This channel will auto-discover a PlayOn server on your local network and display its channels.
What is PlayOn?
From Here: http://www.playon.tv/playon
PlayOn is a software program that runs on your Windows PC, giving you access to a wide range of Internet content on your TV -- Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon VOD, and many others.
PlayOn will transcode online content into a format that Roku will play. This channel can browse and play the transcoded streams from PlayOn.
Which version of PlayOn should I use?
This channel is confirmed to be working on versions 3.0.19-3.0.23. I will try and update the channel ASAP if any PlayOn updates break the current channel. It is best if you wait on confirmation that the channel works with any version beyond was it listed here.
TODO List (not necessarily in any particular order):
- Generic images for common categories.
- Getting Music working
- Getting Photos working
UPDATES:
10/15/2010:
An update has been published to address the My Media error introduced in PlayOn 3.0.23. It should work in .23 and .24 now.
10/14/2010
An new version of PlayOn was published today (3.0.23) that broke this channel. I have published an updated version of the channel that this fixes this issue and a few others:
- Compatibility with PlayOn 3.0.23
- Automatic Filtering of PlayOn Channels that duplicate Roku channels ((Netflix, Pandora, MLB, Amazon)
- Fix for Top level error bug: If there is an error fetching the top level categories (such as your computer chaning IPs), the error message will appear and the Settings option will appear. This will allow you to search for the new IP address.
10/7/2010:
Others users have reported that the channel correctly auto-updated. So my concerns about manually uninstalling and re-installing were unfounded.
10/06/2010:
NOTE that you should now use the vanity url above to install the channel. I"m not 100% sure, but you may need to remove the existing channel from your box manually and install from the new url above. Please let me know if your channel is automatically updated. I know this is a pain, and I apologize, but I was unaware with how the other codes can change with Roku's publishing system. The vanity code will remain constant.
I have published the new version with the following features:
- Settings/Config screen
-Allow iphone/ipad (low/high bitrate) stream selection: This appears to work and "should" produce less load on some machines.
-Allow deletion of cached PlayOn IP address: This will automatically initiate the server search again. Useful if your PlayOn Computer switches IPs - Catch empty xml error (aka ESPN3 Live Bug)
- "Loading..." message while loading XML
- Default folder icons
- Error/existence checking for field display (aka CBS NCIS error)
- General Cleanup of some of the code: It should be a bit more robust
UPDATES:
10/02 12:52pm: Added Todo list
9/30 2:40pm: The bug (selecting top level categories bounces you back to the roku home menu) should now be fixed. Please go to the channel store to update the channel.
9/30 2:30pm: THERE IS A BUG IN THE CURRENT VERSION...HOLD ON
9/30/2010:
PlayOn recently updated its iOS hls streams to use Roku compatiable audio, that means that PlayOn streams now work on the roku.
Before I give out out the code, a few notes:
1) The channel is very very very very very rough around the edges. It is based on one of my first experiements into brightscript that I cleaned up quickly now that Playon changed their hls streams. Please consider this channel alpha quality.
2) Server discovery is slow, but once it discovers teh server, the IP address is saved and you shouldn't have to wait again.
3) This is based on the latest PlayOn Software (3.0.19 released 9/28/2010). Please ensure that this version is insalled. Note that Playon has changed the interface this channel is using with nearly every release for the last few months. That means that if you upgrade past this version, there is a good chance something will no longer work.
4) This channel is based on PlayOn's HTTP iOS interface. They just recently got approved for an app in the app store, so I have no idea if they will maintain this interface.
What Works:
1) Server Discovery: As mentioned above, it is slow, but it works. Please note that only 1 Playon server is supported. If you are running multiple on your network, it will only link up to one
2) Hulu: Tested a couple of shows
3) Tv.com: watched the pilot of "$!# my dad says" last night
4) My videos: watched a few short clips of some videos I have on my computer. Both mkv's, one in HD. Both worked.
5) ESPN3: I watched part of a soccer game last night < 3 minutes. Worked fine
What doesn't work:
1) Missing Icons: Between the top level and the bottom episode level, there aren't any icons being displayed. I plan on creating some generic icons
2) CNN: this content seemed to cut off after a few minutes. Not sure what is going on.
3) Occasionally a video would rebuffer within the first 30 or so seconds of starting. After the first rebuffer it seemed to work fine.
That's all I've gotten to test so far. If you have any problems, please post in the thread and I will try to address them. Note that I have a busy work day today and I not likely be able to address any issues till tonight or tomorrow at the earliest.
And now that you've been sufficiently warned/informed:
https://owner.roku.com/Account/ChannelCode/?code=PLAYON
