Weird back button behavior? Fast scroll stops working?

[skuuup 24]

What I am noticing in the Emby app for Apple TV is that the back button only works in certain pages in the app when the upper bar/menu is highlighted. And I am also noticing that fast scrolling no longer is working in my larger libraries.

I assume this is a bug maybe introduced in a recent release? (EDIT- OK, after checking the Version History I am not seeing a new release since August 23, so I guess that's not it.)

I have some libraries with 100's of listings and it is really hard to get to the lower letters of the alphabet without this fast scrolling feature. Furthermore, now because of the back button behavior, I then need to scroll slowly all the way back to the top if I want to change my library.

Edited October 9, 2022 by skuuup

[skuuup 24]

OK- I am noticing that if I close the Emby app entirely or restart my Apple TV and re-open Emby this fixes it and the issue goes away for some time. But the bug  eventually comes back. I am trying to figure out what might be causing this. Any help appreciated.

I am running Apple TV Emby app v1.6.3(1) and Emby Server (Debian Linux) 4.7.6.0 through CloudFlare

Edited September 25, 2022 by skuuup

[Luke 38093]

Hi, we'll take a look at it. Thanks for reporting.

[Jifeng4ever 6]

On 9/25/2022 at 3:49 PM, skuuup said:

OK- I am noticing that if I close the Emby app entirely or restart my Apple TV and re-open Emby this fixes it and the issue goes away for some time. But the bug  eventually comes back. I am trying to figure out what might be causing this. Any help appreciated.

I am running Apple TV Emby app v1.6.3(1) and Emby Server (Debian Linux) 4.7.6.0 through CloudFlare

hi bro, i have the exact problems that you countered 

[hycel 7]

Have you guys updated to tvos 16?  I started having problems with the emby tvos app after update to tvos16. Initially when emby is started all the scrolling up and down works, back button, select button. But after a while back and select doesn't work. On screen it shows like you're pressing it, but no action is performed. Original apple tv remote won't execute back or select as well as the remote app on iphone. Luke, could you guys look into that? If maybe tvos16 update messed up something. I have another apple tv that updated too but i don't use that one daily. I have to check if the behavior there is the same.

I'm on Tvos 16.0 and emby 1.6.3(1)

Thanks,

Edited September 27, 2022 by hycel
tvos and app versions

[skuuup 24]

2 hours ago, hycel said:

Have you guys updated to tvos 16?  I started having problems with the emby tvos app after update to tvos16. Initially when emby is started all the scrolling up and down works, back button, select button. But after a while back and select doesn't work. On screen it shows like you're pressing it, but no action is performed. Original apple tv remote won't execute back or select as well as the remote app on iphone. Luke, could you guys look into that? If maybe tvos16 update messed up something. I have another apple tv that updated too but i don't use that one daily. I have to check if the behavior there is the same.

I'm on Tvos 16.0 and emby 1.6.3(1)

Thanks,

Looks like I am on tvOS 16.0. I have auto-updates enabled for my Apple TV so, yep, it probably broke after my Apple TV updated itself automatically. Good catch.

[hycel 7]

Tested on my other Apple TV. Same issue. 

[LaurentD 3]

Hi!

I got the same problem here on my Apple TV 4K 16.1 / Emby 1.6.3(1):

• Back button is only working if I am on the top menu
• Can't select buttons in some "pop-up" menus like in parameters or when I want to delete a file, but I can see the background moving instead
• Position in library list change randomly when I hit the back button after entering an episode/movie page. Sometimes I'm back to top or a line up/down from the position I was. 

Thanks!

[skuuup 24]

Similar behavior with all of the above. Thanks for the added details, @LaurentD

[vdatanet 1565]

I also have seen this since upgrading to tvOS 16.

I think it only affects the MPV player because using the native player it has never happened to me (maybe it is a coincidence)

[starfury 3]

I"m also having these navigation issues.  tvOS 16.0, Emby app 1.6.3(1).  They definitely started when I updated to tvOS 16.

@vdatanet, I tried disabling MPV and it didn't seem to help.

[Luke 38093]

HI, can you provide a concreate set of steps to reproduce? Thanks !

[skuuup 24]

Stept to reproduce:

(1) navigate into any collection grouping [tv/movies], (2) scroll down a few levels, (3) select, click into, and watch some content [few seconds seems to be all that is needed], (4) attempt to back out of playback all the way to the dashboard using the Home button on your Apple TV remote.

Behavior:

You will notice that when you get back to the collections page you will be unable to back out completely to the Emby dashboard/home without scrolling all the way to the top bar and highlighting the top bar. The Home/Back button ceases to work when you are located anywhere else on the screen. 

