Recently Watched is something that's missing from Netflix on my Apple TV. I could have sworn it was there before though. It's a feature I like on the PS4.
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Apple TV |OT|
- Thread starter wachie
- Start date
Recently Watched is something that's missing from Netflix on my Apple TV. I could have sworn it was there before though. It's a feature I like on the PS4.
infiniteloop
Member
Definitely there for me.
Yeah. It is missing that. But otherwise it seems the same as all the other clients.
jts
...hate me...
I'm not that well versed either, I'm mainly mentioning this because of the differences between web, PlayStation, Wii U and even the old Apple TV 2 I had. From UI to how the player behaved, every device seemed to run its own flavour of Netflix but I'll gladly take the fact it's not like that anymore. Won't mind that it only lacks Categories.
I meant the VLC app itself, I read somewhere it doesn't play audio if it's AC3 and won't even pass through. Unlike the rest of the video apps and the hardware itself which is more than capable of doing it.
holygeesus
Banned
Infuse works great now. There is no need for VLC, which is a good job as it is pretty much useless.
jts
...hate me...
My only need for VLC is to shoot up a file to the Apple TV and it stays there stored locally (for a while), which from my understanding it does. And then I can just play it anytime, provided it hasn't been deleted.
No need to keep my laptop open or a server running etc.
Is this the case with Infuse as well?
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Anyone tried MrMC/Kodi? I'm wondering about performance. Specifically menu navigation for a large library, file startup time, buffering for high bitrate files, and hardware acceleration capabilities.
Playback start time seems decent. My one trial, a avatar bd rip played fine. Dunno about a large library as I never added my whole library. It does only passthrough dts core audio though, not the full lossless audio.
I noted scrolling through my library it takes time to load thumbnails.
How does infuse work? Does it scan folders and pull down meta data like kodi?
I wouldn't mind something simpler than kodi.
Infuse for Apple TV does a really great job of figuring out metadata, and it has a really nice interface for finding other films that it could be in the case of errors. It'll sensibly group all the episodes from each season of TV shows and generally works really well. Highly recommended.
Its more like a vlc client. A file player rather than a media centre front-end. I found it pretty poor in terms of interface and metadata. Though mrmc is pretty limited to with metadata due to no real support for extensions.
jts
...hate me...
I don't mind paid apps at all. The only thing I care for is the ability to use local storage, or at the very least, cloud streaming (Dropbox, etc).
Basically anything but local streaming.
Any app doing this besides VLC?
I just bought an ATV4 anyway... just waiting to get unpacked 😁
Basically anything but local streaming.
Any app doing this besides VLC?
I just bought an ATV4 anyway... just waiting to get unpacked 😁
Infuse requires access to some kind of network file share. There's no support for local storage, and I imagine that feature will be rare in general on the Apple TV, but the iOS version of Infuse supports it, so maybe they'll add it eventually. A NAS is the ideal for this kind of scenario, but I currently just use a USB disk attached to my router.
It's mostly a folder browser with some metadata features, rather than a full library solution. It doesn't do deep folder scans, but rather fetches metadata and artwork for whatever folder you're in, as you navigate. It does some basic aggregation of TV shows and seasons, but is a little more fussy about file names and folder structures than I'd like. It's metadata matching success rate isn't on the level of something like Plex in general, but it's serviceable. I'm using it as a secondary option after Plex, for certain files.
I'd say its playback features are its main selling point. As of the latest version (4.0.2), those seem mostly solid. Though, beware that its advertised DTS-HD support is a little misleading – it "supports" the format in the sense that if you play a file with a DTS-HD audio track, you will get sound, but what it's actually doing is extracting the lossy DTS Core contained within and playing that. So you're not getting the full DTS-HD MA audio.
holygeesus
Banned
I can't see much point in having a local file if VLC won't even resume playback if you stop it. Also it is seriously lacking in audio support at the moment i.e. no AC3 support for starters.
I've pretty much used all of the video players in TVoS now and the best legit apps are MrMC and inFuse. MrMC lets you 'tweak' more, and you can fine adjust most video and audio features you would expect e.g. de-interlacing settings etc, which can be useful. The new Amber skin makes it look bloody lovely too.
Infuse is a lot more simple, and is my default 'press and play' app, in that it automates the process automatically, whereas you have to manually update your library in MrMC (as far as I can see)
I gave Kodi a go too and for a pre-Alpha version it works brilliantly. It's basically the same as MrMC but allows for all the hooky and legit add-ons that you would expect. Things like Wookie and Genesis worked for me, although some plug-ins didn't work in this early version. Still good progress for a first release.
