Arloes: a TRUE modern Android TV client for Emby

[arrbee99 1923]

Am wondering about the Glass theme. Looks promising to me, but not sure about the borders its added, seem a bit too white across the top and not across the bottom. Does it need borders ? The ATV doesn't have borders that I've spotted with glass effect. Would also be nice if possible if it wasn't a specific theme, but an effect that could be applied to all other themes.

[Pejamas 149]

1 hour ago, arrbee99 said:

Am wondering about the Glass theme. Looks promising to me, but not sure about the borders its added, seem a bit too white across the top and not across the bottom. Does it need borders ? The ATV doesn't have borders that I've spotted with glass effect. Would also be nice if possible if it wasn't a specific theme, but an effect that could be applied to all other themes.

Needs borders otherwise a lot of the frames just kind melt in and are hard to see where they start/end. Still very much a WIP though - ill probably be able to add sub themes to it but had to split it since it needed its own control button types and a few other seperate features.

[arrbee99 1923]

8 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

Needs borders otherwise a lot of the frames just kind melt in and are hard to see where they start/end. Still very much a WIP though - ill probably be able to add sub themes to it but had to split it since it needed its own control button types and a few other seperate features.

Seems to be an almost black theme so to me the effect might show up more on lighter ones, even the Dark I use everywhere. Didn't spot a lot a difference in some areas except for the actual frame. Am all for variety though and it shows up well in places like the details page where it has the media info in a box below title, etc.

[arrbee99 1923]

If you chug slowly through the spotlight items, it goes back to item 1 by itself before I get to the end. When set to 25 items its gone back to no 1 at number 16, 16 ad 17 when testing. Maybe it gets bored...

[Pejamas 149]

45 minutes ago, arrbee99 said:

If you chug slowly through the spotlight items, it goes back to item 1 by itself before I get to the end. When set to 25 items its gone back to no 1 at number 16, 16 ad 17 when testing. Maybe it gets bored...

Is that with or without the auto scroll on? I'll take a look though.

[arrbee99 1923]

42 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

Is that with or without the auto scroll on? I'll take a look though.

Without.

[ChrissiW 0]

4 hours ago, lcann25 said:

I will have to research this. It was a different guy that asked about mDblist I believe. I don't know much about it but I will be reading up on it now.  I use Trakt for just about everything currently. 

Was that "different guy" me ? I am also very interested in using mbd-Lists as a row on the homescreen. I tried acdb-Plugin and Home Screen Companion in the emby app. Both are not working that well...

[Pejamas 149]

53 minutes ago, ChrissiW said:

Was that "different guy" me ? I am also very interested in using mbd-Lists as a row on the homescreen. I tried acdb-Plugin and Home Screen Companion in the emby app. Both are not working that well...

Ill post up some pics tomorrow but its quite nifty tbh. Add an api key, hit "browse" and it gives you a list of all the top lists on mdlist or directly add a url > hit create list and it creates that list based off items in the library. As an example I added imdb top 250, have 77 movies in my library on that list so my playlist is created automatically in ranking order from what's there. Has a built in scheduled task to update at a set time each night so it picks up any changes from the list itself, then repopulates the results.

No added fluff, no seeing shit that isnt watchable, no weird ai chat or reccomendations or functions not needed, just a few clicks and its added.

[ChrissiW 0]

10 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

Ill post up some pics tomorrow but its quite nifty tbh. Add an api key, hit "browse" and it gives you a list of all the top lists on mdlist or directly add a url > hit create list and it creates that list based off items in the library. As an example I added imdb top 250, have 77 movies in my library on that list so my playlist is created automatically in ranking order from what's there. Has a built in scheduled task to update at a set time each night so it picks up any changes from the list itself, then repopulates the results.

No added fluff, no seeing shit that isnt watchable, no weird ai chat or reccomendations or functions not needed, just a few clicks and its added.

This is exactly what I’m looking for. I’ve actually created a few lists of my own in MDB that I’d like to have in the library. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a setting where I can enter the MDB URL so that Arloes can pull in the list...

[Pejamas 149]

23 minutes ago, ChrissiW said:

This is exactly what I’m looking for. I’ve actually created a few lists of my own in MDB that I’d like to have in the library. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a setting where I can enter the MDB URL so that Arloes can pull in the list...

This isn't added yet but it's something you have to do on the server itself with a plug-in (I haven't finished coding the plugin yet).

[ChrissiW 0]

3 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

This isn't added yet but it's something you have to do on the server itself with a plug-in (I haven't finished coding the plugin yet).

Well, unfortunately, I just can install plugins from the emby-catalog and not on the server itself, because I am only using and not hosting it. 

[lcann25 2]

2 hours ago, ChrissiW said:

Was that "different guy" me ? 

