Android App: Phoenix for SageTV

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Thanks. It hasn't shown up yet, but when it does, it should give me an exact location as to where it dies. I'm hoping to get a new build out on weekend, so I'll try to get this fixed by then.

Gracias!

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by SteveW

Gracias!

Ok... I saw your stack trace. I fixed it, and it should be available in the next release (this weekend).

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Ok... I saw your stack trace. I fixed it, and it should be available in the next release (this weekend).

Appreciate it.

[mbowling]

I just stumbled upon this app today. I can see the list of TV shows that have been recorded and TV shows that are scheduled to record. How do I view the TV guide to schedule a show to record?

What is the difference in "Recently Recorded" and "TV Shows" They both appear to be a listing of recorded TV shows, but displayed differently.

EDIT: I just read the post about using Mobile Web to schedule recordings. However, when I select Mobile Web, the following error is returned:
HTTP Error: 404 Problem accessing /sagem/m/. Reason: NOT_FOUND

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by mbowling

EDIT: I just read the post about using Mobile Web to schedule recordings. However, when I select Mobile Web, the following error is returned:
HTTP Error: 404 Problem accessing /sagem/m/. Reason: NOT_FOUND

Did you install the mobile web plugin in SageTV?

[mbowling]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Did you install the mobile web plugin in SageTV?

What are the first few letters of the mobile web plugin? I don't see it in the plugin list under "m" for mobile or "p" for phoenix. The full list of 295 plugins is really long.

[Fuzzy]

General -> SageTV Mobile Web Interface by jreichen

[mbowling]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

General -> SageTV Mobile Web Interface by jreichen

Thank you Fuzzy and Fonceur. Mobile web is working now.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by mbowling

What is the difference in "Recently Recorded" and "TV Shows" They both appear to be a listing of recorded TV shows, but displayed differently.

Phoenix uses "views" organize its data. Many views will have the same data, just organized differently.

Recently Recorded will show the episodes (newest first) without any grouping.

TV Shows will all TV files (recorded or imported) and group them by series.

[ero]

Thought I'd give it a shot, installed today, but force closes immediately upon start. Used the "report" button upon force close so hope it helps in determining the problem.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by ero

Thought I'd give it a shot, installed today, but force closes immediately upon start. Used the "report" button upon force close so hope it helps in determining the problem.

Thanks for reporting the issue via google play. I was able to find/fix the issue and version 1.8 has been uploaded to Google Play (usually takes hours for it become available though)

[stuckless]

Over on Google+ I just posted the following post, detailing the future of this application...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/10088422...ts/RkS9ANiAHxv

I won't copy verbatim, but in a nutshell, I'm looking at making certain features paid features, and basing the amount of attention this app gets on it's sales performances, compared against my other apps.

You can share your thoughts here or on Google+

[reggie14]

I have no problem with you going down the paid route. It's nice app with some real potential. I like your idea of offering a limited free version, and I think you identified a reasonable set of core functionality for that version.

That being said, I probably wouldn't pay anything without some improvements first. I dropped off after complaining about this before, but I'd really like to see the play-video-behind-menus bug fixed. That is, if you play a video on a device, whatever menus were open remain open. The play-to-extender functionality in the web interface works around this issue somehow. Another thing I'd really want to see is sorting options within the views. Right now it looks like its just sorted based on when it was recorded. I'd really like to be able to changing the sorting options within a view. In particular, I'd like to be able to sort alphabetically.

Those things by themselves would probably get me to pay $5.

There's some other features I'd really like to see, and I'd be willing to pay more for them. I'd want to see a program guide, be able to schedule/cancel recordings, and set up favorites. And, I think it would be great if there was some mechanism, even if somewhat limited, to find/update metadata when BMT doesn't find a clean match.

One challenge, though, is that there's only so much I'd be willing to pay without knowing a particular feature would be supported. I mean, sometimes people offer up money for particular feature, and don't pay it until the feature is supported. There's no particularly good way for you to do that, so I don't blame you for not going that route.

So, just tossing out imaginary numbers, while I might be willing to pay $50 for a certain set of features, I'm not going to pay $50 unless I know those features are supported. In your pricing model I might only be willing to put in $10, since I wouldn't know whether those other features would ever be supported.

Would you let people identify a particular feature to contribute money to, or would you simply define the different feature "tiers" (and corresponding dollar amount attached to each tier)?

[stuckless]

Hey Reggie, thanks for the feedback.

The pricing "model" is aimed squarely at what you are saying. ie, There are "features" that people want, but I'm not willing to put in another 400hours just to add a guide, so that I make 5 bucks I am however, willing to invest the hours if enough people pay. I guess it's a double edge sword. Personally, the App meets the all the objectives that I set out for myself, which is why I posted this comment about the "paid" premium features. I don't see myself doing much extra work on this, especially when I can be adding features to existing apps that are making money.

