Serenity for Android 1.4.1-M1
Maintenance release to fix a small issue with the external player setting getting reset to true on non-googletv devices. Setting will be remembered after updates now. It is only set to external by default the first time the app has been run after this update.
In addition, the simplified Movie and Episode detail view is now included.
Video Queue now supports MX Player 1.7.19. Playback functionality now behaves the same as if the internal player had been chosen.
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/wiki/Downloads#141-m1-available
If testing goes alright, should be released later this weekend.
Hi, Many thanks for the release
Nice look, I like it.
It become almost perfet, I only would like an on video watched status (bullet or progeress bar). The idea is to be able to see which episodes have been seen or not, especially for épisodes.
The possibility to browse the seasons back like it works actually on épisodes will be a plus, especially for series with a lot of seasons, and then same for TV Shows main menu. For movies, there are anyway to many movies, so it is better to browse with the help of filters, categories or collections.
Other thing, -> translation : The new text are not translated in french. Do not hesitate to provide me the XML or other file to translate them in french
Yeah those features you requested for episodes are planned and the watched indicator as well.
Many thanks in advance.
For starters let me say that I'm reporting on the stable version stated in the thread title, NOT the beta version stated in the top of the first post.
As long as switching between beta and stable versions requires full uninstall I won't participate in beta testing of the app (too much hassles with lost settings etc).
So this report concerns only the stable release from Google Play Store (so the 'bought and paid for' version ;)).
I've installed this Serenity version on three different Android units, these being:
DMTech 8" Tablet (aka: PIPO Tablet) using ICS 4.1.1 (JB)
Ouya using Android 4.1.2 (JB)
Xios DS Media Play (M1) using Android 4.0.3 (ICS)
Results for these units was rather consistent, except for their native speed differences, so I see no reason to differentiate between them in my report.
In addition to some annoyances (further down in this post) I noted one definite bug, which may be easy to miss if testing on a device using mainly mouse or touch-screen interfaces to control the app. But it becomes very clear, and a major nuisance, whenever controlling the app mainly through DPad use, whether on a remote controller or an attached keyboard.
----- DPad interface bug -----
This bug occurs when using the drop-down menus at the top right, intentionally or accidentally (by pressing DPad up once too many).
In most cases it then becomes impossible to move the DPad cursor focus back into the main video list, as it then appears 'locked' into the left-most of those drop-down menus (even if another one was used after DPad-Up). No manipulations of the DPad can then bring the focus back into the main listing, and the only way out of this locked-up state using DPad is to either press the 'Back' button (exits from list) or the 'OK/action' button (activates one of the ViewMode change commands in the left-most drop-down menu).
There is one exception from the above-mentioned bug, in that it does work to move focus back into the list by DPad-Down immediately after using the 'first-letter' drop-down menu. But if that menu is instead exited by DPad-Left (going to another of the drop-down menus) then the bug still strikes in full, locking the cursor away (invisibly).
If you test this yourself with a DPad interface you'll soon see what I mean. (You can do this even on most phones/tablets by attaching a BlueTooth or USB keyboard.)
----- Diverse Annoyances -----
One of the main reasons for getting Serenity was that I heard it handles 'Watched' flags correctly even with an external player.
However that may be, I still find it rather pointless as long as those 'Watched' flags are never displayed, anywhere in this client...
With several hundreds of TV shows I need those flags to keep track of where to resume viewing a show, after leaving it a while.
Another irritating issue is the assymetric use of list ViewModes.
I have exactly the same navigational needs for the main listings of "Movies" and "TV Shows" (currently 955 VS 647 list entries).
So the simple one-row side-scroller interface you offer for shows is simply not enough.
Even on my fastest unit (the Ouya) it takes several minutes to scroll through my show library that way.
You really should make all the ViewModes available to the user, for both Movies and Shows, so each user can choose what's best for the media library used.
One of the issues I noticed you've already fixed, is that 'External Player' was the default choice (even if none is installed).
So I'm glad you already caught that one, although it obviously needs a public release too.
This doesn't matter to me personally though, since I do have external players and do want to use them.
But I also think you need to add an explicit choice of which external player to use, in the app settings (not rely on Android's implementation of such choice).
Btw: The official Plex client is even worse in this regard, when using external player, as it demands new player choice entry for every single playback event...
Finally I find it very odd that Serenity doesn't handle proper PMS login.
Please understand that I'm NOT talking about logging in to myPlex here, though that too will be needed for future remote functionality.
But if PMS has been set up to require passworded login even for local users, then Serenity simply fails to connect.
I've temporarily reconfigured my PMS to allow Serenity access, but I'd prefer to run the server with full password checks.
----- In conclusion -----
Don't take my negative comments above too badly now. That's how 'Negative Feedback' has to work, with its main content concerning things that need to be changed, while things already satisfactory or better are mostly glossed over or bypassed entirely. Rest assured that I found a lot in Serenity that was good and/or promising too.
