Does the lightbox android app work?

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robjg63

3099 posts

Uber Geek

#193485 12-Mar-2016 18:54

I got a free trial of lightbox and thought I would give it whirl.

I have a little android media box hooked up to the TV (beelink x2).

I installed the android app from the google play store and logged in.

It seems to show the details of the TV program you select, but the panel that should show the list of series and the panel next to it that should let you see the list of episodes are just grey boxes.

Look to be a lot of complaints about it on th eplay store and the app has a very low rating (2.5) and it hasnt been upgraded since Sept 2015.

Do I assume its not being actively supported and just give up on it?

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

benokobi

827 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1512133 12-Mar-2016 20:59

I never got it to work during my 12 months free trial via spark

stashren

24 posts

Geek

#1512135 12-Mar-2016 21:07

It works well on my android tablet but I have never been able to get it working on my android media box

robjg63

3099 posts

Uber Geek

#1512154 12-Mar-2016 22:57

Glad to know its not just me then....

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

robjg63

3099 posts

Uber Geek

#1512330 13-Mar-2016 15:01

Even tried downloading and installing chrome - no joy - says I have to use the app.
So I tried Firefox and an add-on called phony that let's you change the browser agent to desktop Firefox, ipad, IE etc. But still no joy. At worst it said this won't work on Linux, to just sitting there with the loading circle whirling around forever.
At least I can see the navigation (series and episode selection areas).
:-(

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Wade

2217 posts

Uber Geek

#1512387 13-Mar-2016 16:27

Android app works well, usually use it with Chromecast and is probably more reliable than Netflix

andrew027

1269 posts

Uber Geek

#1514586 16-Mar-2016 16:20

@Wade: Android app works well, usually use it with Chromecast and is probably more reliable than Netflix

I use the Android Lightbox app with Chromecast almost every day. It tends to get a bit slow and laggy if I mess around too much during playback, like pausing, stopping and restarting shows, etc. but it works fine if I just select an episode and watch it, and skip to the next episode when it's done.

But if @KieranfromLightbox is watching, there is one "feature" I'd like to see in future versions of the app: I only use it on an Android smartphone, and it would be nice if it could switch to landscape when I rotate the phone. If I want to try dragging the progress indicator back or forward (e.g. on Homeland where there is well over three minutes of opening credits and "Previously on Homeland..." footage I'd like to skip through) it's really hard to find the right spot with the screen fixed in portrait mode and a short progress bar (and fat fingers)...

BlueShift

1528 posts

Uber Geek

#1514604 16-Mar-2016 16:43

It was going really well on my Samsung tablet, but a couple of weeks ago it did the thing described above where the episode listing area is just a grey blank space. We can still Chromecast it from Chrome on a lappie, but we've been using Netflix instead. If they don't fix it, then there's not much chance of me paying for it once my 12 months free Spark thingy runs out. Which must be fairly soon.

robjg63

3099 posts

Uber Geek

#1514660 16-Mar-2016 18:28

I did get a reply from the email I sent lightbox. So they get a pat on the back for that.

Their suggestion actually fixed the menu issue - so it would seem its perhaps a not uncommon issue. Sounds like it needs a program fix to me.

Still won't play a video on my cheap media box - but its a bit crap anyway, but plays on my Sony Xperia tab.

This what they said:

Thanks for letting us know about the issue you're having with the blank boxes! It sounds like you may need to purge your watchlist.

Can you please log out of your Lightbox account on your Tablet/Box.

Then can you log in to your Lightbox account on another device (any other Lightbox supported device, please don't use Chrome) It is important to complete the Log out on your tablet before logging in to another device. NOTE: I used a windows PC and Firefox

Can you please go to the Kids section of Lightbox and view a few seconds of an episode from any random Kids show (that is not on your current recently watched list)

Can you then repeat this for 9 other random shows so that your Recently watched list fills up with 10 random kids shows that have no been viewed before.

Once this is done you can log out of the 'other' device and log back in on your Android tablet.
You should now be able to see the seasons and episodes lists.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler