So in your case guess you are right as you state you do not watch livetv.
"When watching live TV, it does not. The reason is that when the screensaver is showing, the app is no longer running. So, if we let it do that, you would lose your entire buffer."
In my neighbors case The TV itself has a screensaver that will activate after a preset time if it detects, no pixel movement, i.e. static image on the screen, That would not affect a Apple TV displaying channels live TV in a pause state.
I have NOTHING to contribute. But this is a great thread.
My mother, and other household members do watch alot of live tv, and do pause for extended periods of times...sometimes for over an hour. But, its not on a OLED tv, so, no worries there. BUt come to think of it, yea, now i recall seeing the picture is still displayed when Channels pauses with live tv.
(though, is there not a setting somewhere, to have the time shift buffer on the server? So that then, the client device can pause and thus have the screensaver come on? I thought i had saw a thread about this feature, meant for low space client devices...)
I occasionally watch live tv, if i get bored with watch whatever series i am watching in order (currently Mythbusters). Usually just to have background noise on.
Either way, still on the top of my wish list for Channels, is a black theme.
The only other "technical issue" for me is the flickering, but perhaps that is unique to my setup using this particular Samsung tv? idk. If it is using Hardware deinterlace, then that suggests that it is using the native tvOS implementation, and not its own software process (like switching to Linear or using Infuse).
Maybe the new 2024 Apple TV will improve things (if they do infact announce a new model this year)
How does it know where to skip from and to?
Infuse has no capacity to determine this. It’s using metadata from Plex to do it.
Sorry to jump on someone else’s thread but I thought this was the best place so here goes.
I am also a long time Infuse user that has migrated over,for years I had a huge video library stored on Google Drive sourced from let’s say slightly dubious places!
Anyway Google shut down cheap unlimited storage last year so I went back to purchasing iTunes movies and streaming from Disney/Netflix.I’m UK based so just wait for sales and cheap codes to build my collection from the US iTunes Store because they have a far wider selection and more 4k content than here in the UK.
Frustrations come from a lack of flexibility in the way your iTunes library is displayed,I want movies in the correct order with matching artwork so when I finally found you guys I was blown away,using streamlinks I could organise my purchased content whilst adding in missing titles from Disney+ etc and have it all sit along side my local content of ripped dvds from titles that aren’t available on streaming services.My family no longer have to remember which service which title is on and we don’t get endless recommendations for shows and movies I’m not interested in!
I’m slowly working out how to organise my library but wondered if I’m missing anything in regard to customisation of the Home Screen.
I have Enhanced Library turned off but is there any way of hiding up next on the Home Screen,I’d much rather have say Recently released movies there or at least move up next further down the screen so the first thing you see is the Movies/Shows/Collections first?
Anyway keep up the good work.
Your timing is impeccable.
Good to hear your not resting on your laurels,I’ll look forward to seeing the end results
Just to give an update on things for me.
Noticed, mainly with headphones, that in Channels app, playing back my music videos, most have FLAC audio, the audio has a tad bit more wider soundstage and a tad more detail, than Infuse.
Not sure how each app is processing audio compared to each other, how they make use of ffmpeg or what ever for downmixing (ffmpeg comes up alot in the Infuse forms).
I have also noticed that watching HDR 4K vids in Channels is a smoother experience than Infuse of late. As there seems to be lag starting playback, and excessive lag when seeking/scrubbing the timeline on a 4K HDR movie in Infuse. The same file, is silky smooth in Channels.
The Channels UI takes some getting used to compared to Infuse, for local media library navigation. Infuse really wins out on that, so much more seek and modern looking (at least to my tastes). I mainly prefer the full page thumbnail view style that Infuse has that shows all videos in the library, vs the single horizontal bottom slider style of Channels for Videos.
I am slowly finding less and less use for Plex server in of itself. If i had not already have Lifetime Plex server... would have dumped its subscription by now. Infuse just supporting SMB direct, works out fine for my needs really.
But, i will mention, I can get used to the different/missing features and nitpicky things i have mentioned in my previous long post comparing the two experiences. ..
However, the MAIN THING, i just can't get past, the one thing that is truly holding me back for adopting Channels 100% and dumping the rest....is.... the Purple.
OMG, Please, please, please, peas and carrots.... add a Black UI theme.
Sleek, modern., and OLED TV popping awesomeness. That is what many people want! Blackness!
(not a "dark" greyish theme, that makes many tvs, give that "dirty screen" look... a annoying thing on many Samsung tv models it seems when all screen gray is displayed. Even the lighter shade of the purple used currently in Channels has that effect on my tv, unless i crank up the color saturation and turn down the gamma, but then i have black crush.)
And, the seek bar and top quick bar in Channels that appears during playback, already is a shade of light black already....why can't there be an option to have the rest of the app be like it. (maybe even add a option to make those Transparent like it was in the "Carbon" version of the Android app.)
Another update...
I have managed to import 99% of my media library into Channels.
Cause i have a odd folders setup, Had to put each thing into a folder in a folder. Turns out re-scanning media library in Plex of the same content, that just was moved, the meta data scan was super fast and it did not have to refresh much, so that was not a major issue to change file paths in Plex that i thought it was going to be.
I shut down Plex Server on my Media Server box. Free up a tad bit of system resources. Still keeping it installed for fallback, and since i still did pay for Lifetime on it.
I did find its "Discover" and "Watchlist" features nice though. Showed me popular/upcoming movie trailers and dates. The images and artworks in it GUI is very cool looking.
Infuse also is alot nicer with showing of show related art and such in its UI... but that is not a big deal to me.
Still really like how Infuse has the ability to connect to SMB directly, right in the app, and just browse a network folder for media. I kinda like the "File Directory Tree" browsing style for some things. Channels, add said root directory, and it just tries to identify everything and groups them together with other "Videos". Somethings, i just want separate and not with the rest of my media....
Please give us a pure black theme!
Saw this in my YouTube shorts and made me laugh. I’m sure @speedingcheetah will enjoy.
Watch from 0:13-0:23
To be clear I don’t mind the purple, I just wouldn’t mind a ui freshen up if not colours are to be added! 
Is this planned to be implemented?
I'm using Pinchflat to automatically download new content that gets added to various YouTube channels and playlists. So having these new videos appear in Up Next as they become available would be nice.
As of the latest pre-release, Video Groups can now be included in Up Next.
By default, all Video Groups are excluded from Up Next. Simply use their group option Include in Up Next to include them.
Cool! Seems to be working well at first glance here 
An update. With the addition of Personal Sections (beta), using Channels for local media a much improved experience given the customization possible. Also, the timeline also now shows hh:mm:ss and time remaining. (Also beta tvOS app)
There still a few things i mentioned in my long post ways back in this thread, that would make things even better. But, as it stands, Channels is doing a great job overall.
Really still want a black theme.... 
When did the time remaining get added?
Sorry forgot to indicate that is a change to the tvOS/iOS app in beta.
That’s incredible update to the app. Never knew how much time was left.