Works but unrefined yet.

[Magnus33 1]

Too much space is taken up by the side bar which isn't needed.

 

Clicking on catagroy only then brings up its name and with the default pictures being so similar its hard to tell which is movies ,tv or music.

 

Also who picked green? It looks way too much like a metro interface which is already to loud.

 

 

Function is good but too much space is wasted on the side bar and labeling on the main is murky at best.

 

Or in other-words the sidebar looks who on tv, phones and tablets taking up far too much space for what it need to do and navigating on the main screen is too hard because it requires picking  something before you can tell if its where you want to look.

 

In the settings menu works are actually being cut off.

 

Also its not auto hiding the  bar at the top on bottom like youtube would.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Magnus33

[ebr 14904]

If you aren't using one of the target devices for this app (a Nexus Player or Fire TV) then I imagine the interface may feel a little foreign.  We are using an interface created by Google specifically for TV streaming devices so that is where it is coming from.

 

The side bar goes away if you simply move right and then you can move up and down through the different rows.  But, the side bar allows you to see more of the rows and navigate between them quicker.

 

 

Clicking on catagroy only then brings up its name and with the default pictures being so similar its hard to tell which is movies ,tv or music.

 

I'm afraid I don't follow to what you are referring here.  What default pictures?  The main rows on the home screen are labelled as TV, Movies, etc.  Maybe a picture would help me understand the issue here.

 

 

Also its not auto hiding the  bar at the top on bottom like youtube would.

 

Sorry, not sure what this is either.

[Magnus33 1]

I am use to android device and this includes  what googles uses..

 

The basics are there but still unrefined as of yet as of yet and need polish.

 

Example: the main section of the screen at the top has you category like tv, music and movies with default art work made up of the media and tv shows side said category.

 

Sitting on your couch or in bed unless you click on one you have no label for tv or movies and its hit and miss tell you get the correct one.

Standing in front of the tv you can see which is which but at a normal sitting distance its a guessing game .

 

It can been seen easily in the default photo which i attached, just picture yourself sitting on the sofa  at a distance and try and figure which is which with out going through them.

Using custom images for a category that clearly label lets a person get around this issue .

 

The green sidebar when its out is about twice the size its need to be looking huge on the tv screen where as half its width would still be perfectly readable and not take away from the detail on the main screen as it does.

Fortunately as you mentioned you can hide it.

 

The green is more a personal choice i just seen to much of that color scheme with windows of late..maybe the option of a few default color choices?

 

The words are being cut of in both areas of the menu and in settings with letter missing at the ends or getting blurred into the lines below it..Not correctly adjust to the native resolution of the device maybe?

 

Playback does work and seems to be fine but there issues with onscreen controls not popping back up or the the control bar at the bottom of all android devices not auto hiding like it should .

Edited May 4, 2015 by Magnus33

[Luke 37010]

Yes, the app is brand new, only a couple weeks old at this point, so that is to be expected. This is a community project and everyone is welcome to be part of the process of helping it evolve.

[Magnus33 1]

Little added update.

 

When you do click on the a category to dock the sidebar the labeling that does show up  cover over writing on the lbel directly to its left so there is a scaling or image issue here.

 

Onscreen controls aren't showing after they disapear and as mentioned the top and bottom bars don't auto hide as they should on any device i tested.

 

Pro's :

Playback itself does seem to work perfectly fine and the majority of the issue are cosmetic  and layout rather then function issue.

 

The few function that are there are common issue seen before in other apps so should be to hard to quickly fix.

 

PS: even with the issue the layout is still much better then the android app.

[CBers 6766]

@@Magnus33 - not sure why you're not seeing names for your views, but I do in both the Nexus Player and Amazon Fire TV apps.

 

I even tried turning off the tile names on user preferences in the web client, but that doesn't make any difference, I always get names.

 

Which device are you running the app on and which version of the app is it?

 

I agree, with a bit more cosmetic tinkering, the app will look awesome on tablets - it already does on my Nexus 10.

[Magnus33 1]

Its either a layout or scaling issue i think with other devices. and as for labeling there is none tell you actually click on category to dock the sidebar.

Problem with that is at the distance a normal person sits and with the default generated category images its your guess if you picked the one you wanted.

This of course isn't the end of the world as you can then move through them to the one you wish but this makes things rather clunky or basically your doing more clicking then needed to get where you want to.

 

The auto hide issue was in the tv mode of the android app but not in the mobile mode

 

To see what i mean about labeling look at the default screen you see on startup that i attached below.

 

The top row is you category but try figuring out which is which tel you click on one when you sitting on the couch.

Once you do of course the labels pop up as mentioned but you maybe have picked the wrong one instead of going directly to the one you wanted.

 

You can still navigate around of course but like the windows 8.1 metro interface it now takes you more clicking around to get to where you want to be then it  did before.

Workable but less efficient then before making things seem clunky (probably a better word for that)

[CBers 6766]

I'm finding it hard to believe your comments now.

 

The UI is really intuitive and if you don't like it, don't use it.

 

I hope you're not a troll.

[Magnus33 1]

I'm finding it hard to believe your comments now.

