Video Playback Forces "Presentation Mode" / Hijacks Entire Screen on Samsung DeX (One UI 8.0 / Android 16)

[prioirty_queue 1]

Hi Emby Team,

I am writing to report a specific playback issue I’ve encountered after updating my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to One UI 8.0 (Android 16).

The issue occurs exclusively when using Samsung DeX with an external monitor. It seems that the Emby app is incorrectly identifying the external display context, forcing the video to render directly on the screen surface (likely triggering Android's secondary display/Presentation API) rather than playing within the user-defined window.

Here are the details:

Environment:

• Device: Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

• OS: Android 16 / One UI 8.0

• App Version: Emby for Android 3.5.17

• Mode: Samsung DeX (connected via USB-C to an external monitor)

The Problem:
When I attempt to play a video in DeX mode, the video does not stay inside the Emby app window. Instead, it forcefully overlays the entire external monitor.

• Aspect Ratio Behavior: It doesn't stretch to fill; rather, it "tops out" the screen width or height based on the video's aspect ratio, leaving the rest of the DeX desktop visible behind it (e.g., top/bottom or sides are transparent/desktop).

• Loss of Control: Once playback starts, there are no UI controls (OSD) available on the external screen. I cannot pause, seek, or interact with the video. The video layer seems to exist "above" the window manager.

The "Back" Button Bug (The 3-Step Glitch):
When I try to exit playback (using the phone's back gesture, the DeX touchpad, or the back button (side key) on mouse), the behavior is very erratic:

1. 1st Back: The video layer disappears, leaving a black rectangle of the same size.

2. 2nd Back: The black rectangle disappears, revealing the original Emby app window. The player UI (pause/play icons) is visible but the content area is black. Controls here are unresponsive; pressing pause/play does nothing.

3. 3rd Back: Finally returns to the video detail/preview page.

Different Launch Scenarios:

• Launched from DeX Screen: The issue happens as described above. No controls are accessible.

• Launched from Phone Screen: If I start playback on the phone screen while connected to DeX, the video instantly projects to the external monitor (hijacking the screen). The phone screen turns into a "remote" (showing the black playback UI). Interestingly, controls on the phone screen (seek/pause) do control the video on the monitor, but the monitor display is still not in a windowed mode.

Troubleshooting Attempts:
I have already tried the following system settings with no success:

• Samsung Labs: Toggled "Multi window for all apps" (on/off).

• GoodLock > MultiStar: Toggled options like "Stay in split screen" (on/off).
  Nothing changed the behavior.

Comparison:

• Other Apps: MX Player and VLC work perfectly (they respect the DeX window).

• Photos: Viewing photos within Emby works perfectly (contained within the window).

It feels like the app is detecting the external screen and defaulting to a "Cast" or "Presentation" mode instead of standard windowed playback, likely due to changes in how Android 16 handles display contexts.

Any advice or a fix in upcoming updates would be greatly appreciated. This severely impacts multitasking on DeX.

Thanks!

Edited December 19, 2025 by prioirty_queue

[Luke 42745]

Hi @prioirty_queuewe are looking into this. Thanks for reporting.

[Luke 42745]

HI, please try Emby for Android 3.5.37:

Thanks.

[xpduyson 2]

tried version 3.5.37 download directly from emby website, on Samsung fold 5, one UI 8.5, still having the same issue as OP

[prioirty_queue 1]

On 6/23/2026 at 7:39 PM, Luke said:

HI, please try Emby for Android 3.5.37:

Thanks.

Unfortunately, version 3.5.37 did not fix the issue for me.

I tried again, but this is still not resolved. The behavior is exactly the same as before.

A bit more information that may help narrow this down:

This problem only started after upgrading from One UI 7.0 / Android 15 to One UI 8.0 / Android 16. I also tested Emby on my older Samsung S8 running One UI 1.0 / Android 9, and the issue does not occur there.

Samsung’s official release notes for the SM-S9080 (S22 Ultra) (https://doc.samsungmobile.com/SM-S9080/CHC/doc.html) do mention DeX-related changes in the One UI 8.0 / Android 16 update, including enhanced display support for DeX. So it looks like something may have changed in Samsung DeX’s external display handling after the Android 16 upgrade.

Hope this helps with debugging.

[Luke 42745]

HI, please try Emby for Android 3.5.38:

Thanks.

[prioirty_queue 1]

The problem doesn't seem to be resolved yet. I've attached some screenshots in the hope that they might help better pinpoint what's happening.

As shown in Figure 1, Emby is running in a floating window on the Samsung DeX desktop.


After I click Play, the behavior shown in Figure 2 occurs: the video immediately takes over the entire external display instead of staying inside the Emby window. At this point, it cannot be controlled directly. The only way to interact with playback is through the Emby media controls in the notification panel on the phone. (Alternatively, as I mentioned in my original post, if playback is started from the Emby app on the phone instead of the DeX desktop, the playback controls on the phone can also control the video.)

If I press Back (by bluetooth mouse or gesture provided by phone or DeX) at this point, it enters the state shown in Figure 3: the video closed and the Emby floating window becomes a black screen. However, the video is still playing in the background, and the playback controls can still be brought up, as shown in Figure 4.

 

Pressing Back one more time returns to the original state shown in Figure 1 (see Figure 5).

 

I hope these screenshots help narrow down the cause of the issue. Thank you very much for your help!

Edited 5 hours ago by prioirty_queue

[Luke 42745]

Can you please provide a log from the app?

Thanks.