When I have PIP enabled the playback does not stop when I press the Home button so it overlays on the fire tv home screen and since there is no stop button on the fire tv remote there is no way to stop the video playback. If I don't have PIP enabled then the playback stops automatically when I press the Home button. I think it should always stop the playback when going to the home screen. To me that indicates that you want to watch something else.
AIUI, once a video is put into PIP, the OS controls it. Channels can possibly replace the video that's playing; but that is the extent of the control that Channels has over the PIP window.
When the PIP window is opened, it briefly displays a hint banner inside the PIP window (I know I certainly missed it at first):
Hold HOME to control PIP
Once the PIP window is brought into focus (by holding Home), one can use the directional pad to select the Close PIP option.
Totally agree and +1 vote. I'd like to use PIP but I turned it off because of this behavior. PIP is too much of a hassle for the rest of my family when we want to shut the tv off.
Well, that sucks.
I guess that would work but it's still a pain in the ass. The Fire TV remote should just have stop button.
A Force Stop (Channels App) under Apps in Settings, kills the PIP window if it gets stuck. It's crappy work around, but better than rebooting, which is what I was doing originally.
An App Restart button in Channels would be a better option.
Same, I can navigate this but wife and kids struggle so I have to leave it off. If we could have it place in corner of the guide and just show the last show I was watching, that would be fantastic. The exiting out and still playing isn’t working out.
This remains as my single gripe about Channels. I have looked at other options because of this but sadly have not found anything that comes close so I'm sticking with Channels with the fading hope that PIP will be handled the way other apps handle it.
Love PIP especially when watching Live TV. Great to surf and bypass channels with commercials and get a glimpse of what is on without exiting the Guide. Unfortunately sometimes you either 1) can’t get rid of it Or. 2) can’t maximize it. Its just “stuck”
These scenarios can occur with “aggressive” channel surfing, or trying to go straight from DVR to Live TV, for example.
So on my Sofabaton X1S via Apple TV:
I’ve programmed the red button as a macro “Close PIP” with the sequential commands Homepage, Delay 0.5sec, Ok
I’ve programmed the green button as a macro “Maximize PIP” with the sequential commands Homepage, Delay 0.5 sec, Arrowleft, Delay 0.5 sec, Ok
So now if PIP is “stuck” , I can either kill it with the Red button, or maximize it with the Green button, and get back to enjoying the Channels app.