Hey all. Will try to keep this concise and rant free yet give as much detail as possible.
For years now, since day 1 of having my handy, the local video player has worked perfectly. I should note this is on android mobile! 90% of my handy use is actually playing a random script alone while I watch whatever video I’ve downloaded recently through VLC player. All worked fine.
However, Tuesday (night) it would seem Handy have changed their page/player. Opened Chrome as usual, faves/video player page only to be met with a completely different looking page/player and being prompted to ‘sign in’ again. After the rigmarole of being forced to download the new app (as the old one no longer supported), setting up the device again and connecting to wifi…I go back to the video player. Seems it longer plays a script on it’s own.
Before I get really annoyed, I think, explore all options. I go to the page through FIrefox instead, lo and behold, plays a script on it’s own (no video). Fantastic. However, when I make the browser run in the background and start a video with VLC, the handy player stops!
Why remove functionality? What changed. The player has worked fine for as I said, day 1 of having my handy. I also tried the new ap. Can access the video player through the ‘experimental’ tab. That will not load a script without a video though and on my app, when loading a video, actually refuses to load a script anyway.
So, can more technical minds than my own tell me how I get around this? Honesty, as it stands right now, the new player/web page has lost the vast majority of functionality for me. There are some fantastic scripts around that I care nothing for the video of, so I use the script alone while watching something else. Seems I can no longer do this. In my mind, this is a 100% change by Handy, by making the browser requiring to be the front loaded application. Even If I close my phone cover, the player stops playing. Why? I have not updated anything on my phone prior to this, so know it is not an updated browser issue. Handy have changed something.
So if this cannot be resolved can anyone suggest an alternative player (online/offline/app/whatever, don’t really care) that can be used/connected to? At a pinch (I’d be annoyed) bit I could play the associated video too and mute it (which would mean keeping more video’s I don’t want/need but If I can’t use it running in the background while I watch something else then what’s the point. Was debating getting the new Handy 2 also but now I’m in 2 minds. Why waste money if I can no longer do what I have been doing for years with the old player?
Tldr: Can no longer use handy local video player while watching something else through VLC etc on mobile device
Any advice would be appreciated