Emby for Android TV vs. current Android

[luca1970it 24]

Hi guys, I'm a user with a lifetime license for Emby. I'm sorry to see that the Android TV app has been completely abandoned. I don't understand why. Graphically, compared to the version you now call compatible with TVs, it's not even remotely comparable to the Android TV version. For example, on my LG TV with an Nvidia Shield box, the version you're now supporting often defaults to "start from scratch" when I stop playback, rather than "resume from where you were watching." This isn't good. It's also chaotic, and it's hard to figure out the correct settings, especially on TVs.
I'm sorry, but the Android TV version, from my perspective, was and is much more refined, beautiful to look at, and simple to use. But is it possible that to exit the app on the TV, I always have to first hide the bar to the left of my entire library, when all I need to do is add an option that lets me exit directly without hiding it? I repeat, the app you're now supporting, for reasons I can only imagine, is horrible! I apologize for my disappointment, but as long as I can, I'll continue to use the version for the current operating system on my Nvidia Shield Pro. I also apologize for my poor English translation.

[Luke 42077]

Quote

the version you're now supporting often defaults to "start from scratch" when I stop playback, rather than "resume from where you were watching.

Hi, what exactly do you mean by this? Can you please show an example? You can resume playback from any Emby app.

[luca1970it 24]

8 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, what exactly do you mean by this? Can you please show an example? You can resume playback from any Emby app.

Basically, during playback, when I click the back button to stop playing my movie on the next screen, the app doesn't position me on the "resume" button but on the "start from the beginning" button. So, to pick up where I left off, I have to manually move to the "resume" button, and I don't understand why. This happens especially with movies. Oh, I forgot, this anomaly also happens when I return from a pause in my device's screen saver, and so when I move from the image and return to the app, it positions me on the "start from the beginning" selection button. I've noticed that with TV series, I don't know why, but with your Android TV app, I've never had these anomalies...
The problem is that if, out of distraction, I don't notice that it's positioned over the "start from the beginning" button and not the "resume" one, then I have to manually search for the point where I left off.
I'm sorry but this is not good for me, as I wrote the player used is Nvidia Shield Shield Tv PRO, which as you well know is an Android TV and with the Android TV app I had never seen these anomalies.

I hope I explained what I meant.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, luca1970it said:

Hi guys, I'm a user with a lifetime license for Emby. I'm sorry to see that the Android TV app has been completely abandoned. I don't understand why. Graphically, compared to the version you now call compatible with TVs, it's not even remotely comparable to the Android TV version. 
I'm sorry, but the Android TV version, from my perspective, was and is much more refined, beautiful to look at, and simple to use. I repeat, the app you're now supporting, for reasons I can only imagine, is horrible! I apologize for my disappointment, but as long as I can, I'll continue to use the version for the current operating system on my Nvidia Shield Pro. I also apologize for my poor English translation.

Thank you for this post.  Hopefully emby changes their mind and gives their customers what they want.  The day the androidTV app stops working is the day I move away from emby.  

[Luke 42077]

Just now, embaaa said:

Thank you for this post.  Hopefully emby changes their mind and gives their customers what they want.  The day the androidTV app stops working is the day I move away from emby.  

Hi, what do you prefer about it?

[Luke 42077]

39 minutes ago, luca1970it said:

Basically, during playback, when I click the back button to stop playing my movie on the next screen, the app doesn't position me on the "resume" button but on the "start from the beginning" button. So, to pick up where I left off, I have to manually move to the "resume" button, and I don't understand why. This happens especially with movies. Oh, I forgot, this anomaly also happens when I return from a pause in my device's screen saver, and so when I move from the image and return to the app, it positions me on the "start from the beginning" selection button. I've noticed that with TV series, I don't know why, but with your Android TV app, I've never had these anomalies...
The problem is that if, out of distraction, I don't notice that it's positioned over the "start from the beginning" button and not the "resume" one, then I have to manually search for the point where I left off.

Hi, we'll test this and get it corrected, and will that resolve your concern?

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, what do you prefer about it?

Well to start the androidTV app plays extremely high bitrate 4K movies without any issues. The android app stutters audio and video at the start of playback for a good 20 seconds. 

This alone is a deal breaker.  It's def the apps and nothing external because I have them both installed on the same ShieldTV pro.  I keep hearing you can inject another version of exoplayer into the android app but if you haven't figured out proper playback in 8+ years on the android app I'm not holding my breath.  

 

[Luke 42077]

44 minutes ago, embaaa said:

Well to start the androidTV app plays extremely high bitrate 4K movies without any issues. The android app stutters audio and video at the start of playback for a good 20 seconds. 

This alone is a deal breaker.  It's def the apps and nothing external because I have them both installed on the same ShieldTV pro.  I keep hearing you can inject another version of exoplayer into the android app but if you haven't figured out proper playback in 8+ years on the android app I'm not holding my breath.  

 

Hi, we are looking into this. Thanks.

