Zerk Play 2

[florinp93 16]

Hi all, you've probably seen my other post about Zerk Play, a custom Emby frontend. For those who have been using it, you might have noticed that it hasn 't been updated for a while. The reason for the lack of updates was not that the project was abandoned ; instead , I was focused on rewriting the entire thing. Now, the time has come to show you what that effort has produced .

Zerk Play 2.0 is a full rewrite. When you open it, it should help you find something to watch, not leave you scrolling a library grid. If what you want isn't on the server yet, you can request it from the same screen.

Discovery first

Home is built from your watch history, not just "Latest added":

• Because you watched… suggestions based on what you actually finished
• What are you in the mood for? theme rows like Coming of age, Against all odds, Whodunits and Heists & cons, each showing how many titles you already have
• Picked for you, plus rows built from your taste (Because you like Action · Comedy)
• Top 10 trending, with a big-number row like the streaming services have

Every title has tags (from TMDB keywords: Heist, Hitman, Based on a true story…). Open a tag to see everything that matches, starting with what's already in your library. Each details page also has More like this, and trailers play in the background while you read.

There's also a Discover tab (trending, popular, coming soon), a Calendar of upcoming releases, and Collections built from TMDB, even if your server doesn't group them.

Requests built in (Jellyseerr / Overseerr)

Connect Jellyseerr or Overseerr and titles you don't have show up right next to the ones you do:

• A Request badge on anything not in your library, in every row: home, Discover, search, More like this
• One Request page: pick the seasons, watch the trailer, done
• Search shows your library first, then a Not in your library row you can request from
• Requested and Awaiting release badges, so you can see what's on the way

Playback

• Windows: mpv (libmpv, gpu-next on D3D11) with real HDR output. It can switch Windows HDR on for HDR videos and back off afterwards. Audio passthrough to your receiver (TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, EAC3…).
• Android TV: a native Media3 player with an FFmpeg audio decoder, plus passthrough settings for your TV / soundbar / receiver.
• Versions: if a movie has several files (1080p, 2160p Dolby Vision…), you can pick one and the app remembers your choice.
• Skip intro, manually or automatically.
• Subtitles: a Smart mode (your language, or forced subtitles for foreign dialogue), size and style options, and a delay setting.
• TMDB metadata in your language (titles, descriptions, logos, artwork) without touching your server's libraries.

Live TV

Add your own Xtream Codes IPTV account to get a proper TV guide: channel groups, an EPG timeline and what's on now. Live TV works next to your movie library in the same app.

 

Made for the couch

The whole UI is driven by D-pad / remote / keyboard first. It works on Windows too: plug in a gamepad or use the arrow keys, and the mouse cursor hides itself until you move it again. The mouse still works everywhere, with hover and wheel scrolling.

Setup on a TV is painless: scan a QR code with your phone and fill in the server, TMDB key and Jellyseerr details there instead of typing with a remote.

Getting started

1. Download the Windows installer or the Android TV APK.
2. On first start, choose Emby or Jellyfin and sign in.
3. (Optional) Add a free TMDB API key for metadata in your language, tags and collections.
4. (Optional) Add your Jellyseerr / Overseerr address and API key for requests.

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:01 AM by florinp93
Attached images properly

[hoopsdavis 36]

Great work!  I've provided Client also but I'll certainly take a look at yours.  Love the look and format.

Unified Media

[florinp93 16]

Updated download links can be found here : https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta . I've changed the releases to "pre-release" and that broke the download links in the post. Couldn't edit the OP anymore, so there you have it. 

https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta

[hoopsdavis 36]

1 minute ago, florinp93 said:

Updated download links can be found here : https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta . I've changed the releases to "pre-release" and that broke the download links in the post. Couldn't edit the OP anymore, so there you have it. 

https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta

Thanks.    Looking forward to checking it out.    Great job.

[florinp93 16]

Zerk Play 2 (beta 2)

New

• Trailers in cards: stay on a movie or show for a moment and the card widens to play its trailer. Works on Windows and Android TV. Turn it off under Settings → Content → Trailers in cards; the Trailer sound setting applies.
• Trailers on Android TV: background trailers on details pages now play on Android TV too.
• Chapters: a Chapters button and list in the player on Windows and Android TV, with markers on the progress bar, for both Emby and Jellyfin. Titles with named chapters also get a Chapters row on their details page.
• Your collections on Home: pick collections under Settings → Content → Collections on Home, and their films show as rows right after Continue watching, in the order you choose.

