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On my own behalf - SatIP Viewer


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I write these words here since this topic is related to the mobile version, even if they could be better placed under general. 

From time to time i receive mails from users who have issues with the Sat>IP Viewer for Mobile on Android resp. some on iOS.

Please understand that i don't have the capacity to correspond just in time with everybody by mail or phone - especially not 24/7.

Further on there is no need in any case to get rude or outrageous if the response is delayed or my answer does not contain the expected solution.

 

Both Android and iOS are closed systems compared to a desktop machine. On those devices the programs or apps are running in their own eco system (sandbox), which means that usually at least no other software can interfere. They are also restricted by the operating system and can only use certain system functions. What i want to say is that if the app works fine on one phone/tablet you can be quite sure that it also will work on the same hardware. I do not say the Sat>IP Viewer is totally free of bugs, but the RTSP/UPNP stack (for detecting Sat>IP Servers and receiving data), as well as the DVB stack is. This includes also parsing and rendering of Teletext-, Subtitles-, EPG-, Audio- and Video streams. By the way the same code also runs in the DVBViewer and all of our other products (with minor changes caused by the new Delphi compiler).

 

While designing the app i kept the fact in mind that i have to reduce the settings to a minimum, which means for example that i excluded the ability to add additional Sat>IP devices by hand. One reason for this was that i tried to avoid problems made by users who entered an improper server-ip and complain this as bug afterwards. 

As you know there are a lot dumb people with smart phones in the wild, considering their opinion as extremely important ;) When it comes to reviews in the app or play store you see what i mean.

 

The app also does not provide multiple cryptic error messages and to be honest there is no reason to do so.

 

If a device is not listed you have to make sure that you are in the same sub network and/or your router does not filter UPNP announcements. For those who would answer this with a "I'm not a nerd so don't speak nerdish". It means the app sends a "Is there a Sat>IP Server?" message into the intranet and receives a "Here i am at the following address" as answer.  If the router (the one which has your network cable in it and gives you access to your WLAN) blocks these commands you won't see the device listed in the Sat>IP Viewer.

The app comes with a pre defined channel list for Astra 19.2° (which is most likely the orbital position for the most users in Europe) and unless you do not scan it is used instead of doing a channel scan. Using the pre defined list it also means that the Sat>IP Server is not contacted at all.

If the regular scan does not find a channel, you have to make sure that you set the proper Position (DiSEqC) and if there are still no channels found make sure that the Server runs fine and that the router does not make problems (see above). 

 

If you tune a channel and the app says that it is unable to tune the channel, it tries to send a request to the server, but did not received data within a pre defined period of time or did a failure message. If it says that no hardware is available, it means that there is no hardware available to send the tuning request.

 

The most requests i receive is about glitches and artifacts on SD stations, while HD runs fine. This is because HD is decoded by hardware and SD in the most cases by software only. Anyhow you can increase the performance if the video stream is in fullscreen (landscape mode) - by rotating the device. In this case less objects are rendered.

Just as a side note: The app was tested successfully even on a Amazon fire tablet, which i brought for 39 Euro almost two years ago.

 

Some glitches are also caused by lost UDP packets. You will find a lot of information about this case in the forum.

 

To be continued ... 

 

Christian

 

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