Local library · browse, play, rematch metadata
Zidoo remote app: browse your library and play local files from a tablet
A Zidoo is a local-media machine, and treating it as a generic streamer wastes most of it. MediaPond talks to the player’s own library service on supported models, so the shelf of films on the drive behind the television appears in the app much the way a streaming catalog does.*
Your library, on the tablet
MediaPond reads the Zidoo library over your network, films and series and posters included, and lets you browse it from the sofa instead of on the television’s own grid. Pick a film and the Zidoo starts it in its built-in player, which is the whole reason to own one.
Series are handled as series, with seasons, episodes, and the next unwatched one where the player keeps track of that.
Fixing metadata that scraped wrong
Every local library has the film that matched to the wrong release and the folder the scanner never noticed. From MediaPond you can refresh the library and re-match an item to the correct title without walking to the television, picking through a settings menu with a D-pad, or typing on an on-screen keyboard.
It is a small thing that turns out to matter more than the flashier features, because a library you can correct from the sofa is a library that stays correct.
Playback and the rest of the room
While something plays, the Now Playing dock carries the title, artwork, progress and transport, so pausing local media works the same way as pausing a streaming app. Streaming apps installed on the Zidoo can be launched from the same place, where those apps accept it.
Because the Zidoo lives in a room alongside the television and the speakers, starting a film can bring up the display and the input as part of the same tap.
At a glance
What Zidoo media players supports
- Browsing the Zidoo library, with films, series, seasons and episodes
- Playing local files in the Zidoo’s own built-in player
- Refreshing the library and re-matching an item to the correct title
- Now Playing with artwork, progress and transport controls
- Launching streaming apps installed on the player
- A full remote for the player’s own interface
Support covers the Zidoo models and firmware families MediaPond currently works with, under typical home network conditions. Manufacturers can change, restrict or discontinue the interfaces these features rely on, so what a particular unit accepts can change over time.
Does MediaPond stream the files to my phone?
No. The Zidoo plays the file on the television with its own player, while MediaPond browses the library and drives playback, so your phone or tablet is the control surface rather than the pipe.
Can I fix a film that matched to the wrong title?
Yes. You can search for the right title from the app, re-match the item and refresh the library, with no D-pad and no on-screen keyboard involved.
Does it work alongside Plex?
Yes. A Zidoo library and a Plex server can sit in the same room, and MediaPond browses both from the same screen.
Also worth reading
- PlexYour server, browsed and launched by room
- LG TVswebOS · wake, power, input, volume, app launch
- Sonos speakersTransport, volume routing, audio format
Devices and services MediaPond supports · How a room comes up · Questions and answers
Not every device or streaming app supports direct launching. MediaPond makes a good-faith, best-effort attempt to open content in the right app, and falls back to opening the app itself where a direct link is not available. Availability varies by device, app, region, and your subscriptions.
Not in the stores yet
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