CineDock & Zinedock — new browsing interfaces with native Zidoo playback — open testing

Latest: Cindock 4.12 - Zidoo Helper 1.6.4 (9 Oct 2026) -

• New Zidoo pause-screen info card: CineDock Zidoo 0.2.13 with Playback Helper 1.6.4 shows artwork, film details, audio/video information, chapters and time remaining when paused. It disappears when playback resumes. Tested on the Z9X 8K.

• Easier Zidoo path mapping: browse the box’s connected SMB/NFS folders instead of typing paths, with one Save button and an unsaved-changes warning.

Zinedock 1.0.8 and CineDock 4.10.3 (3 October 2026) – new Setup in four tabs, Franchises and Collections, "More in this series", nested collections, and Playback Helper 1.6.2 so CineDock Zidoo plays Home Theater's own copy of a film. Downloads: cinedock.tv/zinedock · cinedock.tv
Zinedock 1.0.5 and CineDock 4.9.8 (1 October 2026) – choose the version of a film you want, TMDB key from your phone, and fixes. Details in the latest update below. Downloads: cinedock.tv/zinedock · cinedock.tv

Hi everyone,

I’m the developer of CineDock and Zinedock, and I’d like to invite Zidoo owners to try them and share feedback.

They offer two ways to browse your library, both using Zidoo’s native player for playback.

Zinedock — for your existing Zidoo Home Theater library

Zinedock runs directly on your Zidoo and uses the library you’ve already scanned in Home Theater. No Plex, Emby, Jellyfin or separate CineDock server is needed.

It includes film and TV browsing, manual collections, smart film collections and local film trailers.

Scan your media in Home Theater first, then install the Playback Helper followed by Zinedock.

Setup and downloads:
https://cinedock.tv/zinedock

CineDock — for Plex, Emby and Jellyfin libraries

CineDock provides an alternative browsing interface for your existing media server library, with a Zidoo app that hands playback to the native Zidoo player.

Setup, downloads and the user guide:
https://cinedock.tv

Open testing and feedback

Testing so far has been on the Zidoo Z9X 8K. and now the Z9X Other models are unverified, so please include your model if you try either app.

For feedback or problems, please include:

• Which app and version you’re using.
• Your Zidoo model and firmware.
• Your library setup: Home Theater, Plex, Emby or Jellyfin, and USB, SMB or NFS where relevant.
• What happened and the steps to reproduce it.

Zinedock plays trailers from local files beside your films (for example downloaded with Trailarr). It doesn't fetch trailers online.

Thanks for giving them a try. I’ll use this thread for updates, questions and support.

 

Great timing! I have handful of 1619BPD devices and have been trying out all sorts of third party clients along with locally installed instances of Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin trying to figure out the best combo to replace HT. I will play around and let you know how it goes

 

Perfect Cinedock is pretty stable now I try an do a weekly update so look forward to your feedback.

 

Okay, I installed CineDock on my Windows Server, connected it to Plex, opened up port 8945, and installed Playback Helper and Cinedock Zidoo on my Z9X Pro. I played a few things and it looks like I'm only getting the stream from the server instead of direct file access. Is that expected behavior? I'd really like to leverage chapters/bookmarks like I can with Home Theater, if possible.

 

Hey buddy,
Try Zinedock, ( tab to it on the website) it doesn't have the Plex/emby/jellyfin backend. It is built as a Zidoo standalone.
Cheers and keep them coming

I also understand if you want to keep Plex. I'm looking at having CineDock Zidoo play the Zidoo's own copy of a film when Home Theater already has it, so you'd get chapters and bookmarks too. I'll let you know when it's on test. hopefully in the next week

 

Hi all.

A new version of Zinedock, (no Plex, Emby or Jellyfin needed), is out.

New in 1.0.2:

Make Home your own.

• Create your own collections and put any of them on Home as rows, in whatever order you like.

• Suggested collections: ready-made collections from film and TV trivia (the Wilhelm Scream, directors who appear in their own films, flops that became classics) and shared universes (MCU, Star Wars, Middle-earth, Wizarding World, Alien, MonsterVerse, John Wick), matched to what's in your library. Add any of them with one press.

• Smart TV collections: build TV collections by genre, year, rating, 4K and HDR.

• Easier setup: separate Film, TV and Mixed lists, a live preview of your Home rows as you work, and clear prompts so nothing gets lost when you save.

• Arrange Home rows: move any row, films, TV or your own collections, to any position with a couple of presses.

