Release v3.6.0

- Fixed freeze when pressing X to stop a stream
- Fixed intermittent loading overlay (busy dialog) getting stuck
- Fixed Kodi becoming unresponsive on Stop
- Fixed 30s UI freeze from unreachable channel icon servers
- Added persistent file-based caching (Live TV, Movies, Series, Catch-up)
- Added user-configurable cache expiry in Settings → Cache (5 min → 7 days)
- Added persistent disk cache for icon-host reachability
- Added curl timeout limits in advancedsettings.xml
- Added .gitignore to exclude release zips from repo

Author: Nigel1992

.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.zip

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,3 +1,26 @@
+# Version 3.6.0 (2026-03-03)
+
+### 🐛 Bug Fixes
+- **Fixed freeze / slowdown when pressing X to stop a stream** — the plugin monitoring loop now exits immediately once playback stops instead of spinning for the full 30-second guard window
+- **Fixed intermittent loading overlay (spinning busy dialog) getting stuck** — busy dialog is now force-closed after stream resolve, and a background watchdog repeatedly closes it during teardown
+- **Fixed Kodi becoming unresponsive on Stop** — removed auto-retry logic that fought the stop state; playback teardown now completes cleanly
+- **Fixed slow stream start** — removed `ReconnectPlayer` double-play and sleep-loop blocking; playback now starts immediately via standard `setResolvedUrl`
+- **Fixed UI freeze caused by unreachable channel icon servers** — playback `ListItem` now always uses the local addon icon; icon hosts are TCP-probed before use and replaced with a fallback if unreachable
+- **Fixed 30-second curl stall on icon fetch** — added `curlclienttimeout` and `curllowtimeout` to `advancedsettings.xml` capping all thumbnail fetches at 3–5 seconds
+- **Fixed intermittent loading overlay race condition** — removed `sys.exit(0)` that caused Kodi to see "script aborted" and retry stream resolution in a loop
+
+### ✨ New Features
+- **Persistent file-based content caching** for Live TV (30 min), Movies/VOD (60 min), Series (60 min), and Catch-up (15 min) — repeat navigation is near-instant
+- **User-configurable cache expiry** — new **Settings → Cache** category lets users set separate expiry for Live TV, Movies, and Series (options: 5 minutes → 7 days)
+- **Clear content cache** button in Settings → Cache for instant cache reset
+- **Persistent icon-host reachability cache** — dead icon server results are saved to disk and survive between plugin invocations (re-tested every hour), eliminating repeated TCP probes on each list load
+- **`safe_icon()` applied throughout** — both `addDir()` and `addDirMeta()` now skip unreachable icon hosts in directory listings
+
+### 🔧 Improvements
+- `setContentLookup(False)` set on playback `ListItem` to prevent Kodi probing the stream on stop
+- Plugin script exits naturally after `setResolvedUrl` (clean exit instead of forced abort)
+- Proper title/description metadata passed to resolve `ListItem`
+
 # Version 3.5.2 (2026-01-28)
 - Playback now automatically retries up to 5 times if the connection drops during playback or seeking (improves reliability for unstable streams)
 - Version updated in addon.xml and release zip

README.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Live TV • VOD • Catch-up • TV Series
 Optimized for **Kodi v21 (Omega)** & **Python 3.13**
 
 [![Latest Release](https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc/releases/latest)
-[![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-3.5.2-brightgreen?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc/releases/tag/v3.5.2)
+[![Version](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-3.6.0-brightgreen?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc/releases/tag/v3.6.0)
 [![Kodi](https://img.shields.io/badge/Kodi-21%20Omega-blue?style=flat-square)](https://kodi.tv)
 [![Python](https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-3.13-yellow?style=flat-square)](https://www.python.org/)
 [![Issues](https://img.shields.io/github/issues/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/Nigel1992/plugin.video.iptvxc/issues)
@@ -45,11 +45,13 @@ Built for fast, reliable XC/XCUI playback on Kodi 21 (Omega) with modern parsing
 
 ## ✨ Features
 
-- Fast Live/VOD navigation with lightweight caching
+- Fast Live/VOD navigation with persistent file-based caching
+- Configurable cache expiry per content type (Live TV, Movies, Series) in Settings → Cache
 - TV Series with seasons/episodes restored
 - Catch-up TV (provider-dependent)
 - Speed test and advanced settings helpers
 - Robust handling of inconsistent provider APIs
+- Icon-host reachability checks — dead icon servers never stall the UI
 
 ---
 
@@ -118,14 +120,18 @@ Built for fast, reliable XC/XCUI playback on Kodi 21 (Omega) with modern parsing
 ---
 
 
+## Version 3.6.0 (2026-03-03)
+- Fixed freeze/slowdown when pressing X to stop a stream
+- Fixed intermittent loading overlay (busy dialog) getting stuck on stream start/stop
+- Fixed Kodi becoming unresponsive on Stop
+- Fixed UI freeze caused by unreachable channel icon servers (30s curl stall)
+- Added persistent file-based caching for Live TV, Movies/VOD, Series, Catch-up
+- Added user-configurable cache expiry in Settings → Cache (5 minutes → 7 days)
+- Added Clear content cache button in Settings → Cache
+- Persistent icon-host reachability cache (survives between plugin invocations)
+
 ## Version 3.5.2 (2026-01-28)
 - Playback now automatically retries up to 5 times if the connection drops during playback or seeking (improves reliability for unstable streams)
-- Version updated in addon.xml and release zip
-- All previous features and fixes retained
-
-## Version 3.5.1 (2026-01-27)
-- Extras menu placeholders (Setup PVR Guide, Install PVR Guide, Refresh M3U, Clear Cache) are now visible but disabled in the UI. Only Speed Test is active. Disabled options will show a message if selected.
-- Fixed: The version number in addon.xml now matches the release version.
 
 ---
 

addon.xml

@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
-<addon id="plugin.video.iptvxc" name="[B][COLOR red]XCUI Streams[/B][/COLOR]" version="3.5.2" provider-name="Nigel1992">
-  <extension point="xbmc.python.pluginsource"
-			library="default.py">
-		<provides>video</provides>
-  </extension>
-  <extension point="xbmc.addon.metadata">
-	<summary lang="en">[COLOR red]An IPTV addon written to work with XC and XCUI for Kodi 21. Trakt integration is coming in a future release.[/COLOR]</summary>
-	<language>en</language>
-	<description lang="en">[COLOR red]This addon does not supply nor provide any illegal content. Trakt integration is coming in a future release.[/COLOR]</description>
-	<platform>all</platform>
-	<assets>
-		<icon>icon.png</icon>
-		<fanart>fanart.jpg</fanart>
-	</assets>
-  </extension>
-</addon>
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
+<addon id="plugin.video.iptvxc" name="[B][COLOR red]XCUI Streams[/COLOR][/B]" version="3.6.0" provider-name="Nigel1992">
+    <requires>
+        <import addon="xbmc.python" version="3.0.0"/>
+    </requires>
+    <extension point="xbmc.python.pluginsource" library="default.py">
+        <provides>video</provides>
+    </extension>
+    <extension point="xbmc.addon.metadata">
+        <summary lang="en">[COLOR red]An IPTV addon for Kodi 21.[/COLOR]</summary>
+        <description lang="en">[COLOR red]This addon does not supply illegal content.[/COLOR]</description>
+        <language>en</language>
+        <platform>all</platform>
+        <assets>
+            <icon>icon.png</icon>
+            <fanart>fanart.jpg</fanart>
+        </assets>
+    </extension>
+</addon>