Apps Video Explorer, my video player for AppleTV is In Review

[Trebuin]

Thank you guys for all your feedback and messages!
I'm already working on improving the folder listing and bugs like not finding NAS after sleep.

As for 5.1, Sadly, it's not a bug but a restriction; If I'm not wrong, in order to use DTS/AC3/DD5.1 I have to apply and pay for a license to Dolby... I'm thinking of doing it, but it's not cheap! Sorry about that...

Don't hesitate to send me more petitions and feedback

I'm aware of the 5.1 restriction. I would recommend working on all the other bugs. I would also put together a forecast of required funds to get 5.1. If your app has the potential to have enough sells, then you will want to invest in the upgrade.

 

[JonoX]

I'm aware of the 5.1 restriction. I would recommend working on all the other bugs. I would also put together a forecast of required funds to get 5.1. If your app has the potential to have enough sells, then you will want to invest in the upgrade.

Doesn't passing the signal through bitstream avoid having to pay the licence, though? Then the receiver is doing the decoding.

 

[sealos]

I bought but requested a refund...no 5.1 no go.

I have a file with both 2.0 and 5.1 (2.0 is primary) it will not play the 5.1 audio.

Fix that and I'll gladly buy again! As now I'd AirPlay no my iPhone with the buffalo nas app...

Kozz, Once you request a refund from Apple for an app... they ban you from purchasing it again. It might be different on aTV, but on iPad and iPhone this is the way it works.

With that said, it is obvious that the developer is actively working on improving it... so why the hell would you request a refund at this point?

As an active developer as well, I absolutely loathe users like you and am really glad Apple bans your ilk.

BTW... Congrats OP on the launch!

 

[fishmoose]

Nice app. Just one request: Add support for external subtitles such as .srt files and .idx and .sub files. For us not native English speakers this is a deal breaker. I'd pay extra for that.

 

[eiprol]

I'm aware of the 5.1 restriction. I would recommend working on all the other bugs. I would also put together a forecast of required funds to get 5.1. If your app has the potential to have enough sells, then you will want to invest in the upgrade.

I'll definitely focus on fixing bugs and improving the overall performance (like ff/rw, playing videos, and subtitles), and after that, I might consider buying that license as you said

Kozz, Once you request a refund from Apple for an app... they ban you from purchasing it again. It might be different on aTV, but on iPad and iPhone this is the way it works.

With that said, it is obvious that the developer is actively working on improving it... so why the hell would you request a refund at this point?

As an active developer as well, I absolutely loathe users like you and am really glad Apple bans your ilk.

BTW... Congrats OP on the launch!

Thank you sealos ;-)

Nice app. Just one request: Add support for external subtitles such as .srt files and .idx and .sub files. For us not native English speakers this is a deal breaker. I'd pay extra for that.

Sure, as a not native English speaker, I'm also looking forward to having this... I'm already working on it

 

[citivolus]

unfortunately I still have the problem where the video just quits after a few minutes of playing from my Samba share

also can you add FF and REW controls using the legacy remote control too? I don't intend to buy a second new fancy remote controller and have the new apple tv piped into two different tv's.

 

[sealos]

eiprol,
I'm running a Drobo FS and while it sees my SMB share on the drobo, all the directories are not in alphabetical order... any thoughts why?

Best,
Sealos

 

[garylapointe]

As for 5.1, Sadly, it's not a bug but a restriction; If I'm not wrong, in order to use DTS/AC3/DD5.1 I have to apply and pay for a license to Dolby... I'm thinking of doing it, but it's not cheap! Sorry about that...

Do you have to pay a huge upfront fee or can you pay per user and do an in-app purchase for people who want it?

Gary

 

[William Tobey]

This is a really useful app, thanks for creating it. It works pretty much flawlessly now except for one problem I am encountering. When I click on a file to watch it seems to want to read/buffer the whole size of the file before beginning to play. It means I often have to wait a few minutes for the file to start playing. I am connected via smb to my hdd attached to my Apple AirPort Extreme (so I'm assuming the same setup as others using an Apple time machine). Any chance of fixing this so the buffering is shorter?

Cheers, and thanks for being such an attentive developer.

 

[eiprol]

unfortunately I still have the problem where the video just quits after a few minutes of playing from my Samba share

also can you add FF and REW controls using the legacy remote control too? I don't intend to buy a second new fancy remote controller and have the new apple tv piped into two different tv's.

Have you already sent me an email? I would like to gather more information about that bug. If you could send me a link (e.g. Dropbox or ftp) with that video file to do some tests, or at least tell me the kind of file, size, and NAS model, please.

eiprol,
I'm running a Drobo FS and while it sees my SMB share on the drobo, all the directories are not in alphabetical order... any thoughts why?

Best,
Sealos

I'm already working on that bug, but I'm not being able to reproduce the issue. Could you send me a picture to dev at abril.me to see how are they being ordered? Thanks!

