Fork of SageTV MiniClient for Android TV

[jvl711]

This has morphed from me sharing a fork of the SageTV MiniClient to maintaining and posting releases of Stuckless' original work. I will post APK releases to the GitHub repository. I will also post releases to the Google Play Store and Amazon App Store.

Release Notes

1.10.0 (1/6/2021)
- Upgraded to ExoPlayer 2.16.1
- Made modifications required to support ExoPlayer 2.16.1
- Upgraded to ExoPlayer 2.16.1 version of ExoPlayer FFmpeg extension
- Added new preference screens to allow users to change Container/Codec support
- Completely rearchitected how supported containers/codecs are sent to SageTV
- Started adding support for automated Jenkins build and release

1.9.3 (11/2/2021)
- Updated to 2.15.1 of ExoPlayer and FFmpeg extension
- Cleaned up a number of deprecated calls in ExoPlayer implementation
- Added VP8, VP9, H.263 as valid video codecs
- Removed MPEG4 as a valid codec, because Android TV support is very limited. All non H.264/AVC content will be transcoded

1.9.1 (09/10/2021)
- Fixed issue in PushBufferDataSource that was causing transcoding and live tv transitions to freeze
- Updated build to use local libs directory instead of MavenLocal. Simplify build process for support libraries
- Fixed logic bugs on how to tell SageTV when to transcode/remux
- Moved project to Androidx
- Update GDX library version to 1.9.14
- Update ExoPlayer to 2.14.2
- Multiple build.gradle files cleaned up
- Fixed error generating client ID

1.8.1 (6/18/2021)
- Updated to ExoPlayer 2.14.0
- Updated FFmpeg extension to 2.14.0
- Some minor bug fixes

1.8.0 (5/14/2021) - Brought to you by user cncb
- Support external links to open videos in other apps directly (Netflix/Amazon).
- Allow display of embedded PGS subtitles in ExoPlayer.
- Add option to enable system sleep.

1.7.1 (2/11/2021)
- Redesigned some of the settings screens. Broke out the settings for ExoPlayer and IJKPlayer
- Upgrade to ExoPlayer 2.12.3
- Added additional codecs to the ExoPlayer Codec Debug Screen (DIVX, AC4, OPUS, etc...)
- Removed AVI as a supported container format for ExoPlayer. This should go thru the transcoder

1.7.0 (11/12/2020)
- Playing back active recording TV seeking issue with ExoPlayer: Issue #96
- Frame Advance & Slow Motion Advance enhancement: Issue #91
- Upgrade to ExoPlayer 2.12.1 enhancement: Issue #95
- Full-Screen On Screen Navigation enhancement: Issue #42
- Issue with keyboard and favorites on the FireTV: Issue #92
- Error connecting to server when using fixed Transcoding/Streaming: Issue #97

1.6.3 (2020-10-10)

- Rearchitected how playback position was retrieved. Switched to a UI thread that updates every 500ms.
- Fixed an issue with seeking after resume from pause. The state was not getting properly updated
- Allowing proper seek when playback is paused. Allow the position to get reported to sage server on pause
- Added the blue icons that I made for FireTV to Android project

1.6.2 (2020-9-11)

- Fixed an issue with Android 11 where images were not rendering
- Upgraded ExoPlayer to 2.11.8
- Fixed the volume up/down keys. You need to map them to NONE for them to work properly
- Volume up/down mapped to NONE by default
- Added fixed transcoding settings to allow for HD transcoding from the server to MKV container
- Added the ability for Exoplayer to filter the Video codecs that are not supported. This will allow SageTV to transcode on unsupported formats
NOTE: The fixed transcoding changes need a patched version of Sage.jar to work properly. Hopefully those changes will make it into the next release of SageTV

1.5.2 (2020-7-09)

- Attempted to add a workaround for the FireTV where you can not close the system keyboard. Next/Previous buttons should now close it.

