Short version: you never upload anything to Tappla. You upload to your video host (usually Vimeo), and your TV app mirrors whatever is there, automatically.
This trips up almost every new customer, because most tools work the other way around. So it is worth 60 seconds to get the model straight - once it clicks, most "my app is empty" problems solve themselves.
The rule: your video host is the source of truth. Whatever sits inside your Vimeo showcase is what appears in your app. No more, no less.
What that means day to day
Adding a video: upload it to your Vimeo showcase. It appears in your app on its own. You do not touch the Tappla dashboard.
Removing a video: take it out of the showcase. It disappears from your app.
Reordering: change the order in the showcase. Your app follows it.
There is no "upload" button in the dashboard, and nothing is missing if you cannot find one. The dashboard is where you connect sources and brand the app, not where the video files live.
If you are looking for a place to drag your MP4s into Tappla, that is the moment to stop looking. Put them in Vimeo instead.
The three things that must be true
When videos are not showing up, it is nearly always one of these. Check them in order.
1. The videos are actually inside the showcase
Not just in your Vimeo account. A video sitting in your Vimeo library but not added to the showcase is invisible to us. Open the showcase itself and confirm the videos are listed there.
2. The playlist is enabled in your dashboard
Every playlist you connect has an on/off toggle. A playlist that exists in the dashboard but is toggled off contributes exactly zero videos to your app. Look for the green toggle on the Playlists page and make sure it is on.
This is worth double-checking if you connected several showcases: it is common to have three playlists connected and only one switched on.
3. The Vimeo privacy setting allows us to fetch the video
Vimeo privacy setting | Works in your app? |
Public | Yes |
Unlisted (hidden from Vimeo, embeddable) | Yes |
Hide from Vimeo, embeddable anywhere | Usually yes |
Private / Only me | No |
Password protected | No |
We recommend Unlisted as your default. It keeps your videos off Vimeo's public browse and search, but still lets your TV app pull them in. You get the privacy you wanted without blocking your own app.
Note: the privacy setting has to be right on each video, not only on the showcase. If you changed the default after uploading, older videos may still be on the old setting.
"It works, but my app looks empty"
If everything above is correct and your app still looks sparse, this is usually a content-volume thing rather than a bug.
The grid layout is built to lay out rows of content, the way the big streaming services do. With one video per playlist there is very little for it to arrange, so it looks bare. Once there are a handful of videos in each playlist, the grid starts behaving the way you pictured it.
So if your app looks emptier than you hoped: add more videos to the showcase. The layout fills out on its own.
Using something other than Vimeo
Vimeo is the most common setup, but the same model applies to every source:
Bunny Stream - you keep the videos in your own Bunny account and we pull them in. Usually the cheapest option.
A JSON feed or HLS URL - if you already host your videos somewhere else.
In every case: the source is the truth, the app mirrors it, and there is no upload step on our side.
Still not seeing your videos after checking all three points? Reply here with your app name and we will look at your feed directly.