I’ve recently gotten my picopix, and i think the build quality is fantastic and overall it’s a neat little device.
After using it for some time I have a few concerns…
While Netflix’ streams work well, the usability of the app isn’t great. I can’t access the search icon from the main menu, and I can’t seem to figure out how to pause a video without pressing back, then navigating back to the video to play it. In addition, it’s not always obvious where the cursor is on the main menu.
Then, after browsing this forum, I’ve just recently learned that this isn’t an “official” netflix app, and it needs to be customized by the PPM when netflix update their app – what happens when the PPM team no longer wants to support it?
Finally, as I prefer a chromecast UX overall, I didn’t learn until I received the PPM that casting Netflix natively to PPM doesn’t work (via an android or iphone), and if you use the HDMI port to plug a chromecast in then it can’t connect to bluetooth speakers.
This means I’m stuck with a poor Netflix experience and am just waiting until PPM support dies.
Are there any plans to figure out native Netflix app support on PPM, or to support bluetooth through hdmi?
To be honest, I have Netflix on my Sony Bravia with Android TV, and I like the experience on the PPX better than that version. So what do you mean by poor? Once you use it with the mouse it should be much better I would think.
And the app is the official app, just tweaked a little to allow something to work which otherwise wouldn’t because of Netflix’ rules: Full HD on a projector.
It’s a shame that there are so many users who don’t realize that they can pair the remote to use it as a mouse, I encounter one such case almost every week.
Note that I’m not blaming them (or you), it’s just that if they knew perhaps their experience of the projector would be much nicer in general I think.
The new user manual which I only knew of today should perhaps be published and promoted more, think before there was only the quick start guide which didn’t really go in to detail,
But even this manual should have put more emphasis on the pairing and included it all in the remote control setup section, as bluetooth pairing doesn’t just give the extra function of a mouse pointer but improve all functions as it no longer needed to be pointed at the IR receiver, and a lot of new users may not know that either.
I can go back into the Indiegogo updates and find that Netflix was not willing to cooperate to make it official. and 1 update after saying that Phillips has modified their own version of Netflix.
As much as I like my PPX there can (should) a lot still be improved. The netflix app is not official and even with the pointer the experience is poor.
Some examples that work with any smart tv but does not work with the PPX Netflix app.
When you press the Ok button on the remote the movie that is playing should pause and the HUD should become visible.
When pressing top or bottom arrow the HUD should become visible (with a selection, for example on the pause button) without pausing the movie (now you have to press the pointer to make the pointer visible and then press again to make the HUD visible)
In the PPX, if you are looking through the episodes of a serie and want to open 1 episode’s plot description you press ok. but then the selection goes or to season selection on the top or to the left “my list” selection. If this episode was on the bottom of the visibility bar then it has expanded below where you cannot see.
Also in this list you cannot with the arrow keys go to the download or play buttons on the right. this can only be done once you already have opened 1 episode plot description.
I cannot seem to skip the intro songs of series. there is no button. the only time that it (automatically) skips the intro is when I am binch watching and it is the 2nd, 3rd etc episode I watch.
the selections in my “continue to watch” list are barely visible. You only see the selection when the information button is selected on the right corner of the serie.
Also I have in the netflix app that if I am browsing arround too much the arrows keys just stop working.
I dont want to sound too negative.
I very much like the PPX.
But looking at its usercase, the Netflix app must run correctly. Just like with any smart tv. This is not the case.
First of all, the poster asked a question, and was the one who marked my answer as a solution to his question. Whether it satisfies your use case is not relevant to him.
To respond to your points:
The Netflix app is the latest official version of the Android app at the moment the firmware is baked. We just tweak something in it, but we don’t create a whole new app or anything.
Smart TV’ usually have their own OS or run Android TV. The PPX has regular Android, where the apps mostly operate and see it as a tablet. So I understand why you want it to behave as a TV but are hindered by the fact it’s not.
The OK button may be reprogrammed to do that, thanks for the suggestion
All the other comments stem from the fact that the OS and the app see the user interface as being handled through a tablet, which is why the mouse pointer is a solution for the OP.
It does work correctly: it shows the movies and series and plays them back, in Full HD at that.
“In a familiar way” would be better suited in your sentence, where familiar is defined individually and by expectation. Expecting it to work like “any” smart TV is also your view, as this is not a TV nor does it run a TV OS.
I’ll leave you with this last remark: An MacOS PC works different to a Windows PC, but yet they’re both computing devices. As long as you accept that they work differently, there’s not a correct or incorrect way of doing things, just a matter of habituation.
Is there any way to use the Ok button to pause ? Maybe developpers of Netflix can add it on their app ? It works fine with Youtube or Molotov TV also on Aptoide.
A quick fix is to use the play/pause button on your Bluetooth speakers. For instance, when my home theatre is paired to the PicoPix via Bluetooth, I just use that remote to hit pause and it pauses the video.
For pause I just hit the HOME button, yes it takes you to the home screen but it does pause the video and while at the home screen the Netflix app will already be highlighted so a quick press on the OK button will return and resume the video, in fact it will even replay about 2 seconds before you stopped so you won’t forget what happened, I find this work around almost no different to a pause button once you get used to it.
Agreed, I can use it, but its far from a slick experience. I do/did have faith that software updates would gradually fix these UX issues, but man, its gone cemetery quiet on updates and visibility of the presumably changing roadmap.
Is this PPM still going to be supported for 2 years? or are we basically reaching a cross-road for effort/time vs features and there impact?
It feels like the brakes have been applied for now.
