Question 1

Is Bobine truly 100% free with no recurring fees?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Free and open-source software under the copyleft AGPL-3.0 license. Zero subscription fees, zero royalties per screen, and no user accounts. Your only investment is standard refurbished hardware.

Question 2

How does Bobine differ from general digital signage tools (Anthias, Screenly, Xibo, Yodeck)?

Accepted Answer

General digital signage players loop slides and ad banners, but lack fitness-specific features: second-precise scheduled class timetables, interactive touch member kiosk, QR-code smartphone remote, and 24/7 background audio with voice crossfade. Bobine is purpose-built for gym studio playout.

Question 3

How does Bobine replace proprietary systems like Les Mills Cinema, Wexer, or Spivi?

Accepted Answer

Same premium studio workout experience — automated weekly timetables, on-demand member touchscreen kiosk, 1080p60/4K playout — without recurring monthly fees ($0 vs $150-$400/mo) or locked catalogs. You own your devices, and playback is 100% offline from local SSD.

Question 4

How does the Responsive Coach Console (/coach) assist fitness instructors?

Accepted Answer

The responsive coach console adapts to all screens: on landscape tablets or desktop PCs, it features an audio desk with 64px touch targets, a precise timer interpolated at 10 Hz, a live 16:9 Stage Monitor feed of the studio screen, and a 1-click visual ambiance palette. On smartphones, it switches to a single-operator view with retractable touch drawers. It supports per-track video ambiance assignment and always starts in safe pause mode so instructors can settle in.

Question 5

Do I need an active internet connection to run Bobine for daily operations?

Accepted Answer

No, not for daily operations. Internet is only required once during the initial setup. Afterwards, your gym plays workout videos entirely offline from local storage.

Question 6

What hardware do I need to equip my gym?

Accepted Answer

A standard x86-64 mini PC, anywhere from an entry-level refurbished unit (from ~€160) to a 100% fanless industrial mini PC for absolute silence (~€600), with 8-16GB RAM and a standard HDMI display. The hardware hub at bobine.fit/materiel lists verified configurations with checked prices and up-to-date purchase links, organized by operating system. A "My Pack" cart lets you build your own configuration product by product (floating button at the bottom of the page), and the Baamix assistant sees this cart live to flag a likely gap or recommend a compatible accessory.

Question 7

What happens if there is a power cut or system crash?

Accepted Answer

A local systemd supervisor continuously monitors process health and restarts failing components automatically. All services boot autonomously upon power restoration after a blackout.

Question 8

Which gamepads and remote controls are compatible with Bobine?

Accepted Answer

All standard game controllers via the HTML5 Gamepad API: wired and wireless Microsoft Xbox Series / Xbox One, Sony PlayStation DualSense / DualShock 4, Nintendo Switch Pro, 8BitDo, and generic USB controllers. USB/IR multimedia remotes and standard mice are also natively supported with 2D spatial navigation.

Question 9

How does Bobine measure power in Watts and real-time hardware telemetry?

Accepted Answer

Bobine includes an eco-designed telemetry subsystem querying low-level hardware counters without root privileges: the intel-rapl kernel subsystem in microjoules on Intel mini PCs, the ioreg interface on macOS Apple Silicon, sysfs nodes on Android/Linux, and WMI/powercfg on Windows. CPU/GPU temperatures and effective RAM frequency (MT/s) are also reported in real time.

Question 10

Is Bobine compatible with Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM laptops (Windows ARM & Linux ARM)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Bobine provides a native Windows 11 ARM64 installer (Bobine-Setup-x.y.z-arm64.exe) and a Debian/Ubuntu ARM64 package (bobine_x.y.z_arm64.deb). Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors deliver record battery life and ultra-low 5W-10W power draw during continuous playback.

Question 11

Does Bobine work on Google Book laptops (Aluminium OS)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Bobine runs natively in fullscreen on Google Book laptops (Aluminium OS / Android convergence) using the Bobine-x.y.z.apk package with full MediaCodec/Vulkan hardware acceleration, and will soon be available directly from the Google Play Store.

