OSMC Skin v0.9.1 feedback

General Discussion
1

Well it looks like another OSMC version is here and it has finally booted from a disk image. :grinning:

The Good: (compared to the Alpha4 release)

  • a nicely designed Splash screen with a quick bootup time.

  • the Skin has finally increased the size of fonts used. This badly needed fixing to be able to use OSMC from 10 feet away on the lounge. Very Welcome.

  • MY OSMC and the App Store works and is the interface is pretty slick.

  • The Live TV interface is clean and fresh. Channel switching is quick.

Incomplete at this time:

  • Network Settings, I’m unable to connect and pair a PS3 remote to a standard Cambridge BT USB. A reboot is even required to be able to enable it, Its not plug and play. A code should not be needed to pair this BT remote.

  • I could not Enable WIFI on a RT5370 USB even after a reboot.

  • Weather text and Artwork is misaligned, unable to even see the current Temp

  • in the View files mode I’m unable to bring the slider up to quickly scroll through files

  • lack of View mode choices in Movie Library mode, only list in present

  • I’m not sure what version of Kodi this is based on but I’m having a lot of issues with various files that do play properly on Kodi 14.1 on other OS platforms. The same issues with these files occurred in early versions of Kodi on other platforms as well.

Design issues with the Skin:

  • The white colours chosen to highlight a selected item, are confusing as hell sometimes with a Title or a Submenu item. I lose where I am and what is actually selected. Please change the highlighted item colour to a lightblue or something. Anything but white. This is really frustrating and annoying and detracts from the usability of the Skin.

  • In the English world we read Left to Right. Some of the Submenus present a list on the right hand side of the screen and then make a user select an action on the left. Other screens its the other way around. There appears to be no consistency, and detracts from the GUI flow.

  • I am unable to tell what TV Channel I am on or even what movie I’m watching when pulling up the info screen, artwork and info appear to be sorely missing.

Its a personal opinion but I ask where is the fun factor with the OSMC Skin. Ok its slick and minimal but a wee bit more bling would be nice without going over the top. As an example. In the movies Library view you can barely see the Fanart in the background.

This is supposed to be an OS Skin for a Media device. At the moment it appears to be an OS dressed in a sharp Business suit. Slick and functional, but the fun factor is missing.

Overall, a good effort.
Yes I appreciate more work needs to be done but the OSMC team have done a very nice job.
Thanks Guys.

W.

6 Likes
2

Can you explain this a bit more? Perhaps screenshots showing what you mean?

3

Uhh…stupid question but where did you find this RC?

4

As far as I know there is NO RC released yet so you’re reviewing some kind of internal work in progress version? Hardly fair to represent this as any sort of release version. I’m well aware that the internal test builds can be found out there if you look hard enough but they are NOT released yet.

5

Yes I will try and get a few screenshots tonight to explain the design layout inconsistencies a bit better.

6

This the sort of good, measured, mature feedback that really helps a project. There may be differences of design opinion, but the tone of the post makes it clear that a conversation is at least possible, and probably would be worthwhile to boot. Such a breath of fresh air after the tool-ish behavior of some other posters in the last little while.

1 Like
7

Hi

I’d firstly like to comment that this build is internal, so things are being chopped and changed a bit. Some insight is still good though.

WiFi is still being worked on.

I think ConnMan and BlueZ always prompt with a code, but I’ll have a look.

This is by design.

Can you please upload MediaInfo and a log for any files that are not playing?

Agree with this. It seems we are using a lighter grey for things that are not highlighted which makes it very difficult to identify wat’s selected or not.

I would appreciate it if you could provide some examples.

Why not? Can you show me what you see instead?

S

8

I just want to add my two pence worth of opinion please, I already made a thread but not sure if any devs saw it.

Perhaps the skin could make use of Media flags a bit more too? I’d just like to easily be able to see some info about my media, resolution, source, audio channels etc. Could this be added to the media library view?

I know I can highlight a film and view the info, but that’s an additional step, if the media flag icons “1080p”, “BD”, 5.1" etc could be shown under the cover art it would be a nice extra!

1 Like
9

We’re working on this.

Sam

3 Likes
10

How did you manage this? I’ve installed TVHeadend from the App store but there is no configuration tab on TVHeadend Server Website to choose an adapter.

11

I have a few “wants” regarding the OSMC skin, but I hesitate to post them because there’s no way to know whether or not a particular feature is in the works.

