Why does Emby make it so difficult to discover media?

[C.S. 93]

1 hour ago, darkassassin07 said:

At the very least, they'd have stats on how often that data is requested, what IPs/server IDs/Premiere IDs are used to retrieve it, and probably some similarly related metadata.

That's plausible, but I ask just because I hear this all the time - "hardly anyone uses this feature or that option" - to explain why to take away a feature/option or not implement an idea.

Sorry I'm off topic again. Ignore me.

[bandit8623 213]

3 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I think I said earlier in this thread that I do not understand the problem. I have a quite large library (Not the humongous size some have but pretty large) and I have never had any problem fining content to watch. 
Of course, since I either bought or recorded or inherited my content, i have a good idea what I have so, maybe, I am quite the exception. But I do not think  my viewing habits are much of anything special. 

As far as finding content on "Live TV" I have no problem there either. I do not really use live TV much, except for sports (mainly soccer) as I record most of the "new" shows I want outside of Emby using CH-DVR or some other recording service. 

But I am not one of those people that want one app to do everything. It is perfectly OK for me to use different products for different functions. 

I do use Emby's Live TV functionality, because it is there more than anything else, I would be equally happy to use another app.

Given how much time the developers seem to spent on a redundant function, I would be quite happy if the Emby team decided to remove all the live TV functionality from Emby and concentrate on the primary Emby functionality of curating and playing already recorded content. 

But Emby is NOT my property it is Emby's and Emby can do as they wish with their product. I may, and sometimes do, disagree with choices Emby has made but the only thing i think they have gotten completely wrong is their incessant attempt to be the "One app to rule them all. " I think they are short changing some users of the main functionality by their ongoing attempts to make everyone happy. 

FWIW: I would be perfectly happy with Emby if they simply froze everything where it is and then worked on refining and optimizing the current feature set. 

There is not and never will be:
"Three Apps for the Emby developers under the sky,
Seven for the Super Testers in their halls of glittering lights,
Nine for regular users doomed to use the app,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Media where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Media where the Shadows lie."

Again I do not understand the value of having just one app do everything.

if live tv went away i would go back to plex

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

10 minutes ago, bandit8623 said:

if live tv went away i would go back to plex

With all the stupid things Plex does and their totally unfriendly user forums and their really poor customer support and their clumsy hard to use interface I doubt I would use it again even if it were the only media manager available. It is easier to use the old DOS to find media and then play it than it is to use Plex.

I actually think Live TV would be acceptable if it were a plugin so people did not need to even have it available if they so desire. Integrating something like Live TV makes the program bigger even if you do not use it. 

But Emby made the decision a long time ago to overload Emby with Live TV and that is VERY unlikely to be removed. 

In other word those that do not want live TV are forced to always have the code supporting it available. 

But it is Emby's product not mine or yours or anybody's and Emby can include or not include anything they want.

[pwhodges 2012]

If Emby's functionality for Live OTA TV and DVR was not present, I would have far less interest in it; it works for me right now, but I would be pleased to have some of the improvements reported as present in TVnext.

As for smart playlists, and the subject of this thread in particular, I find it ironic that Emby put in so much effort for features which, it seems to me, are of most use to people using Emby in ways not intended by the T&Cs...  My Emby server contains my content, and my family and I already know what's there when choosing what to watch.

Paul

[ebr 16169]

If you are one of the people who does use it, of course it is important to you.  Its important to us too, it just can't be more important than some other things.

We have to pay for guide data and can make some extrapolations from that. 

BTW I'm also one of the people in that minority.

[Neminem 1518]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

We have to pay for guide data and can make some extrapolations from that.

ha ha you might pay for users usage, if they use your tv guide, which is not available in most countries.

I supply my own guide data, hope you can't se that, by looking at your guide usage.

Edited December 16, 2024 by Neminem

[C.S. 93]

10 hours ago, pwhodges said:

As for smart playlists, and the subject of this thread in particular, I find it ironic that Emby put in so much effort for features which, it seems to me, are of most use to people using Emby in ways not intended by the T&Cs...  My Emby server contains my content, and my family and I already know what's there when choosing what to watch.

This is unfounded. It's perfectly reasonable for someone with a huge collection to expect their friends and family might need some help navigating it.

[arrbee99 1815]

Sort of related, but I've finally spotted the TV Series sorting option 'Last episode date added', which I've wanted for ages. I really should read lists properly.

[GrimReaper 4739]

14 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

I've finally spotted the TV Series sorting option 'Last episode date added', which I've wanted for ages

Third time's a charm, eh?

 

[Jdiesel 1431]

These aren't features that are intended to benefit those selling access to unlicensed content. These are basic quality of life features meant to improve the experience for everyone. The needs of a family are very different than a single user, especially those who don't live under the same roof. Lots of chatter of the forums the past few days about features being "unnecessary". If you don't need it, don't use it. Let's try to keep the discuss focused so the devs can collect feedback when the time comes to implement the feature.

[arrbee99 1815]

13 minutes ago, GrimReaper said:

Third time's a charm, eh?