Do you have to pay a huge upfront fee or can you pay per user and do an in-app purchase for people who want it?

Gary

I'm trying to figure that out; I think it's the first one, but if it's the second, I'll gladly add some kind of in-app purchase

This is a really useful app, thanks for creating it. It works pretty much flawlessly now except for one problem I am encountering. When I click on a file to watch it seems to want to read/buffer the whole size of the file before beginning to play. It means I often have to wait a few minutes for the file to start playing. I am connected via smb to my hdd attached to my Apple AirPort Extreme (so I'm assuming the same setup as others using an Apple time machine). Any chance of fixing this so the buffering is shorter?

Cheers, and thanks for being such an attentive developer.

Thanks!
Glad you said it, because I want to clarify more about this "bug", since it's something I'm working on, but has an explanation:

It usually happens with mp4 files that have information headers ordered wrongly. I'll explain myself; Usually MP4 files have a header string called "moov atom" at the very beginning of the file, with some data about the video and audio that needs to be known by the player in order to work (like codec, duration,etc). For some reason, some MP4 encoded with some programs, have those headers at the end of the file, and the player fails at knowing what is it trying to play. When that happens, on version 1.0 it showed an "unable to play" message, but I decided to start downloading to a temporary folder the whole file in order to play it; I thought that was better than not being able to play at all... at least until I find out how to "read" that "moov atom header" when it's wrongly placed at the end of the file before the player fails to play the movie.

If someone is interested in some technical read about it: http://fabiensanglard.net/mobile_progressive_playback/index.php

 

[kozz]

Kozz, Once you request a refund from Apple for an app... they ban you from purchasing it again. It might be different on aTV, but on iPad and iPhone this is the way it works.

With that said, it is obvious that the developer is actively working on improving it... so why the hell would you request a refund at this point?

As an active developer as well, I absolutely loathe users like you and am really glad Apple bans your ilk.

BTW... Congrats OP on the launch!

 

[kozz]

Well that's good to know about Apple not allow you to buy it again but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it if the features I would like are added, that being said I requested a refund because it wasn't serving my needs just like if I go to the store and I buy something and it's not serving my needs I get a refund which I'm sure is what you do.
Also I did not bash the developer I merely gave feed back about the app, also for your information I would pay more for the features I want.
That being said I hope I never buy any of your apps because you do seem like a pompous (....) saying you loath people like me I loath people with your attitude that's what's wrong with the human race.

To the developer: im not sure what you thanked sealis for his post as I took it as an attack on me for simply asking for a refund on an app that was not in its current state filling my needs and at this point I don't know if it ever will, I like where your going...please let me know if you follow his briefs the. I will gladly wait for another developer to make the app I need...

 

[William Tobey]

I'm working on, but has an explanation:

It usually happens with mp4 files that have information headers ordered wrongly. I'll explain myself; Usually MP4 files have a header string called "moov atom" at the very beginning of the file, with some data about the video and audio that needs to be known by the player in order to work (like codec, duration,etc). For some reason, some MP4 encoded with some programs, have those headers at the end of the file, and the player fails at knowing what is it trying to play. When that happens, on version 1.0 it showed an "unable to play" message, but I decided to start downloading to a temporary folder the whole file in order to play it; I thought that was better than not being able to play at all... at least until I find out how to "read" that "moov atom header" when it's wrongly placed at the end of the file before the player fails to play the movie.

If someone is interested in some technical read about it: http://fabiensanglard.net/mobile_progressive_playback/index.php

Thanks for this info; makes a lot of sense. I play MP4 files exclusively and it explains why the app plays some immediately while others (most) are entirely downloaded first. What happens to the files that are downloaded? Are they temporary? Are the removed automatically on exit of the app? Just don't want to fill up my 32gb if I can avoid it.

Cheers

 

[eiprol]

Well that's good to know about Apple not allow you to buy it again but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it if the features I would like are added, that being said I requested a refund because it wasn't serving my needs just like if I go to the store and I buy something and it's not serving my needs I get a refund which I'm sure is what you do.
Also I did not bash the developer I merely gave feed back about the app, also for your information I would pay more for the features I want.
That being said I hope I never buy any of your apps because you do seem like a pompous (....) saying you loath people like me I loath people with your attitude that's what's wrong with the human race.

To the developer: im not sure what you thanked sealis for his post as I took it as an attack on me for simply asking for a refund on an app that was not in its current state filling my needs and at this point I don't know if it ever will, I like where your going...please let me know if you follow his briefs the. I will gladly wait for another developer to make the app I need...

