Android/AndroidTV Placeshifter client (Discussion)

[trallyus]

I just tested version .04 a few days ago Stuckless and now you're already up to version .06

Dang you are pouring your heart and soul in to this project. By the way version .04 was working pretty good on my hisense vision tv with some artifacts so I can't wait to see how version .06 works tonight.

Thanks for all you are doing.

[millerbrad]

Using v.06 on a Nexus 6P phone remotely over the Internet. SageTV9 with Gemstone.

All I've done is watch some Recordings so far, but aside from a couple non-reproducible freezes, it works really smooth.

Took me a bit to get used to the controls, and I struggled with the UI for about 15min trying to enter my username & password at first.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by millerbrad

Using v.06 on a Nexus 6P phone remotely over the Internet. SageTV9 with Gemstone.

All I've done is watch some Recordings so far, but aside from a couple non-reproducible freezes, it works really smooth.

Took me a bit to get used to the controls, and I struggled with the UI for about 15min trying to enter my username & password at first.

In the next version... with a change to the sagetv server... the Android On Screen keyboard will automatically pop up when there are SageTV input fields. Also there is a suggestion that I add the screen gesture controls help to the main page

[millerbrad]

Originally Posted by stuckless

In the next version... with a change to the sagetv server... the Android On Screen keyboard will automatically pop up when there are SageTV input fields. Also there is a suggestion that I add the screen gesture controls help to the main page

Gesture help on the main page will be helpful. It took me awhile to realize that I needed to double-tap to put focus on something.

To be more specific on my login issues, the keyboard completely covers the password field. So, after entering my username, I would dismiss the keyboard and put focus on the password field. When I tried to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show the keyboard again, the password field kept losing focus -- but since it was covered by the keyboard, I didn't realize that it lost focus.

EDIT: For what it's worth, the recording I watched was 720p ATSC OTA recorded with my HDHomeRun. I noticed people having problems with this type of content a few posts back. In my case, I had no problems playing it at all using the default media player the app comes configured with (i.e. not ExoPlayer). (Encoded by: Silicondust HDHomeRun Tuner; File Format: MPEG2-PS[MPEG2-Video 16:9 720p@60fps, Dolby Digital/448Kbps@48kHz 5.1 eng, Dolby Digital/192Kbps@48kHz Stereo spa]) Aah, nevermind.. I see that MPEG2-PS is an ExoPlayer issue, which I'm not using.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by millerbrad

Gesture help on the main page will be helpful. It took me awhile to realize that I needed to double-tap to put focus on something.

To be more specific on my login issues, the keyboard completely covers the password field. So, after entering my username, I would dismiss the keyboard and put focus on the password field. When I tried to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show the keyboard again, the password field kept losing focus -- but since it was covered by the keyboard, I didn't realize that it lost focus.

EDIT: For what it's worth, the recording I watched was 720p ATSC OTA recorded with my HDHomeRun. I noticed people having problems with this type of content a few posts back. In my case, I had no problems playing it at all using the default media player the app comes configured with (i.e. not ExoPlayer). (Encoded by: Silicondust HDHomeRun Tuner; File Format: MPEG2-PS[MPEG2-Video 16:9 720p@60fps, Dolby Digital/448Kbps@48kHz 5.1 eng, Dolby Digital/192Kbps@48kHz Stereo spa])

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to "fix" the keyboard covering the field, since, the android portion doesn't really know about the layout of the sagetv UI. maybe in a mobile friendly version of the STV we can push the fields to the top of the screen, so if there is an on-screen keyboard, we can still see the fields.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll be able to "fix" the keyboard covering the field, since, the android portion doesn't really know about the layout of the sagetv UI. maybe in a mobile friendly version of the STV we can push the fields to the top of the screen, so if there is an on-screen keyboard, we can still see the fields.

Or the stv could be modified to show its own keyboard for any text input dialogs (many places already do, but it's inconsistent).

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Tiki

Or the stv could be modified to show its own keyboard for any text input dialogs (many places already do, but it's inconsistent).

I agree... and if that ever happens, then I'll add a setting to disable the Android keyboard.

[DarkWolf77]

Wow it seems like yesterday that I downloaded the first beta and it was only sort of functional and now it's practically fully functional! I just wanted to drop a line to say that I have tried it on the following hardware and everything works:

Tablet:
Nexus 9

Phone:
Samsung Galaxy S6

[wayner]

@stuckless - What's the likelihood of you doing an iOS version? I just noticed that you did mention it in post 1 of this thread. I am in for $100 bounty for that.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by wayner

@stuckless - What's the likelihood of you doing an iOS version? I just noticed that you did mention it in post 1 of this thread. I am in for $100 bounty for that.

I haven't ruled it out... but it's not something that high up on the priority list, either. I was hoping that someone would take the codebase that I've created here and start an iOS project.

Java runs as fast as native on iOS (using robovm), and the opengl library that I used, works on iOS. So, out of the gate, with some small changes, you'd get all the client server communication parts and the UI fully working. You'd then have to focus on touch interactions and video playback.

So far no one has expressed an interest in that (and I understand)... If you already work on iOS you have embraced Obj-C and/or swift, and you've probably been trained to hate Java and Android, so, you have no interest on building on Java

In the Indiegogo project, I said if I reached $5OOO (which was real stretch) then I'd consider putting in the time to do this myself. Most of that money would have went toward buying a MacBook Pro and a couple pieces of iOS hardware... likely an iPad and probably an iPod touch. That didn't happen. (It's just so much more expensive to be an iOS developer )

I do have an older MacBook, but it's not something that I could spend any amount of time on for development, but, once I'm done the Android MiniClient, I might setup of the iOS framework (ie, get it to a point where you can connect to sagetv and render the UI) and maybe then someone will take this on.

