Use the standard tvOS APIs for scrubbing / video control
Using the unofficial Twitch apps that existed previously on tvOS, it was extremely easy to navigate stream recordings that are often 5-6 hours long. Since the official Twitch app debuted, all the third-party apps have ceased development, so we're stuck with the bad video controls of the official app. This could be solved by using the standard tvOS video control APIs that almost every other app uses. Examples:
While watching a long Overwatch stream, when the streamer was queuing for a match, I could easily tap the right edge of the trackpad to jump forward in small increments, until I could see on screen that a match had started. Then I could tap the left edge of the trackpad once to jump back to the start of the match. Now, I have to navigate to the fast-forward button, hit it multiple times to get to a fast speed, then navigate back to the play button, see if a match has started, and repeat multiple times. Then once I see a match is in progress, I have to repeat the process in reverse. It's a significantly higher number of button presses and time.
If I'm watching a stream while doing something else and miss something important, I used to be able to just tap the left edge of the touchpad and I was instantly back x number of seconds to see what I missed. Now I have to navigate to the rewind button, and choose to either wait for a slow rewind speed, or tap a few times for a fast rewind speed and usually overshoot and rewind way more than I meant to.
If I want to skip to the second half of the stream, I used to be able to just choose precisely with a swipe and tap where I wanted to play. Now I have to bring up the menu, go to the fast forward icon, and fast forward at 2048x, usually overshooting where I wanted to go and having to rewind.
All in all, the Twitch app's video navigation is like using a VCR in 2020. I don't understand why it was implemented this way when no other app does it this way, and I'm guessing it took more work to create this custom UX than it would've to use the built-in tvOS API.
noktulo
shared this idea
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vikaaaaaaaaas
commented
It’s been years - can we get a fix for this?
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roughgroove
commented
100% - the remote support on Apple TV is _abysmal_ - it's baffling this made it out of QA. Standard gestures that are ubiquitous across the platform are disregarded through non-standard, erratic ones.
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fantasyblazar
commented
I agree. When I am using the trackpad feature on the AppleTV, the amount of times I accidentally jump over the forward and backwards buttons and have to jump back-and-forth is too much effort. Please fix this. Please.
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robotjomo
commented
Really just echoing the two comments here. This app seems forgotten about or intentionally punted. The lack of a playhead scrub makes using this app for replay just an awful, friction fill experience with absolutely confusing intent. Why resort back to a playhead model that became obsolete, for a reason, 25 years ago?
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omega_terry
commented
"All in all, the Twitch app's video navigation is like using a VCR in 2020. I don't understand why it was implemented this way when no other app does it this way, and I'm guessing it took more work to create this custom UX than it would've to use the built-in tvOS API."
This says it all really.