• To update: in Zinedock, go to Setup → Check for updates. Or see cinedock.tv/zinedock for downloads and setup.

• For CineDock Zidoo users: this week I'm working on letting CineDock Zidoo play the Zidoo's own copy of a film when Home Theater has it, so you get the full Zidoo player (chapters, bookmarks), and on bringing the same collections setup, including suggested collections, to CineDock. No dates yet; I'll post when it's ready.

Feedback more than welcome, here or on GitHub. ​

 

I dug my old original Zidoo Z9X out and found Zinedock wouldn't run on it. Too much for a 2 GB box. I've written a new version for it: Zinedock Z9X. It's up now on the Zinedock page at cinedock.tv/zinedock.

Which one do you need?

• Original Z9X (the "Z9X 4K media player", Android 9): download Zinedock Z9X. It's one download, and you don't need the Playback Helper.

• Z9X 8K: stick with the normal Zinedock.

It has the same Home, trailers, collections and Setup as Zinedock, and it updates from Setup → App updates.

If you've got an original Z9X, give it a try and let me know if you have any issues with it.

Both will be updated in the future of course so the more feedback I get the better. Really helps me from going in the wrong direction.

 

Hey theory,

following up on your request about having CineDock on the Zidoo use the box itself rather than a stream.

CineDock on the Zidoo hands every film to the Zidoo's own player. CineDock's player isn't involved at all. So you get everything the Zidoo player does: its own chapters menu, long-press options, bookmarks and resume, its HDR, Dolby Vision and frame-rate handling, and audio passthrough to your amp.

What the Zidoo receives is the original file, untouched: no transcoding, every audio and subtitle track intact, the same bits as on your disk. It reaches the box over your home network via your media server rather than through a network-share path, but the picture and sound are identical to opening the file from a share.

And as of CineDock 4.9.8, if you keep more than one copy of a film (say UHD for home and HD for remote), you choose which one plays on the film's info page.

If anything about playback still differs from what you'd expect, tell me what you see and I'll look into it.

 

Zinedock 1.0.5 and CineDock 4.9.8 – 1 October 2026

Film versions (both apps)

• A film you own more than once (Final Cut and Theatrical Cut, or a 4K and an HD copy) shows once

• A Version box on the info page: press OK and pick

• Badges change to match, and each version keeps its own resume point

• Your choice is remembered

• Naming tip: Title (Year) {edition-Final Cut}, each version in its own folder

Zinedock

• Shows your cuts by name (Final Cut, Director's Cut, Extended…), where Home Theater only says 4K / 2K

• Add your TMDB key from your phone: Settings → Online collection search → Phone or PC, then scan the QR code

• Continue Watching puts the film you last played first

CineDock

• Choose your copy: UHD for home, HD for remote viewing

• On a Zidoo it hands the box's own player the original file of the copy you pick, untouched, with no transcoding

• The Collections setup too: Film, TV and Mixed lists, 44 suggested collections, and smart TV collections (from 4.9.7)

Both apps

• More room for the synopsis, which now scrolls in a loop on the info page

Fixed

• Zinedock: the TMDB key couldn't be added from a phone

• Zinedock (Z9X 8K): resume points weren't saved, so Continue Watching missed films and audio or subtitle choices weren't remembered

• CineDock: Country was hidden under the cast photos, the trailer could cover the title, and the last synopsis line could be cut off

Updating

• Zinedock updates itself, or Settings → Check for updates

• CineDock: update the container; no Zidoo app update needed

• Original Z9X owners: Zinedock Z9X is unchanged

cinedock.tv/zinedock · cinedock.tv

 

It is using the Zidoo player, but it still looks like it's being fed a stream as when I hit the info button the Title says 'native-stream?t={bunch of letters and numbers}' instead of the actual title. This is the same behavior I ran into when trying a couple of other 3rd party apps discussed on this forum before I got path substitution correct. The chapters would not work until I got path substitution right. No chapters might seem like a small thing, but I have it working with bowlingbeeg's ZidooPlexMod and have kind of settle on using it for now. Here are some screenshots of what I see when I hit the info button. The first screenshot shows what's happening when using Cinedock -- the 2nd is what I get when using ZidooPlexMod.

Edit: I just noticed it's also not matching the frame rate of the movie vs ZidooPlexMod

 

Hey theory,

Thanks for the screenshots, they told me exactly what was going on.

