as a side note, id just like to say Feral is awesome. It can play stuff the web interface, and the clients choke on (HEVC mostly) , and it smooth as hell.
Thank you.
do you have a donation page?
No, I don't want donations. I use everything I make. I enjoy sharing it with others.
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fair enough...
I am working on another release for later this week with bug fixes and improvements. I think I am going to create a separate branch for one based on MPV instead of VLC. The main reason I want to try MPV is I believe I can add the ability to do some high end upscaling with it and use GPU-acceleration to carry to main load. If it works out, I will move it to the main repo and start as V2.0 with it.
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1.2.1 Released
New Features & Enhancements
- UX Enhancments: Display Search Bar on Movies and TV Shows pages.
- Multiview Improvements: Guide data improvements, added ability to remove individual selected channels.
Bug Fixes
- Remote App Port Fix: Added a global variable so the rest of the app knows what port is actually running, and update the port scanner to reuse the socket.
- Controlbar Overlay Fix: The cursor sitting on the Live TV controlbar would cause it to stay active. It now gracefully times out even if mouse cursor is on it.
- Movie & TV Show Freeze Fix: This fix addresses the "Not Responding" window when a show or movie ended.
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It's been a while since I posted, and it's amazing to see the progress that you have made! Feral HTPC is a wonderful program.
I have a few UI suggestions for you to consider.
When viewing live TV or a recording in a viewing window, can you maintain the aspect ratio when the window is resized? I often find that I need to adjust the window to eliminate the black borders.
Can you remember the last location of the viewing window? If I am working on the desktop and have the viewing window in the corner and I want to change the channel, I get a new window in the center that needs to be moved and resized, even if I have Feral HTPC's main window where I want the viewing window to be. Also, I like to have the main window be large anyway for viewing the guide and recordings.
Finally, if I click the Check for Updates button and there is a new update, can you provide a link to your Feral HTPC GitHub site to make it a bit easier to download and install the new version?
Thanks!
I'm working a rebuild of the app using MPV instead of VLC. The new one is pretty much a complete rebuild just using bits and pieces of the original. Once I got elbows deep in the first one, I realizing how many things I wanted to do differently. Plus, MPV allows for upscaling content including live tv.
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Thanks. I will hold off on reporting anything else until the new version is released. The upscaling of live TV will be nice!
Honestly, now would be a good time to make a list how must have features for it. Feel free to list you wants for the new project and I will try to put them in as I am building it. At the moment, I have not even started the minimized window view. I only have a full screen view as I finish getting it working. When I start on the minimized view, I will attempt to remember screen location.
The only feature I would like to see is an option for an automatic check for a new version. It does not need to happen every time I launch the app. Every few days or even once a week would be enough.
The only bug I wanted to report relates to auto-hiding of the mouse pointer. In a window or full screen mode, if I start viewing live TV, the control panel at the bottom and the mouse pointer auto-hide after a few seconds. If I move the mouse to bring up the control panel to pause and then resume playback, the panel auto-hides but the mouse pointer remains visible. In full screen mode, it's not a big deal because I can just move the mouse off to the side, and in windowed more, I usually more the mouse pointer to another window anyway. However, I think you probably intended to always have the mouse pointer auto-hide with the control panel.
HTPC Development Update: Introducing Nucleus HTPC
I wanted to drop a quick update on the next release of the HTPC. Because this is almost a total rewrite of the project, I will be releasing it under a new name: Nucleus HTPC.
The Shift to MPV
The new MPV-based version is far superior to the LibVLCSharp-based Feral version. I wish I had started with MPV from the beginning. It handles the streams from CDVR much better, requiring fewer workarounds to produce a solid picture.
Current Progress & Roadmap
- Completed: MultiView integration.
- In Progress: Video upscaling.
- Next Up: Remote control mapping, followed by the first official release!
What to Expect with Nucleus HTPC
- Modern Interface: It will look and feel much more like a native app than Feral did.
- Streamlined Settings: The configuration has been simplified and is much more bulletproof than before.
- Better Experience: So far, the picture quality and overall look have been a lot of fun to test.
What About Feral?
VLC is supposed to release version 4.0 soon, which may bring significant improvements. Because of this, it is worth keeping Feral alive to see what the new VLC update brings to the table.
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Lol. Thought i has asked when this all started why use VLC over MPV...
I have been slowly moving to use Mac for daily PC use, and only use my Windows PC, for games....so been using the iPhone Channels app on MacOS.
Will still check out this software from time to time though.
Thanks for giving Windows users some love and attention!
You may recall that I couldn't get it running on an oldish version of Windows 10. I've played with (& appreciated) it on Windows 11, but my Win10 box is where I'd really want to use it. If there's a way you can make it less dependent on the latest & greatest libraries (or whatever it is that is preventing in from working on my Win10 box), that would be terrific.
The new version is close. I need to finish testing this weekend to make sure it doesn't have any obvious bugs. Hopefully, next week will be the MPV HTPC release.
Hey, while you're in the process of doing some updates, I did notice that when a video is partially watched, Feral starts it at the beginning (although it does record it's location when closing). Probably something to watch out for with MPV, too, to make sure any partially watched movie, episode, and video starts at the correct location!
The new HTPC interacts with Channels Server much better than Feral did. I have it already set to pick up where it left off at, I still need to add an option to start from beginning. All recorded content also sends the viewing status back to channels as well as many other features that are expected from it.