v1.3.0-preview.2: embedded mpv

v1.3.0-preview.2

This is just a pre-release to get things tested, so definitely expect some issues.

If you missed the previous preview these preview builds are currently testing MPV embedding. It is still WIP. There WILL be issues and missing features.

Changes from previous preview build:

• Fixed addon subtitles somtimes not loading
• The transition of replacing the standard stremio controls with new ones to show on top of mpv should be smoother now
• Scale button (fit, stretch, crop) is now implemented
• Shortcuts implemented:
  • Space to pause/play
  • ESC to exit fullscreen
  • Arrow keys to skip around
• Now the controls' zoom is based on main window's zoom (it'll use the same size you change using ctrl +/- in the main window)

To check current progress checkout the todo.md file (go down to the MPV embedding section)

v1.3.0-preview.1: embedded mpv

This is the first pre-release replacing the HTML5 video player with embedded mpv (Windows only for now).

Keep in mind that this is just a pre-release to get things tested, so definitely expect some issues.

Note on Player Controls

Because the embedded mpv window sits on top of everything, it completely covers the default Stremio Web player controls. To fix this, I’m building a custom overlay clone to match the standard controls. It's still a work in progress and missing a few features, so here are the known issues for this build:

• External Players: The three-dots menu to open streams in an external player isn't implemented yet.
• Fit button: The Fit button does not function right now.
• Series Navigation: The side drawer for quickly switching to other episodes is currently missing.
• Streaming Stats: The statistics button to check your stream loading speeds is not available yet.
• Settings Defaults: It won't auto-select subtitles or audio tracks based on your default Stremio settings, and it won't respect your default subtitle size preference yet.
• Subtitles Menu: The Subtitles Settings section (to change subtitle size/delay or position) inside the subtitle overlay menu is not yet hooked up.
• Streaming Error: The player will sometimes give a "Video not supported" error, but you can ignore it and wait, the stream will play anyway.

v1.2.1-test

Reverted some electron launch flags from v1.2.0

v1.2.0

Update v1.2.0

This update is to fix Stremio Enhanced to work with the newest Stremio Web version.

• Fixed an issue where the Enhanced section wasn't showing in the settings tab.
• Fixed an issue where Discord Rich Presence wasn't updating status.
• Improvements to Discord Rich Presence:
  • Now works with external players
  • Now works when autoplaying next episode
• Added update detection for server.js. If you're not using Stremio Service and you're using server.js directly, now it'll check for updates for server.js on launch and inform you if there is a newer version with a dialog to update.
  • Note: Due to licensing restrictions, the download of server.js cannot be automated. You will need to download the file manually, but this it will walk you through the process and automatically delete the old version for you.

v1.1.5

Update v1.1.5

• Fixed an issue where sometimes the "subtitles loaded" toast would get stuck in the UI. (#95)

Important Note: Currently, the latest official Windows version of Stremio Service on GitHub includes faulty FFmpeg binaries. This can lead to issues like no audio in streams. To fix this for the time being, you can either use server.js directly or replace the ffmpeg binaries using the following steps:

• download ffmpeg from here https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/download/latest/ffmpeg-master-latest-win64-gpl.zip
• extract the zip archive to local appdata > programs > StremioService and select replace existing files.

v1.1.4

Update v1.1.4 - hotfix

• Stremio Service installation fix: Implemented a fallback to download the .zip archive if the setup file is unavailable upstream during initial setup. (Issue #92)

Important Note: Currently, the latest official Windows version of Stremio Service on GitHub includes faulty FFmpeg binaries. This can lead to issues like no audio in streams. To fix this for the time being, you can either use server.js directly or try this:

• download ffmpeg from here https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/download/latest/ffmpeg-master-latest-win64-gpl.zip
• extract the zip archive to local appdata > programs > StremioService , replace existing files.

v1.1.3

Update v1.1.3

• Minor bug fix: Fixed community marketplace install/uninstall buttons not working.
• Minor bug fix: Fixed a bug where if the user uninstalls a theme from the community marketplace, the currently active theme would get disabled regardless of whether it's the theme they uninstalled or not.
• Minor bug fix: Fixed an issue where the app wouldn't fullscreen properly on Linux.