Both apps play the same file, through the Zidoo player — no transcoding either way. The difference is how the player is told where the file is. ZidooPlexMod gives it the path on the box, so the player recognises it as a Home Theatre title and draws the full panel: poster, synopsis, rating, and with it Home Theatre's bookmark and chapter menu. CineDock Zidoo gives it the server's address for the same file, so the player names it after that address and draws its plain panel instead. That's what your two screenshots show, and it's worth fixing.

On my test server CineDock Zidoo now, hands the player the path on the box when Home Theatre has the film, with your resume position from the server carried over. Same film, same panel as your second screenshot. It is on the test server now and should go out with tomorrows update ( Oct 03)

On the frame rate: on my Z9X 8K the stream comes out at 23.976Hz, so that one I can't reproduce. Could you press Info again a minute or two into a film and see if it's still 60Hz, and whether it's every film through CineDock or just that one? If it stays at 60 it's something I want to understand.

Cheers, and thanks again for testing
Maurice

 

The update I mentioned is out. Playback Helper 1.6.2 is live, and CineDock Zidoo now hands the player the path on the box when Home Theatre has the film, so you get the full panel as in your second screenshot. It now works for episodes as well as films.

CineDock Zidoo 0.2.10 or newer offers the helper by itself within a day. You can also press Check for updates in the TV Settings.

If Home Theatre doesn't have that film at the same quality, it falls back to the stream as before.

Still keen to hear what the frame rate does on your box. Let me know how it goes on the Z9X Pro.

Cheers,
Maurice

 

Zinedock 1.0.8 and CineDock 4.10.3 – 3 October 2026

New Setup (four tabs)

• Layout: poster size, top menu, Home rows, Spotlight

• Collections, Trailers and Settings, each in their own tab

• A help panel and key hints on every screen

Collections

• Franchises and Collections are separate

• New collection, Suggested collections and nested collections

• Add a film to a collection, or start a franchise, by holding OK on it

• Feature in Spotlight: one collection takes over the big picture

Missing films

• "More in this series" on a film's page

• "Check for missing films" on a franchise (needs a TMDB key)

Film page

• Shows how long is left and when the film would end

Zidoo

• Playback Helper 1.6.2: CineDock Zidoo now plays the film Home Theater already has, with the full Home Theater panel and chapters

 

I updated everything and tried again. The framerate matching looks better now, maybe that was just a fluke. However, no change regarding the full panel or being able to use chapters. I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but I will mention again that I'm using Z9x Pro and Z2000 Pro boxes (w/ RTD 1619BPD) and not Z9x or Z9x 8k. I only want to throw that out there as it seems your website and documentation only mentions the latter two, but I'm not sure if it makes a difference. I have been using the 8K download with the helper.

 

Hi theory,
Unfortunately because I don't have the same version it is difficult to be sure if I have the fix or not but, quick question, which version of the Playback Helper do you have installed? It should be 1.6.2. If it's older, install it from cinedock.tv/zinedock/helper. I ask because an old helper gave exactly what you describe (native-stream as the title, no chapters), and updating the helper fixed it.

I have just found that the updater in cinedock wasn't working so you may have thought you had updated to the latest version but hadn't. My fault entirely. The updater should work now.

 

I made sure I had 1.6.2

 

Updates, 4 October

Enhancements

• Zinedock 1.1.0 (Z9X 8K): set up from a computer. In Setup, open Computer. The TV shows an address, a QR code and a six-digit code. Open the address on a computer, laptop or phone on your home network, type the code, and you can:
• make collections and put them on Home;
• arrange your Home rows and choose your layout;
• add your TMDB key;
• save or load a setup file.
• Nested collections
• 
  
• Zinedock Z9X 1.0.7 (original Z9X): the same computer setup page.
• Rule-based collections are still made on the TV for now.

Fixes
Zinedock Backup & restore no longer refuses to work once you have a rule-based TV collection.
Zinedock top menu now updates the next time you visit Home, without a restart.
CineDock Zidoo update check: from 3 to 4 October it failed with "Could not check for updates", so the Playback Helper update couldn't be offered. That's fixed. If you saw native-stream as the title or no chapters, check you're on helper 1.6.2.
Update from inside Zinedock, or download it from cinedock.tv/zinedock.

 

Sorry for all the updates, I had to do some fixes, they will slowdown from now on.