I gave infused (free version) a go.
I like the simplicity a lot. The fact it doesn't scan inside all your folders is annoying. It only looks for meta data once you're in there.
It doesn't seem to group part 1 and 2 of a movie together - hopefully you don't need to select part 2 once part 1 finishes.
As people said the filenames seem to need to be very specific. Kodi had no problems with my library, this is much more basic in that sense.
I might stick with it because I rarely use any advanced setup in kodi and it can be a pain to setup. I'll see if the missus can work this.
I do like that it integrates with the main appletv screen.
I like the simplicity a lot. The fact it doesn't scan inside all your folders is annoying. It only looks for meta data once you're in there.
It doesn't seem to group part 1 and 2 of a movie together - hopefully you don't need to select part 2 once part 1 finishes.
As people said the filenames seem to need to be very specific. Kodi had no problems with my library, this is much more basic in that sense.
I might stick with it because I rarely use any advanced setup in kodi and it can be a pain to setup. I'll see if the missus can work this.
I do like that it integrates with the main appletv screen.
Pimplitosaurio
Member
Hey guys, I just got an apple TV as a gift. Problem is, I don't know what to do with it
a few questions:
-Is this like an htpc? I've always wanted an HTPC, currently my "setup" is plugging my laptop to our TV, heck we are using an VGA cable
-What can I watch with this out of the box? I don't have itunes, iphone or anything like that
-Can I watch my ripped DVDs? That is what we watch right now(because my laptop refuses to play netflix for some reason. Do I have to do something to watch my files? I use MPC-HC to watch them.
-How can I know what generation is without opening the box? The model in the bottom of the box says MD199E/A
a few questions:
-Is this like an htpc? I've always wanted an HTPC, currently my "setup" is plugging my laptop to our TV, heck we are using an VGA cable
-What can I watch with this out of the box? I don't have itunes, iphone or anything like that
-Can I watch my ripped DVDs? That is what we watch right now(because my laptop refuses to play netflix for some reason. Do I have to do something to watch my files? I use MPC-HC to watch them.
-How can I know what generation is without opening the box? The model in the bottom of the box says MD199E/A
a few questions:
-Is this like an htpc? I've always wanted an HTPC, currently my "setup" is plugging my laptop to our TV, heck we are using an VGA cable
-What can I watch with this out of the box? I don't have itunes, iphone or anything like that
-Can I watch my ripped DVDs? That is what we watch right now(because my laptop refuses to play netflix for some reason. Do I have to do something to watch my files? I use MPC-HC to watch them.
-How can I know what generation is without opening the box? The model in the bottom of the box says MD199E/A
Yes. It is like a HTPC. What you can watch depends on where you are and what generation you have. As for determining generation, well only the 4th generation has an app store.
Pimplitosaurio
Member
Thanks GaryD, Quasar. I thought it was gen 3, I mean, my employer is not thaaat generous
I will see what I can do with it then
I will see what I can do with it then
infiniteloop
Member
Hey guys, I just got an apple TV as a gift. Problem is, I don't know what to do with it
a few questions:
-Is this like an htpc? I've always wanted an HTPC, currently my "setup" is plugging my laptop to our TV, heck we are using an VGA cable
-What can I watch with this out of the box? I don't have itunes, iphone or anything like that
-Can I watch my ripped DVDs? That is what we watch right now(because my laptop refuses to play netflix for some reason. Do I have to do something to watch my files? I use MPC-HC to watch them.
-How can I know what generation is without opening the box? The model in the bottom of the box says MD199E/A
Looks like a 3rd gen.
- It will come with some builtin channels, depending on your location.
- Depends on the format and if you have them in iTunes.
I have both installed. Performance has not been an issue for me especially compared to the 2nd gen AppleTV and a fire stick that I previously used. From what I understand no one has access to hardware acceleration for the Apple TV, it is just software.
The only issue I am having is with the siri remote and navigation through menus. MrMC has implemented inertia controls but that does not work too well. Controls work best by tapping rather than swiping.
infiniteloop
Member
Heads-up that our Steven Universe RPG "Attack the Light" is out now on Apple TV, for all you Apple TVers!
Nice, will give it a dl tonight.
jts
...hate me...