Haha I'm sorry about that. I don't know why I assumed that it would only be guys that would mess around with an unreleased Emby 3rd party app. My bad

[ChrissiW 0]

Sorry if I bother but I've tried several ways and clients troughout the day and I would like to share my experience and suggest a feature that would make Arloes even more useful for large media libraries.

Initially, I tried to organize my movies using MDBList and synchronize the lists with Emby. Unfortunately, this approach turned out to be unreliable and difficult to manage, especially with very large lists.

I eventually found a much better solution using the Home Screen Companion plugin for Emby. With this plugin, I can create custom lists based on rules such as release year and media type. For example:

• Movies up to 1979

• Movies from 1980 to 1999

• Movies from 2000 to 2019

• Movies from 2020 onwards

The plugin successfully creates these lists as Emby Collections, and the collections are correctly populated with the matching movies.

Arloes is able to recognize these collections and display their contents. However, there are currently a few limitations that make them difficult to use with a large library:

• All movies within a collection are displayed in a single horizontal row.

• I haven't found a way to change the sorting order of the movies within a collection, for example by Date Added (descending).

• It would be much more convenient if collections could be opened as a proper grid or poster-wall view, similar to a normal Emby library.

My main feature request:

Would it be possible to improve collection handling in Arloes so that users can:

• Display collection contents in a grid/poster-wall layout instead of just one horizontal row.

• Choose the sorting field, e.g. Date Added, Premiere Date, Name or Rating.

• Choose ascending or descending sort order.

• Ideally, create custom navigation entries or shortcuts for individual collections, so that they can be accessed directly from the home screen.

My Emby library contains more than 48,000 movies, so being able to create clearly separated categories and access them directly is particularly important to me.

I really like the direction Arloes is taking, and I think these improvements would make it an excellent client for users with large Emby libraries.

[kdackiw 1]

Another request...

>> "remove from continue watching" as an option for the suggestions for each entry.

This invariably gets full of abandoned shows.  Let's purge out the undersired ones!

Kev.

[Pejamas 149]

13 minutes ago, kdackiw said:

Another request...

>> "remove from continue watching" as an option for the suggestions for each entry.

This invariably gets full of abandoned shows.  Let's purge out the undersired ones!

Kev.

Dididnt realise this as ever in the emby app, ill add it to the context menu

[Pejamas 149]

3 hours ago, ChrissiW said:

 

My main feature request:

Would it be possible to improve collection handling in Arloes so that users can:

• Display collection contents in a grid/poster-wall layout instead of just one horizontal row.

• Choose the sorting field, e.g. Date Added, Premiere Date, Name or Rating.

• Choose ascending or descending sort order.

• Ideally, create custom navigation entries or shortcuts for individual collections, so that they can be accessed directly from the home screen.

Next update has a settings options to enable collections with more than 15 times to switch to a new view with two options, a list view that shows meta data on the right, a grid view with the same right side meta data.

Sorting is already possible, when you first open a collection the "landing page" that shows play all, shuffle and has sort in that same row (scending/descending was missing though).

Last point is not possible if you dont have admin access/dashboard access, home rows can only be added if they physically exist on the emby server itself (under home screen > home sections) I tried this inititally and it just overloads the app/doesnt work properly since its trying to create something that the server doesnt recognise.

[Pejamas 149]

Changes since 1.8.1

NEW
 

Quote

• Top 10 Spotlight adds separate Movies and Shows rows to Home. Each follows its MDBList trending list and displays up to ten matches in your Emby library. Enable Hide Watched to skip played movies and shows with no unwatched episodes.
• To enable Top 10, enter your MDBList key under Settings → Accounts & Help → MDBList, then select Settings → Home & Rows → Spotlight Style → Top 10. Press Down to move from Movies to Shows and on through your Home rows.

• Coming separately: MDBList Companion, an optional Emby server plugin, will let you pick a different list for each Top 10 row. Search MDBList, preview matches and missing titles, then assign a list directly or use a managed playlist. The built-in trending rows already work with your TV’s MDBList key.
• Long-press a Continue Watching item to remove it from the row while keeping your progress. Under Theme Songs, enable Continue Watching themes to hear a movie or show’s theme when focus rests on its card.
• Expand large collections under Settings → Detail Pages adds a poster grid or title list for collections with more than 15 items. Both include a letter rail and a fixed title preview.
• Subtitle settings now include a preview, six text sizes, text and background colours, opacity, edge styles and positioning.
• Added Danish and French translations, optional favourite hearts on cards, and PIN-free switching for saved profiles on this TV and theme songs optional toggle to play on continue watching

UPDATED

• The long-press menu shows poster art and actions for the selected item. Favourite can be toggled in place, collection choices show their artwork, and ratings updates show progress and results.
• Movie, show and episode detail pages include Delete when enabled and permitted. A confirmation appears before deletion.
• Video playlists pair a numbered title list with the selected title’s details, ratings and synopsis. Eligible Home rows include View all to open the full library, collection or playlist.
• Settings use tighter spacing and clearer colour-picker focus. On collection splash screens, the selected sort shows its direction and a second press reverses it.

