VirtualTV plugin

[pünktchen 1418]

@The Mad TitanAs you are using Continuous Playback, have you entered an API Key under Playback Settings?

[The Mad Titan 9]

Yes I did. I created one in the Emby API key genrator and imput it in and that is what made it show up in the guide finally but I can't play a thing. I am sure I am missing the simplr thing because that is what it usally is in these senarios. So let me know what I am doing wrong.

[pünktchen 1418]

57 minutes ago, The Mad Titan said:

Yes I did. I created one in the Emby API key genrator and imput it in and that is what made it show up in the guide finally but I can't play a thing.

Believe me when i say you don't need the API key to generate guide data. It's only needed for Continuous Playback! And never post that API key here in the forum! Anyway, please lower the Audio Bitrate under Playback Settings to 480000. I've recently discovered some issues with 640000. If that doesn't help, send me Emby's log file in the PM you've started.

[The Mad Titan 9]

I will try it now and create a new api key now. Now is the strange thing when I set it to "Playlist Live" it jumps right in but "Continuos Live" gives a playback error message.

[The Mad Titan 9]

Well for me I removed it from Continuous Play (live) to just Play Live and it works like it should! Yeahh!!! LOL! So I guess I am just one of those users that just needed a slightly different set up to get it to work. Thank you for all of your help and consider this solved....

[pünktchen 1418]

21 hours ago, The Mad Titan said:

Well for me I removed it from Continuous Play (live) to just Play Live and it works like it should!

The question is, why did you even set up "Continuous Playback" in the first place when "Playlist Playback" was already the default?

[The Mad Titan 9]

When I was setting it up, apparently going off of some mis information from the web. As I said in a earlier statement, I knew it was something simple! So I just messed with it enough to figure out what that simple thing was.

[Adamaen2 3]

Hello,

I tried you plugin and it works pretty well.

For me the annoying thing is that when you start a program and stop, it goes to the continue watching section of the home screen, so if i start to watch multiple channel it fills up the continue watching with unwanted stuff.

Is there a way to change this behaviour?

Thanks.

[crusher11 1204]

36 minutes ago, Adamaen2 said:

Hello,

I tried you plugin and it works pretty well.

For me the annoying thing is that when you start a program and stop, it goes to the continue watching section of the home screen, so if i start to watch multiple channel it fills up the continue watching with unwanted stuff.

Is there a way to change this behaviour?

Thanks.

 

[Adamaen2 3]

Oh sorry, didn't see this...

Thanks, i will give it a try again

[hdsuisse 14]

On 4/20/2026 at 11:24 PM, pünktchen said:

@hdsuisseFeedback?

Hi, thanks for the new Version.  I've now had time to test it.

With Continuos Playback (Live) the emby TV Apps are not working anymore.  (Samsung, LG, FireTV)

With Playlist (Live) or Nativ (Live) The Apps are working perfect.

Export type Universal: the streams are still blocked after quickly switching channels.

Export type Direct: not tested because the apps don't work anymore with the automatic change to Continuos Playback (Live).

[kjhedges 68]

I use VirtualTV Plugin on my emby server.
I have set up about 20 channels all on Continuos Playback (Live)
I have a user setup just for VirtualTV
Server Version 4.9.3.0
Plugin Version 2.1.7.0

For me, it works on Samsung, LG, Roku and Android and IOS apps with no issues.

[pünktchen 1418]

13 hours ago, hdsuisse said:

With Continuos Playback (Live) the emby TV Apps are not working anymore.  (Samsung, LG, FireTV)

I've fixed some problems in Dev version 2.1.8.1. So please test it again. I've verified Continuous Playback is working in both Windows apps, both Android Apps, Roku and Web app.
If it still not working for you, please pm me the Emby log file.

[alex77777 45]

@pünktchenI've noticed when using the Apple TV 4k 3rd gen, and starting a Virtual TV channel with the intro video set to 0 ms causes the video to play but isn't visible, but you can still here the audio for it so it is definitely playing. Seems the only way to fix this is to increase the intro video time to 400ms to completely prevent it from happening. With this change it makes tuning in to channels very clunky. I'm using Playlist Playback, is there a way to fix this issue? Ideally I would want the intro video to be 0 since it tunes into the channel almost instantly then. Not sure if you have much control over this but any help would be appreciated.

[The Mad Titan 9]

I am attempting to set up virtual TV I have read the guides and troubleshooting techniques but I still cant get not one piec of content to show up in the guide or i cant see the content, but it does show up in the on-demand side of the server and the m3u file i use for other channels does work, just cant seem to use mu own files. Attached is pictures and logs, please let me know where am a going wrong.embyserver.txt

[The Mad Titan 9]

Anyone have any ideas for this issue, because nothing I can think of get this working like it is suppose to. The created channel shows up, but no content.

[pünktchen 1418]

7 hours ago, The Mad Titan said:

Anyone have any ideas for this issue, because nothing I can think of get this working like it is suppose to. The created channel shows up, but no content.