• Zidoo path substitution: Map Plex, Emby or Jellyfin folders to the folders mounted on your Zidoo, including Windows drive and network paths.
• Direct file playback without a Home Theater match: The helper checks that the mapped file exists before playing it. If unavailable, playback falls back to the server stream.
• Native playback features: Tested HD MP4 and 4K MKV files retain chapter controls, with Back and resume confirmed. Posters and the richer Info panel still depend on Home Theater recognising the file.
• Updated setup guidance: Settings, Help and the website guide explain how to configure the mappings.

Requires CineDock 4.10.4 and Playback Helper 1.6.3, supplied with CineDock Zidoo 0.2.12.

 

Hi theory, please check your Windows CineDock version. If it is older than 4.10.4, download the updated program below, quit the old CineDock copy, then run the new one. If you already have 4.10.4, skip this download.

https://github.com/cinedock/downloa....10.4/CineDock-Desktop-4.10.4-Windows-x64.exe

On the Zidoo, open CineDock Settings → Check for updates to update the Zidoo app and Playback Helper.

Then open CineDock on a computer or phone, go to Settings and scroll down to Zidoo path substitution. The guide explains how to find and enter your folder addresses:

https://cinedock.tv/guide#zidoo-path-substitution

Let me know how it goes.

 

Cinedock Zidoo desktop 4.10.5. No TV app change. This completes the Setup work that 4.10.0 announced: a browser or phone could not do what the television's Setup could.

• One Setup for every screen. A browser and a phone now open the same four-tab Setup as the television (Layout, Collections, Trailers, Settings), with everything the television's Setup has, and a mouse can do all of it: Home rows can be moved with small up, down and to-the-top buttons, and the trailer choices answer a click.

• Online details, Zidoo path substitution and Connection are pages inside Settings on every device, the television included: Seerr, a TMDB key and MDBList; the Zidoo folder mappings; and your media server, report what I watch and watching away from home.

• Your screen choices follow your profile. Poster size, the three trailer choices, the trailer delay and the top menu are saved for the profile on the server instead of in each browser, so a change made on a laptop shows on the television within about fifteen seconds, with no restart. A screen that already had its own choices keeps them: the first screen to open offers them to the profile. Another profile in the same browser starts from the defaults.

• Rename any Home row. Layout > Home rows: click the pencil on a row, or press Left on a row and choose Rename row. The name is yours alone: the media server and other profiles keep the original, and an empty name puts it back. Continue Watching can be renamed too.

• Home follows the profile. A row you move, hide, show or rename on a laptop appears on an open television within about fifteen seconds when it is resting on Home (and the next time you open Home if it is busy). Your Spotlight choice is shown by name on the Layout tab after you change it.

• Leaving a collection with unsaved changes asks first. In a hand-picked or nested collection's editor, Back with changes shows a "Not saved yet" screen: Save collection, Leave without saving, or Keep editing. If it cannot be saved yet (no name, no titles) it says so.

• A nested collection can hold your server's franchises. In its editor, Choose collections > Add franchises from your server: search (the server filters), 60 at a time, what is already inside listed first. They are held by reference, so the server keeps naming and drawing them, and a franchise the server no longer has simply is not shown.

• A collection cannot be saved without a name. Saving an unnamed collection now says so and puts the cursor on the name box before anything is sent.

• The Setup page says what it is doing. In a browser or on a phone its heading reads "Set up your big screen"; the television keeps "Setup".

• Setup > Collections leads to your server's collections and to Playlists. "Collections on your server" opens the Home rows list, which holds every collection built in Plex, Emby or Jellyfin (searchable); "Playlists" opens the Playlists page even when Playlists is hidden from the top menu, and Back returns to Setup.

• A playlist can go on Home from its own page. The playlist's page has "Show on Home" (and "On Home - remove"): one press makes it a Home row, the same change the Home rows list makes.

• A trailer setting acts on the trailer that is playing. Changing a trailer choice on another screen now mutes or stops the Spotlight or row trailer that is already playing, instead of waiting for the next title, and screens check for changed choices every 5 seconds instead of 15.

• Fixed: on a television with a pointer (a Zidoo's air mouse), a pointer resting on screen could take focus after a D-pad press, so Down from the Spotlight flew along the row.

• Fixed: Safari offered your Contacts in the collection name box (on a Mac and on a phone). The name box is now a one-line text area on every screen except the television, and a phone's other text boxes are too.

• Fixed: Home rows no longer pile up underneath Setup when it is opened straight after Home.

• In-app Help and the user guide describe the new Setup, and the Zidoo path substitution steps were checked against Z9x 8k Zidoo.