Calling XBMB3C Android Users

[Vidman 589]

I'm in the process of struggling to be an Android user of this. Which is the main reason it appealed to me in the first place. I wanted to use it on my tablet and phone, but none of the skins ye redeveloped seem to be touch friendly.

 

MQ5, can't browse through the home menu as it appears to be expecting a d-pad to scroll.

Emminence, the home menu extends further than my screen, can't get across to the Settings/Power items.

 

Confluence, Aeon Nox Gotham,

in both of these when I try to change the view types for libraries, they never stick with the rest of the library. I'm currently trying to figure this one out and if I can, I'll probably use Aeon Nox Gotham.

 

For example with Confluence:

When loading up the library for TV shows, you are initially presented with a list view. I wanted to use the "Media Info 3" view. And then again when I select a show, have the Seasons presented in the "Media Info 3" view, then when I select a Season have the episodes presented in a "Media Info 3" view.

 

I found that doing this for 1 show, did not replicate the setting to the other shows. It's needed to be done per show?

 

I wanted to do this with my movies as well, but with a huge library, this isn't a very efficient way of organising or presenting it.

 

I had a bit of time to look through the skin's addon folder within XBMC last night and looking to find a way to remove the other view options entirely to see if it gives me what I want. But it really shouldn't have to come to this.

 

Similarly with Aeon Nox Gotham,

I wanted to organise my TV Shows with Show Case, and Seasons & Episodes with LowList.

Wanted to Organise my Movies / Collections with Lowlist.

But seems it needed to be done per Show/Collection.

Also with Aeon Nox Gotham, the sub menu's on the home menu weren't particularly touch friendly. However that can be edited with the skin, to get the menu item to display the sub menu when clicked/touched on.

To set the default views for the xbmb3c add-on you need to use the 'set views' folder in the main menu list...not the one in the slide out side menu of confluence Edited July 23, 2014 by Vidman

[Vidman 589]

XBMC is your target market for XBMB3C users. It shouldn't matter what they are on.

Well xbmc itself is not designed for phone/tablet/touch use xbmc.org admitts this themselves

[dravokivich 3]

Well xbmc itself is not designed for phone/tablet/touch use xbmc.org admitts this themselves

 

They provide skins which aid navigation of it. That's the only major difference between'em.

[CBers 6766]

Didn't mean to gang up on you, im85288 and I posted at the same time.

 

Yes - it should be that simple, but your are having a network permissions or path problem it seems. Trying play from stream will confirm that. If that works, then try putting in your SMB username/password in the settings. As a home theatre solution like MBC - we focus on playing from SMB which is better for a local network, but has possibility of password issues etc.

 

The Nexus comment was regarding the UI - it is meant more for remote control use. Definitely would recommend the Android MB3 client for a tablet.

 

xnappo

Hi @@xnappo.

 

I've been around MB3 since the start (check my profile) and I have tested most other clients (including the purchase of hardware to test with), so just thought I would test your XBMC add-on.

 

I have it working now on my Nexus 10.

 

My son is an avid XBMC user, but I could never get on with it.

 

Have many XBMC users "switched" to MB3 do you know?

 

.

Edited July 23, 2014 by CBers

[im85288 1493]

They provide skins which aid navigation of it. That's the only major difference between'em.

 

True, none of us on the development team use it on a Tablet so therefore the skins we choose to adapt have not been ones targeted at Tablets.

 

There is a very good one there for touch screens called Droid: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=159318 that "could" be adapted to use XBMB3C. However it is not something I will be doing so a volunteer would be needed

Edited July 23, 2014 by im85288

[dravokivich 3]

True, none of us on the development team use it on a Tablet so therefore the skins we choose to adapt have not been ones targeted at Tablets.

 

There is a very good one there for touch screens called Droid: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=159318 that "could" be adapted to use XBMB3C. However it is not something I will be doing so a volunteer would be needed

 

Yeah well, I mentioned it more as a hurdle for myself and what I was trying to do (which is what I understood the thread was meant to be in reference to), not an expectation that it's provided. I just didn't like the way tablets or touch device usage in general appeared to be so casually disregarded.

 

I'll check droid out. Cheers for the nudge. To be honest, I doubt I'm the first person to do what I'm doing as there's another bloke here looking for it. If I find an easy enough way to use this, I'll be putting up my comments regarding what I did, so It's available for others as an option, or a nudge to get'em where they are looking to get to.

[xnappo 1593]

Certainly don't mind testing on tablets, just didn't want any reviews generated from tablets as that is not the main thing we are going for.

 

We have always seen ourselves as complimenting the other MB3 clients - our main target is OpenElec Linux boxes, with filling in the gap on Windows machines between MBC and MBT for users wanting out of WMC as the second priority.

 

The Android MB3 client is much better suited for touch use.  If you are comparing clients, it would be better to compare next to MBC and MBT vs. Android/IPad.

 

@@CBers - what ended up fixing it?  Playing by stream or just the SMB user name?  We could pop up some suggestions to try when playback fails I suppose.

