Cadra TV

Problem

Like VLC, Cadra TV provides no content. Users add their own sources: an M3U playlist, an XMLTV program guide.

The challenge: give these sources an interface on par with the major streaming platforms, across four platforms, without the server being able to read the user’s data.

Solution and features

Cadra TV is a free media player, with no ads and no subscription, with a “cinema” design: glass effect, posters in the background, dark and gold palette. It runs on Fire TV, Android TV, Windows and iPhone/iPad. The Cadra Account carries sources, favorites and progress from one device to another.

• Encrypted sync: the server cannot read anything. A QR code is enough to link a TV or a PC.
• Privacy: without an account, nothing leaves the device. Anonymous statistics can be turned off.
• Home: “Resume”, “Continue watching”, favorites, new episodes of followed series.
• Series: automatic next episode, “Skip intro”, “Watched” marking at 90%.
• Details: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and Letterboxd ratings, trailer.
• Kids profile: PIN code, allowed categories, backup code.
• Live: program guide, replay, multiview up to 4 channels.
• Multilingual: French and English, with a glossary shared by the 3 apps and the site.

My decisions

I wrote the initial specification and set the working rules for the agents. Among the decisions I made:

• Program guide: I chose variant B of the mockup, for readability, for performance (less risk of the interface freezing) and for simpler remote-control navigation.
• Playback: I removed an option I saw no use for, to concentrate the effort on multiview.
• Design: I judged the first interface “not in tune with the times” and asked for a complete redesign, with a new identity and a new logo.
• Layout: I found the center column too narrow and asked for the left column to be collapsed.
• Local data: I authorized the migration of the local database (pagination instead of loading everything into memory), after reading its justification.
• Release signing: I required the agent to stop and ask me before creating the signing key, because all future updates will have to be signed with it.
• Product: I noticed in use that the variants of a single title appeared separately, and I asked for a fix.
• Cryptography: I asked about the legal risk of the encryption before the ANSSI declaration.

I test on a Fire TV Stick. I report each bug with the device, the version, the log and my hypotheses, and I diagnose by elimination: for example, a function that worked on older versions and on other players, but no longer on the new one.

Technical choices

Security

• End-to-end encryption: the Cadra Account syncs sources, favorites and progress without the server being able to read the data. The account runs on Supabase.
• Device linking by QR code: a QR code is enough to link a TV or a PC.
• Recovery phrase: 12 words (BIP-39).
• Privacy: without an account, nothing leaves the device. Anonymous statistics can be turned off.
• ANSSI declaration: the cryptography supply declaration was filed in October 2026.

Platforms

• Fire TV and Android TV: Kotlin, Android TV, VLC (libVLC). Remote-control navigation, multiview (4 channels), replay from the guide, built-in updates, Amazon Appstore version.
• Windows: Kotlin Multiplatform / Compose Desktop, libVLC. Installer, automatic updates, keyboard shortcuts, movie pages with ratings.
• iPhone and iPad: Swift / SwiftUI, VLC. Full-screen landscape playback, release through TestFlight (CI with GitHub Actions, macOS).
• Website: static HTML, CSS and JS, in-house generator, Cloudflare Workers. Bilingual FR/EN, interactive demo in the browser, account management.
• Cadra Account: Supabase, end-to-end encryption. 12-word recovery phrase (BIP-39), device linking by QR code.

Working method

I am the creator, product director and designer of Cadra TV. I ran the project solo, from idea to release. I decide on the product; specialized AI agents write the code: one per platform, plus one for the site and one for the design.

My work:

• the specification, the vision and product decisions;
• art direction;
• testing on real devices and diagnosing bugs;
• release procedures: Apple TestFlight, Amazon Appstore, cryptography declaration to ANSSI.

Milestones: the project was called Boréal TV. It was renamed Cadra TV at version 2.0 (September 2026). About thirty versions were released in roughly 2 months, across all platforms.

Current status and links

• Fire TV and Android TV: version 2.5.9, distributed through the site, submitted to the Amazon Appstore.
• Windows: version 0.9.4.
• iOS: in testing through TestFlight.
• Cryptography: declaration filed with ANSSI in October 2026.
• Availability: 4 platforms; one account, one sync.

Links: the cadra.tv site, in French and English (French version); the interactive demo.