Maybe I'll start looking for some storage solution but it really is more hassle than I wanted just to watch the odd movie or whatnot. 90% of what I watch is Netflix anyway.
Anyway opened my Apple TV, and tried it for myself.
VLC is neat, but a work in progress I feel like. I mean resume play is on iOS so it should be a matter of time before it comes this version too. Also the local storage management is very barebones, and buggy at times.
The player itself works well aside from the fact that doesn't play AC3. Tbf I was used to that with my Roku 3, but at least there's other apps that play AC3 even if I have to leave my lappy open. Eventually I hope other apps start to add at least cloud support.
Few impressions about the ATV itself:
Input is really... not as good as I expected. Those huge alphabet rows are a pain. Maybe some haptic feedback would help too, but the remote was made far too thin for it. Motion navigation could have also been interesting.
Also I feel that the controller's design falls short of the mark. It has interesting concepts but stuff like its symmetry makes it easy to hold in the wrong orientation and touch the wrong buttons. Buttons which could have been worked to be more distinguishable between themselves (only the volume ones are). Not only that but the layout is poor when used to play games.
Having a trackpad/touch surface it's interesting that the scrolling is mostly implemented the direct classic way (swipe down to go down) unlike the iPhone or the Mac, but then some parts like text are scrolled with the more Apple-y "natural scrolling" without any warning. Confusing.
Trying to pair my iPhone as a remote it was odd that after struggling to do it I realized that I needed to update the ATV software first, even though I had auto-updates on and was never prompted with the warning for an available update, not even on initial setup. Minor thing, but ok.
It was very cool to make the initial pairing and setup by just touching it with the iPhone though.
Obviously I have a few pet peeves with it, but the major one most of you will not be able to relate with it. They locked Siri out and made it available for just a few countries. I have been using Siri on iPhone for ages in english, and english is one of my main languages in my daily life. Not that it matters. I know that some countries don't have all the video services Siri can be used for, but it's just... poor that I can't use it for the ones I have available, like Netflix. Can't use any voice search. No voice commands. No voice input at all. Might as well remove the mic from my remote.
I have to say, I didn't expect this to come out as a rant, as I don't regret the purchase. It is the best Apple TV and a pretty nice media center, with exciting opportunities to evolve as they improve the OS and 3rd parties continue to improve the software available. It's just not that mind-blowing great experience I kinda expected after the stakes have apparently been raised in this Apple's so called hobby.
Not a review, just needed to put out my initial impressions. Don't take it seriously.
Zeyphersan
Banned
Heads-up that our Steven Universe RPG "Attack the Light" is out now on Apple TV, for all you Apple TVers!
Now we're talking
SmackCrackleNPop
Member
Heads-up that our Steven Universe RPG "Attack the Light" is out now on Apple TV, for all you Apple TVers!
Purchased. I'm gonna play nonstop til I beat this game!
I don't have an Apple TV yet but I am very curious about something about it. I have a friend who have a few videos stored on his Google Drive. Normally, I can just watch this on my Macbook Pro laptop just fine since it's like a Youtube video. Is there an easy way to be able to have that video play on the TV connected to the Apple TV while I can still do my other stuff on my Macbook Pro like browsing the net ? Basically, it'll act like a monitor extension by streaming said video onto the TV. Is that possible or do I have to download it and AirPlay via Movies app or something ? Oh, also, does it have a Twitch app ? Thanks in advance for answering...
Come to think about it, the thing that maybe could've really set the Apple TV apart is a share button. Would love to just tweet a screencap of a funny scene in a film or so. Maybe even short clips.
Not sure how protective licensing is in that regard though. The PS4 definitely showed that people love sharing screenshots of special moments.
Not sure how protective licensing is in that regard though. The PS4 definitely showed that people love sharing screenshots of special moments.
SmackCrackleNPop
Member
Are the files stored locally on your MacBook Pro? You can play the files with Quicktime or something and Airplay just the video. There might also be some apps on the Apple TV that can connect to Google Drive and play from there. (I haven't checked yet, I will try when I get home)
You should be able to airplay directly from Safari. https://youtu.be/E6HZDUuR4vQ?t=26
I think you can also use VLC to stream from google drive,
But then people would be creeped out by having apple listening in. I think thats also why Google and Apple aren't trying to compete with Echo so far. If Google had released the Echo I imagine there would have been outrage.
