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Android offline


saitoh183
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fbartels

I want to purchase Emby Premiere, but without this offline sync feature on Android,

You still have syncing capabilities with Emby premium, so you can really easily play the synced files e.g. with vlc or mx player. The only part that's missing is playing the file through the emby app when you're not connected to your server.

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Guest petwri

You still have syncing capabilities with Emby premium, so you can really easily play the synced files e.g. with vlc or mx player. The only part that's missing is playing the file through the emby app when you're not connected to your server.

So, basically, no syncing, just copying.

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No, it is still a continuous sync. It is the disconnected from server browsing part that is missing.

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anderbytes

I understand this is a difficult one... because making a powerful software as Emby, with lots of features, really offline in Android, would mean a lot of redundant code from scratch in Android App, far different from the "nah-just-browse-in-server" that is today.

 

What I believe is the devs have to find some way so a specific branch of the Emby code becomes cloned/synced to Android/iOS repository, maybe only the branch that handles UI, sync, media scanning, and streaming. (I'm being simplistic, I know....)

 

This way, an ideal app would, while being used, check it's online state at each network state change (and with some job time-to-time).

- If server is NOT reachable, would only show items that exist locally, including all their metadata, images (or a reduced version of them in the sync process), and allow local delay-less playback (no spinning symbol when locally, for god's sake!)

- If server is reachable, would also show items that aren't mapped locally and, in THESE media, just-browse-in-server, and consequently stream, too.

 

 

I hope Devs understand the importance of this feature. Being allowed to sync stuff, demand network resources to download and sync, having diskspace to keep media, and NOT being allowed to play them because the user is OFFLINE is at least illogical.

 

I sync a lot of stuff and mostly  am forced to go to File Manager in Android to play my media  :-/////   Because 3G/4G is not always available and is unstable, and nobody wants to depend on that.

Edited by anderbytes
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Randomacts

Even with a 'good' connection due to the weirdness of LTE ect you will sometimes be unable to reach servers (I have seen this happen on Plex as well so I don't think it is just an emby issue).  

 

It may be a bit more obvious on emby due to the fact that it throws you to a login screen that will keep saying your login info is incorrect because you can't reach the server... but the issue will always be there on tower based internet connections I think. (I believe the issue is during tower changes while driving) 

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  • 2 months later...
scope99

Just noticed offline viewing is now available and seems to work really well. Great job guys. I have really been looking forward to this feature. Seems lots of work has been happening recently.

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A lot of work is happening with offline right now. Hopefully you're enjoying it. Make sure to leave your feedback to help shape the direction we go with it. Thanks.

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Capt.Insano

Just saw that there was progression on this from scope99's post. I am really excited about this progress and looking forward to it greatly.

 

@Luke: Below is my experience while testing today:

 

Setup:

 

Emby Beta: v2.7.53

Android 6.0.1

post-53088-0-86003600-1472058069_thumb.png

 

 

1: I launch Emby while online and go to episode and click "Make availible offline"

post-53088-0-90742600-1472058076_thumb.png

 

2: I let episode sync fully and it is listed as synced successfully:

post-53088-0-46815400-1472058079_thumb.png

 

3. If I close Emby and enable airplane mode to emulate conditions of being offline, when I re-open Emby I get the following:

post-53088-0-89401900-1472058083_thumb.png

 

It prompts me to set up a server from the beginning again rather than allowing me see media made available offline.

 

Any advice on same?

 

Thanks a million for your work on this!!

 

 

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anderbytes

@@Capt.Insano , they are still working on a way to make all use of Emby app offline.

 

What I understood is that they fixed a recent bug where playback of synced content wasn't possible.

 

That... or I'm missing a new feature of latest server beta, that I haven't installed.

 

 

Good work, Luke!

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Correct, right now we are still focusing on the downloading portion, making that as good as it can be and then we'll move to truly offline playback.

