Open media from other apps

drumstyx

You know when you have a few video players installed like VLC etc, and you open a video from a file browser (in my case, plex) you can pick one? Where is Skybox in that selection? I thought it was a daydream issue, maybe daydream/regular apps couldn't interact, but then it works with VRTV which runs in daydream mode...

When will this be added? It's a pretty standard video player feature. Or am I missing something?

Andy

Hi,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.
Yes there is a special situation here.
In Android, once a VR player set as the default in a file browser, it is really hard to change it back. The option is buried way down deep in the system settings, and almost impossible to find without any help. Especially if the file browser stores the default info within itself, which means the default situation will not change even if you uninstall/reinstall the video player, it does get super annoying.
Prior to last week, SKYBOX could be used to open files directly from a file browser, but we have been getting way too much negative feedbacks and ratings on the 'unchangeable default player' issue in the last several weeks, which is essentially a bad design on the Android part. So we decided to remove this functionality first to stop the bleeding, and see if there is any solution to this particular problem, or any updates from Android.
Hope you can understand :)

Happy new year
Andy

drumstyx

hahaha, so just bad timing on my part eh?

Yeah, that's an issue with all apps that can open on the request of another app...frankly it's why I almost always choose the "just once" option, just in case, because you're right, it really is a pain to unset -- there isn't even a mapping like you'd find on a windows machine of file type to app, you have to actually go find the app in settings IIRC and clear its mapping. Bad design when it's bad, extremely convenient when it's good (mailto opening your email client, for example)

Anyway, that's a bummer, skybox is definitely the best VR video player I found. I even paid for VRTV just so I could have something semi-good for now, but it's not as full featured as far as I could tell.

For your development efforts, I'll tell you my use-case is Plex. Plex doesn't give non-root access to mobile-synced files, so unlike say, Emby, I can't just go into the app's data and pull a file in, I have to use the open...is it called 'intent'? It's been a while since I've done Android dev...

Hope the feature comes back! Maybe put a notice in the description or something? Don't let the bad users ruin it for the rest of us! :D

Andy

drumstyx

Haha yes I do hope this feature comes back as well.
Although, for the Plex issue, SKYBOX does currently support Plex streaming, but the DLNA protocol we are currently using does not work very nicely with Plex on some occasions, so some of our users have had issues with Plex. However, we are going to change into a better DLNA protocol to change this situation, hopefully within this month. By then you should be able to watch your content through Plex in SKYBOX with no problem :)
We appreciate your patience!

Andy

drumstyx

Unfortunately I don't think DLNA streaming will work with files synced with mobile sync by Plex. Maybe it sounds silly, but my plan is to use my Daydream headset on my commute on the train, so I can stop looking down for an hour, which I believe is causing me back/neck pain. DLNA wouldn't specifically be a problem, VPN is all set up to remote home, but since I'm in Canada, unfortunately we don't have unlimited mobile data, so even with 10GB/mo, an hour each way every day of commuting adds up when streaming!

Monocon

Is there any news about the "Open With" function? I was considering using Jellyfin on Quest for poster display and take Skybox as external player. Also DLNA takes me long time to open the directory and find the video file...

4 years has passed and I am still looking for that...

Lucy

Monocon
Hello, this feature is not on our roadmap right now. Regarding the DLNA issue, would you mind telling us which DLNA server you are using? How many files are there in the DLNA server? If there're too many files, it may take longer time to load the files. Our developer is looking into this problem. I'll keep in touch with you once there's any progress. 😃

weewee123

Hey, I just stumbled upon this post and had to make an account to reply to this.

First of all, SKYBOX is the greatest overall (VR) video player on a VR headset. However, this deliberate missing "open with" function is far worse than people pressing the option: "always" instead of "just once". They just need to learn. This is just something you have to deal with as a user. Users are already dealing with this on a daily basis on their android phones, so I'm pretty sure many have learned to use it properly - if not, it's on them. So I'm here after 6 years since the original post was made, to ask if you guys can please bring this essential feature back.

Thanks!

saadnaji

Hi, about this problem there many solutions to change default player.
One, which is very easy for the casual user is to download better open with apk that lets u change the default player without going into settings.
Or you can just go to android settings - > system - > reset app preferences if you clicked always open with by mistake.
Or even if possible make an option in settings, to allow it or not.
But the open with option is a must in any player, you add it really soon.

saadnaji

i hope