Fixing Jellyfin Mobile: 2-Column Movie List Glitch

Hey everyone! Ever fired up your Jellyfin server on your phone, eager to browse your awesome movie collection, only to find the movie list displaying in a weird 2-column layout instead of the crisp 3-column grid you were expecting? Yeah, that's exactly what we're diving into today. It's a common head-scratcher, especially for us Jellyfin users who love a smooth experience across all our devices, from our big-screen TVs to our pocket-sized smartphones. We're talking about a particular quirk where, on mobile devices like your Samsung Galaxy S21 or any other modern smartphone, your beautiful movie list just refuses to render in the optimal 3-column display, sticking stubbornly to two. This isn't just a minor visual glitch; it truly impacts how we discover and interact with our content, making browsing a less enjoyable and frankly, a less efficient experience. When you've meticulously curated your media library, you want it to shine, right? A broken grid layout on mobile can feel like a real letdown.

This Jellyfin mobile display issue is particularly vexing because the default expectation for most media libraries on mobile is usually a well-spaced, easily browsable grid, often three or even four columns deep on larger phones. When it defaults to just two, everything feels squished, and you have to scroll so much more to see your content. It's like having a huge bookshelf but only being able to see two books at a time – not ideal! We'll explore why this 2-column movie list problem happens, what themes might be involved, and how it impacts your overall Jellyfin experience. We're going to compare the behavior of the Alexyle (normal) Jellyfin theme against the Liquid Glass theme, and discuss the trade-offs involved. For many of us, getting Jellyfin to work perfectly on mobile is just as important as on desktop, because let's be real, a lot of our media consumption happens on the go or from the comfort of our couch with a phone in hand. So, stick around as we unravel this Jellyfin layout mystery and try to figure out how to get that perfect 3-column mobile movie list back!

The Annoying 2-Column Mobile Display Glitch: What's Happening?

Alright, let's get right into the nitty-gritty of this Jellyfin 2-column mobile display glitch. You're scrolling through your fantastic movie library on your phone, say a Samsung Galaxy S21, and instead of seeing three nicely aligned columns of movie posters, you're stuck with just two. It looks cramped, it feels inefficient, and honestly, it's just not what you'd expect from a modern media server interface. This isn't some rare, isolated incident; many Jellyfin users have reported this exact issue, noting that their movie list is stubbornly rendering with only two columns on mobile devices. This isn't just an aesthetic preference; it's a fundamental user experience degradation. When you have hundreds, or even thousands, of movies, having to scroll twice as much just to see your options can quickly become tiresome. Imagine trying to quickly find a movie when you're limited to seeing only two titles at a time – it's like looking through a peephole instead of an open window!

The core of the specific problem lies in how Jellyfin's responsive design or perhaps specific Jellyfin themes are interpreting screen real estate on smaller devices. On larger screens, the 3-column grid (or even more) works flawlessly. But as soon as you shrink it down to a phone, something breaks in the CSS, causing the layout to default to just two. What makes it even more frustrating is that for some users, a different theme, like Liquid Glass, actually displays correctly with 3 columns. This immediately tells us that the problem isn't inherent to Jellyfin's core functionality or your phone's display capabilities. Instead, it points directly towards theme-specific CSS, breakpoints, or even some JavaScript that's failing to adapt properly on smaller viewports. The visual impact of this 2-column mobile view is significant. Movie posters appear larger but fewer are visible, meaning more scrolling, more tapping, and a general feeling of clutter rather than the elegant, organized library you know Jellyfin can deliver. It breaks the flow, disrupts efficient browsing, and ultimately, detracts from the fantastic media server experience Jellyfin is known for. We want our Jellyfin mobile interface to be as slick and functional as its desktop counterpart, and this 2-column glitch really stands in the way of that ideal. We're on a mission to understand why this Jellyfin layout issue persists and how we can bring back that much-needed 3-column mobile display for a superior browsing experience.

Alexyle (Normal) vs. Liquid Glass Theme: A Tale of Two Layouts and Performance

Now, let's talk about the Jellyfin themes involved in this little drama: the Alexyle theme (which is often considered the