Plugin: WatchingEye - Manage viewers

[Amanade3 27]

Okay I thought it applies to the time restriction as well. Better if future updates include this feature.

[yocker 1247]

3 hours ago, Amanade3 said:

Okay I thought it applies to the time restriction as well. Better if future updates include this feature.

Working on it, should be ready soon(ish).

[yocker 1247]

New version. v1.4.7

Added:
Admins can now set a time window for when a library can be played.

Download here or on Github

@Amanade3
This should add the feature you asked about.
It's rather simple and ugly, i might pretty it up some day.

WatchingEye.dll

[Amanade3 27]

Thank you so much.

[Lessaj 467]

Hi,

I did a quick search of the thread and I didn't see any mention of this particular use case so apologies if I've missed it. I'm using the web client and testing the transcoding resolution blocking with a multi version movie and it seems like it's picking up the details of the 4K version and blocking it, even though I selected the 1080p file for playback. I had my playback setting at 720p 4 Mbps to force a transcode otherwise I end up direct playing the 1080p file. The 4K version can also be direct played in my browser as long as I don't limit the bitrate.

Edited November 15, 2025 by Lessaj

[yocker 1247]

1 hour ago, Lessaj said:

Hi,

I did a quick search of the thread and I didn't see any mention of this particular use case so apologies if I've missed it. I'm using the web client and testing the transcoding resolution blocking with a multi version movie and it seems like it's picking up the details of the 4K version and blocking it, even though I selected the 1080p file for playback. I had my playback setting at 720p 4 Mbps to force a transcode otherwise I end up direct playing the 1080p file. The 4K version can also be direct played in my browser as long as I don't limit the bitrate.

That is an oversight from my side.

I added changed how it checks the video playing, that should fix the problem.

WatchingEye.dll

[Lessaj 467]

16 hours ago, yocker said:

That is an oversight from my side.

I added changed how it checks the video playing, that should fix the problem.

WatchingEye.dll 437 kB · 0 downloads

I've retested with 1.4.8.0 but unfortunately it's still coming up with the same error. Is there anything I can provide to you that might help?

Quote

2025-11-15 14:04:35.571 Info App: Loading WatchingEye, Version=1.4.8.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null from /var/lib/emby/plugins/WatchingEye.dll
2025-11-15 14:05:43.790 Info Plugin: [TranscodeMonitor] Blocking transcode for user 'testplay' on client 'Emby Web'. Source resolution '1608p' is over the limit of '1080p'.

 

[yocker 1247]

4 hours ago, Lessaj said:

I've retested with 1.4.8.0 but unfortunately it's still coming up with the same error. Is there anything I can provide to you that might help?

 

This should fix it so that with for example a maximum of 1080p set a multi version video with both 4k and 1080p can't transcode the 4k one but the 1080p one works.
It is not made to completely block playback of videos not being transcoded so the 4K movie will still be able to be played if not transcoding.
If you don't want users to have access to your 4K content you will have to make a different library for those and limit access.

WatchingEye.dll

Edited November 15, 2025 by yocker

[Lessaj 467]

3 hours ago, yocker said:

This should fix it so that with for example a maximum of 1080p set a multi version video with both 4k and 1080p can't transcode the 4k one but the 1080p one works.
It is not made to completely block playback of videos not being transcoded so the 4K movie will still be able to be played if not transcoding.
If you don't want users to have access to your 4K content you will have to make a different library for those and limit access.

WatchingEye.dll 436.5 kB · 0 downloads

I have retested with 1.4.9.0 and it's working as expected! With playback set to 720p 4 Mbps the 1080p version is now able to be played with transcoding and the 4k is stopped as it should, and with it on auto or max both direct play. Thanks!

[yocker 1247]

2 minutes ago, Lessaj said:

I have retested with 1.4.9.0 and it's working as expected! With playback set to 720p 4 Mbps the 1080p version is now able to be played with transcoding and the 4k is stopped as it should, and with it on auto or max both direct play. Thanks!

Great to hear and thank you for reporting the issue!

[TDriver 53]

Hi,

first of all, thank you for the great WatchingEye plugin – it’s really helpful for us as parents to reasonably limit Emby usage.

I have a use case that I currently can’t configure with the existing options. At the moment, I can only enable/disable whole days and define a single time window that applies to all selected days.

What I would like to do is configure different time windows depending on the day of the week. In my case, for example:

• Sunday to Thursday: allowed playback from 07:00 to 20:00

• Friday and Saturday: allowed playback from 07:00 to 23:00

With the current implementation I can select the days, but I cannot define different time ranges for “school days” vs. “weekend”.

