators, and background audiobook playback on iOS. The Bookshelf plugin is now deprecated, with its functionality moved into Jellyfin or separate GoogleBooks, ComicVine, and OpenLibrary providers. Recommendation sources can now be configured per library, including ListenBrainz for music, while plugins can contribute their own search results and recommendation data. Jellyfin also moves to FFmpeg 8.1 with several transcoding, subtitle, and device compatibility improvements.

Upgrading requires Jellyfin 10.10.7 or 10.11.x, a full backup, removal of third party plugins, and a complete library scan afterward. Usernames are now case insensitive, plugins must be rebuilt for .NET 10, deprecated authentication methods and legacy /emby/ and /mediabrowser/ routes have been removed, and the release includes multiple server and web security fixes.