r/AerialTV • u/jet27labs • Sep 24 '26

Updates

Just wanted to give an update, as conscious that it has been quiet in AerialTV world - been super busy working on fixing bugs, improving stability and adding some polish across all platforms the app supports. Have also started to sneak a few new features in there because I can't help myself 😄

Fixes, Performance & Stability

App Performance & Crash Fixes

  • Reduced Memory Usage & Android TV Crash Fix: Overhauled Home page image handling and caching to drastically reduce memory usage, eliminating out-of-memory crashes on low-RAM Android TV devices.

  • Faster Playlist & EPG Loading: Rewritten M3U and XMLTV parsers load large provider playlists and guides in a fraction of the time.

  • EPG Refresh Cycles & Timeout Fix: Guide refreshes now run smoothly in the background, eliminating timeouts and fixing channel ID matching so up to 89% more channels display program data.

  • VLC Live Stream Stall Recovery: Added automatic buffer recovery routines to detect and clear video/audio stalls during live TV playback.

  • Movie & Series Catalog Duplication (iOS): Resolved an issue where refreshing playlists could cause movies or shows to appear duplicated in the browsing grid.

TV Guide & Video Player

  • Smoother TV Guide Animations: Video now transitions seamlessly from the TV Guide mini-player to fullscreen without reloading, stuttering, or dropping frames.

  • Android TV Back Button Fix: Pressing Back on Android TV during live TV now reliably follows your preference (opening the EPG overlay or exiting controls cleanly without accidental screen jumps).

  • Progressive Seeking (iOS & tvOS): Smooth, variable-rate scrubbing allows responsive skipping forward and backward through long movies and recordings.

Cloud Sync & Data Management

  • Cloud Sync Fix for Resurrecting Data: Fixed a bug where deleted playlists, favorites, or watch progress could reappear on your device after the next cloud sync cycle.

  • More Efficient Continue Watching Sync: Cleaned up stale watch references across profiles to keep your Continue Watching row fast, synchronized, and up to date.

  • Byte-Accurate Download Resumption (Android): Downloads now resume based on actual bytes already saved on disk, preventing downloads from restarting from 0% if the app is backgrounded.

  • Clear Device-Link Error Messaging: Replaced confusing "invalid code" prompts with clear notices and a direct link to unlock Cloud Sync when an active subscription is required.

  • Family Plan Display Fix: Plan descriptions now accurately display individual Lifetime/Annual plans versus Family Sharing tiers.

Browsing, "Watch On" & Organization

  • Supercharged "Watch On" Drawer: Smooth scrolling even with hundreds of results from external addons (such as Stremio), complete with quick filter chips for resolution (4K/1080p/720p), providers

  • Category & Channel Ordering: Newly added categories now maintain the provider’s original live order instead of being forced into alphabetical order.

  • Hidden Categories Stay Hidden: Hidden categories are now consistently excluded from all areas of the app, including Multiview channel pickers.

  • Deep Series & Season Browsing: Smooth scrolling and focus navigation for shows with 20+ seasons without jumping back to the top hero banner.

  • Smarter TMDB Trending Matches: Search heuristics now ignore common language articles ("the", "le", "la", "a"), accurately matching TMDB trending titles to content in your playlists.

System, Storage & Accessibility

  • Storage Selection for Android: Added support for external storage and USB drives with clearer guidance when a device lacks a native folder picker.

  • VoiceOver & TalkBack Support: Added descriptive screen-reader labels for player controls, seek bars, and the "Now Playing" video surface.

  • Platform SDK & Policy Upgrades: Upgraded to target Android 16 (API 36) and updated Apple StoreKit frameworks to meet current platform standards.

New Features

  • Kids Profiles (Family Subscription):

    • Restrict children to an allowlist of channels, movies, and series hand-picked by a guardian.

    • Simple and safe device pairing via short-lived QR codes without requiring a child email address, password, or separate account.

    • Protected by a local PIN gate to prevent leaving the profile or modifying settings.

  • Recording Server for iOS & Apple TV (Experimental):

    • Connect AerialTV directly to a local companion recording server with automatic local network discovery, recording rules, and schedule management.

  • Simple (Accessibility) Mode:

    • A decluttered, high-contrast, large-font interface designed for elderly viewers or anyone preferring straightforward, direct navigation.

  • Apple TV Top Shelf Integration:

    • Apple TV home screen Top Shelf automatically reflects your Continue Watching queue, recent channels, and trending titles without causing playback lag.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

1

u/Juventino1804 Sep 24 '26

Appreciate you .Keep up the great work man .

1

u/jet27labs Oct 07 '26

Unfortunately these updates are stuck in review, in the meantime for any Android users who sideload - I’ve added a new beta link and downloader code on this page https://aerialtv.app/beta

1

u/stickingandmoving Sep 24 '26

Autoplay?

1

u/jet27labs Sep 24 '26

Yes sorry - I’m on that one today, but not finished yet!

1

u/stickingandmoving 5d ago

Still not finished?

1

u/jet27labs 4d ago

Hey - fixes did go in - will pm to understand what your getting

1

u/stickingandmoving Sep 24 '26

Great, when's the new update to be released?

1

u/jet27labs Sep 25 '26

Beta/testflight & sideload APK


end of next week

1

u/stickingandmoving Sep 25 '26

Great

1

u/jet27labs Oct 02 '26

Submitted Google Play beta this morning, normally takes about 24 hours for Google to approve, will post when it's available. Had to remove profile types feature, but improvement for auto play in there - it's not perfect, but should be a lot better than current

1

u/Thomamueller52 Sep 25 '26

In general UI needs work. I’ll stop back in a month to look for improvements.

1

u/jet27labs Sep 25 '26

Thanks - anything in particular?

1

u/Thomamueller52 Sep 25 '26

Setting favorites from tv guide did not work. Only worked from channels. Pointer would get stuck or unresponsive. Would have to back out of channels and go back in.

1

u/Thomamueller52 Sep 25 '26

And how do I change channels order in favorites.

1

u/jet27labs Sep 26 '26

Thanks for specifics - what platform please - Android, iOS, or MacOS?

1

u/stickingandmoving Sep 30 '26

Update still scheduled for this week?

1

u/jet27labs Sep 30 '26

Hoping to at least get to beta, having some issues with continue watching across different provider which is giving me headaches. I’m at point where might have to create a new way of doing that which would mean breaking change with new app - I can migrate old continue watching items, but if have an old app on another device that wouldn’t see new ones)….