It would be awesome if a future version could support something like “time window per day” or separate time windows for each weekday. This would make WatchingEye even more flexible and useful for families.

Thanks a lot for your time and for your work on this plugin!

Best regards,
Roman

[yocker 1247]

1 hour ago, TDriver said:

Hi,

first of all, thank you for the great WatchingEye plugin – it’s really helpful for us as parents to reasonably limit Emby usage.

I have a use case that I currently can’t configure with the existing options. At the moment, I can only enable/disable whole days and define a single time window that applies to all selected days.

What I would like to do is configure different time windows depending on the day of the week. In my case, for example:

• Sunday to Thursday: allowed playback from 07:00 to 20:00

• Friday and Saturday: allowed playback from 07:00 to 23:00

With the current implementation I can select the days, but I cannot define different time ranges for “school days” vs. “weekend”.

It would be awesome if a future version could support something like “time window per day” or separate time windows for each weekday. This would make WatchingEye even more flexible and useful for families.

Thanks a lot for your time and for your work on this plugin!

Best regards,
Roman

Love to hear you like the plugin and thank you too!

It will require me to redesign some things so might take some time but i will look into it asap.

[TDriver 53]

Thank you so much for your quick reply and for considering this feature!
I really appreciate that you’re willing to look into it, even though it requires some redesign.

Take all the time you need – I’m already very happy with the plugin as it is, and this would just be a great enhancement on top.

Thanks again for your work on WatchingEye!

[Lessaj 467]

I'm back after some more testing and I have some feedback for an issue I'm having with the plugin, maybe I can adjust some of the configuration options to resolve this otherwise I'm not really sure why it's happening.

I performed my initial testing with the web client for convenience and once I was happy with how it was configured and the wording of the messages I started testing on Android and Windows. With regards to the Transcode Notification when I use the web client, Windows, or Android, it seems like everything is working properly - I'm seeing the toast messages as expected, I do not have the confirmation button enabled and don't think it's necessary for this category so I didn't test for any changes in behaviour with that enabled.

Where I started having issues is with the Resolution Blocking notification. In the web client it doesn't matter if I have the confirmation button enabled or not, it always comes up with a dialogue where I have to press okay, but this is working properly otherwise - I assume with confirmation button disabled that it should show a toast message like the Transcode Notifications do. When I was testing Android and Windows I'm seeing the message appear very briefly and then it automatically dismisses, like a fraction of a second after playback stops. I only had it stay on screen one time on my Shield where I had to confirm, otherwise I just see it flash briefly. Again, having the confirmation button enabled or disabled makes no difference.

[yocker 1247]

6 minutes ago, Lessaj said:

I'm back after some more testing and I have some feedback for an issue I'm having with the plugin, maybe I can adjust some of the configuration options to resolve this otherwise I'm not really sure why it's happening.

I performed my initial testing with the web client for convenience and once I was happy with how it was configured and the wording of the messages I started testing on Android and Windows. With regards to the Transcode Notification when I use the web client, Windows, or Android, it seems like everything is working properly - I'm seeing the toast messages as expected, I do not have the confirmation button enabled and don't think it's necessary for this category so I didn't test for any changes in behaviour with that enabled.

Where I started having issues is with the Resolution Blocking notification. In the web client it doesn't matter if I have the confirmation button enabled or not, it always comes up with a dialogue where I have to press okay, but this is working properly otherwise - I assume with confirmation button disabled that it should show a toast message like the Transcode Notifications do. When I was testing Android and Windows I'm seeing the message appear very briefly and then it automatically dismisses, like a fraction of a second after playback stops. I only had it stay on screen one time on my Shield where I had to confirm, otherwise I just see it flash briefly. Again, having the confirmation button enabled or disabled makes no difference.

I might have set the notifications to fire too early, i will look into it at the same time as the other request.

[yocker 1247]

I added the request and the toast message should now work properly, at least from my testing.

If there are any problems please report it so i can look into it. 

WatchingEye.dll

[Lessaj 467]

I have retested 1.5.2.0 and the Resolution Blocking toast message is working properly now, but with confirmation button enabled it is still disappearing quickly on my phone and again on my Shield is stayed one time to press okay - it looks like when I relaunch the app that I'll get the confirmation dialogue one time, after that it's being automatically dismissed. I've yet to see it on my phone, I just see it disappearing.

[TDriver 53]

Hi,

I just wanted to say a big thank you for implementing the new per-day time window feature – it works perfectly here!