1.5.1 (2020-6-30)

- Update ExoPlayer FFmpeg extension to 2.11.5
- Added a setting for ffmpeg exoplayer extension, to turn it on, off or prefer
- Updated some deprecated code in the constructing on the SimpleExoPlayer instance

1.5.0 (2020-6-26)

- Moving to new Play Store app
- Updated to exoplayer 2.11.5
- Added HEVC codec to list of codecs sent to sage durring connection
- Attempted to clean up the current playback time, and the seek
- Turn off rendering cues if by default
- Add error message toast on ExoPlayer2 Error
- Fixed issues with seeking when using exoplayer and push mediasource
- Added some basic support for subtitles in ExoPlayer
- Fixed a bug where it would not seek to the SageTV supplied start position**Forked the code base from version 1.4.4 (jvl711)**

Download links:

GitHub
Amazon App Store
Google Playstore


If you would like to support my work you can become a supporter here Patreon

[randyth]

This looks really interesting.

What hardware are you running this fork on?

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by randyth

This looks really interesting.

What hardware are you running this fork on?

2015 XBR-65X850C Sony Android TV. Works pretty flawlessly.

[crarbo1]

How do I install it on a ShieldTV, which is running Android TV? Since it isn't in the Play Store, I am not sure how to install it.

Thanks and I appreciate you taking this on!

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by crarbo1

How do I install it on a ShieldTV, which is running Android TV? Since it isn't in the Play Store, I am not sure how to install it.

Thanks and I appreciate you taking this on!

I am not 100% sure for the shield. but you will need to put the APK file on a USB stick. You will need to allow third party sources to be installed. Use a file explorer app and click on the APK to install it. If you Google how to sideload an app on the shield you will probably get better instructions.

Josh

[KryptoNyte]

Can this be sideloaded on my Galaxy smartphone, or a FireTV device? If so, is the user interface able to allow the entering of username/password for remote use while I travel?

[phelme]

Originally Posted by jvl711

2015 XBR-65X850C Sony Android TV. Works pretty flawlessly.

OMG. I'll definitely have to try this out as I have a similar era 43X830C which the (current) MiniClient has issues with. I think it might use the same MediaTek processor as yours.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jvl711

I wanted to share with everyone a fork of the mini client that I have been maintaining for personal use. I have built off of, and attempted to maintain, the great work that Stuckless has done. This was my first foray into Android development, so I am still learning a lot. I am mainly trying to keep ExoPlayer up to date and fill in some missing features or bugs. It does not seem that IJKPlayer is being updated anymore, so right now ExoPlayer seems like the best choice to keep this moving forward.

This release has a different name/icon so it can be used side by side with the original. So if I break something, you will have a backup.

I am sharing this as is. You can post questions, comments and issues, but there is no guarantee I will get to them. I will continue to post updates as I make them.

Release Notes

**1.0.7 (2020-6-19) **
- jvl711: Updated to exoplayer 2.11.5
- jvl711: Removed the queue timer since remove cues was fixed

**1.0.6 (2020-1-30) **
- jvl711: Added HEVC codec to list of codecs sent to sage durring connection

**1.0.5 (2020-1-20) **
- jvl711: Added timer thread to hide cues after 5 seconds
- jvl711: Attempted to clean up the current playback time, and the seek
- jvl711: Updated Exoplayer to 2.11.1

**1.0.3 (2019-12-12)**
- jvl711: Turn off rendering cues if by default
- jvl711: Add error message toast on ExoPlayer2 Error
- jvl711: Updated Exoplayer to 2.11.0

**1.0.2 (2019-11-15)**
- jvl711: Fixed issues with seeking when using exoplayer and push mediasource

**1.0.1 (2019-11-14)**
- jvl711: upgraded ExoPlayer base to 2.10.6

**1.0.0 (2019-10-01)**
- jvl711: Updated to version 2.9.6 of Exoplayer.
- jvl711: Added some basic support for subtitles in ExoPlayer
- jvl711: Fixed a bug where it would not seek to the SageTV supplied start position

**Forked the code base from version 1.4.4 (jvl711)**

Download links:

SageTV_Mini_1_0_7.apk

Installed in FireTV Cube 2 and it works great ... seeking is much better ... with this fork.

The only thing is that the Icon does not appear ... all I see is some default gray box to launch the APK.

[Eternal]

is it possible to add touch scrolling to the ui and things like swipe to go back or is it too late for that?
scrolling through lists still requires using the scrollbar like a desktop application

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Eternal

is it possible to add touch scrolling to the ui and things like swipe to go back or is it too late for that?
scrolling through lists still requires using the scrollbar like a desktop application

You can change the touch scroll mappings etc ... in settings.

