Feature Request - Integration of Plex, Emby, Jellyfin Libraries with the Official Poster Wall

Dear Zidoo Team and Community,

As an avid user and supporter of Zidoo products, I wanted to share a suggestion that I believe could significantly enhance the user experience for many of us who rely on our Zidoo devices for media consumption. My proposal is for the official poster wall to directly integrate user-established Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin libraries.

Reason for the Request:
1. Cross-Platform Accessibility: Many of us use software such as Plex to create our own media libraries, which facilitates easier organization and keeps track of playback progress across multiple platforms and devices. This integration would streamline the process, making it simpler and more efficient for users to access their libraries from their Zidoo devices without the need for duplicative organization.

2. Remote Playback Capability: Unlike the current setup, which primarily supports local network access, Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin libraries offer the valuable feature of remote playback. This capability would greatly expand the usability of Zidoo devices beyond the confines of the network where the NAS is situated, allowing users to enjoy their media content from anywhere.

3. Competitive Advantage: It's worth noting that the iOS application, Infuse, already seamlessly supports direct browsing of Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin libraries without the need for local scanning. This feature has given competitors a significant edge in terms of flexibility and user ease. By adopting this integration, Zidoo could not only level the playing field but also surpass competitors by offering a more integrated and user-friendly experience.

Plex client for zidoo early version (by mirror) is a very good try. It has already achieved the basic functionality of remote streaming playback. By fixing a few bugs and integrating it into the poster wall, it would become a usable and practical feature.

 

+1 from me and probably +100 from the whole ZidooPlexMod thread. They will never do it, but dreaming is free.

 

At least we need to let the product manager know that we have such a demand, and their product is about to fall behind the times.

 

They will get wrecked by a train the second nVidia or somebody else releases a “can do all” box. Right now the main reason I am here is bc the shield does not support HDR10+.

 

Lol.

Nvidia are only ever going to release a "can do Netflix and literally nothing else at all" box.

And even then it can't match frame rate.

And to be fair, they likely won't release another media box. Ever.

 

I also don't think that they’ll release a new shield. But that does not mean that somebody else won’t fill the gap.

Zidoo could release HT5 with Plex support and every home-cinema enthusiast will ditch their Shield. It’d be hard work, sure, but they’d take over this niche market in an instant.

 

You're absolutely right. I wouldn't have purchased it if not for Zidoo's powerful playback capabilities. But it has been 8 years since Zidoo launched its first product, and in these 8 years, there have been revolutionary changes in network bandwidth, NAS, and playback devices across various platforms. Yet, Zidoo's playback mode remains the same as it was 8 years ago, completely ignoring the latest trends in network streaming and cross-platform playback. There's a significant demand for these features. Many enthusiasts online are exploring methods like using Plex, Jellyfin, or mounting CloudDrive to achieve this functionality, but these methods are cumbersome and far from perfect. Supporting Plex doesn’t mean Zidoo should abandon your advantageous feature - the Poster Wall; instead, it means making it stronger and more aligned with user needs.

 

Hmm. Not exactly.

At launch, like other media player companies at the time, Zidoo didn't have their own posterwall application for the original players - they used a modified version of Kodi, formally XBMC, called ZDMC.

At the end of 2017, a new Posterwall Application was announced, Home Theatre, and eventually ZDMC was deprecated around the time HT2 was released and has now not been officially supported for years.

This was a positive move and took the problem of relying on the inconsistencies of third party developers sticking their oar in and breaking things away and keeping development and control fully in house.

The same applies to Plex and Jellyfin where you're at the whims of their developers - I might be wrong, but I doubt HT will ever have Plex or Jellyfin integration for that and other reasons.

If you want to use Plex or Jellyfin, then use Plex of Jellyfin. There's a well supported Plex Plugin, a not so well supported but perfectly working Zidoo Jellyfin fork and of course the standard Jellyfin client works too.

 

The Plex Plugin simply maps the playback source to local SMB, and I do not believe it is capable of playing media from remote servers. The plugin's developer also indicates that this feature is not supported.
Jellyfin, as a free open-source software, significantly lags behind the Poster Wall in terms of interface and interaction. It merely provides functionality without offering a satisfactory user experience.
Mirror's Plex for Zidoo is close to our demand. He had completed some very important foundational work. Why doesn't the official team continue to refine that app?

 

Simple answer - time and resources.

But @bowlingbeeg has taken the mantle:

http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/plex-client-for-zidoo-devices-zidooplexmod.97396/