Plezy a new app that could solve your Jellyfin and Zidoo issues.

Thanks to @AcuPunK and @ANIMATEK, I have found this excellent client for Zidoo, Jellyfin and Plex.

https://github.com/edde746/plezy

Please ensure you are using release 2.4.1 or newer:
https://github.com/edde746/plezy/releases/tag/2.4.1

Plezy app and Plex thread it here.

Plezy has very good interface to external players (Zidoo native player) and it properly synchronizes play time including Continue Watching strip back to Jellyfin server to be used across other devices.

The best part about this app is that it works with JellyfinToZidoo bridge developed by @Anthonymkz. This is the first time that this bridge actually works for me as intended and advertised on the front page.

In short, Plazy will synchronize play time back to the server and update Continue Watching state.
When paired up with JellyfinToZidoo bridge it will start Zidoo native player in direct file access mode rather than reading the stream from the Jellyfin server. This is a significant advantage, as it enables full subtitle support—including reading external subtitle files and downloading subtitles from within the movie just like using the Home Theater app. The play time is automatically updated back to the server to continue on other devices if desired.

This functionality was first introduced by Andy and his version of Jellyfin client if anybody remembers back in 2022. It was based on path substitution from the stream to directly accessed network files. The project was abandoned a long time ago and now it works only with older versions of Jelly server.

I didn't have much time to fully test Plezy yesterday, I'm just happy to share my discovery with everybody interested in a better Jellyfin client for Zidoo.

One thing missing in this app is trailers. I have trailers set up to play using SmartTube automatically from the official Jelly client. It will select better resolution and quality trailers and play full screen. The good thing is that you can install multiple client apps in one Zidoo. Plazy has the ability to start any player from the command line if desired.

Let me know if you are interested or need help setting it up.
I'm using Z9X older player Realtek RTD1619DR chipset. This should work for other Zidoo devices as well.

 

Quick update if anyone is interested. Plezy with JellyfinToZidoo works very well.
Plezy needs to have external system player selected and JellyfinToZidoo set as default media player or it needs to be selected from the pop up menu every time (one extra click).

I can't find a way to bond JellyfindToZidoo to Plezy permanently and leave the Zidoo player as native default player. Anyway it works great as intended, Zidoo player reading directly files from network drives and updating play time to the Jelly server. Skip intro and play next in series should all work as well but I didn't test those features yet.

 

Thanks to @RXP I figure out the way to keep JellyfinToZidoo locked to Plezy only and allow native Zidoo Gallery to play by default from official Jellyfin client. This way I can switch between the 2 apps without losing track of the movie progress. Official app has trailers and plays the stream from the server. The Plezy allows for directly accessing networked files with download and use of external subtitles.

In the Plezy setup just add custom player and input com.jellyfintozidoo for package name. Make sure the JellyfinToZidoo is actually logged in to the server. Just click on login and check.