3 fails for watching Lightbox

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Techbar

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 206000 6-Dec-2016 09:56

Fail 1) My Panasonic Smart TV is from the year before Lightbox support starts.

Fail 2) I bought an Android MX9 TV Box thinking it would provide a nice universal input into the TV for music, video and Lightbox. It works great for everything except Lightbox which gives a green screen and then a Server Error when you try to play a programme. And it does have the correct DRM built in.

Fail 3) the new version of Lightbox no longer supports v4.1.1 of Android - there goes my Tablet - the last device I had that would simply and easily play lightbox without messing around with casting. And of course the new version of Lightbox still doesn't support TV boxes - does that count as fail number 4?

I guess I won't be watching Lightbox anytime soon...

Junta

215 posts

Master Geek

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# 1683139 6-Dec-2016 10:07

Hi @Techbar

I appreciate you must feel frustrated.

1) My Panasonic Smart TV is from the year before Lightbox support starts
I guess we can't really help that! There're loads of TV models and years out there. Writing apps that work on/are supported by every one would be mega undertaking, and we have to draw a line somewhere.

2) Android MX9 TV Box
We don't support Android TV boxes. We are looking into this, but it's not coming any time soon. One reason for this is that the huge variance in Android OS software and firmware combinations means it's very tricky to test (and therefore support).

3) The new version of Lightbox no longer supports v4.1.1 of Android
We try and support as large a variety of Android OS as possible. Since 4.1.1 came out in 2012, and support from Google has been discontinued, we can't support it either.

And of course the new version of Lightbox still doesn't support TV boxes - does that count as fail number 4?
See answer to number 1

Techbar

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 1683153 6-Dec-2016 10:18

Thanks George

I guess the most frustrating one was seeing an otherwise perfectly good 10" tablet stop working for lightbox especially when most other apps still work quite happily on the device (an ASUS Transformer TF201 with keyboard and great battery life).

Regards

James

MikeAqua

5385 posts

Uber Geek

# 1683224 6-Dec-2016 12:11

My Android Box (MiBox 4K) supports google cast, so I'm casting to it from my phone.

A little clumsy but if you have phone and a box that support google cast ...

Mike

michaelmurfy

Mr Snotty
8869 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

# 1683247 6-Dec-2016 12:31

If you're talking about the Asus Transformer TF701 then there is an unofficial Marshmallow rom for it Here. That should fix Lightbox on your tablet and give you access to more apps (hopefully also bringing more life into your tablet).

Hammerer

1990 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

# 1683252 6-Dec-2016 12:52

GeorgefromLightbox:

3) The new version of Lightbox no longer supports v4.1.1 of Android

We try and support as large a variety of Android OS as possible. Since 4.1.1 came out in 2012, and support from Google has been discontinued, we can't support it either.

That's not a good look for Lightbox - one that I will remember.

Most of my applications are also supported on versions of Android no longer "supported" by Google. Google , for example, supports Google Play on Android 2.2.

Last month my bank just dropped support for running their app on Android 2.3 which originally came out in 2010 - they now require Android 4.0.3 which is still a year earlier than the version you support.

Junta

215 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

# 1683275 6-Dec-2016 13:48

Hammerer:

GeorgefromLightbox:

3) The new version of Lightbox no longer supports v4.1.1 of Android

We try and support as large a variety of Android OS as possible. Since 4.1.1 came out in 2012, and support from Google has been discontinued, we can't support it either.

That's not a good look for Lightbox - one that I will remember.

Most of my applications are also supported on versions of Android no longer "supported" by Google. Google , for example, supports Google Play on Android 2.2.

Last month my bank just dropped support for running their app on Android 2.3 which originally came out in 2010 - they now require Android 4.0.3 which is still a year earlier than the version you support.

In terms of what is a 'good look' for Lightbox, we approach it like this: do we spend large amounts of time and money creating and maintaining an app for versions of Android that are <1% of our user base, or do we spend that time and money making the platform better/stable/introducing features?

The fact this OS is not supported by Google any more is just one factor in this type of decision.

mattwnz

15152 posts

Uber Geek

# 1683286 6-Dec-2016 14:12

Hammerer:

GeorgefromLightbox:

3) The new version of Lightbox no longer supports v4.1.1 of Android

We try and support as large a variety of Android OS as possible. Since 4.1.1 came out in 2012, and support from Google has been discontinued, we can't support it either.

That's not a good look for Lightbox - one that I will remember.

Most of my applications are also supported on versions of Android no longer "supported" by Google. Google , for example, supports Google Play on Android 2.2.

Last month my bank just dropped support for running their app on Android 2.3 which originally came out in 2010 - they now require Android 4.0.3 which is still a year earlier than the version you support.

Other apps seem to support older versions of android too. Using that argument, if Apple updates ios, then updates to apps will only work on the newest version of ios, as apple ceases support of older versions. But most good apps will support older versions. Most apps seem to support down to ios 7, which is 4 years old. So devices like 6 year old iphones can still download and use those apps. It however seems like with Android, the support cycle is up to 2 years max from the device launch, if you look at Googles new pixel phones, or up to 3 years with security updates. So it puts quite a short life on the product. I did actually have someone complain to me yesterday that they could no longer use lightbox on their phone, and it was only purchased last year. But it would be a cheaper phone, and they put older versions on cheaper devices.

reven

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# 1683288 6-Dec-2016 14:15

lightbox works on my sony tv with Android TV. Too often people sell android boxes designed for tvs and call it android TV when really its just android on a STB not the real thing.

mi.com have a cheap android tv box which should play lightbox... (correct me if I'm wrong here).

mattwnz

15152 posts

Uber Geek

# 1683316 6-Dec-2016 15:31

I just downloaded the latest lightbox app to my 6 year old ipad 2! I learnt several years ago that moving to the Apple ecosystem, the devices have a longer life in terms of software support and app compatibility and stability. Still love android though, and also have an android phone, but it just dates a lot faster.

Techbar

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 1683358 6-Dec-2016 16:19

mattwnz:

I just downloaded the latest lightbox app to my 6 year old ipad 2! I learnt several years ago that moving to the Apple ecosystem, the devices have a longer life in terms of software support and app compatibility and stability. Still love android though, and also have an android phone, but it just dates a lot faster.

Hold on, just let me fax you this chocolate fish

mattwnz

15152 posts

Uber Geek

# 1683377 6-Dec-2016 17:24

Techbar:

mattwnz:

I just downloaded the latest lightbox app to my 6 year old ipad 2! I learnt several years ago that moving to the Apple ecosystem, the devices have a longer life in terms of software support and app compatibility and stability. Still love android though, and also have an android phone, but it just dates a lot faster.

Hold on, just let me fax you this chocolate fish

The ipad 2 is actually more capable than many cheap tablets being sold today.Also have the Air 2 which is a lot faster, but functionality wise, the ipad 2 does most of what the air 2 can do, and almost all general type apps work on it.