 

xnappo

[CBers 6766]

@@CBers - what ended up fixing it? Playing by stream or just the SMB user name? We could pop up some suggestions to try when playback fails I suppose.

 

xnappo

Well, I made both changes and playback started.

 

Who is the target audience for this add-on? Is there any way of adding MB3 to the main XBMC menu, rather than via add-ons?

 

Does watched status get updated in both XBMC and MB3?

 

Just trying to coax my son into trying it on his Raspberry Pi's

 

Thanks.

Edited July 23, 2014 by CBers

[xnappo 1593]

1. Well, I made both changes and playback started.

 

2. Who is the target audience for this add-on?

 

3. Is there any way of adding MB3 to the main XBMC menu, rather than via add-ons?

 

4. Does watched status get updated in both XBMC and MB3?

 

5. Just trying to coax my son into trying it on his Raspberry Pi's

 

Thanks.

1. It would be good to know it works with 'Play from Stream' OFF now. 

2. Home Theater and kids rooms - as I said - OpenElec and Windows users moving away from WMC

3. Sure - all of the skins in the repo support that. What skin are you using?  

4. Yes

5. It is not very good on the Pi - too slow!

 

xnappo

[dravokivich 3]

Certainly don't mind testing on tablets, just didn't want any reviews generated from tablets as that is not the main thing we are going for.

 

When you are promoting XBMC integration, it doesn't matter what you are going for. It's how the user is looking to use it. There's loads of people that use touch devices for media. Most of'em try to keep to the same clients as much as possible through all instances they use'em. By all accounts XBMB3C seems to be fine, but there's niggly bits to it with how I was looking to use it on a touch device. And my feedback is going to be relevant to other people who may intend on using XBMC with XBMB3C on an Android device which requires touch input. Saying you don't want such feedback is saying you don't want such users.

 

really?

 

You are making an incredibly big deal out of something where the main difference is solely with the means of navigation and use of GUI.

 

We have always seen ourselves as complimenting the other MB3 clients - our main target is OpenElec Linux boxes, with filling in the gap on Windows machines between MBC and MBT for users wanting out of WMC as the second priority.

 

The Android MB3 client is much better suited for touch use.  If you are comparing clients, it would be better to compare next to MBC and MBT vs. Android/IPad.

 

 

It'd be much more better for me if Payment to use official clients in my setup was with a license on the server, instead of paying for anyone to get a client that looks to use it in my home. Other DLNA/UPnP services do this. I haven't seen anything anywhere here that mentions it. You either pay for a client, or donate. The nature of touch devices is portability and you're limiting it by restricting the accessiblity for those who use MB3. If this is something you do... you've hidden it quite well.

[im85288 1493]

By no means has anyone deliberately restricted accessibility from touch devices. As stated previously it was not something any of us have used so therefore no touch designed xbmc skins have been adapted. The Droid one I linked to is the only one I am aware off that works fairly well (tested on iPad) but as far as I know it has not been made Gotham compatible yet.

 

There's always room for contributors and adapting a skin to integrate xbmb3c is not a difficult task (more info can be seen here: http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/8873-bello-skin/ ), perhaps you could look into adapting the skin you choose to use and provide it here for others to use on their touch devices. I am sure they would appreciate it.

[xnappo 1593]

We are just explaining that we have spent 0 time on the touch interface.  Please feel free to try it and let us know where there are problems - but I am still confused - why would you want to use XBMC which itself barely supports tablets vs. the MB3 Android client which was developed from the ground up to be a touch interface?  

 

Is it the cost?  Is it other non-MB3 xbmc features you want to use?

 

Again - just saying it is not our focus, and it IS the focus of the Android client.

 

Your idea for server based registration makes sense - but you would have to ask in the Android thread - we (the XBMB3C devs) have nothing to do with their app.  You do know you can share Google Play accounts within a family right? http://www.androidcentral.com/android-forums-multiple-google-accounts-one-device-google-play

 

Thanks,

xnappo

Edited July 23, 2014 by xnappo

[xnappo 1593]

Nope, I am in the windows space and not likely to move any time soon, that is where all my dev and testing is going into. I see other platforms as interesting but not the core.

I don't have numbers and that would be great if we actually knew XBMC user base numbers, my guess is that XBMC is still a predominately windows user base. Yes there are people out there that run it on other platforms, I just don't think they are the majority of people.

 

Well there is NO other MB3 Linux solutions, there are two other Windows solutions - that is all I meant by my statement.

 

xnappo

[thefranklin 0]

I am new to Mediabrowser (and HTPC's in general) and have been slowly ripping season TV shows to MKV over the past few months.  I finally got an Amazon Fire TV and am glad to say I was able to get it setup and connected to the MB server on my pc using XBMC with XBMB3C add-on.   I am only using XBMC because there is not an app for the FireTV and I did not want to use Plex.

