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APP - Sky Go (UK only I think) & other catchup TV


Heckler

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Heckler

A question for all of the smart people out there who develop for MB.

 

Do you think there is any possibility of a working App for sky go  http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/sky-go/?DCMP=KNC-  for MBS.

 

I currently use it via my browser on the PC, but it would be fantastic to have an app within MBS/MBC. It's not a catchup service like BBC iPlayer, although if you pay extra (£5 a month) you can use it on 4 devices and download programs to watch offline), you get 2 devices for free as part of your package.

 

We already have the ITV player, so I was hoping that other catchup TV stuff could also be added. There's the BBC iPlayer, 4OD (Channel 4 on demand) and Channel 5.

 

Cheers.

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No way $ly will have an open api to build anything like that...

They wouldn't want you to be able to record content. Which I'm sure they'd think you were trying to do with Thi kind of thing...

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Spaceboy

But I thought there was a sky go app that works with xbmc? Sure I saw a post a few months ago? Personally I have my sky sub right in wmc. No hd anymore though [emoji26]

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But I thought there was a sky go app that works with xbmc? Sure I saw a post a few months ago? Personally I have my sky sub right in wmc. No hd anymore though [emoji26]

 

The same reason there is an IMDb fetcher.  We are trying to be completely on the up-and-up and not skirt the law in any way and not everyone cares about such things.

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And, to be fair, I don't know if there is an open API or not for this particular service but that is what we require.  Some sanctioned by the owner way of getting at the content.  If that exists, then fantastic, it is possible.  But, if not, we don't want any part of it even though others may figure out a way.

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Heckler

But I thought there was a sky go app that works with xbmc? Sure I saw a post a few months ago? Personally I have my sky sub right in wmc. No hd anymore though [emoji26]

 

Sky removed the media centre plugin a couple of years ago.

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im85288

Just agreeing here, the only way is to emulate the kodi addon...though I have used it and it is not that good. 

 

There is however a very good BBC Iplayer addon  (for Kodi) existing in the xunity world that works really well and provides streams at different quality levels...I started looking to integrate those features into the MB3 version of the BBC Iplayer plugin (which is actually in github but not published) but failed. I am hoping @snazzy will use that one as a basis for when he continues with the MB3 app. 

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Heckler

The new TV I got last weekend has all of the UK catchup services installed on the smart hub... sadly no Sky app though that I can find.

 

If anyone is aware of an app for the Samsung smart hub tvs... please let me know.

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Some of these apps made by the content providers do nothing more than launch a web page. They inspect the user agent of the browser and then adapt the formatting to suit the device.

 

For example, get a user agent switcher for Chrome, set it to a supported device such as a Samsung TV, PS4, Roku etc and go to a catch-up service such as iPlayer and in many cases you get a big screen friendly version.

 

This may be an easy way of creating plugins without scrapping the page, unfortunately this approach won't work easily for MB Channels but I guess will work with plugins for MBT or MBC.

 

I created an app which set the user agent to the PS4 just as proof of concept. Behind the scenes this used the Awesomium.Net but could have been done with CeF. Also both projects support offscreen rendering.

Edited by anks
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Heckler

Some of these apps the providers produce simply launch a web page, but as they inspect the user agent and give a formatting suited to a TV/Remote combination as opposed to a PC.

 

For example, get a user agent switcher for Chrome, set it to a supported device such as a Samsung TV, PS4, Roku etc and go to a catch-up service such as iPlayer and in many cases you get a big screen friendly version.

 

May be an easy way of doing plugins without scrapping the page, unfortunately this approach won't work easily for MB Channels but I guess will work with plugins for MBT or MBC.  I used Awesomium.Net to knock up an app as proof of concept several months ago.  Awesomium and CeF also support offscreen rendering too.

 

I don't think I understood any of that.... I'm either tired or getting really old.... Actually, it's most likely both.  :)

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@@Heckler I think what he's saying is kind of like spoofing a web page within mediabrowser that is setup for smart tvs and such ....

Therefore no illegal activity basically using a remote optimised web site??

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@@Lee, thanks, that's exactly what I meant.  @@Heckler, you're right the original post really didn't read too well.

 

Here are two pictures to explain.

 

iPlayer in a desktop browser.

 

547efc9cbec1e_screencapturewwwbbccoukipl

 

Changing the user agent to Roku but going to the same site,  TV friendly version:

 

547efcc5ad15b_screencapturewwwbbccoukipl

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@@anks do you use a particular user agent switcher? None of the ones I have seen for Chrome have Roku or TV's user agents.

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@@Lee,  I looked at this really briefly,  yes the remote does work wonderfully well with iPlayer however the videos didn't.  

 

Since this really couldn't become a plugin for MB Server due to the way they work, I spend no time on it.  

 

If you can see any value here for MB, I'm happy to spend time on it.

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