I would prefer to have it streamed. I don't have an Apple TV or iPad myself so I cannot test out. But I wonder if anybody here can like, check if Google Drive has AirPlay for videos stored on it ? I guess otherwise I can download the video and stream using a video playing app.
Good to know that is possible... how is the quality of AirPlay from Safari ? I was testing it out at Apple Store using an iPad Mini and Safari's AirPlay is mirror and the resolution and quality is kind of low. I wonder if the Google Drive itself has native AirPlay built in for good quality mirror though.
The Google Drive web player UI doesn't provide any AirPlay options.
Hey Siri and Ok Google are a thing though.
Yeah. But seems different with things in your home versus a phone. Just look at the reaction to the Xbox One and fears that its recording everything people say and sending it to the NSA.
Not sure why exactly people reacted differently to Amazon. I wish Google would make something similar to the echo though. Would buy one immediately.
And thats one annoyance with the ATV for me. Voice controls based on holding the remote. For some functions at least if I'm holding the remote its just as easy to press the button. I would have preferred the ATV itself to have been mic'd.
jts
...hate me...
You can have voice commands without having a constant pipe opened to Apple.
I know for a fact that the iPhone recognizes "Hey Siri" without any help from Apple's servers, because I tried to use it when offline and it activated Siri, just said that I couldn't use Siri offline.
In fact if it had a constant uplink connection opened just for that, the battery drain would be unbearable.
I know for a fact that the iPhone recognizes "Hey Siri" without any help from Apple's servers, because I tried to use it when offline and it activated Siri, just said that I couldn't use Siri offline.
In fact if it had a constant uplink connection opened just for that, the battery drain would be unbearable.
fierrotlepou
Member
So guys, since it's been out for a while now: should I upgrade from my Apple TV3 or not? I'm mainly interested in the native Plex app, since Plex Connect is a pain in the ass to install (I installed it but now my IP stuff changed so I have to reconfigure it and blablabla).
How good and how cool is it?
How good and how cool is it?
SmackCrackleNPop
Member
It's definitely better than the Apple TV 3 if you want to use Plex. The remote is hit and miss but you can use a different remote or even your old Apple TV remote if you want.
Beyond the normal video streaming apps it has potential with the App Store for games and other types of apps.
Beyond the normal video streaming apps it has potential with the App Store for games and other types of apps.
holygeesus
Banned
I bought an Apple 3 and sold it within a month. This version gets used every single day. YMMV.
The only Apple TV app I use now is Infuse, which I've been very happy with. I stream all my video from my Synology Diskstation NAS, and Infuse does a great job of grabbing media info, covers, etc. This was my main reason for buying it.
The other reason is Airplay from iPads and iPhones, which works nicely, so no regrets there.
The Apple TV remote is total garbage. I truly really hate using the touchpad. It's either too sensitive or not sensitive at all.
Using the TV remote is okay, but it's very annoying that doing this blocks the 'home' button on the TV, which is used to access TV apps, settings, etc.
The lack of proper audio out is very annoying, but I installed a workaround. I wanted some way to play audio through my sound setup while my TV was off. I've set up a HDMI switch which has audio out, and my Apple TV goes through that. I can then switch my soundbar to the 3.5mm socket audio and it'll work.
I'm glad I bought the Apple TV, but it's been a pretty disappointing experience in general.
The other reason is Airplay from iPads and iPhones, which works nicely, so no regrets there.
The Apple TV remote is total garbage. I truly really hate using the touchpad. It's either too sensitive or not sensitive at all.
Using the TV remote is okay, but it's very annoying that doing this blocks the 'home' button on the TV, which is used to access TV apps, settings, etc.
The lack of proper audio out is very annoying, but I installed a workaround. I wanted some way to play audio through my sound setup while my TV was off. I've set up a HDMI switch which has audio out, and my Apple TV goes through that. I can then switch my soundbar to the 3.5mm socket audio and it'll work.
I'm glad I bought the Apple TV, but it's been a pretty disappointing experience in general.
Get the latest if you can afford it. Just having an App Store is a big advantage plus it is more powerful for things like media players etc
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
If it's just a Netflix/iTunes/Airplay machine, go with the 3rd Gen.
If you like to branch out into other apps and digital marketplaces, get the 4th Gen.
Nah. Using Siri for Netflix is worth the price.
holygeesus
Banned
4th Gen is worth it for the ability to stream your own video over a network via Infuse and Plex etc. That's the game changer for me.