[Taddeusz]

I would start an Indiegogo if I knew I had the time to spare. I just wouldn't feel right having people donate to something I can't confidently devote time to.

I have sort of been working on a native iOS app (i.e. not Mini Client). Between a family with a 2 year-old and work there is precious little time to devote to this without staying up till ungodly hours of the night.

And I really need new hardware. Namely a new MacBook and Apple TV (already have an iPhone & iPad). Right now running a desktop Hackintosh. While it works well it still leaves a bit to be desired.

But there's till the time thing.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I would start an Indiegogo if I knew I had the time to spare. I just wouldn't feel right having people donate to something I can't confidently devote time to.

I have sort of been working on a native iOS app (i.e. not Mini Client). Between a family with a 2 year-old and work there is precious little time to devote to this without staying up till ungodly hours of the night.

And I really need new hardware. Namely a new MacBook and Apple TV (already have an iPhone & iPad). Right now running a desktop Hackintosh. While it works well it still leaves a bit to be desired.

But there's till the time thing.

I fully understand... My kids are teenagers now, so I have a larger window of time to devote to this stuff, but when they are toddlers my window was quite small

I am interested in the "hackintosh" maybe you can PM with some details on how I'd go about setting that up.

[JonL]

Is it feasible that the Android Miniclient does Source direct output, i.e., outputs 480i/576i from DVD original sources?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by JonL

Is it feasible that the Android Miniclient does Source direct output, i.e., outputs 480i/576i from DVD original sources?

I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I suspect no. The Android MiniClient doesn't directly deal with video outputs... thats handled by the Android OS or the Video Players.

[VCRUser]

I just put Beta .10 on my LG G3, running Lollipop 5.1. As with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 I'd tried previously, with an earlier version, I'm still having UI problems. I took a screenshot, but am not sure how to send it. Essentially, elements are overlaid and cannot be selected reliably. Attempting to select Recordings, it activated live tv (which it played), but overlaying the screen was the timeline, which wouldn't go away, and couldn't be controlled - that is, I couldn't pause, stop, etc. I managed to exit by sleeping the phone.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

I just put Beta .10 on my LG G3, running Lollipop 5.1. As with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 I'd tried previously, with an earlier version, I'm still having UI problems. I took a screenshot, but am not sure how to send it. Essentially, elements are overlaid and cannot be selected reliably. Attempting to select Recordings, it activated live tv (which it played), but overlaying the screen was the timeline, which wouldn't go away, and couldn't be controlled - that is, I couldn't pause, stop, etc. I managed to exit by sleeping the phone.

Some of this sounds like just not knowing how to interact with the UI. Read the first post in this thread, which has a section on navigation. Also in beta 10 there is a [?] help icon that gives some information on how to interact with the UI. At the very least, the on screen navigation controls (swip in from left edge to activate) should help you with controlling video playback.

Keep in mind that SageTV is designed for a TV and not designed at all for a small screen. So while this runs on a tablet/phone the experience is not going to optimal. Eventually someone will create a mobile friendly STV (UI) and that should help.

I still would like to see the screenshot, though, since I'm not sure what the overlaid elements look like. If you've taken the screenshot on your phone, you can email it to yourself, and then from there you can upload it here. (Sounds like you are having issues accessing the image?)

Something to keep in mind as well, when you are interacting using a phone/tablet. Double Tap sends "select", but, you must first focus the item. So, usually selecting something in the navigation takes 3 taps. 1 tap to focus the item, then double-tap to send select. If you just double tap on an item, and it's not selected, then it will actually send select on the selected item. Again, much of this is just getting used to the awkward way of using a built for TV app on a phone. (in short double tap does not focus and then send select, it just sends select)

[VCRUser]

I have the image on my computer (I DropBoxed it), just don't know where to go to upload it here.It just occurred to me that I could post a dropbox download link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kcloint6of...57-35.png?dl=0

I did read the first post on gesture control, but given the screen display problem, it was hard to tell what was being focused, and the gestures didn't seem to have the listed effects.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by VCRUser

I have the image on my computer (I DropBoxed it), just don't know where to go to upload it here.It just occurred to me that I could post a dropbox download link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kcloint6of...57-35.png?dl=0

I did read the first post on gesture control, but given the screen display problem, it was hard to tell what was being focused, and the gestures didn't seem to have the listed effects.

Just so I understand... Youv'e had this display issue with all versions, not only beta-10, correct?

This is a new one... and I'm wondering if it's because the screen size is 2550x1440. I don't have a device that resolution, so I can't really test it, but I'll do some digging around. The picture really does help

Also, is every screen messed up like this?

[Jabroni]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Just so I understand... Youv'e had this display issue with all versions, not only beta-10, correct?

This is a new one... and I'm wondering if it's because the screen size is 2550x1440. I don't have a device that resolution, so I can't really test it, but I'll do some digging around. The picture really does help

Also, is every screen messed up like this?

I dont have rendering issues on my note 5, which has that resolution.. maybe that particular STVi is triggering a particular rendering bug??

[VCRUser]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Just so I understand... Youv'e had this display issue with all versions, not only beta-10, correct?

I tried one version previously, but on a different device. I think it was my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. I don't recall the version, but it was a considerably earlier one- maybe .04. I reported it at the time, and had display issues which are hard to remember in detail because it was a while ago, but I think there was even more overlapping and I couldn't get anything to even try to play.

Originally Posted by stuckless

Also, is every screen messed up like this?

Since the screens were hard to navigate, giving all the overlap, I couldn't reliably get many screens, but the ones I could get to were full of overlaps and didn't respond reliably to gesture commands. I speculate that the messed up screen prevented reliable interaction because neither the app nor I could tell what I was trying to tap, swipe, etc.

I love the idea of this app & would be thrilled if I could get it to work on any of my devices.