He ended up his post with "BTW... Congrats OP on the launch!" and that's what I thanked. I ditn't blame you at any point for asking for a refund; Your money, your rules. It's true that I probably would have reacted in a different way if I see that the developer is working on and it's not a scam, but my opinion is not important here, and I totally respect yours (which doesn't mean I agree or disagree)... And after all, I'm that developer working hard ! Don't take it as an attack, I appreciated your feedback; the same way I appreciate Kozz empathy as a developer he is. Let's try to improve the app and no more discussions, ok ?

Thanks for this info; makes a lot of sense. I play MP4 files exclusively and it explains why the app plays some immediately while others (most) are entirely downloaded first. What happens to the files that are downloaded? Are they temporary? Are the removed automatically on exit of the app? Just don't want to fill up my 32gb if I can avoid it.

Cheers

Don't worry about downloaded files. They are stored in "Caches directory", which is deleted by the Apple TV itself when it doesn't need the files inside (usually hours or days). It's also deleted if the Apple TV needs more space anytime soon ;-)

 

[eiprol]

Quick update 1.1.1:

- Now it supports .SRT subtitles! Just place them with the same name on the same directory than the video. (Only for NAS/SMB, not Plex)

Feel free to give me some feedback; I'm sure I can improve many aspects, like font size, or maybe some characters not showing.. whatever!

Meanwhile, I'm working on the next update, including bigger options and solving all the bugs.

 

[kerouack]

I have same problem with MP4 files, i converted them with Smart converter app in OSX. It is a good app cause if the video does not need to be converted, the app just change the MKV to a MP4, without converting the video, so it works quickly. Anyone knows any other app to convert the files and not having this problem with the video headers?


PD: Just found this, to just move the header to the begining of the file: https://code.google.com/p/moovrelocator/

 

[eiprol]

I have same problem with MP4 files, i converted them with Smart converter app in OSX. It is a good app cause if the video does not need to be converted, the app just change the MKV to a MP4, without converting the video, so it works quickly. Anyone knows any other app to convert the files and not having this problem with the video headers?

I think you can still use that App, and you can "move" that header to the beginning after conversion. I've not tried yet, but seems to be more info about it here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4618360?start=0&tstart=0

 

[kerouack]

I will try that way, and i will try too this other program to encode frm MKV to mp4: http://www.mirovideoconverter.com/ maybe with this one we have have the headers in the start of the file.

 

[torlogh]

Would MKV be a better format to download instead of MP4 for the moment? Or AVI DIVX? I have also had a few movies quit out when playing from the Airport/Time Capsule. The majority play perfectly though. Well done! Great app.

 

[loekf]

I will try that way, and i will try too this other program to encode frm MKV to mp4: http://www.mirovideoconverter.com/ maybe with this one we have have the headers in the start of the file.

For me, Handbrake still "rules". It's basically everything in, iPad/AppleTV/iPhone compatible H.264 MP4 out (or MKV) with DD/DTS tracks converted to AAC LC. Though the latest stable version is ok on 10.11, I found some issues (fixed in a nightly).

Other good video trancoding app is iFFMPEG (not free !!).

 

[eiprol]

Would MKV be a better format to download instead of MP4 for the moment? Or AVI DIVX? I have also had a few movies quit out when playing from the Airport/Time Capsule. The majority play perfectly though. Well done! Great app.

Thanks ! MP4 shouldn't be a problem either, as long as their atom moov is correct! But I guess avi/mkv should work as well, and they don't have this problem

For me, Handbrake still "rules". It's basically everything in, iPad/AppleTV/iPhone compatible H.264 MP4 out (or MKV) with DD/DTS tracks converted to AAC LC. Though the latest stable version is ok on 10.11, I found some issues (fixed in a nightly).

Other good video trancoding app is iFFMPEG (not free !!).

Can you confirm whether handbrake solves this "problem" and allows a correct streaming, please?

 

[9512tacoma]

I have all handbrake ATV 3 MP4 files on my NAS and video explorer plays them all.

 

[kerouack]

I used smart converter cause this program does not "change" the video if the video inside the mkv it is already compatible with iTunes, in that case it just copy the video to the mp4 container, thats good cause you dont reallyn eed the video conversion (and you dont loose quality) and it works extremely quickly. Futhermore in all mkv i download last 2 years works that way, the video conversion is not really needed just change the container to mp4, so that happens a lot of times.
Does Handbrake do the same ? i tried years ago and i think it did not do that.

 

[fishmoose]

Don't know if you've answered this already. But can I add a Synology via WebDAV? Looking to install this on a friends Apple TV so she can stream from my Synology NAS. The app doesn't support that yet right?

 

[eiprol]

Don't know if you've answered this already. But can I add a Synology via WebDAV? Looking to install this on a friends Apple TV so she can stream from my Synology NAS. The app doesn't support that yet right?

It doesn't support WebDAV for now; I'm thinking of it, but now it's 'only' compatible with SMB and UPnP Media servers (like Plex)


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Quick update 1.1.2 Fixing some bugs with external .SRT Files.