Unlock Emby without Google Pay

[Erik1974 0]

Hi,

I am looking into the Emby app as a substitute for Kodi. But before i get too excited i would like to know how to unlovk the app without Google pay. I have Emby on a Nvidia Shield and the only way to pay for the app seems to be with Google Pay which is unavailable in my country. I installed Emby on my phone since i can buy apps through there but there is no unlock option? So how would i unlock the app so i can use it on my Shield? I don't need or want the premium.

 

[Sammy 790]

So you don't have a server? 

How are you going to get content? 

[ebr 16169]

1 hour ago, Erik1974 said:

I installed Emby on my phone since i can buy apps through there

Hi.  If you can access the play store payments with your phone, why can't you do it also on the Shield?

[Erik1974 0]

The payment on the phone go through ideal, not Google pay. The Shield will only accept payment through Google Pay which isn't available to me. 

[ebr 16169]

2 minutes ago, Erik1974 said:

The payment on the phone go through ideal, not Google pay. The Shield will only accept payment through Google Pay which isn't available to me. 

Interesting.  That is using the same Google account on both devices?

The answer is that the unlocks are handled through the Google Play store.  It has to be that way so that is the only way it can be done.

[Erik1974 0]

Yes both the phone and shield use the same account, so if paying on the phone would be possible in the app I would be able to do it. I can't pay with the Shield. But there is no unlock option on the phone app. 

[Carlo 4560]

If you run your own Emby Server you can purchase an Emby Premiere license and use that to unlock your devices.

If you don't mind me asking, what country are you in?

[Erik1974 0]

I'm in the Netherlands. I don't want or need premiere. I am currently also testing other options. Emby does look nice. I may have found a way to purchase the app on the Shield though. 

[Carlo 4560]

Hmm, I would have thought it possible to do a purchase directly in the Netherlands.  Just curious but what work around did you find?

[Erik1974 0]

It looks like i can add money to my account through the playstore. In the menu in paymentmethods there is a way to use ideal to add money to my account.

Purchases on my phone are indeed possible, it is the Shield that can't do it, it needs Google Pay. I am able to buy apps on my phone and since i use the same account on the Shield i can install them from there. It's just not possible to unlock the Emby app on the phone.

[Sab39 8]

I have emby on my android mobile phone LG G6 (v3.1.64). I can't find an unlock option anywhere. I'm connected to Google play.  I've clicked on the "person" icon in the upper right corner, but the settings just appear (just like if I click the 3 bar "More" in the lower right corner).

I can find the option on my Tivo Stream 4k Android TV device, by clicking on my username up top, and selecting "unlock" app from the drop down menu. Easy enough.

But I can't find the unlock function on the android mobile app. Can you let me know exactly where to click on the mobile app so I can unlock it (vs it being unlocked because I'm connected to a Server with premiere)? The android tv gives you the option to unlock even if it's unlocked per the premiere purchased by the server owner. It allows you to unlock the app so it doesn't count toward their device cap.

Thanks.

[Carlo 4560]

@ebrI can't easily find this either on .64 version.

[Luke 42077]

In Emby for Android, just try to play something, and if an unlock is needed you will be prompted for it.

[Sab39 8]

the problem is, if the user is connected to a server that has purchased emby premiere, that message won't come up and there's no way to unlock it otherwise. I'd like to unlock the app regardless of whether I'm connected to a server owner who has emby premiere so I don't count toward their device limit.

[Happy2Play 9780]

8 minutes ago, Sab39 said:

the problem is, if the user is connected to a server that has purchased emby premiere, that message won't come up and there's no way to unlock it otherwise. I'd like to unlock the app regardless of whether I'm connected to a server owner who has emby premiere so I don't count toward their device limit.

Well you could remove your server premiere key then have the device connect to your server to bring up the unlock feature, then reapply your premiere key.

[Sab39 8]

vs having an easily accessible unlock button like the android tv/Fire tv app has?

isn't it in the emby's teams best interest to have the unlock button easily accessible whether or not they're connected to a server with a paid premiere key so that people can buy the unlock therefore earning the emby team more money? Why make it hard for people to pay you?

Please tell me this isn't going to be the acceptable answer?

Especially for a server owner who has 15 to 20 users with multiple devices... trying to coordinate with the device owner, the server owner would have to quickly remove the premiere key, have the device owner do your suggested workaround, and then reapply the premiere key so all of the software functions as the paid premiere membership intends... now multiply that by 15 to 20 users or more??? It's not a serious solution.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Sab39

[GrimReaper 4739]

Here's an idea: Why not have an Official Emby server brought online from the Dev Team' side? It could contain, for example, tutorials and tips&tricks, or even user-created helper content uploaded if it would be cloud-storage based? I'm sure there'll be quite a few ppl hopping on. And I reckon it would be a great place for newcomers to start? Or even learn some new tricks? Or being used for troubleshooting purposes? And in time it would only grow, both in content and userbase. Possibly taking some burden off the Forums as well?

