We are pleased to announce the release aTV Flash (black) Release Candidate 1 (RC1) for the 2nd generation AppleTV. RC1 is a major update for aTV Flash (black) and adds a number of exciting new features include a brand new 'grid view' browsing mode, huge subtitle related improvements, and countless other performance and playback related improvements.
Keep reading to learn more about what's new.
All-New Browsing Options
We've added an all-new grid view which allows you to browse through media by simply viewing a grid of posters, instead of a list.
From the grid view you can press the center (select) button to get more details about the movie through the 'Pre-Playack Screen' or if you're in a hurry just press play/pause to start the movie right away.
The list view has also gotten a healthy overhaul as well. Movies and TV Shows are now listed using the prettier 'fetched' name instead of the actual filename. Additionally metadata is fetched and cached in bulk, so there's no more waiting for cover art and metadata to load.
Note: You can switch between the Grid and List views through the Media --> Settings menu.
Full Changelog
- Added grid view and pre-playback view options
- Added bulk metadata fetching with growl-like status
- Added fetched names in list view
- Added hardware decoding for .m2ts files
- Added support for embedded subtitles (MKV, M4V, etc...)
- Added support for ISO (DVD) files
- Added TV Show metadata fetching
- Added metadata correction for Movies and TV Shows
- Added movie title in Top Shelf (instead of filename)
- Added DSI ping for better operation with AFP shares
- Added folder tagging
- Added metadata view indicator
- Added support for metadata overriding using xml files
- Added DVD menu buffering
- Added support for subtitles with invalid timestamps
- Added support for AppleTV 4.4 (iOS 5)
- Added subtitle 'Weight' setting
- Added option to show/hide local files
- Improved data buffering and playback performance
- Improved XSUB subtitle support
- Improved network error handling
- Improved filename parsing for metadata fetching
- Improved NAS drives support and increased connection timeout
- Improved video loading process
- Improved DVD menu handling
- Improved playback position detection
- Improved memory footprint
- Improved SMB share handling
- Resolved DVD subtitle issues
- Resolved Voiceover related issues
- Resolved audio synchronization issues
- Resolved problems when streaming from an AirPort Extreme
- Resolved AFP related issue when resuming after a long pause
- Resolved issues that caused the first subtitle section to be skipped
- Resolved performance and crash related issues for certain DVD files
- Resolved audio playback issues when the connection to Last.fm fails
- Resolved potential issues in shares handling and filename processing
- Resolved AFP related crashes
- Resolved .dvdmedia extensions and folder images not hiding
- Resolved floating crash during metadata fetching
- Resolved various cloud backup issues
- Many other miscellaneous fixes
Splendid! Where can I get it?
If you're already running a version of aTV Flash (black) the new RC1 version can be installed through the Maintenance --> Manage Extras menu. If you need to re-install aTV Flash (black) links for the new version can be found in your account under the Downloads tab.
New users can pre-order aTV Flash (black) here.
Note: Installing RC1 requires AppleTV 4.2 or later.
Enjoy! :-)