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anderbytes

Correct, right now we are still focusing on the downloading portion, making that as good as it can be and then we'll move to truly offline playback.

 

Luke, with the recent extSD card issue... I'm being forced to learn better what to sync in my internal memory of device. So... is this planned somehow?

 

 

Also about sync... will take here the opportunity of remembering two recent desireable improvs: 1 and 2

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Capt.Insano

Correct, right now we are still focusing on the downloading portion, making that as good as it can be and then we'll move to truly offline playback.

 

I am confused,

 

Sync already allowed files to be downloaded to my devices but would not allow playback via Emby unless I was connected to my server, the exact same behaviour exists today.

 

So "Sync" has been renamed to "Make available offline" but no extra functionality regarding same has been achieved?? Am I right?

Edited by Capt.Insano
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It already allowed downloading but was difficult to use, wasn't clear when downloading was taking place, and was difficult to manage. Usability is a big part of bringing a feature to life. Look at this for example:

 

http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/2344-android-mobile/?p=357950

 

The feature was there the whole time as "Sync", but it just wasn't obvious. So we've done quite a bit to make the feature easier to use:

 

  • Renamed to "Make Available Offline"
  • Reduced number of clicks required to make something available offline
  • Added on-device notifications when something is downloaded
  • Added custom quality setting for syncing videos
  • Added quality settings for syncing music

So quite a bit has been done and is still being done as mentioned in post #86.

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Capt.Insano

It already allowed downloading but was difficult to use, wasn't clear when downloading was taking place, and was difficult to manage. Usability is a big part of bringing a feature to life. Look at this for example:

 

http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/2344-android-mobile/?p=357950

 

The feature was there the whole time as "Sync", but it just wasn't obvious. So we've done quite a bit to make the feature easier to use:

 

  • Renamed to "Make Available Offline"
  • Reduced number of clicks required to make something available offline
  • Added on-device notifications when something is downloaded
  • Added custom quality setting for syncing videos
  • Added quality settings for syncing music

So quite a bit has been done and is still being done as mentioned in post #86.

 

I do appreciate all of that work, and have always thanked the Emby team in my posts for their great work on this product.

 

But again, for all the feature being easier to use; the media is not actually available offline yet is it?

 

(Unless I navigate to /storage/emulated/0/Android/Data/com.mb.android/files/sync... and play via MXPlayer/VLC)

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That information is already available in post #85. Post #86 contains current status of new changes.

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Capt.Insano

Not...yet...

 

 

That information is already available in post #85. Post #86 contains current status of new changes.

Thanks for updates and clarification from you both, I look forward to true offline playback implementation.

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  • 5 months later...
Guest worthington_j

I'm new to Emby and I bought my 1 month subscription last night and I agree this is a huge problem.  Being required to have a connection to the server to play a local file defeats the purpose.  I consider this a deal breaker and looking at this thread it appears this has been an issue for a long time.  Are there any recent updates on the status of being able to play locally without a network connection?  I also noticed in my testing that when I had a network connection and was play a file locally the server said I was playing directly.  I couldn't tell if I was truly playing the file locally or if it was being streamed across my home network.

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maegibbons

AFAIK you don't have to be connected to play media once synced.

 

Its just not easy to navigate to it to play it!!

 

Krs

 

Mark

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Pete_Repeat

I'm new to Emby and I bought my 1 month subscription last night and I agree this is a huge problem.  Being required to have a connection to the server to play a local file defeats the purpose.  I consider this a deal breaker and looking at this thread it appears this has been an issue for a long time.  Are there any recent updates on the status of being able to play locally without a network connection?  I also noticed in my testing that when I had a network connection and was play a file locally the server said I was playing directly.  I couldn't tell if I was truly playing the file locally or if it was being streamed across my home network.

Don't hold your breadth for offline playback of video in emby as this has been coming soon for what a year and a half. Bit of a joke.