Question 12

Does Bobine work on Android TV, Google TV and 32-bit boxes (Xiaomi)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, from Android 14 (API 34) onwards, like every Bobine Android package. Bobine-TV-x.y.z.apk is universal: it installs on 64-bit boxes as well as on those with a 32-bit system (armeabi-v7a ABI list), as is the case for several Xiaomi boxes despite their 64-bit processor. If the installation fails with INSTALL_FAILED_NO_MATCHING_ABIS, download the package again from the download page: older copies did not cover 32-bit systems. A box still running Android 11 or 12 cannot install Bobine.

Question 13

How do I add subtitles to a video class?

Accepted Answer

From the library, add an .srt or .vtt file (2 MB maximum) to the class, or attach it to the video at import. .srt files are converted to WebVTT, the language is recognised from the file name (class.fr.srt, class.en.vtt) and several languages can coexist for one class. Subtitles stay stored on your machine and are switched on from the subtitles menu of /cinema and the library player. From the admin you choose the track shown on the studio screen; the choice is applied live to the kiosk and /cinema.

Question 14

How do I add chapters to a class?

Accepted Answer

From the class panel in the library: type them in, import a file (JSON, chapter-type WebVTT or text with one "05:00 Title" line per chapter), extract the chapters embedded in the video file, or export them as JSON. An invalid file is rejected with the offending line, and nothing is changed. Chapters appear as marks on the progress bar, as a list to jump from chapter to chapter and as an on-screen banner when the chapter changes.

Question 15

Does Bobine restart by itself after an Android device reboot?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if Settings > "Device startup" is on: the Bobine server restarts after a reboot and after an app update. Opening the screen automatically depends on Android (the "Display over other apps" permission, reset at every reboot on some Android TV boxes): the server and the remote screens already work, just open the app to show the local screen.

Question 16

Which ARM64 mini PCs and single-board computers (NVIDIA DGX Spark, Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi) are supported?

Accepted Answer

Under Linux ARM64, Bobine runs smoothly on Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB / 16GB), Radxa Rock 5B/5B+ (RK3588), Orange Pi 5 Plus, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super, and workstation-class NVIDIA DGX Spark units (Grace Blackwell GB10 SoC running DGX OS / Ubuntu ARM64). Setup takes 1 command via curl -fsSL https://bobine.fit/install.sh | sudo bash or via the ARM64 .deb package.

Question 17

What is the difference between the Stable, Beta and Canary channels?

Accepted Answer

The Stable release (e.g. Vx.y.z) is the official tested build recommended for production gym playout. Beta offers a batch of features/fixes I select and publish manually when ready. Canary provides continuous early access, rebuilt automatically on every commit to the main branch, with no curation. All three share identical system application IDs, install directly over your current version without creating duplicate apps, and allow reverting back to Stable anytime from Settings > Software Updates without data loss.

Question 18

How do I switch between Stable, Beta and Canary update channels on my setup?

Accepted Answer

From the web administration dashboard, go to Settings > Software Updates and pick the channel you want. On a dedicated headless CLI appliance, you can run the installer with --channel=stable, --channel=beta or --channel=canary (e.g. curl -fsSL https://bobine.fit/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- --channel=beta). The script for the APT repository over Tor (install-tor.sh) accepts the same --channel option and asks on a terminal when it is missing.

Question 19

How do I install Bobine and receive automated updates on Linux (Debian / Ubuntu / Mint)?

Accepted Answer

The recommended method for Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and Zorin OS desktop machines is adding the official cryptographically signed APT repository (https://packages.bobine.fit/debian). In 3 simple terminal commands (import the official GPG key from https://packages.bobine.fit/bobine.gpg, add the packages.bobine.fit/debian stable, beta or canary source, and run sudo apt update && sudo apt install bobine), you receive seamless automated updates on both x86_64 (amd64) and ARM64 (arm64) via your standard system package manager (apt upgrade).

