Dizzy49 94 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) I have Emby Theater on our HTPC, Emby for Android TV on a G-Box, and I use the browser from my Desktop PC. There is very little consistancy between the apps regading verbiage, functionality, navigation, etc. Functionality wise, the browser seems to have all of the functionality and the others seems to have something missing, or not working. I set up some mock folders and files to demonstrate the differences, and hopefully seeing them side-by-side it will be easier to note them yourselves... Main Screen: Browser All media across the top. Sub category links across the very top Android TV Media across the top, but it's hard to tell since it starts you in the left menu. Once you press right you can see the titles of the media and things. I like the font size as you can read it from 10' away, and that you don't have to be on the image for it to display the title Theater My least favorite of the bunch. While I like the media as links across the top, I DON'T like that it starts you in the first one automatically. The others have a general "continue watching", "what's next" etc. Live TV: Browser Best functionality of the bunch. The links across the top actually work and I can get to the Guide as well as the Channel List. What's On, Upcoming, etc all look good and work as expected Android TV Guide has a diff name than Browser, and is poorly placed (but works). No links for Channel List, Suggestions, Recordings, Series, etc. "What's On" vs "On Now", "Upcoming Episodes" vs "Coming Up". Theater Guide doesn't work. Has link to recordings, but not channel list. "What's On" vs "On Now" vs "Now Playing" No consistancy with wording. Browser Guide Font is a bit small. Aside from that pretty straight forward. I like the dates at the top so you can change the date, and use the scroll bar to change the time being displayed. Android TV Guide This looks the absolute best. Perfect IMO. Font is perfect size to read at a distance. Info at the top looks good and well displayed and readable. Using the icons in the upper right can seem tedious, but honestly, how often do we need to change the date? File Listing/Display: Browser Looks good. Folders are grouped at the beginning. Folder and File names are displayed under the image. Font under the images could be a little bigger, font for the plain folders could be a lot biigger. Android TV Not a fan. Images are smaller, which in turn makes the titles smaller and harder to read. The folders are intermixed with the files alphabetically which I do NOT like. Folder names are completely unreadable. Theater While I love the size of the images, I do not like that the file name is only displayed if the image is highlighted, and it only displays at the bottom of the screen. It is extremely difficult to read at 10' away. The font for the folder names (lower left of the folder image) could be a little larger, possibly bold, so it sticks out more. Again, the folders are intermixed alphabetically. I also don't like having to scroll to the right to see more instead of scrolling down. Possible to change to a List View with thumbnail images? Edited March 27, 2017 by Dizzy49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Is the New TV, recorded TV? If it is, you can set a recording path in the server and it will create a library for that. And the library will look like this If you don't want to set a recording path, it looks like you haven't set the type correctly, for the TV library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy49 94 Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 I have two TV libraries. One for shows I keep, which has set to TV, and the other is for shows I don't keep, and that's set to Home Movies or something, so I can actually see the list of files, and it doesn't try to figure out what they are (it's incorrect often). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 I have two TV libraries. One for shows I keep, which has set to TV, and the other is for shows I don't keep, and that's set to Home Movies or something, so I can actually see the list of files, and it doesn't try to figure out what they are (it's incorrect often). This is why you are getting an inferior display in Android TV. If it were a TV library it would default much better. However, you can change the size of the items in Android TV (cog icon) so that the images are larger but, you would need us to know we are looking at TV episodes in the library for us to be able to give you an even better display. In general, especially for terminology, we are working now on aligning the different apps. But some interface differences will still exist due to the different platforms that each of them is running on. For instance, the home screen with the sidebar is a standard Android TV interface but exists nowhere else. There is a balancing act we must perform between a consistent experience across platforms and fitting in/taking advantage of the platforms. We are getting more consistent on the content presented however. Finally, some functionality that you find in the web app may never make it into the TV apps simply because attempting to execute that functionality with a remote control would be tedious and confusing for a user (e.g. server management functions). Thanks for the feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy49 94 Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 That particular folder is an example of a mixed content folder. There are multiple shows with a single episode, some shows with multiple episodes, some shows in their own folders, with and without season folders inside, and a handfull of movies. When left as TV type it would not allow me to simple browse the files to select items. I do understand that some differences will exist due to the various platforms and usage (ie mouse vs remote), but verbiage (as noted above), functionality (inability to view channels or recorded shows in some apps), and display (display of the non-tv folder 3 different ways in 3 diff apps) should be consistant across all the apps. I'll play with the settings to see what I can change. If I can get Android TV to look a bit more like Emby Theater I think I'll be happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy49 94 Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 I think if the Smart Matches actually worked, they could be used to help detect shows better in mixed media folders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37125 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 What smart matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest asrequested Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Auto-organize? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37125 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 that's what I thought but I was asking to make sure. That is completely unrelated so I'm not even sure where that association is coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37125 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Anyway, in regards to consistency, yes in the past it has not been our strong suit but we are in the process of correcting that. Pretty soon actually you will no longer have that complaint at all in regards to Emby Theater. We are in process of correcting discrepancies across all of the apps. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 BTW - thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed write up. That is very helpful. Also, since you pointed out how you liked it, I will mention that the look of the Android TV guide is changing in the next release but that it is purely cosmetic and, hopefully, makes it even easier to read and more modern-looking (fits in better on the device). This change was made to make it look the same as the new Roku app. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Android TV Guide has a diff name than Browser, and is poorly placed (but works). No links for Channel List, Suggestions, Recordings, Series, etc. "What's On" vs "On Now", "Upcoming Episodes" vs "Coming Up". In the Live TV library you have a dedicated row for any favorite channels you have setup as well as one for all other channels. There is a row for recent recordings and also buttons for all recordings, the recording schedule and series recordings. The guide is the first button in the "On now" row. Why do you feel that is poorly placed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBers 6771 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 I'll play with the settings to see what I can change. If I can get Android TV to look a bit more like Emby Theater I think I'll be happy Really? You like ET over the ATV UI? Oh well, each to their own Also, since you pointed out how you liked it, I will mention that the look of the Android TV guide is changing in the next release but that it is purely cosmetic and, hopefully, makes it even easier to read and more modern-looking (fits in better on the device). This change was made to make it look the same as the new Roku app. Looking forward to this. Hopefully more channels can be displayed at one time as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceboy 2499 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Really? You like ET over the ATV UI? Oh well, each to their own Looking forward to this. Hopefully more channels can be displayed at one time as well. I'm unsure about the new guide on android tv. My initial thoughts were it's a bit childish looking but I'm coming round to it. It definitely needs the ability to show more channel rows vertically and more time horizontally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 It definitely needs the ability to show more channel rows vertically and more time horizontally The only way to do that would be to make everything smaller and I don't think that is a good idea for a 10' UI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceboy 2499 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) The only way to do that would be to make everything smaller and I don't think that is a good idea for a 10' UI.one of the most popular plugins for wmc did exactly thishttp://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5210&f=9 Up to 12 rows and 3 hours left to right. I only went to 10 but it was perfection Edited March 27, 2017 by Spaceboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy49 94 Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) BTW - thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed write up. That is very helpful. Also, since you pointed out how you liked it, I will mention that the look of the Android TV guide is changing in the next release but that it is purely cosmetic and, hopefully, makes it even easier to read and more modern-looking (fits in better on the device). This change was made to make it look the same as the new Roku app. Is that an image of the Roku/new ATV? It looks very much like what is in the ATV app now that I really like. What smart matches? The Auto Organize. Yes, it is currently unrelated, but as a dev myself, I always try to see how diff components can be reused, reutilized, expanded etc. By using the Smart Matches in Auto Organize to help match TV Shows in mixed media folders, it would allow Emby to download episode info and better present those onscreen. In the Live TV library you have a dedicated row for any favorite channels you have setup as well as one for all other channels. There is a row for recent recordings and also buttons for all recordings, the recording schedule and series recordings. The guide is the first button in the "On now" row. Why do you feel that is poorly placed? I feel it is poorly placed for a couple reasons. 1) Because it is a different placement than the other apps, so I initially missed it several times. 2) I feel that the main operation features (Recordings, Guide, Channel List) should be seperate. They should be icons across the top row, and everything else under. I don't like the channel list display sideways. It's difficult to visualize, and it cuts off all the logos. On the Browser version it's atleast a grid, and it doesn't cut off the logos. Could you imagine trying to scroll through 50 or 60 channels with the current sideways view? Really? You like ET over the ATV UI? Oh well, each to their own ONLY for the mixed media presentation. Otherwise I really like ATV. The sideways stuff is taking me a min to get used to. The only way to do that would be to make everything smaller and I don't think that is a good idea for a 10' UI. Agreed, however maybe an option to set # of hours, and # of channels to display. Then each used could tweak it to their preference. However, I think if you take out the rating from the lower guide you could fit 1-2 more channels, which would allow you to wrap titles for shows to try to get another hour across the top w/o changing the text size too much. Edited March 27, 2017 by Dizzy49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 That was the Android TV app but it should be hard to tell the difference between it and the Roku one at this point. The other issue to consider with the guide presentation is information overload. When we start trying to stuff more onto that screen it starts to become cluttered and hard to take in very quickly. Our last few updates have reduced the information and increased the sizes and that has made it much more usable IMO. 99% of the time you are concerned with what is on right now and immediately after right now and that is what you can quickly and easily see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebr 14937 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 On the operations at the top - right now in these vertical scrolling/horizontal row presentations, we are trying to make the first row be the thing you are most likely to want to access upon entry. So, for example, next up in a TV library or Continue Watching or Latest in a movie one. I don't want you to have to always scroll past other options in order to get to these items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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