Now I can configure different hours for weekdays and the weekend exactly as needed, which makes WatchingEye even more useful for us as a family. I really appreciate how quickly you picked this up and redesigned things to make it possible.

If you ever need someone to test new features, feel free to let me know.

Thanks again for your great work on this plugin!

Best regards,
Roman

[yocker 1247]

4 minutes ago, Lessaj said:

I have retested 1.5.2.0 and the Resolution Blocking toast message is working properly now, but with confirmation button enabled it is still disappearing quickly on my phone and again on my Shield is stayed one time to press okay - it looks like when I relaunch the app that I'll get the confirmation dialogue one time, after that it's being automatically dismissed. I've yet to see it on my phone, I just see it disappearing.

That's strange.
I will look into it, sorry for the inconvenience and thank for the report!

[yocker 1247]

Just now, TDriver said:

Hi,

I just wanted to say a big thank you for implementing the new per-day time window feature – it works perfectly here!

Now I can configure different hours for weekdays and the weekend exactly as needed, which makes WatchingEye even more useful for us as a family. I really appreciate how quickly you picked this up and redesigned things to make it possible.

If you ever need someone to test new features, feel free to let me know.

Thanks again for your great work on this plugin!

Best regards,
Roman

Thank you, very much appreciated!

[yocker 1247]

@Lessaj
It should be fixed now.
Problem was that i had misunderstood how the toast system works in Emby. Basically the confirmation button appears when you give the timeout a value of 0 but if you do that in any of the clients they think the message should stay up for that amount of time making them disappear instantly.

I added some checks for what client used and based on that send a timeout of 0 or 30 when using confirmation button.
In short, confirmation button will only work in web clients but at least the messages should show in other clients now.

Again thanks for reporting and i hope it works fully for you now!

WatchingEye.dll

[Lessaj 467]

Excellent! I have tested 1.5.4.0 and the web client and Windows app were showing the confirmation dialogue whereas in the android client it's showing the toast notification. That works perfectly.  Thank you!

[Lessaj 467]

I'd like to report another bug.  I just set up the plugin for the first time on my production instance since I finally updated it to 4.9.1.90 and I also ran into this issue when I was using my test system too but figured maybe it was a fluke so I didn't mention it. It looks like the first time you use the plugin the files WatchingEye.Logging.json and WatchingEye.WatchTime.json don't exist yet, so it can't update them. There's only the tmp files in the plugins/configuration directory. I figured out the path based on the code since it doesn't actually state it in the error.

Quote

-rw-r--r--. 1 emby emby      302 Nov 19 13:45 WatchingEye.Logging.json.tmp
-rw-r--r--. 1 emby emby       21 Nov 19 13:40 WatchingEye.WatchTime.json.tmp

Quote

2025-11-19 13:47:52.340 Error Plugin: [LogManager] Error saving logging data.
.......
    System.IO.FileNotFoundException: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file.
       at System.IO.FileSystem.ReplaceFile(String sourceFullPath, String destFullPath, String destBackupFullPath, Boolean ignoreMetadataErrors)
       at WatchingEye.LogManager.SaveLogs()
    Source: System.Private.CoreLib
    TargetSite: Void ReplaceFile(System.String, System.String, System.String, Boolean)

Fixed like so:

touch WatchingEye.Logging.json WatchingEye.WatchTime.json ; chown emby:emby WatchingEye.Logging.json WatchingEye.WatchTime.json

[yocker 1247]

15 minutes ago, Lessaj said:

I'd like to report another bug.  I just set up the plugin for the first time on my production instance since I finally updated it to 4.9.1.90 and I also ran into this issue when I was using my test system too but figured maybe it was a fluke so I didn't mention it. It looks like the first time you use the plugin the files WatchingEye.Logging.json and WatchingEye.WatchTime.json don't exist yet, so it can't update them. There's only the tmp files in the plugins/configuration directory. I figured out the path based on the code since it doesn't actually state it in the error.

Fixed like so:

touch WatchingEye.Logging.json WatchingEye.WatchTime.json ; chown emby:emby WatchingEye.Logging.json WatchingEye.WatchTime.json

Yeah i found that as well after having reinstalled my test server.
Was hoping to fix it before any one ran into the problem, i just missed it by 15 minutes i see.

This version should work.
Many thanks for reporting the problem!! 

WatchingEye.dll

[Lessaj 467]

Seems good now. I shut it down, removed the files, started up and forced a transcode session. Was recreated gracefully shortly after I stopped playback.