Question 20

Does Bobine run on Fedora, RHEL, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux, and how do I get updates?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Fedora and Nobara: an .rpm package (x86_64 and aarch64) and a signed dnf repository (https://packages.bobine.fit/fedora). Two commands, sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile=https://packages.bobine.fit/fedora/bobine-stable.repo then sudo dnf install bobine, and sudo dnf upgrade then updates Bobine along with the system; bobine-beta.repo and bobine-canary.repo follow the Beta and Canary channels. Fedora only ships a codec-stripped ffmpeg: add RPM Fusion for the full ffmpeg. On RHEL, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux (version 10 or newer only, not covered by CI), go through EPEL (limited ffmpeg without RPM Fusion). Immutable distributions such as Bazzite do not suit the kiosk appliance. Key fingerprint: B77D 96D7 2F84 F36A CAA3 F872 9CBF 497D 829E E15A.

Question 21

Does Bobine run on Arch Linux, EndeavourOS, CachyOS or Manjaro, and how do I get updates?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Arch Linux, EndeavourOS and CachyOS: a pacman package (x86_64 and aarch64) and a signed [bobine] repository (https://packages.bobine.fit/arch). Import and trust the key, add the [bobine] section to /etc/pacman.conf (SigLevel = Required DatabaseOptional), then sudo pacman -Syu bobine; sudo pacman -Syu then updates Bobine along with the system. Manjaro's repositories lag behind Arch's: at your own risk. Key fingerprint: B77D 96D7 2F84 F36A CAA3 F872 9CBF 497D 829E E15A.

Question 22

How does the 1-click automatic uninstaller work?

Accepted Answer

In Settings > Danger Zone, automatic uninstallation triggers the native uninstaller for your platform (Polkit on Linux .deb/.rpm/.pkg.tar.zst, Inno Setup on Windows, LaunchAgent purge on macOS, Android intent, or the bobine-uninstall script on headless Debian). The operation requires explicitly typing the confirmation keyword 'UNINSTALL' ('DÉSINSTALLER') to prevent accidental removals.

Question 23

Which web browsers are supported by engine family (Chromium, Gecko/Firefox, WebKit/Safari)?

Accepted Answer

Bobine supports all three major browser engine families for administration, the coach console (/coach), and network screens (/cinema, /kiosk, /radio): 1) Chromium / Blink family (Google Chrome, Chromium, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi on Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, and Google Book) with native Screen Wake Lock and hardware decoding; 2) Gecko family (Mozilla Firefox 157+ on desktop, Firefox for Android, Firefox ESR, and Tor Browser) verified end-to-end by automated tests (resumable file uploads after network drops, HTTP Range video streams, on-demand H.264 fallback transcoding when a browser cannot hardware-decode HEVC/10-bit); 3) WebKit family (Apple Safari on macOS, iPadOS, and iOS), ideal for controlling the coach desk from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. A local browser diagnostic tool is built into Bobine Settings.

Question 24

Can I install and update Bobine over Tor?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The APT repository and the website are also available as onion services (Tor), without revealing your IP address. The simplest way is the https://bobine.fit/install-tor.sh script (read it before running it), which checks the key fingerprint and accepts --channel=stable, --channel=beta or --channel=canary: the onion repository publishes all three suites. By hand, install apt-transport-tor, then use the source tor+http://rzvwjat5pidtxtwzcsvew7yc5ugfjvzz432ecpn3s5mlch4cs7vvmqad.onion/ stable main (or beta, canary): packages remain signed by the same key, checked by apt (primary key fingerprint B77D 96D7 2F84 F36A CAA3 F872 9CBF 497D 829E E15A). The site can also be browsed in Tor Browser: http://bobinedaoki42tt33rxacmtaab2gxvxb2orqgcyhvowv3aggxhruvrid.onion/. The hardware store is not offered there, and the Baamix assistant does not answer.

Question 25

How do I report a security flaw confidentially?

Accepted Answer

Write to security@bobine.fit or open a private vulnerability report on the Bobine GitHub repository (Security tab). Encrypt any report containing exploitable details with our OpenPGP public key (fingerprint 23CA D324 C507 FB0F 97E6 AECA 6E4C 020E F8BD FEB2, download it at https://bobine.fit/.well-known/security.asc or discover it with gpg --locate-keys security@bobine.fit) and check the fingerprint before sending. Create your own key pair (gpg --quick-generate-key "Your Name <you@example.org>" future-default default 2y) and attach your public key: we will reply encrypted. Full policy, scope and timelines: https://security.bobine.fit/.

FAQ & Troubleshooting