 

In one ear (or eye), out the other...

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

21 minutes ago, Jdiesel said:

These aren't features that are intended to benefit those selling access to unlicensed content. These are basic quality of life features meant to improve the experience for everyone. The needs of a family are very different than a single user, especially those who don't live under the same roof. Lots of chatter of the forums the past few days about features being "unnecessary". If you don't need it, don't use it. Let's try to keep the discuss focused so the devs can collect feedback when the time comes to implement the feature.

If a truly unneeded feature is available then it is in the code and thereby bloating the app. 

Clearly Emby can do as they wish because they own the app but people begging for features that do nothing for most but bloat the code are not desirable. 

[Jdiesel 1431]

1 hour ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

If a truly unneeded feature is available then it is in the code and thereby bloating the app. 

Clearly Emby can do as they wish because they own the app but people begging for features that do nothing for most but bloat the code are not desirable. 

Unneeded is subjective. Is transcoding needed? Music? Background fanart? Live TV? If we Emby catered to lowest common denominator we'd be left with VLC and a network share. Features and support are what keep me loyal to Emby. I hate the argument that features add bloat. If they are developed well and you aren't using them there should be no noticable difference. Besides I think Emby has gone a long way in containerizing components into plugins.

[bandit8623 213]

2 hours ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

If a truly unneeded feature is available then it is in the code and thereby bloating the app. 

Clearly Emby can do as they wish because they own the app but people begging for features that do nothing for most but bloat the code are not desirable. 

its more so emby doesnt have a 1 stop shop for current projects and timelines.  it would be just nice to have a spot to see what they are working on and an estimated year it would be completed.  i know setting hard dates is not good so just give us what you are working on.  

[pmac 143]

On 14/12/2024 at 04:43, Tigga5 said:

Lack of use isn't surprising considering the state of live TV in Emby

I'd agree with this. I find the layout isn't too bad (not my favourite, though), but usability just isn't there. I use Tivimate for live TV, but it's annoying to have to switch to another app. I'd prefer to keep everything within Emby.

[rbjtech 5284]

There is a little section on this forum called 'Feature Requests'.  This is from the users.  You'll notice that 4 or 5 of the top 10 items (sorted by numbers of likes/agrees) are related to improving the ability to 'find' content - ie exactly what this thread is about.   #1 is 'smart playlists/smart views' - this is exactly why emby are working on this.    If you've been an emby user for any length of time, you'll also notice many homebrew 'attempts' at this - spotlight, recommendations, top picks etc - all addressing the same issue - getting user focus on content.

If you don't want to use it - then simply don't - it's that simple, but suggesting it's not required without giving an alternative or basing your view on single user only is unwelcome.

[bandit8623 213]

2 hours ago, rbjtech said:

There is a little section on this forum called 'Feature Requests'.  This is from the users.  You'll notice that 4 or 5 of the top 10 items (sorted by numbers of likes/agrees) are related to improving the ability to 'find' content - ie exactly what this thread is about.   #1 is 'smart playlists/smart views' - this is exactly why emby are working on this.    If you've been an emby user for any length of time, you'll also notice many homebrew 'attempts' at this - spotlight, recommendations, top picks etc - all addressing the same issue - getting user focus on content.

If you don't want to use it - then simply don't - it's that simple, but suggesting it's not required without giving an alternative or basing your view on single user only is unwelcome.

Again it's not accurate at all. And all it does is give people false hope something is being worked on .  Based on forum likes... Lol

[rbjtech 5284]

50 minutes ago, bandit8623 said:

Again it's not accurate at all. And all it does is give people false hope something is being worked on .  Based on forum likes... Lol

Err.. not sure I agree.   Feature Requests - just because people like something, it doesn't mean Emby will implement it.   But it should give them a very good indicator of the popularity of that idea.  But I do agree it needs to be better managed as some very popular items have been there for multiple years without any indication of it being acknowledged as a missing function/feature.

Case in point - Smart Playlists.

Perhaps Emby need a status for items before 'In-Progress' if they have agreed to be looked at - maybe 'Candidate / Shortlist / Consideration' or something like that.    Then at least we know emby have it on their radar.

@Abobader- Any thoughts from your good self on this ?

 

re the lack of updates - Why does the #1 item in that list not have an 'In-Progress' status for example - as we have confirmation from @Luke/ @ebrthat this is being worked on for 4.9 ?

not 

Edited December 17, 2024 by rbjtech

[Abobader 3464]

43 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Any thoughts from your good self on this ?

Good point but let see what Luke and Ebr about this.

[ebr 16169]

53 minutes ago, rbjtech said:

Why does the #1 item in that list not have an 'In-Progress' status for example

I usually wait until it hits a beta to change that status.

[rbjtech 5284]

20 minutes ago, ebr said:

I usually wait until it hits a beta to change that status.

That's fair enough - thanks.

