Chromecast support
Issue #59
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Comments (35)
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First I need to get hold of one and the only source in the UK at the moment appears to be at a rip off price on ebay, so it might take a while before they come down in price/are sold directly in the UK.
Details on how apps are made available to the public/put onto devices is also very limited at the moment, so I need to find some more info about that. E.g. currently not allowed to distribute any app that contains any Chromecast SDK code https://developers.google.com/cast/release-notes
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I ordered my chromecast on release day but hasn't arrived yet due to demand. All that should be needed is to pass the media URL to the chromecast since the media browser function has been there since v1.0. The marvel processor in the chromecast can decode a large variety of video and audio codecs.
I think this is game changing and really look forward to your consideration of increasing this features priority. Thanks for all your hard work on this app.
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Yes it should in theory be quite simply, but until I get one, or google relax their policy on distributing apps which use the SDK its hard to make progress.
Having said that, ServiiGo 3.0 includes an internal video player, so a lot of the logic to control playback can be re-used to form the remote control. Although some initial problems include the SDK needing Google's new ActionBar backport, which conflicts with the one I'm currently using, so I'll need to switch to theirs, but then will also probably need to patch it in the same way I've had to with the current one to get it to work how I want on Google TVs.
I'm on holiday for the next week, once I'm back I'll have a look at getting the SDK intergrated and connected up, and will see what has to be done to get permision to distribute apps that use it/see if availablity is better in the UK.
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Thanks Will, If obtaining one is difficult I will look into shipping one to you. I now they won't let anyone release anything yet but just trying to get good devs like you interested and looking into the possibilities. Thanks again for all of your work.
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I just object to paying $130+ to someone who bought 5 on launchday just to re-sell them for a profit. Availability should increase over the coming weeks. Hopefully I'll have something in place by the time the SDK exists its preview and/or its easy/obvious how to get permission to release the app. Anyway, off on holiday now, so I'll see how things are looking when I'm back next weekend.
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Just tried switching from ActionBarSherklock to the new AppCompat which the Chromecast library needs, and they don't support PreferenceActivies (used for settings) yet!
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I'm not terribly surprised; it looks like it's supposed to be as minimal as possible on it's end. When I set up my Chromecast for the first time the only thing I could configure on it was which Wifi network to connect to.
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No this isn't for displaying settings on the Chromecast, I mean it doesn't yet support backporting how Settings are displayed in the app itself on older versions of Android.
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I've now got the Chromecast detection code working with ActionBarSherlock, I can discover CheapCast running on my tablet, and connect to it.
Next step is to develop a reciever app in html.
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(Assuming that "not" is a "now")
Congrats on getting a Chromecast, and thank you for developing towards it! :-)
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I don't have a Chromecast yet, but do have a tablet loaded with Cheapcast.
Still trying to find a working video format (I can send samples to it OK), but have got music streaming from Serviio working.
All Google Cast devices at a minimum support the following media types:
Video codecs: H.264 High Profile Level 4.1, 4.2 and 5, VP8 Audio decoding: HE-AAC, LC-AAC, CELT/Opus, MP3, Vorbis Containers: MP4/CENC, WebM, MPEG-DASH, SmoothStreaming Level 1 DRM support: Widevine, PlayReady -
How are you planning to get around the "Casket" issue. That is, that Google is not allowing anyone to develop apps that work with Chrome Cast. Any third party apps caught working on the Chrome Cast will be summarily and swiftly flogged, neutered, and hung in the public square to rot for all eternity.
http://www.slashgear.com/allcast-chromecast-app-banned-by-google-26294905/
I do look forward to this feature. very very much so - I want to view my Serviio videos on my TV. I bought the Chromecast because my TV lacks "apps" and it was cheaper than an app enabled DVD player or buying a new TV. Sadly, all I can do with it is watch Netflix and Youtube - so, I hope you can find a way to open up the "Chromecasket" for your app.
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There isn't a lot I can do except hope that at some point in the future Google will open things up.
So I'm going to try to get it into as good a state as I can on my own, and then either request permision for a limited closed beta test (unlikely for such a small scale project, but worth a try), and/or wait until the SDK is finalised. Once I am then allowed to distribute it, I would run it through the beta testers for a while first.
Having said that, I still have lots of work to do so even if Google opened things up tomorrow, I wouldn't have anything for you guys to test for a while, additionally, its probably going to require some server side changes to allow transcoding to a format that they accept. Although its not listed, do you know if they accept Apple HTTP Live Streaming/HLS?
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I do sincerely wish you luck Will. I appreciate everything you do and I enjoy your software. I would really hate to see you waste your time working something together just to have Google keep your project in limbo. I know that time is important, and I've spent enough time on projects that ended up in the abyss for one reason or another, and it's frustrating. If you do get something into beta, let me know. I'm one of the few people who even have a Chromecast.
