Server - TV Resume as a subset of TV Next Up

[ginjaninja 571]

IMO it is undesirable and counter intuitive that if i start (for example) S01E03 of Modern Family,

Stop half way...and close

start a client (eg Roku) the next day....look at tv 'next up' (aka suggested)

and see S01E04 as 'suggested' not S01E03 (with the default option of resume from where i left off)

 

yes S01E03 is under resume...but wouldn't users prefer S01E03 under 'suggested' in preference to S01E04

 

so the feature request is an option (possibly the default option/or indeed just the default with no option) that

resume tv content is part of next up/suggested (and resume is the default play action in clients).

And of course if there is a resume episode in suggested then the next episode of the show...would not show,

 

Im trying to think of a reason why people wouldnt want this as default..but cant...

 

but if there were any naysayers, an option on clients to mark resume content as either complete/watched or not watched/not started) in a simple way...would probably handle them..which i think has its own feature request.

although a side issue to this feature request...such client functionality (to easy manage watched status) might become more useful once a feature to sync content offline becomes available..a although a native client would presumably sync watched status on recconnection, its not 100% guaranteed that synced content would be watched using the official client?

 

one question..if 'resume' is a subset of 'next up' then why have 'resume'.....

maybe its not required...

one use may be people who do not want tv shows added to next up if they haven't completely watched 1 full episode..

imo it would be better to remove resume....and add such half watched content/shows to next up...safe in the knowledge the client can tag an episode unwatched (and if its the oldest episode (S01E01), then remove the show from next up suggested entirely).

 

 

thanks for considering.

Edited November 6, 2014 by ginjaninja

[ebr 15554]

I agree and this is how MB Plus handles this situation.  The in-progress episode will be the first in your playlist and it will resume from where you were.

 

I think it makes sense for the server's next up feature as well and don't think it needs to be an option.  It should just work that way because your in-progress item is what is "next up".

[ginjaninja 571]

Dont know when it was introduced..but my resume content is now on next up (on roku client)...thanks for considering.

Edited December 3, 2014 by ginjaninja

[ginjaninja 571]

Version 3.0.5480.2204

it seems that this feature request is half implemented....

i haven't nailed it down completely...but it seems like resume content only shows on next up when there is no following on content

 

eg. if S01E03 is watched to half way and S01E04 is not in the library....then S01E03 will shown under tv suggested

but if S01E04 is in the lobrary, then S01E04 will show on tv suggested, whilst S01E03 is not completely watched (and showing under tv resume).

 

will try to nail this down a bit better...

Edited January 3, 2015 by ginjaninja

[im85288 1493]

Dont know when it was introduced..but my resume content is now on next up (on roku client)...thanks for considering.

It has always worked that way from what I can tell. The only time a resemble episode does not appear in Next Up is when it is the first episode (ie has not made the next up episodes list yet)

[ginjaninja 571]

It has always worked that way from what I can tell. The only time a resemble episode does not appear in Next Up is when it is the first episode (ie has not made the next up episodes list yet)

 

 

i dont think that this is the case

 

resume content reliably shows under 'resume' but does not reliably show on tv suggested / tv next up.

 

the example i am currently watching are episodes of a show i have all episodes and seasons for, and i am currently on season1..resumable content does not show on tv next up...the following episode shows on next up..when i havent finished watching the last..

for most recent episodes of currently broadcasting content, resumable episodes do show on next up...but there are no later episodes on the system..because its currently broadcasting.. (i think...i still need to check the circumstances under which it is reliable/unreliable)

Edited January 4, 2015 by ginjaninja

[ginjaninja 571]

My hypothesis was wrong..i cant reproduce the issue...i cant make resumable tv content not show on next up...will have to wait for next time it happens to reconsider

[im85288 1493]

My hypothesis was wrong..i cant reproduce the issue...i cant make resumable tv content not show on next up...will have to wait for next time it happens to reconsider

 

Like I said resumable content should only "not" show up in NextUP when it is the first played episode (ie. has not made it into the next up library yet). @@Luke can confirm/deny this theory though.