Somehow I didn't notice these bugs until after I made a new release (v1.1.2). Sorry about that.

Previous update changes if you missed them:

Update v1.1.2

• Fixed audio tracks not loading: Added a fallback workaround for loading audio tracks in case the native Stremio Web implementation fails. (PR #89)
• Option to use external player: Added the option in the settings to use an external player under the Enhanced section (currently supports MPV and VLC).
• Auto-hide custom title bar when in fullscreen: Fixed a bug where if the Window Transparency option is enabled in the settings, the window title bar would not hide when the app is in fullscreen.
• Minor bug fix: The community marketplace now displays correct theme version text.

v1.1.2

Update v1.1.2

• Fixed audio tracks not loading: Added a fallback workaround for loading audio tracks in case the native Stremio Web implementation fails. (PR #89)
• Option to use external player: Added the option in the settings to use an external player under the Enhanced section (currently supports MPV and VLC).
• Auto-hide custom title bar when in fullscreen: Fixed a bug where if the Window Transparency option is enabled in the settings, the window title bar would not hide when the app is in fullscreen.
• Minor bug fix: The community marketplace now displays correct theme version text.

v1.1.1

• Fixed an issue where streams sometimes wouldn't load or load slow.

v1.1.0

Update v1.1.0

• stremio:// protocol support Now you install addons via links without having to copy & paste the URL.

• Fixed embedded subtitles (mostly) There is an issue with Stremio Web at the moment where on Chromium-based browsers (Stremio Enhanced included, since it uses Electron) embedded subtitles sometimes don't load despite the format being supported. With this update, any embedded subtitles that browsers support should load using Stremio Enhanced's own workaround implementation of adding the subtitles by itself if the native Stremio Web implementation fails. However, unfortunately due to browser limitations, Blu-ray PGS embedded subtitles will still not load. The only way to get around this is to play streams via external players such as VLC or MPV.

• Plugins are now more powerful: Plugins can now register settings for their own plugins for users to configure and then plugins can get/save those settings as well as listen to whenever they get changed by the user. Additionally, plugins can now utilize Electron's showMessageBox and easily show customizable messagebox dialogs to the user and also utilize a new API to show a prompt alert that the user can input data into. There will be a documentation soon for developers on how to utilize the plugin API (possibly in the wiki tab of this repository).

• Themes can now require specific plugins: Developers of complex themes that need extra plugins to function properly can now require those plugins in the metadata and Stremio Enhanced will tell the user to download and enable those plugins first before applying the theme. The way to use this will also be documumented in the wiki.

• Streaming performance improvements: Some tweaks to the Electron flags Stremio Enhanced uses to improve media streaming experience.
  Note: Make sure if you're on Windows that you have HEVC Video Extensions installed. You can get it for free from here

• Choose ANGLE GPU Rendering from settings: If you're on Windows or Linux, you can now choose the rendering engine you want to use. You can choose from Auto (Default), DirectX 11, DirectX 9, OpenGL, Vulkan, and Software rendering. macOS is locked to Metal since it's the only way to get hardware acceleration on macOS.

• New plugin update safety alert: Now if there is an update for a plugin but the new version of that plugin is not submitted to the Community Marketplace (in stremio-enhanced-registry), a dialog will show up to alert the user that the new version is not in the registry yet and advice the user to read the source code of the new version first before updating.

• Fixed minor settings bug: Fixed a bug where the Enhanced section button on the left sidebar in the settings page wasn't autoscrolling to the Enhanced section.

• New download option in the update notice: Now if there's a new Stremio Enhanced update, you can download the new update by clicking the new download button and it'll download and automatically download/install the update setup if you're on Windows. On macOS it should download the update and mount the dmg, and on Linux it will download and show the file in file explorer.

• Codebase improvements: Better seperation of frontend and backend parts of the app as well as better use of contextBridge to improve code readability and maintainability.