[Feature Request-All] Search by description everywhere

[twiceinert]

Unless I'm missing something, it's currently only possible to search by description in the Program Guide. Recorded shows and Movies only return results based on keywords in the title.

How difficult would it be to add the ability to search by description for Movies & Recorded TV as well?

I ask because I have 100+ episode of The Big Bang Theory recorded and my wife sometimes wants to watch "that episode where Sheldon's mom visits" or something similar. Manually searching through that many descriptions isn't fun.

[barnabas1969]

Wow... and how about the unified search that was promised when this app was first envisioned? You know... the one that was supposed to search for things across different services like live/recorded TV, Hulu and Netflix!

If only this app was ever finished! Maybe now that the Echo is dead, Ceton can get back to finishing this project?

[staknhalo]

If only this app was ever finished! Maybe now that the Echo is dead, Ceton can get back to finishing this project?

I believe Motz works on this (MMC) alone; it's his baby. Ceton had Motz working solely on the Echo Android project for a while when they still thought it was going to be viable. That's why there hasn't been any updates as of late; all his time and energy was spent on the Android project. Updates will resume for this now that Android is dead - Motz already posted what he wants to do in Sept. for all the MMC apps.

[barnabas1969]

If only this app was ever finished! Maybe now that the Echo is dead, Ceton can get back to finishing this project?

I believe Motz works on this (MMC) alone; it's his baby. Ceton had Motz working solely on the Echo Android project for a while when they still thought it was going to be viable. That's why there hasn't been any updates as of late; all his time and energy was spent on the Android project. Updates will resume for this now that Android is dead - Motz already posted what he wants to do in Sept. for all the MMC apps.

Wonderful! How about streaming live/recorded TV to the app?

[staknhalo]

I know it's on his list...how far down that list, and how long that list even is - you'd have to ask him. It wasn't in his Sept. plans I know.

[barnabas1969]

My brother works in construction. He used to do drywall. He has done just about every job in construction. Today, he makes beautiful custom cabinets and counter tops (he made mine) for multi-million-dollar homes. He has a bad habit of starting a project in his own house and never finishing it. The result is that his entire house is always in disarray.

Ceton seems a lot like my brother. They haven't finished a project since I bought the first thing from them. It would be really nice if they would finish this one.

The difference between Ceton and my brother... is that my brother finishes jobs for which he is paid. Ceton doesn't.

Oh... and my brother does excellent work. Ceton doesn't.

[staknhalo]

Cool story bro

[Motz]

@barnabas1969 this are a feature request for a reason. They are simply that a feature request not a promise. If I put it on the "to do" list then it is something that is on my radar and might be implemented. What is promised is what is in the feature description on the website and in the app stores. That is the app that is sold to you and what you purchased. It is that simple. Streaming is on my "list" but is on the bottom of it. The list of feature request and bug fixes can grow but that does not guarantee they will be finished.

It would be hard to argue that for some reason the apps are in a "non excellent" state they average 4+ star ratings on all apps stores. If you simply look at the amount of support that is needed for the apps it is pretty non existent, they just work.

Speaking as an individual (not as a ceton employee) if you actually have an issue with me or MMC feel free to PM me and you can talk to me on the phone if you so desire to and and we can always discuss things further. I will not take personal attacks as that is completely inappropriate. If anyone wants to contribute and add to the discuss of feature requests, change requests or bugs that is fantastic and I am here to listen.

//edit: clarified some things

[Motz]

Additonally @twiceinert I actually really like this request when it comes to recorded tv/scheduled recordings. Currently it only searches titles and returns the list of results. I will add this near the top of my list though.

[mcewinter]

"...the one that was supposed to search for things across different services like live/recorded TV, Hulu and Netflix!"

Netflix searching and the ability to launch a title from the app is something I've desired since early on. I belive Netflix made some changes recently so it may not be possible as it once was?

[Motz]

"...the one that was supposed to search for things across different services like live/recorded TV, Hulu and Netflix!"

Netflix searching and the ability to launch a title from the app is something I've desired since early on. I belive Netflix made some changes recently so it may not be possible as it once was?

Back when there was a Q and Q Companion this would have been the idea as far as universal search and trying to launch the correct player and such. I am not even sure if it is possible to launch Netflix to a specific page inside of WMC and that app hasn't been updated in a while. @mcewinter you are correct that Netflix made a lot of changes recently to developer api. I am not sure if they are even giving out new keys anymore.

[staknhalo]

they aren't. they also killed their odata service.

[richard1980]

Speaking as an individual (not as a ceton employee) if you actually have an issue with me or MMC feel free to PM me and you can talk to me on the phone if you so desire to and and we can always discuss things further. I will not take personal attacks as that is completely inappropriate. If anyone wants to contribute and add to the discuss of feature requests, change requests or bugs that is fantastic and I am here to listen.