[justinrh 260]

The other day I popped open the std app for fun (it had been a while since I've used it) and was immediately disappointed.  It acted like an old app, didn't have any 'big TV' feel, hmm, kinda like a touch interface might.  I scrolled right to see my libraries on the home page and you don't get any animation, just a stale-looknig grey border that is not as easy to visually track as it moves from card to card.  And the border doesn't even fit the image properly.  (At least make the border default Emby green!  Wait - the accent color is set to green, but the app doesn't use it?)

[luca1970it 24]

We need to start from a premise: I understand that it's necessary to create an app that runs "everywhere" for obvious reasons, likely to increase the audience, user base, and compatibility across multiple devices. But as things stand now, and based on what I'm seeing, I'm sorry to say, but we're just not there yet.

The Android TV version isn't even remotely comparable to this one, and before complaining about these bad things I'm seeing, I tried it for at least two weeks.
For example, let's talk about the playback bar, which is a carbon copy of the one on Netflix, etc. Fortunately, it still displays the remaining time and the end time of what you're watching (and I hope this data remains). Just to give you an idea, with a 77-inch TV, the characters for the remaining time and the end time are too small compared to everything else. If we look at the playback bar on the Android TV version, the characters are well-defined and have the right proportions for both the remaining time and the end time, and everything is clear, clean, and well-arranged. While in this "global Android" version, it's bordering on decency, small, and very poorly made...
I also wrote this in the other post, but is it possible that to exit the app, the "sidebar of contents in the Emby catalog" always has to appear? But why, I wonder? But if I press back and want to exit, the app should let me exit. Period. You added that option where it asks me if I want to exit or not by activating the button, but it's a system that doesn't work well, it's horrible and not very intuitive.
I know for sure that with a smartphone, tablet, or notebook, these problems don't exist because the touchscreen helps, but you have to understand that for some TV users, using this app is really difficult!!!
Look at Emby Android TV, do you want to exit your app?? You click yes and it closes, and that's it!!!
Guys, don't get offended, I could go on and on. The options that are there are always welcome, but they're so poorly placed that it's often difficult to understand how they actually work.
If you want to continue with this global project that works everywhere, including TVs, go ahead, but please simplify and fix it because on TVs, the control system is truly awful and not very intuitive.
I'll end here. I hate to say it again, but it's truly sad to see the Android TV version you abandoned a good nine months ago. It's so disappointing to see it go away like this.

Good night, everyone. I hope someone gets some inspiration.

[arrbee99 1815]

I still think the clue is in the name - Android.....TV.

[luca1970it 24]

33 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

I still think the clue is in the name - Android.....TV.

Yes, I agree, Emby Global is too basic for TVs, and above all, it's clear from a mile away that it wasn't created for TVs and remote controls.

Edited November 4, 2025 by luca1970it

[Abejo 15]

Actually, today I was (or rather, I tried to be) testing the other app on my two TVs. Honestly, it was impossible — the movies kept freezing constantly. I checked the option to force transcoding (I use AV1), and even then, it was still impossible to watch anything. On some videos, it even threw an error when starting and wouldn’t play at all.
I understand that you want to make an all-in-one app — I guess it takes less time than maintaining two separate ones — and I also understand that it probably works fine on powerful TVs. But here in Latin America, there are many TVs that don’t have powerful processors, and even less RAM.
I really hope the Android TV app doesn’t get removed, because otherwise, even though I’ve purchased the license, I’ll have to migrate to another platform — not because I dislike the new interface, but because I simply can’t use it.

[luca1970it 24]

Thanks for adding the option to exit with the dedicated section and the related separate feature you've now added.
I also wanted to point out another anomaly regarding the universal version you're supporting. When I go to watch a TV series and move to watch the first episode of a particular series, it often skips to the second episode, leaving the first episode "hidden" on the left side of the TV screen because it's not visible, and I have to manually move to the far left to select the first episode.
Then there's always the issue of resume, which often doesn't go where it should go, and as I've already mentioned, by default it moves to "from the beginning," and this is truly unacceptable.

I wonder why I constantly have to use an app that isn't native to TVs and that you want to force me to use on TVs despite knowing it's anything but "designed" for TVs.

I'm sorry, I really believe in the Emby project; some good things have been done, but this universal app is a real disaster!

[CBers 7450]

I'm not a fan of the Universal Android app, as it's too slow and clunky, but I've never had any issues with playback using it.

There is an newer version of the original Android TV app that has just been released, which fixes the YouTube videos playback issue, and is available here to sideload.
 

Edited November 11, 2025 by CBers

[luca1970it 24]

29 minutes ago, CBers said:

I'm not a fan of the Universal Android app, as it's too slow and clumky, but I've never had any issues with playback using it.

There is an newer version of the original Android TV that has just been released, which fixed the YouTube videos playback issue, and is available here to sideload.
 

Thank you for letting me know, I will gladly update the beta app for android tv, thanks.