Best regards: dlanor
Thanks. For the Ouya I was able to replicate the d-pad issue and fixed those issues last night. There will be a fix in 1.4.2 which should be available sometime this weekend.
There is an indicator for when a show has been watched it is the first icon in the info graphic row when in detail view. The mx player recording of this position only happens if you force mx player to resume in the settings. This setting is going to be renamed in a future maintenance release as ViMu for Google TV also now supports reporting the last play back position as well.
Login requires myplex even for local networks which I don't currently support. Personally plex needs to break this out of the cloud for local clients accessing the server. I am looking to add https support for accessing content for those that want or need encryption of the data.
Grid views will becoming to the tv shows in the near future.
There is an open request for overlay icons on the posters to indicate watched status so should come in a future maintenance release.
Thanks. For the Ouya I was able to replicate the d-pad issue and fixed those issues last night. There will be a fix in 1.4.2 which should be available sometime this weekend.
Great! I hope you mean 'available on Google' though, and not just as a beta release.
There is an indicator for when a show has been watched it is the first icon in the info graphic row when in detail view.
Ah yes, that little triangle in the miniature TV icon. I missed that entirely in my earlier tests...
However, from the viewpoint of navigational aids that indicator is not very efficient.
In order to have it show me an unknown border between the watched and unwatched episodes of a show I still have to scroll through every episode of that show (before the border) while intently watching that icon, until I finally reach the first unwatched episode.
What I think you really need for perfect 'watched' handling of shows is the following:
1: A triple state overlay icon, with different appearance for fully_watched, partly_watched and unwatched states.
One of the three states could have invisible overlay, and in such case that should be the 'fully_watched' state.
This overlay usage should then be applied for all types of video list items (movies, shows, seasons, episodes)
2: Grid ViewMode for season posters, using such overlays, so you can see most of them at once (all of them for most shows).
(Grid mode optional so Fanart fanatics can disable it.)
3: Grid ViewMode for episode thumbnails, using such overlays, so you can see a lot of them per screen.
For low-speed android units these grid modes can be complemented by text list modes to minimize GPU work.
For such text modes you can also replace the 'watched' overlays by special char's in a list column (like '-', '!' and '*')
4: For completion the overlays should of course also be applied to the main show posters, but that's not very important.
Keeping track of the separate shows mentally is far easier than keeping track of hundreds of varying season+episode 'watch borders', so normally a user won't need such help to remember which shows he wants to watch... ;)
Btw: You probably recognize the scheme above as similar to that used by Plex/Web and Kepler, though not identical as they also use numbers to indicate unwatched episodes of a show or season. But that's not really needed for convenient show navigation. Just having three-state overlay icons will do the job fine. After entering a show with the ViewModes described above, a single glance will tell me what season contains the 'watch border', and after entering that season a simple scroll or two while glancing should pinpoint the episode of interest. And that's a major reduction of the search effort, compared to what's required without such features.
The mx player recording of this position only happens if you force mx player to resume in the settings. This setting is going to be renamed in a future maintenance release as ViMu for Google TV also now supports reporting the last play back position as well.
I'm less concerned with the recording of resume positions than I am with the inability to NOT resume.
When using external player I never get the query about resumption, and for MX Player this always results in a resume, whether I configured Serenity so or not, while for other external players it always results in restart from scratch. Either way I have no way to control this result myself, except by using the MX Player OSD buttons to manually step the playback position back to the beginning. (In most cases of early aborted playback I do prefer not to resume, but to instead restart the episode.)
This is not a major issue in any way, but just a minor irritation. And I think this behaviour can be improved without major recoding.
I would prefer it if the option in Serenity was to handle resumption in the normal Plex fashion. This does mean overriding the resumption behaviour of MX Player every time, just like the current option can do. But when the PMS info has a resume position to use, Serenity should ask the user whether to resume or restart (just like a normal Plex client does). Only if the user chooses to resume should that position be used, but otherwise Serenity should 'tell' MX Player to restart the video (or if that's not allowed when resume positions exist, Serenity can instead tell MX Player to 'resume' from position zero, for the same effect). And of course, the same 'resume at zero' should also be done when PMS does NOT offer any resume position, since the MX Player might have recorded one it wants to use...
It would also be possible to add yet another Serenity option, for whether to use this new method or not, and with that option unselected the behaviour would be the same as in the present version (always resuming, never restarting, never asking).
NB: In this discussion of resumption I speak only of external player usage. With internal player it's already satisfactory.
Login requires myplex even for local networks which I don't currently support.
That's up to you, but it would make Serenity a much stronger contender, on a par with the 'real' Plex clients.
Personally plex needs to break this out of the cloud for local clients accessing the server.
I agree. Local authorization should never require an Internet connection.
I am looking to add https support for accessing content for those that want or need encryption of the data.
That would be best of course.
Grid views will becoming to the tv shows in the near future.
