Merge pull request #775 from jellyfin/nvv-atv-16

Add Android TV 0.16 blog post

blog/2023/12-10-android-tv-16/index.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+---
+title: Android TV version 0.16
+authors:
+  - nielsvanvelzen
+slug: androidtv-v0.16.0
+tags: [release, android-tv]
+---
+
+It has been a busy year with a lot of work on the Android TV app. After an extended beta period today is finally the day to share this work
+to the public. Read along to learn everything about improved music playback, the new screensaver and more!
+
+\- Niels
+
+{/* truncate */}
+
+## Significant changes
+
+In this post I will focus on a few of the popular and significant changes. As always, a lot more changes were made both visible and
+invisible; check out the full changelog to discover the full extent of this release.
+
+### Music playback
+
+Playing media is the key feature of Jellyfin. Up until now the Android TV app had many issues playing every possible format. The code
+was also hard to work with making it challenging to fix the issues or implement new features. To counter this we decided to rewrite all
+playback code completely from scratch. In this release the initial results are ready for daily use and playing music will use the new
+playback code!
+
+While a lot of this work is not directly noticable when using the app, some of it is. Crashes should now be uncommon, starting music is
+faster and the remote control now responds more reliably. We've also added media sessions, this allows you to play/pause from other
+applications on your TV or even your smartphone!
+
+Improved codec detection should reduce transcoding and use direct play more often resulting in faster playback with less strain on the
+Jellyfin server. We already have plans to improve this even more and add preferences to fine-tune this for your specific devices. Other
+planned features include showing lyrics, enabling SyncPlay and gapless playback support.
+
+Work has already started to rework video playback based on this new code so we can add all kinds of new features with ease in a shared
+code base for both video and audio playback.
+
+![Screenshot of the screensaver during music playback in the Android TV app](./screensaver-music.png)
+
+### Screensaver
+
+The screensaver has received some nice additions. It was redesigned to be faster, with better animations and a much nicer appearance.
+Alongside this redesign, new functionality was added. Music playback has been added to the screensaver, replacing the old screensaver from
+the 'now playing' screen. Additionally, the screensaver is now enabled by default when the app is open, eliminating the need to enable it
+system-wide.
+
+And the best part: the screensaver now works when the video player is paused!
+
+![Screenshot of the screensaver in the Android TV app](./screensaver.png)
+
+### Search
+
+The search screen was partially rewritten to improve performance. It will now cancel any pending search requests while typing and use
+a different method for getting the results. With these changes, a search on a large server is now noticeably faster and no flickering
+occurs anymore.
+
+![Screenshot of the search view in the Android TV app](./search.png)
+
+### Full release notes
+
+The complete list of changes (over one hundred!) for this release, including their respective pull requests, can be found on
+[GitHub](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-androidtv/releases/tag/v0.16.0).
+
+## Contributors
+
+Jellyfin is developed by volunteer contributors, and we couldn't do without their great skills and dedication. They don't get paid by any
+organizations, so consider donating if you appreciate their work. A big shout-out to all contributors that made this release possible:
+
+**Jellyfin Team**
+
+- [@nielsvanvelzen](https://github.com/nielsvanvelzen) - Sponsor via [GitHub sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/nielsvanvelzen)
+- [@thornbill](https://github.com/thornbill) - Sponsor via [GitHub sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/thornbill)
+- [@1337joe](https://github.com/1337joe) - Sponsor via [GitHub sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/1337joe)
+
+**Other contributors**
+
+- [@DoggoOfSpeed](https://github.com/DoggoOfSpeed)
+- [@DavidFair](https://github.com/DavidFair)
+- [@Clubfan22](https://github.com/Clubfan22)
+- [@MWisBest](https://github.com/MWisBest)
+- [@teobaranga](https://github.com/teobaranga)
+- [@tim-vk](https://github.com/tim-vk)
+- [@OctoNezd](https://github.com/OctoNezd)
+- [@polson](https://github.com/polson)
+- [@mohd-akram](https://github.com/mohd-akram)
+- [@horizon1250](https://github.com/horizon1250)
+- [@reacocard](https://github.com/reacocard)
+
+We'd also like to thank everyone who reported bugs, provided feedback and participated in beta testing! The feedback we received made this
+our most stable release to date.
+
+### Helping out
+
+If you have some experience with Android TV development or with Kotlin and are interested in contributing yourself,
+feel free to dive into the source code [on GitHub](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-androidtv) and open pull requests.
+
+Alternatively, you can help with translating the app into your language on our
+[Weblate](https://translate.jellyfin.org/engage/jellyfin-android/) instance.
+
+## Downloads
+
+Update your app now to check out all these changes! The app stores will auto-update your Jellyfin app if you're already using the app. For
+new users, you can find the app here:
+
+<a className='margin-right--md' href='https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.jellyfin.androidtv'>
+  <img width='153' alt='Jellyfin for Android TV on Google Play' src='/images/store-icons/google-play.png' />
+</a>
+
+<a className='margin-right--md' href='https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TX7Z725'>
+  <img width='153' alt='Jellyfin for Fire TV at Amazon App Store' src='/images/store-icons/amazon.png' />
+</a>
+
+<a href='https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jellyfin.androidtv/'>
+  <img width='153' alt='Jellyfin for Android TV on F-Droid' src='/images/store-icons/fdroid.png' />
+</a>
+
+Direct downloads are available for sideloading at [repo.jellyfin.org](https://repo.jellyfin.org/releases/client/androidtv/)
+or in the [GitHub release assets](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-androidtv/releases/tag/v0.16.0).
+
+You can also join our [beta program on Google Play](https://play.google.com/apps/testing/org.jellyfin.androidtv) and help test new versions
+before they're released to the public.

blog/authors.yml

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Maxr1998:
 
 nielsvanvelzen:
   name: Niels van Velzen
+  title: Android Lead
   url: https://github.com/nielsvanvelzen
   image_url: https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2305178?v=4