 

The UI is really intuitive and if you don't like it, don't use it.

 

I hope you're not a troll.

Are you serious look at the picture i posted do you see any labeling anywhere other then the green sidebar on that screen.

Then explain to us how your going to be able to tell which category is which in that top row sitting across the room on the sofa.

 

Also be very careful of when you use the word troll.

Trolls attack people and posts they don't go around politely explaining themselves and providing pictures in the hope it helps improve  the software.

 

I don't care if you a mod or not you should know better then to say something like that when i been nothing but polite.

Not to mention as a Mod you should know better then to do that in a tread when you should pm someone to determine there motives if you suspect there less then good.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Magnus33

[CBers 6766]

If you move right from the top line, then the names appear, so not sure what the problem is.

[Magnus33 1]

Yes if you click on a category the sidebar docks and you can and you can see the labeling.

If you didn't select the correct one you can then browse to the one you wish and click on it to get to say movies.

 

That's the problem though your now doing more work to get to the same place you did before with one click on the old category screen in the android app.

When you have to do more work to get to to the same place in a app its not considered a improvement in function or design.

 

A simple fix is use labeled art work like say this (check picture) rather then the scan generated  image of a bunch of shows.

 

One glance at your home screen even at a distance and you can easily see which one is which category is which even without labels.

Two click and you in the area wish to be rather then click and then browse browse browse tell you find the correct folder which can be a pain depending on how many you actually have.

 

Yes like you i can figure it out easily and without much effort but i could do the same with windows 8.1 metro setup but getting to where i wished to be became less efficient.

 

Microsoft eventually figured this out hence we have the new windows 10 start screen which actually makes sense now and is quite efficient (for the most part some of it does still need work)

 

Plex itself had a similar issue some time back and has now decided on a category listing on the sidebar flyout to reduce the amount of clicking around a persons needed to do to get somewhere.

[Magnus33 1]

A perfect example is the apple tv interface.

 

Now even at a distance without being able to read any of the writing you are going to know which is tv and which is movies thanks to the folder image.

 

One or two clicks your in you in the area you wish to be.

 

I am not a fan of apple tv do to its closed sourced nature and many limitations but a five year old could find movies  in seconds.

Very intuitive for even a child to use if maybe a little dry.

 

A perfect example of really bad was the old ruko ui.

 

It had a side browse interface which made  for something like channels was insanely inefficient.

Thank god they fixed this in newer boxes because browsing channels that way in old  boxes could give you tennis elbow.

 

[reluctantflux 38]

The Emby team is emulating the Android TV interface, which I applaud.  I believe it really makes the application feel like an integrated part of the overall OS other than a separate app.  I find it jarring when an OS has a UI that is easy to navigate, and then open an app that is drastically different.  You then need to learn the motions and tricks to navigate each separate app.  

 

By following the Google "Material" design philosophy , they are allowing their app to appear not only more seamless, but easier for non-tech Android TV users to use the interface.   

 

You haven't answered which device you are using the app on.  If it is not a device connected to a television, perhaps the regular Android app is more appropriate for your usage.

[Magnus33 1]

Tablet,tv phone, android tv box and tv itself.

 

I agree it is more seamless it just need cosmetic polish to remove the rough edges and make things more efficient rather then less.

 

As i explained most of the issue are cosmetic in nature rather then function.

 

Speaking of function is anyone else noticing a slight transition lag when the sidebar docks?

[ebr 14904]

Two points about your main issue of the top library categories:

 

1) These images are defined on the server and you can customize them to be whatever you want

2) It isn't possible to select one without navigating away from the side bar - at which point all the labels appear beneath the items so I don't understand how you could possibly select the wrong one.  Maybe I'm just missing your point on that.

 

But, as I mentioned, this interface is a framework provided by Google and we are trying to use it to the best effect possible.  The point is to fit in with other apps on the device so that anyone using the app for the first time will immediately know how it works.

 

Now, this only works if you are actually using it on a Google Android TV device though - but that is the target audience.  We are keeping the same interface for Fire TV though because, while it isn't exactly like the Amazon interface, it does mimic it in layout and function (still basically single rows of categorized content).

 

It is a different paradigm than the mostly touch-based interfaces of the other apps and it is still new.  I'm sure we will refine it as we go.

 

Plus, the whole app is new and will continue to improve as well with feedback.  A good example is the recent improvements to the playback interface.

[Magnus33 1]

Its a work in progress to be sure and improving quickly.

 

The second point though shows me your miss understanding what i meant.

 

Going from the home screen picture i posted you can click on a category and then enter it to find the media you want.

The issue is that the default images created by the server don't work well with this app and you can't tell which category is which from the home screen at average sitting distance hence the likely need to browse around before finding the category you want.

 

This can be addressed like we both mentioned by changing the images on the server to something instantly recognizable regardless of distance or have default images in the app which can be understood at a glance

 

Touch based devices this isn't really a issue since these default images can seen clearly do to the short distance.

 

Don't get me wrong amazing amount of works been done but as mentioned the app new and still being polished

[ebr 14904]

You're right, I must not be understanding something.  You're telling me that you cannot read this text under the images to know which of these items to click on?