FIXED

• The Movies letter rail could need a second press when jumping beyond the titles loaded on first entry, Missing option for Ascending/Descending in the sort option

[ChrissiW 0]

3 hours ago, Pejamas said:

Changes since 1.8.1

NEW
 

• Coming separately: MDBList Companion, an optional Emby server plugin, will let you pick a different list for each Top 10 row. Search MDBList, preview matches and missing titles, then assign a list directly or use a managed playlist. The built-in trending rows already work with your TV’s MDBList key.
• Long-press a Continue Watching item to remove it from the row while keeping your progress. Under Theme Songs, enable Continue Watching themes to hear a movie or show’s theme when focus rests on its card.
• Expand large collections under Settings → Detail Pages adds a poster grid or title list for collections with more than 15 items. Both include a letter rail and a fixed title preview.
• Subtitle settings now include a preview, six text sizes, text and background colours, opacity, edge styles and positioning.
• Added Danish and French translations, optional favourite hearts on cards, and PIN-free switching for saved profiles on this TV and theme songs optional toggle to play on continue watching

UPDATED

• The long-press menu shows poster art and actions for the selected item. Favourite can be toggled in place, collection choices show their artwork, and ratings updates show progress and results.
• Movie, show and episode detail pages include Delete when enabled and permitted. A confirmation appears before deletion.
• Video playlists pair a numbered title list with the selected title’s details, ratings and synopsis. Eligible Home rows include View all to open the full library, collection or playlist.
• Settings use tighter spacing and clearer colour-picker focus. On collection splash screens, the selected sort shows its direction and a second press reverses it.

FIXED

• The Movies letter rail could need a second press when jumping beyond the titles loaded on first entry, Missing option for Ascending/Descending in the sort option

Thanks for the recent update! The new features sound very promising. I would like to clarify a few things about how Collections and the MDBList Companion will work together in Arloes.

1. Collections and the new Wall layout

Does the new Wall layout also work when opening an existing Emby Collection?

Can I open a Collection containing hundreds or thousands of movies as a full poster grid, rather than just a horizontal row?

Can I sort the contents of a Collection, for example by Date Added (descending), Premiere Date, title or rating?

Is the selected layout and sorting option remembered for each Collection?

2. MDBList Companion – list handling

I have MDBLists containing up to 25,000 movies. My goal is to compare these lists against my own Emby library and display only the titles that are actually available on my Emby server.

Can MDBList Companion process an entire large MDBList, rather than being limited to the first 1,000 entries?

Does it automatically filter out titles that are not present in my Emby library?

Can the matched titles be saved as a managed playlist or another kind of list?

3. How are Companion lists integrated into Arloes?

This is probably my most important question.

Where exactly will I find the lists created by MDBList Companion in the Arloes interface?

Will they appear as separate sections or navigation categories on the home screen, similar to regular libraries or Collections?

Can I open a Companion list as a complete poster grid (Wall layout), showing all matched movies rather than just a Top 10 row?

Can these lists be sorted by Date Added (descending), so that the newest additions to my Emby library appear first?

Can I create several separate categories, for example "Movies 2000–2019" and "Movies from 2020 onwards", each linked to a different MDBList?

4. Relationship between Companion lists and Emby Collections

Will Companion-generated lists remain separate from regular Emby Collections, or can they also be converted into or displayed as Emby Collections?

I am trying to achieve a simple setup: several custom movie categories based on MDBLists, automatically matched against my Emby library, each opening as a full, sortable poster grid.

Thanks for clarifying how this is intended to work!

[Pejamas 149]

Quote

 

1. Collections and the new Wall layout

Does the new Wall layout also work when opening an existing Emby Collection?

Can I open a Collection containing hundreds or thousands of movies as a full poster grid, rather than just a horizontal row?

Can I sort the contents of a Collection, for example by Date Added (descending), Premiere Date, title or rating?

Is the selected layout and sorting option remembered for each Collection?

 

In the new update under Settings > Detail Pages theree's a new "Expand large collections" toggle, turning this on gives a anew sub option under it to pick 2 view types, a list style with meta data on the right (logo, ratings, genre, synopsis) or a grid view with the same right info on focused item (grid is vertically scrolled) this automatically turns any collection that has more than 15 posters into the selected view, anything under 15 remains the regular side scroll view. When you first open a collection you get the "hero page" shows the collection title, amount of items and synopsis etc with a Play all, shuffle, sort, fav buttons so you literally just click the sort button and pick the sort you want. then press don to showw titles and go from there.