Should we just wait until the final release, or would it be appropriate to make suggestions now?

12

Making suggestions is always welcome. Please keep in mind that there will be work on the skin after the final release as well

S

13

I would have to vote that the highlighted text is difficult to see. :smile: On many of the menus selected text font weight only increases slightly. It is more distinguishable on a smaller television but on a larger set for some reason the text font weight looks almost the same as the unselected text. Maybe it’s my eyes, but looks like others are experiencing it as well.

2 Likes
14

Would you share where you got it from? Latest I could find was Alpha4.

Thanks

15

I was basing my observation on Alpha 4 skin. However shortly after posting, my OSMC build alpha 4 build notified me that there was a update available and it automatically appears to have downloaded 0.9.1. Ont the weekend I was playing around with settings and set my unit to download updates automatically.

16

[quote=“sam_nazarko, post:7, topic:1435”]

I think ConnMan and BlueZ always prompt with a code, but I’ll have a look.[/quote]

I am just basing this observation of connection to a PS3 BT remote using another very well known RPi distro. There you just hit Trust & Connect and viola connection made. No code needing to be entered at all

[quote=“sam_nazarko, post:7, topic:1435”][quote=“wrxtasy, post:1, topic:1435”]
I’m not sure what version of Kodi this is based on but I’m having a lot of issues with various files that do play properly on Kodi 14.1 on other OS platforms. The same issues with these files occurred in early versions of Kodi on other platforms as well.[/quote]

Can you please upload MediaInfo and a log for any files that are not playing?[/quote]

I can but these problem files will actually play in later versions of Kodi on other OS platforms anyway. So it is likely a waste of time as a Kodi or ffmpeg fix is coming down the pipe.

[quote=“sam_nazarko, post:7, topic:1435”]

I would appreciate it if you could provide some examples.[/quote]

Is it possible to align this Get More text in the middle so you just have to press down and there is your selection. Currently you look left and to me my brain thinks this means previous of backwards.

There are other numerous examples I could outline as well.
Maybe this is a personal bugbear just for me. Very likely.


[quote=“sam_nazarko, post:7, topic:1435”]

Why not? Can you show me what you see instead?[/quote]

Ok which TV Channel am I viewing here, no Logo is presented ?
(BTW I do get Channel Logos in the LiveTV > Channel list)

Is this because you are using common Info code for all Info pullup instances ?
This is not going to work properly for Live TV.

Also the Info box should be displayed when switching channels. I have it currently selected to 5 seconds, only a small progress bar currently appears and quickly disappears when video buffering completes.

.

  • Another issue is this light grey text against a dark blue background is almost impossible to read on a TV. ( The “7 digital” under “My Kitchen Rules”)
    The program description text on the right hand side probably needs to be larger as well, the size of this second screenshot maybe.

.

  • My other personal gripe, is why bother having a Fan Art selection option in the Movie Library view if it going to be barely visible on a TV screen. Where is the Media Box bling and fun factor…

.

  • This I suspect this is what some users prefer, something like this sort of Fan Art visibility with a nice Glass pane over the top…

.

  • My final question is why do I have to hit Enter of press right when scrolling up and down the Settings page to view the info in the right hand part of the screen. ?
    It increases the number of button presses actually needed as I cannot just casually view further nested submenus when scrolling up/down.

I’m sure some of these are/will be addressed in future releases.
Thanks Sam.
W.

1 Like
17

Regardless, a log would be helpful here so we can improve things in OSMC. I don’t own a PS3 BT remote to test this. You also need to remember you are testing an unreleased test build. We’ve not announced it because it has some problems, such as networking.

Some of the alignment in the skin seems counterintuitive to me too, agreed.

We are right up to date on all the latest Kodi patches, so I doubt that’s the case. Would appreciate a log, and sample. We have struggled to find files that Kodi and Pi2 will not play.

Contrast needs working on.

Early days yet.

S

18

Is the app store already working on Pi2? How would it be? I know that it will be free, but no what will offer. It wold be like other addons repo or will give the ability to download and install full programs like transmission or tvheadend with out going into the shell?

Thanks

19

Hi

It will be in a future build. You can install binary applications such as TvHeadend indeed.

Sam

20

I know, but they stop working after a reboot or an update, like pyLoad ot TvHeadend, but there’s no problem, take all time you need, I would not rush