In terms of Bugs, and Enhancements, I think it was asked before about how they should be reported. I do recall your bug, now that you mention it again... but unfortunately, while I have a great memory, it's extremely short You should enter the bugs and enhancements on the Phoenix issue list, and tag them with PhoenixApp, and then when I swing back to Phoenix App development, I won't forget about them.

http://code.google.com/p/sagephoenix/issues/list

The power of using the Phoenix views for Phoenix, and this App, is that if you've setup up views for the big screen, you can simply add them to this app. For example, I rarely fiddle with sort orders, and watched statuses in real time, but rather, I tend to have views preconfigured and I just display them.

For example, on my setup (Tv and Phone), I have a "Movies" view that lists all movies ordered by most recent first. I also have an "Unwatched Movies" view that is basically the first view, except filtered by the watched status.

Like wise for TV, I have an ALL TV view, that lists all my TV shows grouped by series, but I also have an "Unwatched TV" view that is basically the same view except that it only shows the unwatched shows, and the Series order is ordered by newest shows first.

Again, I don't see doing much of this on the fly (although it could be done, and if enough people wanted it, and wanted to pay for it, then I'd do it).

Currently, I'm at a point where I've spent the last few months on this, and now I need to get back to something that's going to pay for my new computer upgrade

Again, thanks for the feedback, and be sure to enter the bugs/enhancements on the issue site.

Originally Posted by reggie14

I have no problem with you going down the paid route. It's nice app with some real potential. I like your idea of offering a limited free version, and I think you identified a reasonable set of core functionality for that version.

That being said, I probably wouldn't pay anything without some improvements first. I dropped off after complaining about this before, but I'd really like to see the play-video-behind-menus bug fixed. That is, if you play a video on a device, whatever menus were open remain open. The play-to-extender functionality in the web interface works around this issue somehow. Another thing I'd really want to see is sorting options within the views. Right now it looks like its just sorted based on when it was recorded. I'd really like to be able to changing the sorting options within a view. In particular, I'd like to be able to sort alphabetically.

Those things by themselves would probably get me to pay $5.

There's some other features I'd really like to see, and I'd be willing to pay more for them. I'd want to see a program guide, be able to schedule/cancel recordings, and set up favorites. And, I think it would be great if there was some mechanism, even if somewhat limited, to find/update metadata when BMT doesn't find a clean match.

One challenge, though, is that there's only so much I'd be willing to pay without knowing a particular feature would be supported. I mean, sometimes people offer up money for particular feature, and don't pay it until the feature is supported. There's no particularly good way for you to do that, so I don't blame you for not going that route.

So, just tossing out imaginary numbers, while I might be willing to pay $50 for a certain set of features, I'm not going to pay $50 unless I know those features are supported. In your pricing model I might only be willing to put in $10, since I wouldn't know whether those other features would ever be supported.

Would you let people identify a particular feature to contribute money to, or would you simply define the different feature "tiers" (and corresponding dollar amount attached to each tier)?

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by stuckless

You should enter the bugs and enhancements on the Phoenix issue list, and tag them with PhoenixApp, and then when I swing back to Phoenix App development, I won't forget about them.

http://code.google.com/p/sagephoenix/issues/list

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I'm not seeing a way to tag a new issue. Are you sure "ordinary" users can tag items?

Originally Posted by stuckless

The power of using the Phoenix views for Phoenix, and this App, is that if you've setup up views for the big screen, you can simply add them to this app. For example, I rarely fiddle with sort orders, and watched statuses in real time, but rather, I tend to have views preconfigured and I just display them.
[snip]
Again, I don't see doing much of this on the fly (although it could be done, and if enough people wanted it, and wanted to pay for it, then I'd do it).

I definitely understand where you're coming from. You made the app for your own use, and then decided to post it so others could benefit from it. Moving forward, other folks might have other environments or wishes, which aren't necessarily going to help you out much.

Here's a good example of that. I don't run Phoenix, so I'm probably going to be looking for different kinds of things. I'm relatively happy with the stock STV, and if I did change I'd probably go to Gemstone at this point. So, I'd like to see the viewing options in the app itself.

But, if I understand what you're saying, I think I could create my own custom views, even though I don't actually use Phoenix as a UI. I could give that a try. It's not exactly ideal, since I'd rather see things like sorting options on the page of itself, rather than having two different views with the same content, but sorted different, but I could probably work with that.

If I can figure out VFS, that is. I'm reading the other thread now.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I'm not seeing a way to tag a new issue. Are you sure "ordinary" users can tag items?

I should have said, "Label" and not "Tag". I've added the PhoneixApp label to your issue.

Here's a good example of that. I don't run Phoenix, so I'm probably going to be looking for different kinds of things. I'm relatively happy with the stock STV, and if I did change I'd probably go to Gemstone at this point. So, I'd like to see the viewing options in the app itself.

Just so you know... Gemstone uses the same "view" techonology that Phoenix (and my App) uses, so any views in Phoenix can be used on the Android app.

But, if I understand what you're saying, I think I could create my own custom views, even though I don't actually use Phoenix as a UI. I could give that a try. It's not exactly ideal, since I'd rather see things like sorting options on the page of itself, rather than having two different views with the same content, but sorted different, but I could probably work with that.