How should that work: Release date equal or newer than 2026 but older than 1900?

[pünktchen 1418]

On 5/12/2026 at 5:39 PM, alex77777 said:

@pünktchenI've noticed when using the Apple TV 4k 3rd gen, and starting a Virtual TV channel with the intro video set to 0 ms causes the video to play but isn't visible, but you can still here the audio for it so it is definitely playing. Seems the only way to fix this is to increase the intro video time to 400ms to completely prevent it from happening. With this change it makes tuning in to channels very clunky. I'm using Playlist Playback, is there a way to fix this issue? Ideally I would want the intro video to be 0 since it tunes into the channel almost instantly then. Not sure if you have much control over this but any help would be appreciated.

Unfortunately the playback engine of the Apple TV app seems to be very sensitive, not to say oversensitive. There's nothing i can do here. But you could try the latest dev version of my plugin with playback mode "Native (Live)". I don't have any Apple device, so i don't know anything about the playback start experience with "Native (Live)". I do not even know if it will auto advance to the next show when playback of the first program has ended.

[The Mad Titan 9]

And that solves that! I knew I was looking some over tht was right in front of my face... TY

[alex77777 45]

15 hours ago, pünktchen said:

But you could try the latest dev version of my plugin with playback mode "Native (Live)"

I tried the latest dev version with "Native (Live)". It actually does start the channel instantly, and seems to auto advance the the next episode also.

Two issues I noticed with "Native (Live)"

1. Doesn't seem to show "Skip Intro" prompt or "Keep Watching/Next Episode" at the end of the episode.

2. If I were to skip forward to the end of the episode, it just puts be back to the "Live" position and doesn't auto advance the to next episode. But if the Live position hits the end of the episode it will advance the the next episode. 

[alex77777 45]

@pünktchenSeems you have something on the verge of greatness, if you put out any other Dev versions, I'm willing to test them on the Apple TV. 

[alex77777 45]

9 minutes ago, alex77777 said:

If I were to skip forward to the end of the episode, it just puts be back to the "Live" position and doesn't auto advance the to next episode. But if the Live position hits the end of the episode it will advance the the next episode. 

@pünktchen Upon further testing this behavior is the same across all devices, not just the Apple TV. 

[alex77777 45]

@pünktchen This notification popped up when it was switching the next episode at one point. Ive seen this before with Playlist playback, seems if i switch to other Virtual TV channels with the overlay guide (the guide you can access while something plays in the background) it pops up. What I usually do is just press back which removes the notification from the screen and everything plays fine, so I'm not too sure why its popping up. 

I Appreciate the help.

 

[The Mad Titan 9]

Thank you for you patience with me during past issues and your advice really does the trick. Okay now here is the new issue... Content is online now and it plays (Which is all I can really ask for. LOL), ut here is the issue. The programing that is on the guide is not what the system will play. For example all live shows and movies are actually 2 selection ahead of what should be played. Attached in the pictures are some examples of what I am talking about. So in the picture you will see that the current movie that should be playing, but in the other screen you see what is actually being played (Pirates of the Carrabiean). The thing about that is that title is two plays ahead of whats suppose to be played. It even does that with TV series it's always two shows or movies ahead of whats being displayed whats supposed to be on. 

Suggestions please on solutions if any... P.S, This is an awesome add on and I cant wait to master it!

[alex77777 45]

@pünktchenSwitching from one "Native (Live)" channel to another "Native (Live)" channel using the overlay guide causes the video to start but the guide then pops up and you cant see what is playing, but you can hear it in the background. The only way to switch between "Native (Live)" Channels is to back out to the guide and then go the channel and click play, otherwise you'll just have the video stuck playing behind all the UI and you can't see it. This is essentially the same issue with the Playlist playback I was having when the remote playlist delay was set to 0. Seems more like an issue with the Emby App on the Apple TV itself than anything else. I'm going to tag the Devs to see if we can improve this. 

@LukeI think this maybe an issue with the playback on the Apple TV when using the Play on Another Device Feature (I believe this is the feature Virtual TV utilities).

 

This is the issue I was having with Playlist playback, seems you can replicate it very easily: 

On 5/12/2026 at 10:39 AM, alex77777 said:

@pünktchenI've noticed when using the Apple TV 4k 3rd gen, and starting a Virtual TV channel with the intro video set to 0 ms causes the video to play but isn't visible, but you can still here the audio for it so it is definitely playing. Seems the only way to fix this is to increase the intro video time to 400ms to completely prevent it from happening. With this change it makes tuning in to channels very clunky. I'm using Playlist Playback, is there a way to fix this issue? Ideally I would want the intro video to be 0 since it tunes into the channel almost instantly then. Not sure if you have much control over this but any help would be appreciated.

 

P.S. I'm not trying to spam this forum, just trying to document what I'm seeing, sorry for the rapid posts. 

Thanks