[bandit8623 213]

1 hour ago, rbjtech said:

Err.. not sure I agree.   Feature Requests - just because people like something, it doesn't mean Emby will implement it.   But it should give them a very good indicator of the popularity of that idea.  But I do agree it needs to be better managed as some very popular items have been there for multiple years without any indication of it being acknowledged as a missing function/feature.

Case in point - Smart Playlists.

Perhaps Emby need a status for items before 'In-Progress' if they have agreed to be looked at - maybe 'Candidate / Shortlist / Consideration' or something like that.    Then at least we know emby have it on their radar.

@Abobader- Any thoughts from your good self on this ?

 

re the lack of updates - Why does the #1 item in that list not have an 'In-Progress' status for example - as we have confirmation from @Luke/ @ebrthat this is being worked on for 4.9 ?

not 

We for sure dont have to agree and thats ok.  I personally dont go around the forums clicking like on topics i like. more so click like on comments that make sense.  It would be far more beneficial if Emby directed the movement a little more.  Put up 5 good options they are wanting to work on and have a poll.   But maybe emby wants it to be obscure so they dont actually have to put any timelines....  not trying to rip on emby... but some of the time its taken for things is ridiculous.  its been over a year we have been promised a new working windows player....  for example... @luke has mentioned this im multiple posts to issues ive had with windows.   

 

All im trying to say is too much in the dark a little more light shed on whats getting worked on would be great.  Again dont need a exact timeframe..  just whats being worked on stickied on main page.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

1 hour ago, bandit8623 said:

We for sure dont have to agree and thats ok.  I personally dont go around the forums clicking like on topics i like. more so click like on comments that make sense.  It would be far more beneficial if Emby directed the movement a little more.  Put up 5 good options they are wanting to work on and have a poll.   But maybe emby wants it to be obscure so they dont actually have to put any timelines....  not trying to rip on emby... but some of the time its taken for things is ridiculous.  its been over a year we have been promised a new working windows player....  for example... @luke has mentioned this im multiple posts to issues ive had with windows.   

 

All im trying to say is too much in the dark a little more light shed on whats getting worked on would be great.  Again dont need a exact timeframe..  just whats being worked on stickied on main page.

Polls on a web site that few users even visit are a good way to get a VERY distorted idea about what the actual popularity of a particular suggestion. Likes/dislikes are equally distorted. 

I do not know what would truly be better but polls and likes on a web site like this one really do not mean a thing. 
Better would be to implement a feature and see if it is positively or negatively received but that would mean a lot of work by the developers would be wasted and no matter what the feedback it would be nearly as flawed as the current system. 

I have been thinking about this more lately and i have come to these conclusions:
a. Emby should work on what they see, after deliberations, as the better additions that are under consideration.
b. Emby should use these forums to get a read on what is actually wanted but they should not take anything posted here as gospel. 
c. Emby development needs to be less "open" but as a feature they have decided to implement nears release to the beta they should make people aware of it to see if what will be implemented will actually be used. (I have no current idea how this could be accomplished)
d. Emby really should make more of their "improvements" as plugins instead of being in the code and things like Live TV need to move to being a plugin so that there is no bloat or overhead incurred for those that do not wish to use it. 

Of course that all comes from a user that is not a developer so there may be better approaches but something should be done to get the development more separated from suggestions.

[bandit8623 213]

15 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Polls on a web site that few users even visit are a good way to get a VERY distorted idea about what the actual popularity of a particular suggestion. Likes/dislikes are equally distorted. 

I do not know what would truly be better but polls and likes on a web site like this one really do not mean a thing. 
Better would be to implement a feature and see if it is positively or negatively received but that would mean a lot of work by the developers would be wasted and no matter what the feedback it would be nearly as flawed as the current system. 

I have been thinking about this more lately and i have come to these conclusions:
a. Emby should work on what they see, after deliberations, as the better additions that are under consideration.
b. Emby should use these forums to get a read on what is actually wanted but they should not take anything posted here as gospel. 
c. Emby development needs to be less "open" but as a feature they have decided to implement nears release to the beta they should make people aware of it to see if what will be implemented will actually be used. (I have no current idea how this could be accomplished)
d. Emby really should make more of their "improvements" as plugins instead of being in the code and things like Live TV need to move to being a plugin so that there is no bloat or overhead incurred for those that do not wish to use it. 

Of course that all comes from a user that is not a developer so there may be better approaches but something should be done to get the development more separated from suggestions.

I agree polls arent the best , but are better than who clicks likes on posts.  a poll actually tells people to vote on something.  also more visable!.  at least if a poll section was up active users would see it and participate and can see feedback..  Honestly if you use emby and are not in the forums you probly are not actively testing anything anyway.  how else would you get issues fixed?  

 

Edited December 17, 2024 by bandit8623

[242Movies 26]

18 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

d. Emby really should make more of their "improvements" as plugins instead of being in the code and things like Live TV need to move to being a plugin so that there is no bloat or overhead incurred for those that do not wish to use it. 

I agree with this.

And if plugins like smart playlists or Trakt/MDBList collections are downloaded frequently then they can be implemented as a core feature