[Eternal]

i see the swiping, but it doesnt look like you can hold and scroll like a standard app can

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Eternal

i see the swiping, but it doesnt look like you can hold and scroll like a standard app can

Yeah I see what you want I just set Swipe down and up to channel down/page down channel up/page up.

[cerickso88]

I've been wanting to switch to SageTV for sometime now but have not due to no subtitle's or closed captions. I use NextPVR but it is not reliable as it runs on Windows.

I have HDHomeRun that does record closed captions. I am hoping to get the Android mini client (on my nVidia Shields) to support playing back CC.

Is this something that is in the plan? I know that lots of us (myself included) have been asking for a few years now.

Thanks

[KryptoNyte]

I'm primarily using HD300's for watching TV on my home network, but I hopped back into my Firestick 4kMAX this morning (on the LAN) to test the CC with Exoplayer. I'm running SageTV server V9.2.2.929 and uninstalled the miniclient from the Firestick and installed the latest version.

I opened the miniclient on the Firestick and attempted to play a program recorded from the HDHR. It just starts the video then crashes almost immediately saying 'max number of retries reached.' It seems nothing I can do will allow the miniclient on Firestick to play native mpeg2 video files from the HDHR. So I went back into the primary settings in the launch screen and forced it to transcode - now it plays, but there are no closed captions.

The Firestick does appear to play native mpeg2 using ijkplayer [EDIT: okay I was wrong on this, I guess the latest miniclient won't play mpeg2 with either exoplayer of ijkplayer]

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I'm primarily using HD300's for watching TV on my home network, but I hopped back into my Firestick 4kMAX this morning (on the LAN) to test the CC with Exoplayer. I'm running SageTV server V9.2.2.929 and uninstalled the miniclient from the Firestick and installed the latest version.

I opened the miniclient on the Firestick and attempted to play a program recorded from the HDHR. It just starts the video then crashes almost immediately saying 'max number of retries reached.' It seems nothing I can do will allow the miniclient on Firestick to play native mpeg2 video files from the HDHR. So I went back into the primary settings in the launch screen and forced it to transcode - now it plays, but there are no closed captions.

The Firestick does appear to play native mpeg2 using ijkplayer [EDIT: okay I was wrong on this, I guess the latest miniclient won't play mpeg2 with either exoplayer of ijkplayer]

My FireTV 4K max plays mpeg2 nicely using EXOPLAYER ... but I am using OPENDCT to control my HDHR tuners.

[jvl711]

Hi all,

There is a new release of the Android Client out. It is a minor release and is mainly an update to the latest version of ExoPlayer. It is live in Google Play Store, and should be live in Amazon app store soon.

Just a quick plug.... If you like the work I am doing please think about supporting me on Patreon.

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Hi all,

There is a new release of the Android Client out. It is a minor release and is mainly an update to the latest version of ExoPlayer. It is live in Google Play Store, and should be live in Amazon app store soon.

Hey, did version 1.14.0 ever make it out to the Amazon app store? I'm still only seeing version 1.13.0.

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by cerickso88

I've been wanting to switch to SageTV for sometime now but have not due to no subtitle's or closed captions. I use NextPVR but it is not reliable as it runs on Windows.

Actually the NextPVR backend runs on Windows, Linux (x64, arm7 and aarch64), macOS and Docker. I am just about to release an update to my Android client uidroid which like the Sage Android mini player uses ExoPlayer and the update adds the CEA 608 CC's back which ExoPlayer removed from the default.

Martin

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by cerickso88

I've been wanting to switch to SageTV for sometime now but have not due to no subtitle's or closed captions. I use NextPVR but it is not reliable as it runs on Windows.

I have HDHomeRun that does record closed captions. I am hoping to get the Android mini client (on my nVidia Shields) to support playing back CC.

Is this something that is in the plan? I know that lots of us (myself included) have been asking for a few years now.

Thanks

What I do is I run Comskip on all recordings which can also extract CC into subtitles. Subtitles are fully supported.

[bigbill]

I have tried everything I can think of to add (change) the Fast Forward & Rewind times using the client on a Shield 2019 with their current remote.

There is what looks like a keyboard option if you hold the center button down for a bit, but when I click on that, no keyboard comes up.

Am I missing something obvious? Kind of hope so.

Thanks, Bill