Do you have a Chromecast yourself? Maybe this helps with the format question. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18155806/what-video-formats-supported-by-chromecast-device-mp4-flv-m3u8-flv-avi
-Steve
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So how does it look now when the last days a lot of new apps has been released?
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I think the fact Google has approved apps which stream your own content is definately a positive step in the right direction. However, the SDK is still not final, and you still need to whitelist your device for development and cannot share an APK without permission, so not quite there yet.
I am ridiculously busy at the moment, but when I have the time I will work on support properly. The best way to get official support, may be to develop a joint Serviio chromecast app which can be controlled by both ServiiGo and MediaBrowser, but I need to talk to Petr about that to see if he is interested. I know he is also very busy at the moment.
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Looks like Avia can cast from a DLNA server (which, iirc, serviio has a DLNA component, no?) It will be a few days before I can look into this, but if I find out anything I'll let report my experience. Could be a possible short term solution for the time being. I'm concerned that this article (http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/chromecasts-new-bundle-apps-brings-cloud-flat-screen/) stated Avia requires a subscription - but Avia app mentions only a $2.99 in-app purchase.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.videon.android.mediaplayer
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I belive Plex requires thier PlexPass subscription to use Chromecast, but Avia just requires the one off in-app purchase.
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To follow up, I have finally bit the bullet and tried Avia, and it worked well playing videos from my Serviio back end. For now, this is a suitable solution for playing content from Serviio on a Chromecast enabled TV.
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To expand - You can browse the videos on Serviio as a generic DLNA server using the Avia front end. Also, from the ServiiGo interface, you can select Avia as the video player to play videos. So, Avia essentially works with Serviigo as a front end. Avia does not support videos streamed with subtitles. You will receive an error that Avia could not play the file if you try. The solution is to disable subtitles, either from the back end or using the ServiiDroid app.
As a result of this, I believe this issue can be closed. If you consider that ServiiGo acts as an interface to browsing your Serviio library but hands off the playing of that content to third party software, then ServiiGo does in fact support streaming to Chromecast now. You just need a video player that can support streaming to ChromeCast - which Avia does.
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I've just ordered my Chromecast from Wal-Mart and used a US to UK shipping company called comgateway to deliver at a very reasonable price while still paying the original low US $!
I would still like to see internal chromecast support on ServiiGo even though other Android player offer chromecast support. Best to keep it in all same app.
If your using the standard DNLA profile and chromecast doesn't support all codecs. Wouldn't be better if there was a chromecast profile so Serviio can transcode non chromecast compatible videos
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reporter
Yes I still want to implement this directly into ServiiGo so that all video files can be supported. This will of course need a Chromecast profile for Serviio so please do work on that when you can.
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I would still be happy to test or help where I can when the time comes.
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Quick update for you all. I'm now able to stream both supported and unsupported video (by transcoding to HLS) to a custom receiver on my Chromecast from Serviio. Its going to require a server side change to be useable, which should be included in Serviio 1.4.1 final, along with the needed profile. Now that I've confirmed that I can transcode unsupported video to a format that the Chromecast supports using Serviio, I can start to work on by the receiver app and the intergration with ServiiGo.
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- changed milestone to 4.0
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Very nice. Thanks for the update :)
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I have an experimental preview ready, send me an email if you are interested in helping with testing.
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- changed milestone to next
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Waiting for the final solution :)
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An experimental verison is built into the current version of ServiiGo, to activate it see the instructions here http://forum.serviio.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6803&start=660#p96696
I'm still planning on getting this done for 5.0 but it might be a few months off as I have very little time for development at th moment.
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Will, just to follow up. I've been using the Chromecast feature in Serviigo and it works great for almost a year now. Aside from my older tablet, which didn't recognize my chromecasts after I reimaged it... my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.4 2014 has run the new version very well. Thanks for your hard work :) It seems more stable than other video playing apps I've tried (ie Comcast's video on demand doesn't work at all). Seeking works well, very little lag - I'm happy with it.
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Couldn't get this to work at first. I just kept getting the loading screen on my TV regardless of how I went about. Wasn't until I realized that my ServiiGo license key hadn't taken any effect (purchased but ads were still visible).
Might want to clarify that Chromecast support isn't activated unless you donate first. Works beyond expectation now! Well done!
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In addition to my previous success; MP4 seems to work fine. Can't seem to play any MKV. Would this be fixable with a simple transmuxing?
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reporter
Although I haven't tested it, there shouldn't be anything in the code that stops it working in the free version of the app.
MP4s are played natively, MKVs have to be transcoded (yes not just transmuxed) to keep the bitrate down so check for ffmpeg errors.
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please move this up in priority if possible. thanks for your hard work.