Furthermore, it would surely assist in cases like this one, from Android App or any other client if facing same issue?

Just a thought.

Edit: It could also be a smooth way to highlight new features or propagate certain changes? Easier way to keep current then rewriting wiki? 

Edit 2: And let's not forget the "boast-factor", I'm sure showing-off would play a considerable part there.

Edited December 3, 2020 by GrimReaper76

[Sab39 8]

14 hours ago, GrimReaper76 said:

Here's an idea: Why not have an Official Emby server brought online from the Dev Team' side? It could contain, for example, tutorials and tips&tricks, or even user-created helper content uploaded if it would be cloud-storage based? I'm sure there'll be quite a few ppl hopping on. And I reckon it would be a great place for newcomers to start? Or even learn some new tricks? Or being used for troubleshooting purposes? And in time it would only grow, both in content and userbase. Possibly taking some burden off the Forums as well?

Furthermore, it would surely assist in cases like this one, from Android App or any other client if facing same issue?

Just a thought.

Edit: It could also be a smooth way to highlight new features or propagate certain changes? Easier way to keep current then rewriting wiki? 

Edit 2: And let's not forget the "boast-factor", I'm sure showing-off would play a considerable part there.

What's this got to do with having an unlock feature in the mobile app?

[GrimReaper 4739]

14 minutes ago, Sab39 said:

What's this got to do with having an unlock feature in the mobile app?

You are absolutely correct. It did start, tho, with your issue and thinkin' how about if there was a central server to which you could connect to and start playback, which would then prompt you to Unlock after one minute, therefore bypassing all the hassle with your usual server owner. And then it just grew from there, what would that central server contain etc. 

Anyway, I did ask a Forum moderator shortly thereafter to move that post to a different thread, I guess it just didn't happen.

 

 

[Sab39 8]

2 minutes ago, GrimReaper76 said:

You are absolutely correct. It did start, tho, with your issue and thinkin' how about if there was a central server to which you could connect to and start playback, which would then prompt you to Unlock after one minute, therefore bypassing all the hassle with your usual server owner. And then it just grew from there, what would that central server contain etc. 

Anyway, I did ask a Forum moderator shortly thereafter to move that post to a different thread, I guess it just didn't happen.

 

 

ah, no worries. just confused me.

[ebr 16169]

For right now, you can temporarily remove your Premiere key from your sever, then bring up the app, try to play something and then purchase the unlock.  We'll think of a better solution for the future.

[Sab39 8]

On 12/3/2020 at 5:16 PM, ebr said:

For right now, you can temporarily remove your Premiere key from your sever, then bring up the app, try to play something and then purchase the unlock.  We'll think of a better solution for the future.

I hear you about removing the Premiere key, but organizing this if you have more than a few users is a pain. Anyone with users already on their server can tell you this would be a pain to execute. But like I mentioned, making that app unlock function easily accessible like it is on the Emby for Fire TV app, benefits server admins (easy to access and able to remove the devices counting against the cap because of full playback access) and the Emby development team (additional revenue at $5 a pop). Let's not make it tougher for server admins to let end users unlock the app so the apps don't count toward their device limit or for the Emby teammate to earn more revenue. win-win for all. Hopefully something simple to implement. No need for anything other than the unlock feature being available on the mobile app (I believe it's also not available on the tvos or ios app either). I've only seen it on the Fire TVos and AndroidTVos once it's connected to the premiere server.

 

Thanks gents.

[Happy2Play 9780]

It never went anywhere and was removed, but wouldn't the user policy <DisablePremiumFeatures>true</DisablePremiumFeatures> switch resolved this issue?

[Sab39 8]

37 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

It never went anywhere and was removed, but wouldn't the user policy <DisablePremiumFeatures>true</DisablePremiumFeatures> switch resolved this issue?

Is that something we can currently do on a per user basis? Or are you saying it's something the dev team could do?

 

If it's something we can do on the server side, where exactly can we do that? I don't see that as an option on the dashboard.

[Happy2Play 9780]

2 minutes ago, Sab39 said:

Is that something we can currently do on a per user basis? Or are you saying it's something the dev team could do?

 

If it's something we can do on the server side, where exactly can we do that? I don't see that as an option on the dashboard.

It was something that appeared in the past that appeared to go nowhere and was removed.  There needs to be something server side to force users to purchase there own apps instead of just absorbing a server premiere slot.