 

I did have to turn on the "Play from stream" option before it would work.  It only took 10 minutes to find where to change the options in XBMC /sarcasm.  I just have a normal MB3 server running and do not know what SMB even means.

 

My PC is currently connected to router via WiFi, and from the router the FireTV is also on WiFI.  It was able to stream dvd rips of movies and tv shows just fine.  I miraculously put a new skin on (Confluence XBMB3C) that got the MB folders I had made to pop up on the front screen, but after clicking on "Movies" from there it was still the same big vertical scroll.  I will try the Eminencee skin next time I get a chance to play with it see how that works.

 

Overall, it is working, but I am only using it as a stop gap until there is a MB app.   

Edited July 23, 2014 by thefranklin

[xnappo 1593]

Glad to hear you got it working.  To be honest I am surprised it 'just works' on the Amazon Fire TV.

 

It will work better if you can get SMB working instead of 'Play from Stream'.

 

SMB is the protocol used to share files - so if you have password protection on your network, try putting in your network Username and password under the SMB fields and see if that works.

 

There are multiple views in the skins - sounds like you are just using the default Confluence view right now.

 

xnappo

[thefranklin 0]

Glad to hear you got it working.  To be honest I am surprised it 'just works' on the Amazon Fire TV.

 

It will work better if you can get SMB working instead of 'Play from Stream'.

 

SMB is the protocol used to share files - so if you have password protection on your network, try putting in your network Username and password under the SMB fields and see if that works.

 

There are multiple views in the skins - sounds like you are just using the default Confluence view right now.

 

xnappo

Thanks, I found the extra views.  Now I have to do that on every single screen I go to...  Is there a way to set all default views without editing an xml file?  I would prefer not to have to adb push/pull this file while trying to figure it out.

 

I also had to look up how to turn off subtitles from being defaulted to "on" for every single thing I play.  Seriously, why would anyone want that?  It is annoying XBMC ships with subtitles stock and you have to google search how to change that.

 

I didn't get a chance to share my libraries on my computer, they are only loaded into MB server.  But what is the difference between "play from stream" and streaming the files from SMB?  There was quite a bit of freezing last night, and even lost the stream once. 

[xnappo 1593]

(1) Thanks, I found the extra views.  Now I have to do that on every single screen I go to...  Is there a way to set all default views without editing an xml file?  I would prefer not to have to adb push/pull this file while trying to figure it out.

 

(2) I also had to look up how to turn off subtitles from being defaulted to "on" for every single thing I play.  Seriously, why would anyone want that?  It is annoying XBMC ships with subtitles stock and you have to google search how to change that.

 

(3) I didn't get a chance to share my libraries on my computer, they are only loaded into MB server.  But what is the difference between "play from stream" and streaming the files from SMB?  There was quite a bit of freezing last night, and even lost the stream once. 

1. Some skins have it in the skin settings, but you can always find it by going to Video->AddOns->XBMB3C then scroll to the bottom of the directory list and you will find 'Set Views'.  We realize this location is not intuitive - it should be in all the skin settings soon - it is a newish feature.

2. You only have to do it once.  Submit a patch to XBMC to have it off by default 

3. Well, play from stream plays through HTTP which isn't quite as efficient for things like seeking - also things like .srt files won't get found.  You can use it, but it would be better to put in your network password and use SMB.

 

Please keep in mind this software is free, and we have put in many, many hours getting it to where it is.

 

xnappo

[e123enitan 236]

I noticed that when my andriod (XBMC3) connect to server (3.0.5326.13255) it creates several lines of api keys which causes a slow response to play and page download of video info, what I have notice is, this issue doesn't happen with other XBMC clients  on windows 7.

 

I have to revoke as many lines create to extent of retaining one, until the client will paly, else client will continue to referesh for as long as it takes to load and play which amy take a while.

 

Here is the link to andriod-XBMC log, hope this may assist it trouble shooting the cause of this issue

 

http://xbmclogs.com/show.php?id=261860

 

also attached is the server log, limited to below 151.5kb 

 

let me know if you upload the rest of the log for a complete picture

 

 

[dark_slayer 103]

Nope, I am in the windows space and not likely to move any time soon, that is where all my dev and testing is going into. I see other platforms as interesting but not the core.

I don't have numbers and that would be great if we actually knew XBMC user base numbers, my guess is that XBMC is still a predominately windows user base. Yes there are people out there that run it on other platforms, I just don't think they are the majority of people

There aren't any good stats out there. Once there was a blog post that used server hits from xbmc to theaudiodb for scraping music metadata, but as a whole bunch of people pointed out that doesn't encompass the user base since a lot never used it for music and the mysql setups only take the server count 

 

A little perspective may come from the creator of Yatse, who has anonymous statistics enabled for what he says is around 100k daily users. 70% are arm-linux while 1yr prior 70% were windows. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=199805&pid=1752909#pid1752909

[xnappo 1593]

FYI, poll here:

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/9053-what-os-are-you-using-with-xbmb3c/

 

xnappo