Hi everyone! This update is a large one, so there's a lot to cover. First though, while I originally intended for the next release to be for Profile Switching, I felt the need to re-prioritize the features in this release due to this unresolved issue with the Plex app
This bug essentially makes it impossible to navigate to Plex's movie, show, or episode's detailed pages from Dispatch. As such, I've worked hard to replicate the features these pages normally provide within Dispatch directly. This was always something I planned to do
eventually
, so it was not a total detour, at least.As this is a large update, some bugs or issues are expected. If you notice any, please let me know.
Video Summary
First, here's a walkthrough video of the features discussed in this post:
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Media Browsing
With this release, the "info" button/action now navigates to a detailed view of the selected media directly in Dispatch, rather than in Plex. In many places, you will now see actions such as "Open Movie" or "Browse TV Show" instead of the previously generic "info" button.
Movie Browsing
When a movie is selected from either the Home tab, Movies tab, or Search page, users will now be presented with a detailed page for that movie.
Users will see trailers, teasers, featurettes, and scenes from both Plex and YouTube, powered by TMDB. Note that in a future release, and before this update reaches the stable track, YouTube extras will become optional. For now, they are always shown.
The movie's cast and crew are also browsable from this page. Selecting a cast / crew member will display all Plex media for this person.
Extra Media Detailed Page
From the main buttons on the movie page, users can now navigate upwards to highlight the movie's plot. Clicking on this will display some more details for this item. Users can scroll up and down in this page using the directional buttons on their remote.
TV Show Browsing
Users can also browse TV Shows. In addition to the cast and trailers found in the movie page, a TV show's seasons are also displayed here. When a season is selected, the episode browser is shown.
Episode Browsing & Episode Cast View
Users can browse all episodes in a season and select which one to play, same as in Plex. By pressing down while an episode is highlighted, the user will be presented with that episode's cast and crew. Cast and crew for episodes are loaded once an episode is highlighted. Once the down arrow appears under the episode thumbnail, the cast is available for browsing.
Go to Show / Season
These two buttons are now available from the home page when viewing a TV Episode or Season, giving a convenient way to navigate through your shows. These are also available from the context menu by long clicking an item.
Collection Browsing
Users can now browse their collections as well. If a collection is missing a background image, a composite image is generated using random posters from the collection.
In addition, users can use the "Select Something Random" button to randomly bring up the detailed view for a random item in the collection. This can be a fun way of picking out a movie or show from a large collection.
What's Next
As this was a large and unplanned update, I'll be taking a small break before returning to Profile Switching, which I hope will be ready soon enough. Furthermore, there are a few final touches to the features outlined in this post that I'll be wrapping up as well (Which may come in the form of smaller updates in the next little while or perhaps will ship with the Profile Switching release.)
That's it for now. This update has been released to the beta track first. If testing goes well, it will be rolled out to the stable track as soon as possible.
Users who would like to join the beta track can do so here:
Thanks!