External subtitle not working on AndroidTV Emby client, but works after muxing into MKV

[Eureka321 1]

I've encountered an issue with external subtitles on the AndroidTV Emby client. Here are the details:

Issue Description:

• External Chinese subtitles (both .srt and .ass files) are not displaying correctly on AndroidTV Emby client
• The same media files and subtitle files work perfectly on other platforms (mobile app and web browser)
• After muxing the subtitle files into the MKV container using MKVToolNix, the subtitles display correctly on AndroidTV

Environment:

• Platform: Multiple AndroidTV devices (all showing the same issue)
• Client: Emby for AndroidTV
• Subtitle format: External .srt and .ass files with Chinese characters

Additional Information:

• This is a recent issue; external subtitles were working correctly before
• The issue persists across multiple media files
• The same setup works correctly on:

  Emby mobile app

  Web browser

  Kodi with Emby plugin

• The workaround of muxing subtitles into MKV confirms that the AndroidTV client can handle the subtitle content itself, suggesting the issue might be related to external subtitle file handling

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with external subtitles on the AndroidTV client? Any insights would be appreciated.

[Eureka321 1]

Update: I've found a more specific pattern to this issue. The external subtitle problem only occurs when the MKV file already contains embedded subtitles. If the MKV has no embedded subtitles, the external Chinese subtitles display correctly. This suggests the issue might be related to how the AndroidTV client handles subtitle selection/priority when both embedded and external subtitles are present.

[ebr 16169]

Hi.  Can you try searching for our standard android app (Just "Emby" on Amazon and "Emby for Android on Google) on the same device's app store and see how that compares?

Thanks.

 

[Eureka321 1]

Thank you for your attention and response. I've tested by installing the regular Emby for Android app on my two AndroidTV devices, and it can load the external Chinese subtitles correctly. However, when using the Emby for AndroidTV app to play the same video, it cannot load the external subtitles properly - it shows the embedded English subtitles and cannot switch to the external Chinese subtitles. This appears to be a bug specific to the Emby for AndroidTV app.

[Luke 42077]

2 hours ago, Eureka321 said:

Thank you for your attention and response. I've tested by installing the regular Emby for Android app on my two AndroidTV devices, and it can load the external Chinese subtitles correctly.

Hi, great. Are you happy continuing to use this then?

[Eureka321 1]

Yes, Emby for Android is working so far so good! Thank you for developing two different versions - that's really some amazing foresight right there! Having a backup option certainly saved the day here haha!