I don't have a problem with you, but I have a problem with whomever is in charge of allocating Ceton's resources. As Barnabas pointed out above (and as I pointed out over last weekend in the Android failure thread), Ceton hasn't finished any of the WMC projects...even the InfiniTV4, which has been on the market for 3 years. Ceton gets 90% finished with something, and then moves on to something else. IMO, that's a leadership failure, and it would be nice to know exactly which Ceton employee is responsible for saying "90% is good enough...you go work on this other new project instead". I want to make damn sure I don't ever hire that person...or work for them.

Edit: And yes, I realize that Ceton doesn't owe anybody a finished project. I said that countless times in the Android failure thread (only to have people argue with me about it). But just because Ceton doesn't owe anybody a finished project, that doesn't mean Ceton shouldn't finish the project simply because it's the right thing to do.

[Motz]

Speaking as an individual (not as a ceton employee) if you actually have an issue with me or MMC feel free to PM me and you can talk to me on the phone if you so desire to and and we can always discuss things further. I will not take personal attacks as that is completely inappropriate. If anyone wants to contribute and add to the discuss of feature requests, change requests or bugs that is fantastic and I am here to listen.

I don't have a problem with you, but I have a problem with whomever is in charge of allocating Ceton's resources. As Barnabas pointed out above (and as I pointed out over last weekend in the Android failure thread), Ceton hasn't finished any of the WMC projects...even the InfiniTV4, which has been on the market for 3 years. Ceton gets 90% finished with something, and then moves on to something else. IMO, that's a leadership failure, and it would be nice to know exactly which Ceton employee is responsible for saying "90% is good enough...you go work on this other new project instead". I want to make damn sure I don't ever hire that person...or work for them.

Edit: And yes, I realize that Ceton doesn't owe anybody a finished project. I said that countless times in the Android failure thread (only to have people argue with me about it). But just because Ceton doesn't owe anybody a finished project, that doesn't mean Ceton shouldn't finish the project simply because it's the right thing to do.

[As a software developer in general]
Some good points in here for sure. Project allocation is hard and has always been an issue for every company I have ever worked at. I worked for Océ which got bought by Canon (200k employees) and I would say they suffered from the same project issues but on a much larger scale. It depends on what you consider a finished product... When the 360 shipped it was pretty finished, sure they released updates for it, but it was finished when it launched. After that they just added on new features and did bug fixes. At some point they will mark it as finished even if there were outstanding bugs or features they wanted to fix/implement. To me that is just how development works as you can't catch and fix every edge case ever. Just like is it worth investing time in completing a specific feature or bug vs the return on investment. That is something that every company/developer must take into consideration continuously. Sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it is not. I think every developer wants their applications to be perfect, I know I do and I think we do our best to get as close as we can in the time we can allocate. Looking at it that way then every product ever is 90% done.

[As far as MMC goes]
I think the point I am trying to make is that when MMC shipped the app had a specified feature listed that was implemented on every platform. For me at launch they were "finished". Right after initial launch and TONS of people installed the app of course people found bugs and wanted new features. I think everyone did a great job reporting and a great job adding feature requests as well. I think I did a pretty good job of addressing them as fast as possible and even added in some usability and feature requests so perhaps at that point you might have considered them "finished". OF COURSE I want to continue to finish up any outlying bugs and add new features, but that is what those are.

//Edit: You can see below but yes @stankhalo does point out the TV Gallery, which while not marketed at launch as a feature (on app stores/site) remained in the settings when it should have been removed at launch, so hey that one is on me.

[staknhalo]

I'm gonna play a bit of devil's advocate here if you will:

Motz, you know me and you are cool; and we see eye to eye %99.99 of the time. While I get what you're saying, I see one glaring flaw in your argument of "[As far as MMC goes]/For me at launch they were finished" that I can rebut with one image (unless I'm misunderstanding):



That said, a majority (or, what seems like a majority) of the people on these forums just act like trolls in regards to their displeasure @ Ceton (I'm not arguing whether that displeasure is warranted or not; I have disappointments in regards to certain aspects of the Ceton products I own - so let's not open that can of worms yet again, ok? I'm saying the users' behavior is unwarranted.). They're out for blood and don't really care how they come off or whether they're acting appropriately towards other individuals. They either can't see how they're acting or don't care - neither of which they should be proud of. But I guess it takes all types of people to make the world go round.

[Motz]

@staknhalo touche on the TV Gallery (which was supposed to be your local tv/video files), you are correct as I actually completely forgot about it. I can't battle you on this one, you got me in a corner. That entire section should have been removed at launch and then added as an enhancement later on. That was a failure on my part and now lives on as legacy. We don't really reference that anywhere in the marketing material specifically, I think in the setup guide, but I will remove it. In fact we don't even mention about scrapping metadata for movies besides the setup guide and that video i made.

[staknhalo]

[Motz]

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thanks for ruining my weekend also why i love ya

[staknhalo]

thanks for ruining my weekend

[Motz]

thanks for ruining my weekend

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