Stremio
[Bug]: Google TV external player freezing.
Stremio Platform
Android TV App
Describe the bug
-Stremio version: 1.6.12
I'm using Google TV streamer 4k. When I watch a show, specifically an Anime, on ExoPlayer the subtitles format isn’t as good as libVLC, However when I switch to libVLC the audio has noticeably less quality. So that leaves the last choice which is to use an External player in order to get the best experience. However no matter what I do or try, when I use an external player the video would play for a few minutes then the stream would freeze. This does not happen when using the built in players (Exoplayer/libVLC).
To Reproduce
On Google Streamer 4k (or a Google Tv OS device) open an episode of a show (in my case it was an anime) using an external player such as MX-player or mpv-android and wait 2 to 5 minutes.
Expected behavior
Opening a stream through an external player and watching the content without freezing.
Screenshots
This video is an example of this issue. The stream is running externally from Stremio to mpv-Android. (background is Solo leveling season 2 episode 8) https://streamable.com/4zsbx2?src=player-page-share
Desktop (if applicable)
No response
Smartphone (if applicable)
No response
TV (if applicable)
-Google TV Streamer 4K. Android TV OS Version: 14 Android TV OS Build: UTTK.241210.003
-Xiaomi MiBox4. Android TV OS Version: 9 Android TV OS Build: PI.3933
Logs
Notes
-I have 200mbps (25mb/s) internet speed. I tried both wifi and through ethernet. It didn’t fix the issue (My internet speed should be plenty as it doesn’t buffer nor freeze when I stream through the internal players.)
-I Tried multiple external players (MPV-Android / MX-Player / Nova-player) the same result on all of them. VLC for some reason wouldn’t open when I try to use it as an external player.
-I restarted My device, uninstalled the media players and Stremio, cleared caches and data, and re-installed. same result.
Observation: I have Xiaomi mibox4 (Android TV) as well as a Xiaomi TV (Android TV as well). Stremio plug-ins, settings, and external players are the same as google TV streamer 4K. When I use the External players, the stream does not freeze and loads flawlessly, which leads me to think that the problem is the compatibility with Google TV OS?.
Any suggestions on how to solve this? and anyone else facing this issue?
I think it's a problem with the device and not the app. If it works on another device then everything is clear. When you use an external player it does all the work.
I have EXACTLY the same issue with every external player i use (freezes after a few minutes) with my Xiaomi Android TV S (Android TV OS version 14).
are you all using torrents? for torrent streaming the stremio server needs to be running, it's likely that the android tv box is killing the background process (thus the stremio server too) of the Stremio app after some time, which would obviously break the stream, i doubt there is anything that can be done about it, the Android OS (especially when it comes from other vendors) can choose to kill any background process due to any reason
@jaruba yes, and you might be right with that you say. The problem is that in my xiaomi tv android settings, there isn't any option to prevent to kill a background application like there is in my phone settings...
I have the exact same issue with the onn 4k 2023 tv box. The issue only appears after the box upgraded itself to android 14 though. I have a TCL TV on android 12 and this issue doesn't exist.
the Android OS (especially when it comes from other vendors) can choose to kill any background process due to any reason
This only seems to happen on Android TV 14 devices weirdly enough. I have 2 android TV devices, one on 12 and one on 14. The 12 one never have this weird issue.
App with updated media3 and libvlc library has been released
Doesn't seem to fix this issue. I have play a bit so far and it's either freezing or the external player would suddenly exit back to the stremio app.
App with updated media3 and libvlc library has been released
Same here, the external player still freezes and as it mentioned above, most probably, it's not stremio's fault but it's the android OS who auto kills the stremio app when we use the external player cause it consider stremio as a background app.
Just to give a new info: Stremio updated to version 1.8.0 in my Xiaomi Android TV S (Android TV OS version 14) and now the external player don't freeze after a few minutes like before.