Fixes and improvements

• Fixed details, series and request pages sometimes not scrolling back up to the top after reaching the bottom.
• Search shows your library results right away, without waiting for TMDB or Jellyseerr/Overseerr.
• Home makes fewer server requests when Jellyseerr/Overseerr isn't set up.
  
   

The latest version can be downloaded from the github repo : https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta.2

[florinp93 16]

Zerk Play 2 (beta 3)

Hotfix for beta 2. If you already have the beta installed, the app offers this update when it starts (or use Settings → Diagnostics → Check for updates).

Fixes

• Settings → Video → Advanced video and Settings → Content → Collections on Home can now be used with the keyboard, remote and D-pad straight away. Before, arrow keys did nothing until you clicked a row with the mouse.

 

Downloads
Windows 10/11: ZerkPlay-Public-Windows-setup.exe
Android TV / Google TV: ZerkPlay-Public-Android.apk (sideload with Downloader, Send Files to TV or adb)

[Mahinepua 152]

I've been using this for a while now, supports GPU-next, frame rate matching and dont revert, background youtube trailers on detail pages, MPV based with custom config, live TV.

Works with Jellyfin and Emby and the developer makes lightning fast changes to bugs and improvements.

Edited Wednesday at 06:12 PM by Mahinepua

[florinp93 16]

Zerk Play 2 (beta 4)
 

What's new

Subtitles

• Finer subtitle size control. Size now goes from 50% to 150% in 5% steps. Change it with left/right in Settings → Subtitles, where a live preview shows exactly how big subtitles will look on screen.
• Change subtitle size during playback. The Subtitles panel has a new "Subtitle size" option. The size changes live as you move through the list; Back cancels.
• Search and download subtitles. "Search subtitles" at the top of the Subtitles panel searches through your Emby/Jellyfin server's subtitle providers (e.g. OpenSubtitles). Pick a result and playback continues with the new subtitle once the server has it.

Ratings

• Rotten Tomatoes scores (critics and audience) on movie, series and request pages. Episodes and seasons show their series' scores.
• MDBList support. Add a free MDBList API key in Settings → Services (or from your phone via the setup QR code) for the most complete Rotten Tomatoes coverage. Without a key, scores come from *Seerr when available.

Requests

• Choose the quality profile when requesting. Users with advanced request rights in *Seerr can pick the Radarr/Sonarr profile and server, including 4K servers, instead of always getting the default.

Live TV

• M3U + XMLTV playlists. Add any M3U playlist with an optional XMLTV guide (Tunarr, NostalgiaTV and similar) in Settings → Live TV or from the phone setup page. Its channels and guide appear alongside your other Live TV.

Home & browsing

• Unwatched episode counts on landscape cards (e.g. Continue watching, Latest shows).
• New quality and sound icons on title pages: SD/HD/4K, HDR10/HDR10+/HLG/Dolby Vision and audio format with channels.
• Smoother browsing on TV. Card trailers redraw far less while you move around Home, and the "Trailers in cards" option (cards widening and playing trailers) is now off by default on Android TV. You can turn it back on in Settings.

Setup

• TMDB API key is always available on the phone setup page and during onboarding, even when using your server's metadata. It powers trailers, collections and discovery.

Fixes

• Pressing Play on a series or season from Home, search or collections no longer fails with a server error; it starts Next Up or the first episode.
• A trailer no longer keeps playing in the background after you start an episode from a series page.
  
  Download links can be found on the official Github repo - https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta.4
  If you already have the app installed, it will automatically ask for an update. 

[florinp93 16]

Zerk Play 2 (beta 5)
 

If you already have the beta installed, the app offers this update when it starts (or use Settings → Diagnostics → Check for updates).

What's new

Android TV player settings

The player on Android TV / Google TV now has a Settings button, like the Windows player:

• Aspect ratio: Original, Zoom to fill (crops the edges to fill the screen) or Stretch. The choice is kept for the next episode, and it works in Live TV too, which is handy for 4:3 channels.
• Playback speed: 0.5x to 2x.
• Playback info: video and audio format, resolution, frame rate and bitrate, the hardware decoders in use and dropped frames.

Quicker remote controls

• Double Back to exit. Press Back twice quickly anywhere in the app to open the exit menu, instead of backing out page by page. Works with the Android TV remote, a keyboard (Esc) and a gamepad (B) on Windows. It's off during playback.
• OK to pause. During playback, with the controls hidden, OK (the middle button) now pauses and resumes instead of opening the controls. Up/Down still show them.

Downloads

Get the latest release files from the main repo page: https://github.com/florinp93/Zerk-Play-2.0/releases/tag/v2-beta.5