Great! That's very useful for anyone with a large show library.
There is an open request for overlay icons on the posters to indicate watched status so should come in a future maintenance release.
That's good of course, but it's not the main Show or Movie posters that need it the most.
As I've explained in more detail above, it's primarily in the listings of show seasons and season episodes that we need this info, and need it presented in a concise way for multiple list entries in one glance. That can reduce the list navigation work to find a 'watch border' to a tiny fraction of what it is today. (Just a few clicks and glances should do it.)
Edit:
On second thought I've decided to ditch the 'official' Serenity release I got from Google Play, so I can try your new 1.4.2 beta instead, so I'll be using that one tonight :)
Best regards: dlanor
Let me see if I can answer this stuff in line. What would really help is opening up feature and bugs with the issue tracker.
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues
That way we can go into more detail on various items, and you'll be notified as well as items get implemented.
Great! I hope you mean 'available on Google' though, and not just as a beta release.
Yes, everything I release eventually gets up on Google Play once it is considered to be stable. The versions released on the Web site are testing or development versions for users that want to help debug and verify requested features. If the bug fixes are small enough I just release directly to google play but most go out for testing first and then to the Play Store.
Ah yes, that little triangle in the miniature TV icon. I missed that entirely in my earlier tests...
However, from the viewpoint of navigational aids that indicator is not very efficient.
In order to have it show me an unknown border between the watched and unwatched episodes of a show I still have to scroll through every episode of that show (before the border) while intently watching that icon, until I finally reach the first unwatched episode.
What I think you really need for perfect 'watched' handling of shows is the following:
1: A triple state overlay icon, with different appearance for fully_watched, partly_watched and unwatched states.
One of the three states could have invisible overlay, and in such case that should be the 'fully_watched' state.
This overlay usage should then be applied for all types of video list items (movies, shows, seasons, episodes)
This is similar to the following request:
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/119
Planned for a future 1.4.x release. Please add additional comments to the bug request, so we can track it there.
2: Grid ViewMode for season posters, using such overlays, so you can see most of them at once (all of them for most shows).
(Grid mode optional so Fanart fanatics can disable it.)
3: Grid ViewMode for episode thumbnails, using such overlays, so you can see a lot of them per screen.
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/139
https://github.com/NineWorlds/serenity-android/issues/120
These two are similar to what you are asking. The first is for a TV Show Grid view. The latter is for some additonal information in the Seasons Browser. This I was thinking of a Grid view of all Episodes within a season.
For low-speed android units these grid modes can be complemented by text list modes to minimize GPU work.
For such text modes you can also replace the 'watched' overlays by special char's in a list column (like '-', '!' and '*')
There is general request for a List view mode that is more textual already. But I haven't really looked into it yet. Want to concentrate on the Detail and Grid modes for the other screens first and then look at what can be done with a List view.
4: For completion the overlays should of course also be applied to the main show posters, but that's not very important.
Keeping track of the separate shows mentally is far easier than keeping track of hundreds of varying season+episode 'watch borders', so normally a user won't need such help to remember which shows he wants to watch... ;)Btw: You probably recognize the scheme above as similar to that used by Plex/Web and Kepler, though not identical as they also use numbers to indicate unwatched episodes of a show or season. But that's not really needed for convenient show navigation. Just having three-state overlay icons will do the job fine. After entering a show with the ViewModes described above, a single glance will tell me what season contains the 'watch border', and after entering that season a simple scroll or two while glancing should pinpoint the episode of interest. And that's a major reduction of the search effort, compared to what's required without such features.
I'm less concerned with the recording of resume positions than I am with the inability to NOT resume.
Yes. I can provide improve external player support for this by providing some enhanced support if somebody specifically chooses an external player as a default to be used. This request has come up before, but nobody has recorded a feature request for it. Please do so on the issue tracking system so I don't forget about it. I personally don't use external players much but know several people do.
When using external player I never get the query about resumption, and for MX Player this always results in a resume, whether I configured Serenity so or not, while for other external players it always results in restart from scratch. Either way I have no way to control this result myself, except by using the MX Player OSD buttons to manually step the playback position back to the beginning. (In most cases of early aborted playback I do prefer not to resume, but to instead restart the episode.)
Yeah, not all external players provide the option to resume or not. Most just start from the beginning. MX PLayer does provide API for this and as I rework the external player support I'm narrowing down the list of ones I'll add enhanced support for. For now it will be MX Player and ViMu Player. The later is a Google TV specific player and I have contacts with the Dev, the same with MX Player.
Edit:
On second thought I've decided to ditch the 'official' Serenity release I got from Google Play, so I can try your new 1.4.2 beta instead, so I'll be using that one tonight :)
Thanks. Let me know how the 1.4.2 changes work out. And if you have more suggestions, or bugs, the best place to record then and request them is on the Issue Tracker. That way I don't loose them. I appreciate the feedback, it helps improve the app for more than just my own use cases.
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