Swiftfin tvOS - Status Update

[JPKribs]

Last Updated | 2024-11-12

Currently, Swiftfin for tvOS is not yet ready for TestFlight. Some delays are due to shared components between iOS/iPadOS and tvOS (such as the Video Player Manager), while others stem from challenges unique to tvOS. Developing for tvOS tends to introduce quirks that make progress slower, such as more limited support for SwiftUI on tvOS, cursor focus management, and a more complex process to test builds on real hardware than with iOS.

That said, we are actively working to get the next version of Swiftfin for tvOS ready for testing. Below is an outline of our progress, detailing both what has been achieved and what remains to be done.

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Nice to Have / Not Required for 1.X

• General View Polish (Error Handling, Stateful ViewModels, etc.)
• Reactive Home Screen Issue #784 & Issue #1155
• Library Scrolling Focus Loss (Focus jumps to the top of the screen on page loads)

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Not Started

• Sign-In Flow (Delete Single Users, login pins, etc.)
• Episode Selector (Season View)
• Finish Item View (Error Handling, Stateful ViewModels, etc.)

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In Progress

• Video Player Manager Refactor | PR #1203

• Video Player UI | Relies on PR #1203


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Developed

These items should be included in the next tvOS Build:

• Revamp Device Profile Builder #519
• [iOS & tvOS] Customizable Device Profiles #1169
• Navigation and Item Overhaul #492
• New Year, New Video Player + Other Goodies #593
• User/Server Sign In Redesign #1045
• [iOS & tvOS] Add 'Enable Rewatching' and ' Max days' to Next Up #1258
• [iOS & tvOS] Fix Opus Playback Issues on Native Player #1226
• [iOS & tvOS] App-Wide Bitrate Limit #1147
• [tvOS][Bug] Fixes season selector only showing a single season. #950
• [tvOS][QOL] Supports back button click when in the native player. #947
• Refactor PosterButton and libraries, good UICollectionViews, proper orientation handling, and more #905
• Add ability to hide "Recently Added" section at home screen #1087
• Fix Trailing Slash Server URL #1145
• Update tvOS onChange #1141
• VLCKit Hard Versioning #1136
• [tvOS] Change password to be a SecureField and autosubmit on password comple… #1090
• tvOS 17 as minimum #1076
• [tvOS] TV Shows Icon Doesn't Highlight #1074
• tvOS - Show and interact with the video menu #1066
• tvOS Library Paging #1057
• tvOS - Remove last CollectionView #1036
• Fix Video Player Tracks #1176

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This Should Improve/Solve These Issues

• #496
• #502
• #577
• #503
• #658
• #668
• #669
• #676
• #691
• #703
• #715
• #723
• #770 (Swiftfin done; Native pending VideoPlayer Manager Refactor)
• #780
• #782
• #790
• #803
• #811
• #851
• #923
• #928
• #929
• #937
• #943 (Swiftfin done; Native pending VideoPlayer Manager Refactor)
• #972
• #976
• #1016
• #1150
• #1214
• #1221
• #1296

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Disclaimer

Please note that we have no firm release date and won’t commit to one. Swiftfin development is volunteer-driven by individuals who have other commitments. Updates will be posted here as available. We ask that you please be respectful of those dedicating their free time to make Swiftfin a reality.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments, and I'll answer as best I can!

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Edits

• 2024-11-04: Added all tvOS PR's currently merged into Main

• 2024-11-12: Added episode card changes

[tehabe]

So this is the reason why I still see Swiftfin 1.0.1 on tvOS? I really hoped when I saw the change log for Swiftfin 1.2 it would also be available on tvOS.

[JPKribs]

That is correct. TVOS and iOS have shared components but all UI elements are essentially separate apps. As we have progress to the tvOS version of Swiftfin, I will make updates to this discussion to keep everyone in the loop.

[gpl007]

Hi Team, for the past couple of months (not sure exactly) I have been unable to connect to my server through Swiftfin on tvOS. It comes up as a local server, but when I select it the Connect button flickers for a split second and goes back to Connect. This happens over and over. I've tried restarting the app, restarting the server, and re-installing the app. Any ideas?

I was going to open an issue but I just had a feeling that it was worth asking first as it may be something I don't realise.

[JPKribs]

Let's open this up as an issue so we don't ping everyone. People who are subscribed to this discussion will get notified on posts like this but this isn't directly related to the next tvOS release.