[ebr 15554]

My hypothesis was wrong..i cant reproduce the issue...i cant make resumable tv content not show on next up...will have to wait for next time it happens to reconsider

 

My hypothesis is that this would occur if the resumable episode was NOT the last unwatched one.  IOW, if you have watched an episode after it, then the one after that would show in next up instead of the one that can be resumed.

[ginjaninja 571]

Like I said resumable content should only "not" show up in NextUP when it is the first played episode (ie. has not made it into the next up library yet). @@Luke can confirm/deny this theory though.

 

resumable 1st episodes of first time watched full shows..did enter next up when i tested (only 1 show mind you).

[ginjaninja 571]

My hypothesis is that this would occur if the resumable episode was NOT the last unwatched one.  IOW, if you have watched an episode after it, then the one after that would show in next up instead of the one that can be resumed.

 

this doesnt seem to be the case and im pretty sure this wasnt the circumstances when i thought i had experienced the issue.

 

eg..show on system  2 seasons all episodes unwatched

watched s01E01 half way --> s01e1 resumable and in next up

completed watching s01e01 -> S01E02 in next up

completed S01E03 -> S01E02 in next up

half watched S01E02 ---> S01E02 in next up -> reverted S01E02 to completely unwatched

set S01E03 to half watched --> S01E02 in next up

set s01E02 to half watched -->s01e02 in next up

 

so in all use cases test above, the next up content was 100% reliable.... and you could say as it should be,,, ie the next up content was always the earliest un COMPLETELY watched content..

 

you could pick the most obscure use case of

Watch S01E01

Watch S01E02 most of way but not finish

Watched S01E03

and then feel hard done by that S01E02 shows on next up rather than S01E04....but I think the user has to take responsibility for ensuring watched status 100% completes.

which brings me back to...its all working and i cant reproduce the fault....when i can i will try to post something more enlightening..

[ebr 15554]

I can reproduce the issue.  The one extra criteria may be that the resumable episode is also marked as watched.

 

Case in point - True detective:

 

From Resume:

 

 

and then from Next up just below it:

 

 

The only unwatched episode is the last one, which shows in Next Up.

 

I wouldn't say this is necessarily incorrect (since the in-progress one is previously watched).  But I think it is the situation that produces this result.

[ginjaninja 571]

i agree your case is not incorrect...

i am sure i experienced the problem with just normal watching episodes in order for the 1st time...if i find my example ill post

[ginjaninja 571]

Is it expected that if i watch the first episode of a new show half way through....that it doesnt show up on 'Suggested'...

It seems that a complete episode has to be watched..only then does the second episode appear on next up when when watched half way through.

 

I can appreciate for completely unwatched shows, some would not want them to appear on next up....but if you have started the 1st episode..then surely most would...

[ebr 15554]

That just sounds like a bug.

[ginjaninja 571]

Its repeatable..the next show i started watching....s01e01 would not show on next up when watched half way through...is there a specific way to report suspected bugs?

[im85288 1493]

It is not a bug, when I joined the team over a year ago Luke told me that is how Next Up works. I have posted this repeatedly in this thread but it does not seem to be sinking in.

[ginjaninja 571]

Apologies...you did...is there a good reason for it not to be a feature request from what you know of the design intention?

[im85288 1493]

I would definitely agree with it being a feature request. The reason I know how it works was I also expected it to behave the way you did. I think logically speaking a show cannot be Next Up until you have watched at least one episode and I presume that is what the design intention is.

[ginjaninja 571]

I would definitely agree with it being a feature request. The reason I know how it works was I also expected it to behave the way you did. I think logically speaking a show cannot be Next Up until you have watched at least one episode and I presume that is what the design intention is.

 

for me the usefulness of next up..is showing you the most likely content you want to have quick access to..not so much getting in to discussions of when the word 'next' is applicable...i will submit it as a feature request...