Prior to Channels I used iOS app “nPlayer”, however no metadata.
Can play mpegts files and AC3 (beware some players do not support AC3, so no audio)
Can also download over wi-fi from NAS, PCs, Macs, etc.
UI is ugly, but easily useable:
Auto discovery of wi-fi sources
WebDav, SMB, DLNA, Cloud +++
Plays all types of files
Tried a lot of players several years ago. IMO, this was the best.
I’m guessing the easiest way is to transfer the video files to a USB/lightning flash drive and play them from that…
iPhone iPad Flash Drive USB 3.0 64GB with Charging Support, RAVPower Jump Thumb Pen Drive Memory Stick Expansion External Storage for iOS, Instant Backup, U-shaped Rubber Clip [Upgraded] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XXYBWFX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_pXsRAbMRPF9Z1
I have used the VLC Player of iOS. It has a handy feature where you can transfer files via WiFi. You can even watch live TV from your HDHomeRun tuners!!
I use Influse to download my shows to my iPad.
I also use the Infuse download feature. Before travel I download several movies and episodes of a couple of series I am behind on and I’m ready to go regardless of the availability of a network fast enough for streaming.
Infuse downloads are quick as you are pulling over your local network. Much quicker then iTunes downloads.
Decided to finish building NFO’s and artwork for my existing media collection so anything I use for a back-end server or front-end client app won’t have to scrape everything. Will be trying out MrMC (TestFlight 3.5.1 looks promising) and Infuse. As long as the iPad client app can get the unaltered media file, associated artwork and NFO metadata and store locally on the iPad, I’m halfway there. Sounds like DLNA is out and SMB is in for that. If the client app player can play all my media without transcoding (VLC does) and offers the features I’ve become used to in VLC and iCatcher, I’m all in.
Didn’t realize MrMC accommodated off-line download. Have had several shows/movies not matching with NFOs but for the most part I’ve found MrMC to be a capable player, especially for raw mpegts/AC3 files.
Let us know about your final solution, as others would be able to utilize.
Personally, prior to my latest iPad purchase (256gb) I was hindered by minimal storage, so I used various wi-fi/usb capable storage devices (AirStash, D-Link, chinese knock-offs) to store recordings which were playable on iOS devices.
I’m not sure if MrMC will download to my iPad since I haven’t tried it yet but it’s marketing says it does???
re: Have had several shows/movies not matching with NFOs but for the most part I’ve found MrMC to be a capable player
Thanks for the vote on MrMC playback. What issues are you having with NFO’s and MrMC?
Appears that Infuse doesn’t support NFO’s (just a basic Infuse specific .xml file, but NFO’s are XML’s?) and it’s my number 1 requirement because I want some metadata displayed on my downloaded iPad Movies/TV Shows so they display offline.
I decided after this original post and reading the replies that I’d have to do my homework and found .nfo’s are the best way to ensure that you decide the metadata instead of having some ever changing website (via scraper) decide it for you. BUT it all depends on the back-end-server and front-end client if they even use the .nfo and how they interact with it.
Down The Rabbit Hole again…
MrMC doesn’t have the ability to download files for playback.
Total BUMMER!
Now I have to see where I saw it was possible. Not sure if their forum or just a web search that turned that up.
Thanks,
Glad I didn’t pay to find out it wasn’t possible.
MKTG: Will wash and feed your DOG
SUPPORT: Who said that?
Yesterday, I tried Infuse again (have Pro ver). Many improvements in the last year.
Seems as if this is your only choice, but it does work great now.
I think you can load a test version to check it out…
chDVRuser, I have a similar use case for offline viewing and Infuse Pro has fit the bill.
Infuse does support local metadata although you have to use the specific features and file naming the app supports. I played around with local metadata when I first started using Infuse several years ago. Over time I have gone to almost exclusively having Infuse scrape the metadata. As long as you name your files in the format Infuse expects, it does a nice job of scraping (including for television series). The Pro version supports icloud sync, which means that the metadata and watched status is stored in the cloud and available to every iOS and AppleTV device using the same appleID. Once scraped, metadata is local and icloud so it is efficient for large libraries.
When you use Infuse to download files to an iOS device the metadata comes with it. Running Infuse after a download displays the downloaded files next to any shares you have configured to view remotely. The metadata for the downloaded movies, series, whatever are displayed if you have a network connection or not.
I also use MrMC so I have some familiarity with it. I primarily use it to access to my music collection that I have ripped to flac files but I occasionally test it’s video playback and video interface. While it does a decent job playing video files, I find the Infuse interface cleaner and I haven’t noticed a download option on MrMC.
Hope this helps. Scott
Appreciate all the suggestions but I’m second thinking my choice of using an iPad Pro for this purpose.
I’ll be trying out Infuse, but am disappointed that either Apple has locked this down or I’m just a niche customer.
Other platforms have many choices.
Guess using a NFO file labels you as a Pirate, sad.
All my videos are recorded from a personal camera, OTA or CABLE DVR/PVR device and use different style metadata so after some research I found that .nfo files are the best way to lock down your metadata so whatever scraper your server/client uses isn’t at the mercy of the user based internet site hosting the metadata being scraped. I also have many one-off recordings or documetaries that cannot be scraped online. If a user at TMDB or TVDB decides to change it’s data, a scraper will comply and not complain, rendering your carefully renamed files (to comply with whatever scraper requirements it uses) useless.
I’m continuing my search to find a decent player that fits my needs to view/play TV Shows and Movies OFFLINE, whatever mobile platform that leads to. I’m hoping VLC Player supports NFO’s as that’s my go to video player on any platform.