If I can figure out VFS, that is. I'm reading the other thread now.

The main vfs file (x-vfs.xml) contains all the views for Phoenix. While there is a lot there, it's still missing stuff, at least for my environment, like a simple "Unwatched Movies". I'd be happy to help anyone create new views, if I can. Typically the easiest ones are the ones where you want it similar to an existing view, but change the sort, or add a filter, etc.

On a side note the "Phoenix APP" is a Phoenix App because it depends on the Phoenix Core, much like BMT, Gemstone, and the Phoenix UI. So, you don't need to be a Phoenix UI person to use the App.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I should have said, "Label" and not "Tag". I've added the PhoneixApp label to your issue.

Yeah, I know what you meant. I didn't see a way to label new issues.

Originally Posted by stuckless

The main vfs file (x-vfs.xml) contains all the views for Phoenix. While there is a lot there, it's still missing stuff, at least for my environment, like a simple "Unwatched Movies". I'd be happy to help anyone create new views, if I can. Typically the easiest ones are the ones where you want it similar to an existing view, but change the sort, or add a filter, etc.

Great. Thanks! It doesn't look that difficult to use... Mostly I just want to change the sort order on the TV shows by season view. While I'm in there I might tweak a few others. I'm thinking about giving the Phoenix UI a try, too. I like the way it looks a bit better than Gemstone. I couldn't find a installation guide. Do I simply install it via the plugin manager and change STVs in the Sage detailed setup. menu?

By the way, I've started running into a new problem. I need to do some testing to try to pinpoint the problem, since it doesn't appear to be 100% reproducible, but I'll try to get you a description of the problem and a log later tonight.

Basically, for some TV shows (particularly when viewed by season, but that might be a coincidence), when I select a TV show by tapping its banner I get an error saying "Failed to show extended information for media file" and then the episodes don't appear in a list like they usually do. As I said, its not 100% consistent, as a show that had a problem last night wasn't having a problem today. Any ideas for things to look at? I was planning to look at their metadata to look for anything suspicious.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Yeah, I know what you meant. I didn't see a way to label new issues.

Ah... probably a permissions thing... that's OK, I can usually tell which part of phoenix the error applies.

Great. Thanks! It doesn't look that difficult to use... Mostly I just want to change the sort order on the TV shows by season view. While I'm in there I might tweak a few others. I'm thinking about giving the Phoenix UI a try, too. I like the way it looks a bit better than Gemstone. I couldn't find a installation guide. Do I simply install it via the plugin manager and change STVs in the Sage detailed setup. menu?

Yeah, install the Phoenix UI plugin, and then using the Detailed Setup, load the Phoenix stv file, and you are done. From there you can play with the Landing Zones and Landing Zone options to turn on things like weather backgrounds, upcomming recordings, etc.

By the way, I've started running into a new problem. I need to do some testing to try to pinpoint the problem, since it doesn't appear to be 100% reproducible, but I'll try to get you a description of the problem and a log later tonight.

Basically, for some TV shows (particularly when viewed by season, but that might be a coincidence), when I select a TV show by tapping its banner I get an error saying "Failed to show extended information for media file" and then the episodes don't appear in a list like they usually do. As I said, its not 100% consistent, as a show that had a problem last night wasn't having a problem today. Any ideas for things to look at? I was planning to look at their metadata to look for anything suspicious.

I'll load up a view grouped by Season, and see if I can reproduce... I rarely use that view, so there is most likely an error. I should be able to easily reproduce the issue. (If you get change, try to add an issue to the site... your description so far is good enough for me to be able to test/reproduce)

EDIT: I was able to reproduce this... if I group by season and there is only a single show then I get the message. I need to do add a condition to not goto details when the single child is still a folder (should be an easy fix)

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Yeah, install the Phoenix UI plugin, and then using the Detailed Setup, load the Phoenix stv file, and you are done. From there you can play with the Landing Zones and Landing Zone options to turn on things like weather backgrounds, upcomming recordings, etc.

Sorry about this, since I know this isn't a Phoenix support thread, but I gave this a try and it serious screwed up my extender. After installing and selecting the Phoenix STV file I just get a corrupted home screen (see attached).

I know I should have backed up my extender's properties file, but I didn't. Can you tell me how to undo the damage? I'll probably just take this as an omen I should stick the stock STV.

Edit: Nevermind- the obvious solution fixed it. I simply replaced the STV line in the properties file. Still, any idea what went horribly wrong?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Sorry about this, since I know this isn't a Phoenix support thread, but I gave this a try and it serious screwed up my extender. After installing and selecting the Phoenix STV file I just get a corrupted home screen (see attached).

I know I should have backed up my extender's properties file, but I didn't. Can you tell me how to undo the damage? I'll probably just take this as an omen I should stick the stock STV.

Edit: Nevermind- the obvious solution fixed it. I simply replaced the STV line in the properties file. Still, any idea what went horribly wrong?

Glad you realized how easy it was to recover

TO be honest, I'm not sure what happened there. Everything that I run is either a placeshifter or extender, and I've never seen an issue like that