To fix:

Double-click the "Window" button on your remote to get to the app drawer, and slide up/kill the Emby app & relaunch. Or restart your Apple TV.

Edited October 6, 2022 by skuuup

[skuuup 24]

Also, when "backing out", make sure you pause for a second or two in between.

I am noticing that, during playback, clicking the Home button in rapid succession will work to take you back to the Home page/Dashboard.

But if you pause for a moment when you reach the collections page  going back stops working and this bug is present.

Edited October 6, 2022 by skuuup

[hycel 7]

Same behavior as what skuuup described on both my Apple TV boxes.

[john2k 6]

Same problem.

Turn apple tv on. Click emby. Click movies. Click any title. Now, try to go back to the Main Emby Screen (the first) using the "<" button (back).
It works the first time. From movie description screen to movies catalog screen.
Press the "<" button again.
It doesn't work. Nothing happens.
It should go to the Main screen (the one that shows "Movies", "TV Series", etc).
There is a way to work around this. As skuuup said.
1 - Manually put the selection cursor at the top bar (the one with "all", "suggestions", "trailers", "favorites", "collections", etc).
2 - Press the "<" (back) button.
Now it works. It navigates to the Main screen.

Now, when you are at the app's main (first) screen, the correct behavior if you press the "<" (back) button again, is to exit the app and go to the apple tv main screen. Where you see all your apps. But this is not happening too. Unless you manually put the selection cursor at the top bar (in the main screen it says "home", favorites", "search", "settings"). After that, if you press the "<" (back) button again, it works. Emby closes and you see the tvOS main screen again. 

This problem doesn't happen always. Generally, when you turn the system on and open Emby, it works normally. But after some time browsing, the problem starts.
Resetting the whole system by pressing "<" and "home" at the same time for some seconds seems to solve it. But only for a few minutes.

Edited October 7, 2022 by john2k

[john2k 6]

I tried to edit the above answer but I couldn't because there is a time limit.
An important detail I forgot to mention: the problem seems to start only after you play a video.
Also, where I said "resetting", I should have said "restarting"

"Resetting restarting the whole system by pressing "<" and "home" at the same time for some seconds seems to solve it. But only for a few minutes." (because after you play a video, the problem comes back).

Edited October 7, 2022 by john2k

[john2k 6]

On 9/27/2022 at 12:28 PM, LaurentD said:

Can't select buttons in some "pop-up" menus like in parameters or when I want to delete a file, but I can see the background moving instead

Same problem.
Click any title, to read it's description. On the bar where it says "play", "played", "trailers", "favorite", put the selection cursor on "more". Click it.
The system shows the options. None of them is initially selected. When you press up or down, nothing happens. But you can see that the background is moving. The system thinks you are still at the background screen. It ignores the new menu on top of it. After you press up, down, left or right some times, the cursor eventually appears at the right place, allowing you to select one of the "more" options on the foreground menu.

This problem happens whenever the other issue related in the above answer is happening. It usually starts after you play a video. 
 

Edited October 7, 2022 by john2k

[BeachBum83 8]

Chiming in to report the same issue. It began very recently, and is genuinely a problem.

[chjohans 33]

My apple TV is the "Apple TV HD" (4th generation - before the 4K models were released )

In Emby for Apple TV the "menu" button will work as a "back" button, and eventually exit Emby if you are on the main screen. So far so good.

But, this "back" functionality sometimes only works if focus is on the very top menu bar (Home - Favourites - Search - Settings). If I'm on the main screen, pressing trhe menu button will exit Emby *only* if focus is on this top menu bar, if I have scrolled down anywhere on the main page the "menu" button will do absolutely nothing. THis makes no sense so please change this so that the menu button exits Emby (works as back) no matter where you are on the main screen.

Similarly, if I go to "Movies" on the main screen, pressing the "menu" button will only take me back to the main screen if focus is on the very top manu bar. Again, if I have scrolled down on the "Movies" page, so that the top menu bar no longer has focus then pressing the "menu" button does absolutely nothing. Snd similarly if I go to other sections (Music, Recordings or whatever). Please fix this so that the "Menu" button taks you back to the previous screen even if "focus" is not on the top menu bar.

I'm pretty sure that the current behaviour were introduced in some build not too long ago. My wife gets stuck in the menus now, and she used to be able to navigate back just fine.

[skuuup 24]

 

[skuuup 24]

This issue has something to do with the latest Apple TVOS 16.0 release

[chjohans 33]

Well, this break navigation, and it's no longer intuitive. Emby needs to keep up with the changes Apple makes,. because it's not like Apple will fix this.

@Luke - Any chance of someone looking into this in the not too distant future?

[Luke 38093]

Hi, we're looking into this. Thanks.

[chjohans 33]

Thanks @Luke !