Guess I could better explain what I’m looking for…
When I record some video I want to archive (with a Camera, DVR / PVR, etc.) I may or may not get the metadata I want for the recording. I will use whatever metadata I have as a template (sometimes incorrect, or almost totally blank, etc.) or create from scratch if non-existant and fill in the missing info to create an .nfo file from it. This is especially useful for home-made movies, one off shows, made for TV Movies and Documentaries that can’t be scraped on the major internet sites. That way I can also create my preferred artwork for the media file.
I don’t want to replace my preferred media viewers, VLC Player or iCatcher, unless some app does it better, just want to bring this metadata over to my iPad Pro to view offline.
Is this violating some DMCA or TOS rules by doing this? I’m not sharing or selling my personal recordings, only using them for personal use.
Appears that Apple makes this extremely difficult for a customer to do, or I’m just an edge case and nobody else is looking for this functionality. I’m thinking the former.
I use Filebrowser to shift recordings from my NAS or PC to my iPad then send it to VLC. Perfect to take stuff on holiday.
Appreciate all response so far, but none accomplish what I want.
From my iPad Pro I want to SEE (not stream) Movies & TV Shows on my NAS with metadata and artwork I have stored alongside them in accompanying .NFO, .jpg, .png files setup for KODI / PLEX compatability.
Transfer (download/sync, whatever the app names it) the videos to my iPad Pro along with the metadata and artwork I setup on my NAS so that when I take my iPad Pro off the grid I still see the same thing.
Infuse came sorta close in that it displayed correctly what was on my NAS from it’s library view but was inconsistent and buggy and did not transfer the metadata and artwork to the iPad Pro when I downloaded/synced the media. It kept trying to scrape the internet for the metadata/artwork instead of using my .nfo, .jpg and .png’s.
I don’t want to use Plex cause it wants to transcode everything since its players only support whatever the native platform supports. I can play all of my files on my iPad Pro using VLC (free) and many other fine iOS apps, but they don’t display my curated metadata/artwork during a browse/download from my NAS or when on the iPad Pro off the grid after syncing/downloading which is what I’m looking for.
Continuing the quest…
Just to give an idea of what I mean when I say my Media is layed out for compliance with KODI / PLEX.
for this test case my NAS has following directory/file structure;
MOVIES
\Media\Movies\Who Really Discovered America (2010)\poster.jpg
\Media\Movies\Who Really Discovered America (2010)\Who Really Discovered America (2010).jpg
\Media\Movies\Who Really Discovered America (2010)\Who Really Discovered America (2010).nfo
\Media\Movies\Who Really Discovered America (2010)\Who Really Discovered America (2010).ts
\Media\Movies\Who Really Discovered America (2010)\Who Really Discovered America (2010)-fanart.jpg
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\poster.jpg
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993).jpg
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993).mpg
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993).nfo
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)-fanart.jpg
\Media\Movies\The Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993)\thumb.png
TV SHOWS
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\banner.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\clearlogo.png
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\fanart.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\logo.png
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\poster.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\season01-poster.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\season02-poster.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\season03-poster.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\season04-poster.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\thumb.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\tvshow.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E01 - And So It Begins.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E01 - And So It Begins.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E01 - And So It Begins.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E02 - Of Wolf and Man.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E02 - Of Wolf and Man.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E02 - Of Wolf and Man.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E03 - The Talons of Fear.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E03 - The Talons of Fear.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E03 - The Talons of Fear.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E04 - Stalked.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E04 - Stalked.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E04 - Stalked.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E05 - Winds Of Hell.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E05 - Winds Of Hell.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E05 - Winds Of Hell.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E06 - Rain of Terror.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E06 - Rain of Terror.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E06 - Rain of Terror.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E07 - The Hunger.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E07 - The Hunger.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E07 - The Hunger.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E08 - The Freeze.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E08 - The Freeze.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E08 - The Freeze.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E09 - Brokedown Palace.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E09 - Brokedown Palace.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E09 - Brokedown Palace.nfo
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E10 - Triumph.jpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E10 - Triumph.mpg
\Media\TV Shows\Alone (2015)\Season 01\Alone (2015) - S01E10 - Triumph.nfo
As Infuse appears to be the only solution which even comes close to your stated desires, I’d try working with their development team to develop a path for inclusion of your requirements.
In my experience, they are amenable to user requests, but are nowhere near the level that you receive from the Channels Devs.
Plex cannot/will not even respond nor fix problems as reported by long time users. Kodi is too spread out and have their own agenda. MrMC or Emby, are other possibilities, but IMO both are still trying to work some of the basics for various platforms, hence will not have the time/resources.
I appreciate your (sage) candid advice, given you have been trying different apps/platforms out.
I avoid subscriptions to apps/programs and would prefer to trial a full-blown version before paying a one-time fee. The only app/program I currently subscribe to is Channels DVR because it’s worth it. It just works like a DVR should and has amazing support from the developers. When it’s no longer worth it to me I can cancel my subscription.
It seems that too many apps (in the Apple space) hard sell in-app updates (like Infuse) when it won’t even play any of my media in the basic trial app (what is the trial for?) and falls short of what I want. I’ll try, but pass on these. Also seems Apple apps lack a lot in Help/Basic usage instructions/WiKi’s, etc. (May be just because I’m coming from CPM,DOS,OS/2,LINUX,WINDOWS and expecting too much).
I gave up being a PAYING, instead of PAYED beta tester for many products before I gave up being a paying beta tester for Tivo and Plex. If someone wants to pay me enough to retire on, I’ll consider being their beta tester.
Downloads and offline watching have gone into beta. You can read more about it here:
Thanks, I'll give it a try on my iPad when it's released.