Emby Blog
10/11/2015
Coming soon: The new Emby Theater
The new Emby Theater is getting closer to launch, so we thought why not give you a little teaser to wet your appetite.
Same Great Video Player, Brand New App
The app retains the same great Direct Show audio and video player that you're accustomed to, including all of it's bells and whistles with Madvr and other perks. But make no mistake, this is a brand new app and has been truly a massive team effort.
So what's different about this new app? Read on!
Sharper and Crisper Than Ever Before
The first thing you'll notice when playing with the new app is just how much crisper it is. How has this been achieved? Unlike the previous version of the app (and Emby for WMC), the new Emby Theater renders at resolution without any form of UI scaling. This will create more work for the theme developer to design for different resolutions (720p, 1080p, 4k, etc), but the results are worth it.
We love the current Emby Theater, but this is going to make it look like an old tube TV.
Silky Smooth Animation
The next thing you'll notice is just how fluidly the interface navigates. Dramatic performance improvements have been made over the previous app. Almost everything on-screen is animated and it really helps make the app more pleasant to use.
Emby Theater Going Multi-Platform
While Windows is the focus right now, the app has been built in a very ambitious way to allow for release on a wide range of different platforms. We will probably have to rely on community help for some platforms, but the possibilities are there.
Note: Please contact us if you have interest in maintaining a build for a specific OS. Responsibilities will include initial packaging for that OS, regular release updates, and answering user questions specific to the OS.
6-Button Control
There will be no more fumbling around trying to figure out what button does what. The new app will be easy for anyone to pick up and use without any learning curve. All functions are being designed around 6 buttons - up, down, left, right, ok, and back. Your family members and guests will have no trouble controlling the new Emby Theater.
Simple Theming
This app has the potential to change the game of new theme development. When all is said and done it will be easier to build themes for this than any other app in it's class.
Free of Clutter
Enjoy your artwork thanks to the clean design and clutter-free header bars.
Rediscover your Content with Recommendations
A popular feature from other Emby apps is finally making it's way to Emby Theater.
New Music Interface
The app finally has a design that makes sense for music.
Live TV
Watch Live TV, browse the guide, and manage your recordings.
Details Gone Vertical
A common complaint over the detail screen of the current Emby Theater is that it's pretty but slow to navigate. We went back to the drawing board and decided to take a little inspiration from Android TV. It is now much, much faster to browse through detail screens.
Stay Tuned for a Beta
Keep your eyes on the blog for a downloadable beta, coming soon.
Also the app will soon be open source. We appreciate your patience this. We have kept the source code closed in order to allow us to control the timing of announcements, but it will be fully open source just like all of our other apps.
Same Great Video Player, Brand New App
The app retains the same great Direct Show audio and video player that you're accustomed to, including all of it's bells and whistles with Madvr and other perks. But make no mistake, this is a brand new app and has been truly a massive team effort.
So what's different about this new app? Read on!
Sharper and Crisper Than Ever Before
The first thing you'll notice when playing with the new app is just how much crisper it is. How has this been achieved? Unlike the previous version of the app (and Emby for WMC), the new Emby Theater renders at resolution without any form of UI scaling. This will create more work for the theme developer to design for different resolutions (720p, 1080p, 4k, etc), but the results are worth it.
We love the current Emby Theater, but this is going to make it look like an old tube TV.
Silky Smooth Animation
The next thing you'll notice is just how fluidly the interface navigates. Dramatic performance improvements have been made over the previous app. Almost everything on-screen is animated and it really helps make the app more pleasant to use.
Emby Theater Going Multi-Platform
While Windows is the focus right now, the app has been built in a very ambitious way to allow for release on a wide range of different platforms. We will probably have to rely on community help for some platforms, but the possibilities are there.
Note: Please contact us if you have interest in maintaining a build for a specific OS. Responsibilities will include initial packaging for that OS, regular release updates, and answering user questions specific to the OS.
6-Button Control
There will be no more fumbling around trying to figure out what button does what. The new app will be easy for anyone to pick up and use without any learning curve. All functions are being designed around 6 buttons - up, down, left, right, ok, and back. Your family members and guests will have no trouble controlling the new Emby Theater.
Simple Theming
This app has the potential to change the game of new theme development. When all is said and done it will be easier to build themes for this than any other app in it's class.
Free of Clutter
Enjoy your artwork thanks to the clean design and clutter-free header bars.
Rediscover your Content with Recommendations
A popular feature from other Emby apps is finally making it's way to Emby Theater.
New Music Interface
The app finally has a design that makes sense for music.
Live TV
Watch Live TV, browse the guide, and manage your recordings.
Details Gone Vertical
A common complaint over the detail screen of the current Emby Theater is that it's pretty but slow to navigate. We went back to the drawing board and decided to take a little inspiration from Android TV. It is now much, much faster to browse through detail screens.
Stay Tuned for a Beta
Keep your eyes on the blog for a downloadable beta, coming soon.
Also the app will soon be open source. We appreciate your patience this. We have kept the source code closed in order to allow us to control the timing of announcements, but it will be fully open source just like all of our other apps.