Quote

 

2. MDBList Companion – list handling

I have MDBLists containing up to 25,000 movies. My goal is to compare these lists against my own Emby library and display only the titles that are actually available on my Emby server.

Can MDBList Companion process an entire large MDBList, rather than being limited to the first 1,000 entries?

Does it automatically filter out titles that are not present in my Emby library?

Can the matched titles be saved as a managed playlist or another kind of list?

 

This is what you see when searching/adding a list url. Tells you what's in your library, and whats not what the ordering will be by default based off the list, theres zero limits, the list could have 100000 items and it will still load and populate what ever is in the library. Playlists is exactly what these do:

They appear as regular playlists - viewable within the playlists folder or as home rows if you create a home row through emby dashboard.

Quote

 

3. How are Companion lists integrated into Arloes?

This is probably my most important question.

Where exactly will I find the lists created by MDBList Companion in the Arloes interface?

Will they appear as separate sections or navigation categories on the home screen, similar to regular libraries or Collections?

Can I open a Companion list as a complete poster grid (Wall layout), showing all matched movies rather than just a Top 10 row?

Can these lists be sorted by Date Added (descending), so that the newest additions to my Emby library appear first?

Can I create several separate categories, for example "Movies 2000–2019" and "Movies from 2020 onwards", each linked to a different MDBList?

 

Same as above, in the "my media" tab youd see a playlists folder, within here you'd see all the playlists you've created. Home screen rows as i mentioned in my last reply are only available if the server itself has a home item created for that list (see images below). Once they are added in emby itself, you can in settings tick the home items to show in the home editor - that applies to any other sections added in embys home section editor - if it aint there, it can't be on the home page.

Playlists have an indepent view that is limited to a list view - theres too many variables here so I'm not going to code in music art shapes, poster shapes etc and because it has to have the play functions in the same view list works best (emby does the same thing on the tv app with a list) same sort function that collections have.

Quote

 

4. Relationship between Companion lists and Emby Collections

Will Companion-generated lists remain separate from regular Emby Collections, or can they also be converted into or displayed as Emby Collections?

 

completely seperate, they cant be converted into collections, they are just a curated playlist based off the mdlist items and whats in the library. The benifit with playlists through the companion too is that after adding a list its added to a scheduled task in embys settings - set a daily/wekkly time and if the list updates on mdb, the list updates in emby and rebuilds itself with the same logic.

Essentially, the heavy lifting is done through emby's dashboard itself, not the app - its just a front end viewer for what emby physically has.

[ChrissiW 0]

Thanks for the clarification! One final question regarding installation:

I use a rented Emby server (Emby 4.10.x) hosted by a provider. I only have access to the Emby Dashboard and the official plugin catalogue. I do not have access to the server's filesystem or plugin folder.

Is MDBList Companion available through the official Emby plugin catalogue, or does it require manual DLL installation?

If manual installation is required, is there another way to install it on a remotely hosted Emby server without filesystem access?

Thanks!

[Pejamas 149]

18 minutes ago, ChrissiW said:

Thanks for the clarification! One final question regarding installation:

I use a rented Emby server (Emby 4.10.x) hosted by a provider. I only have access to the Emby Dashboard and the official plugin catalogue. I do not have access to the server's filesystem or plugin folder.

Is MDBList Companion available through the official Emby plugin catalogue, or does it require manual DLL installation?

If manual installation is required, is there another way to install it on a remotely hosted Emby server without filesystem access?

Thanks!

Will be (hopefully) on the plugin store, I just recently got a devid and published another plugin so this one should be addable too.

[CBers 7776]

Just signed up for the beta program and joined the group, after a recommdation from @GrimReaper.

Will install onto my 2 Shields later when I'm home.
 

Edited Tuesday at 09:52 AM by CBers

[ChrissiW 0]

26 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

Will be (hopefully) on the plugin store, I just recently got a devid and published another plugin so this one should be addable too.

That’s good news.

I’m hopeful that this plugin will be added to the catalog just as easily. I’m sure I’ll find out about it through the helpful information shared here on the forum.

[Pejamas 149]

59 minutes ago, CBers said:

Just signed up for the beta program and joined the group, after a recommdation from @GrimReaper.

Will install onto my 2 Shields later when I'm home.
 

Highly reccomend 2 things, take a good look around settings, theres quite some nifty customisations, and set your view type to "wall" in a library view and pretend you're a billionaire with a kaleidescape setup IYKYK.

[GrimReaper 5221]

11 minutes ago, Pejamas said:

set your view type to "wall" in a library view and pretend you're a billionaire with a kaleidescape setup IYKYK.

Wall layout rulez.