 

There are ways to play the synced media but it's not through the emby app so is only a work around not a solution provided by emby.

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Guest worthington_j

Don't hold your breadth for offline playback of video in emby as this has been coming soon for what a year and a half. Bit of a joke.

 

There are ways to play the synced media but it's not through the emby app so is only a work around not a solution provided by emby.

 

That is not good news. I understand that I can sync and watch from another media player but the defeats the purpose.  With plex you can sync to your phone, watch from the plex app, when you get back online it will sync the video status as watch or where you left off.  That is is what I was hoping to see in Emby.  I can use other free apps to sync videos to my phone and play in MX player just as easy as using the Emby sync.  I'm all for supporting software but I'm starting to feel like Emby is a little misleading.  They have a bunch of GREAT ideas but they need to see them out before I can commit.

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Pete_Repeat

That is not good news. I understand that I can sync and watch from another media player but the defeats the purpose.  With plex you can sync to your phone, watch from the plex app, when you get back online it will sync the video status as watch or where you left off.  That is is what I was hoping to see in Emby.  I can use other free apps to sync videos to my phone and play in MX player just as easy as using the Emby sync.  I'm all for supporting software but I'm starting to feel like Emby is a little misleading.  They have a bunch of GREAT ideas but they need to see them out before I can commit.

I hear you.

 

If it wasn't because emby integrates better into kodi for me I would have left and gone to plex myself.

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maegibbons

I am sure it will come but agree that it is a sad omission currently in the Plex/emby battle.

 

However, emby really scores in the LiveTV area which is my main usage.

 

Plex is also touting Alexa integration which emby is nowhere on currently.  Whilst it may be a short lived wonder, voice control is a hot topic at the moment.

 

I think my money would be to forget Alexa and just concentrate on fixing bugs and getting current functionality, like sync, fully working.

 

Krs

 

Mark

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  • 2 weeks later...
theeternalmushroom

I am sure it will come but agree that it is a sad omission currently in the Plex/emby battle.

 

However, emby really scores in the LiveTV area which is my main usage.

 

Plex is also touting Alexa integration which emby is nowhere on currently.  Whilst it may be a short lived wonder, voice control is a hot topic at the moment.

 

I think my money would be to forget Alexa and just concentrate on fixing bugs and getting current functionality, like sync, fully working.

 

Krs

 

Mark

 

I agree. I dislike when development of great apps seem to get stretched in a bunch of different directions and seemingly makes it take much longer to fix bugs and improve existing features.

 

I do think an idea-solution to the offline video issue would be a sort of client database that syncs to the server. Similar to the way the Kodi Emby plugin works. That way you could browse the database still, and play files that were made available offline.. maybe with some kind of highlight to indicate so. I don't know how the 'other' guys do it, but their mobile app is much snappier. Especially when it comes to music and photos, ideally you want a similar experience to your phones built in apps.

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  • 4 weeks later...
BAlGaInTl

I'm new to Emby and I bought my 1 month subscription last night and I agree this is a huge problem.  Being required to have a connection to the server to play a local file defeats the purpose.  I consider this a deal breaker and looking at this thread it appears this has been an issue for a long time.  Are there any recent updates on the status of being able to play locally without a network connection?  I also noticed in my testing that when I had a network connection and was play a file locally the server said I was playing directly.  I couldn't tell if I was truly playing the file locally or if it was being streamed across my home network.

 

 

AFAIK you don't have to be connected to play media once synced.

 

Its just not easy to navigate to it to play it!!

 

Krs

 

Mark

 

I'm looking forward to this as well.  I just started using the sync feature last night.

 

I'm using VLC to play my video files...

 

My quick fix was to set the path for sync on my android device to the standard "Movies" file.  Then, when I open VLC, the files are automatically detected.

 

Yes, this could get difficult if you have a lot of synced content.  I normally just do a couple movies or a few episodes for travel, so it isn't a huge deal at the moment.

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