I would find it extremely useful if all clients allowed for navigation between episodes when in the episode view.
For example, if you're viewing the S02E03 episode summary page, there should be a way to easily navigate to previous (e.g., S02E02) and future episodes (e.g., S02E04). In addition, it would be great if this worked between seasons (e.g., S02E01 allowed you to get to S01E24, or whatever the final episode of season 1 is).
Something like the addition of left or right arrows on the episode page would do the trick. Ideally, these would be mapped to the fast forward and rewind buttons on clients where they are available.
The main clients I would like to request this for are:
Xbox One
Android (for FireTV)
But, again, I think this functionality should be available on all clients (I haven't used the Windows Phone or Roku apps in a while, so can't speak as to whether or not they have this functionality).
Note: I know that the current iOS client doesn't really have an episode view (unless you count the "information" screen), but I'm hoping that it will fall in line with the majority of clients that do have such a view. And, if it ever does, it would be great if it allows for this functionality.
A little background on why I think this would be beneficial to users:
Plex Web (using arrows in the top right) and PHT (using left and right arrow keys) spoil us by allowing this type of navigation (though, it would be nice if the function worked between seasons)
The On Deck feature is great; however:
If you get distracted on the last episode (or, in my case, fell asleep), it's a hassle to navigate to the Show/Season/Episode to start it over
If you've taken a break from a show, sometimes it’s nice to get a refresher by viewing the previous episode’s summary
There was probably a more concise way to request this, but hopefully it's at least somewhat clear.
For the Xbox One client it would be handy to use the bumpers while on the episode screen since they are otherwise not in use on that screen. Would fit well with the xbox ui design philosophy as well.
Honestly the thing that would be the most helpful would be to have a unified design across all clients with the same input/interaction i.e. pht, tv UI for the android app, and rook would have the same interaction/layout and the iOS and Android tablet/phone apps would be similar. Right now, my in-laws have a roku at their house but when they visit our place they are wildly confused by plex due to the fact that the ui across the roku app and the FireTV (what's on my tv) are so vastly different. I understand that I'm oversimplifying it however most of the info that's shown on screen should be being pulled from the PMS API so it shouldn't be hard to get the same functionality and use the same aesthetic and settings layout. Right now the UX is vastly different across platforms even if you're still interacting with it the same way (either with a remote, keyboard/mouse, or a touch screen).
Honestly the thing that would be the most helpful would be to have a unified design across all clients with the same input/interaction i.e. pht, tv UI for the android app, and rook would have the same interaction/layout and the iOS and Android tablet/phone apps would be similar. Right now, my in-laws have a roku at their house but when they visit our place they are wildly confused by plex due to the fact that the ui across the roku app and the FireTV (what's on my tv) are so vastly different. I understand that I'm oversimplifying it however most of the info that's shown on screen should be being pulled from the PMS API so it shouldn't be hard to get the same functionality and use the same aesthetic and settings layout. Right now the UX is vastly different across platforms even if you're still interacting with it the same way (either with a remote, keyboard/mouse, or a touch screen).
I second the idea that Plex's UI and UX should be more universal across the devices. There are things unique about certain devices that Plex can take advantage of, such as XB One's voice commands, that's fine. Or some devices have different way of interacting, remote, touchscreen, keyboard/mouse, etc, their UI can vary slightly to better fit its use scenario but overall UX should at least be universal.
Overall, I agree that the the user experience (primarily related to navigation) should be consistent between clients where possible. The Plex apps don't need to all look the same (I read a dev post previously that they tried to design each Plex app to fit the client UI), but I think it's reasonable to want a similar experience between clients.
That being said, I think the Plex team is trying for that, but it takes time. As such, I'd be content to just be able to easily navigate between episodes.
For the Xbox One client it would be handy to use the bumpers while on the episode screen since they are otherwise not in use on that screen. Would fit well with the xbox ui design philosophy as well.
I'd be happy with bumpers or triggers (I can't remember which ones are fast forward / rewind and which are next/previous chapter). I agree that bumpers would fit well with the Xbox design philosophy (navigating between tabs, etc.).
I think it would be extremely helpful to be able to navigate between episodes while in the episode window. There have been plenty of times when i come back to a show and forgot what was on the last episode so I have to back out and select it. While this isn't that difficult, it would seem like an easy and very convenient thing to just go back and forth between episodes using the back and forward buttons.
Also I agree that a unified experience through all clients would be great.
Looks like the Xbox One app does already have a helpful feature for show navigation:
From the episode preplay screen, select the "More" [...] button and you'll be presented with an option to view the show or the current season. This makes navigating between episodes/seasons much easier for shows that you select from your On Deck on the home page.
It's not the same as what's being requested here, but thought it might help those unaware (as I was until a couple days ago).
It's been a while, so thought I'd see if anyone else feels this would be beneficial or if any devs or ninja's could weigh in--not that it is particularly popular in terms of 'likes' at the moment, but it still seems like it would be useful on all clients, which would benefit plenty of folks.
I know other threads are going on about feature parity, but this one is at the top of my list.
i much prefer the way plex web does it... showing the path up the top left...
That's nice too. Certainly wouldn't complain if this made it to other interfaces. Though, I feel this might be difficult to navigate on other clients. Plus, Plex Web also has left and right arrows at the top right that allow you to navigate between seasons and episodes accordingly. I use both of those features regularly.
well as far as PHT goes, perhaps could be displayed top left, and use the up arrow move up to highlight it, and left and right when its highlighted jumps between the paths... when not selected left and right arrows navigate episodes in the current season as it currently is...
I do like how clean to preplay screen is, but I'd have to agree that would be a nice addition. Maybe it could be hidden or something and if you hit up the navigation path would slide down and allow you to select anywhere to navigate in the path.
But, I'd still be happy with them just getting basic navigation on all platforms first haha.
that's a good idea actually... press up to display it...
off on a tangent a little, but perhaps in coverflow/list views (so like looking through all your movies or tv shows/episodes) pressing up can display a similar thing except perhaps top right a count of items displayed on screen... that's another little thing i always miss in PHT from Plex Web, is a count of what you've got on screen... say after you've filtered a list of movies and want to know how many you've got to decide from to watch lol...
Stoked that we have this for iOS and Xbox One now. Looking forward to it making it to the Amazon FireTV (might already be on the mobile android or AndroidTV layouts).
