Hi @anilbeesetti,
First of all, thank you for creating and continuously improving Next Player. It’s one of the cleanest, most lightweight, and truly open-source Android video players available. The Material 3 design, absence of ads/tracking, solid Media3 foundation, and thoughtful features already make it a joy to use. Your work is genuinely appreciated.
I’d like to propose a few quality-of-life improvements that would significantly enhance compatibility, control, and flexibility — especially for users dealing with problematic video files or who want a more personalized experience (inspired by the excellent UX in mpvEx and MX Player).
1. Decoder Selection Menu in the Playback Screen
Many videos (especially certain 10-bit, high-bitrate, or less common encodings) either fail to play, stutter, show artifacts, or drain the battery heavily when forced to use the hardware decoder. Conversely, some devices handle hardware decoding perfectly while software decoding is slower.
Request:
Add a quick decoder selection option directly in the player UI (similar to mpvEx’s decoder sheet and MX Player’s HW / HW+ / SW toggle). Ideal options would be:
- Auto (default)
- Hardware
- Software
- Prefer Software / Prefer Hardware (or equivalent Media3 renderer preference)
Being able to switch this during playback without leaving the player would be extremely useful.
2. Independent Player Volume Control
Currently, the volume gesture (and system volume keys) appear to adjust the system/media volume. This is inconvenient when watching videos while other apps are open, using Bluetooth devices, or when you simply want the player volume to be independent.
Request:
Implement an internal player volume control (like MX Player) that only affects the player’s audio output and does not change the system volume. The existing vertical swipe gesture could continue to control this player volume, with an optional setting to choose between “Player volume” and “System volume”.
3. Player Menu / Controls Layout Customization
The current player controls are clean, but users have different preferences for button placement, density, and which actions should be one-tap vs. buried in menus.
Request:
Add a customization option for the player controls layout/shortcuts (similar to what mpvEx offers). This could include:
- Ability to rearrange or show/hide certain buttons
- Option to customize the secondary/more menu
- Possibly save different layouts
Even a relatively simple version of this would greatly improve long-term usability and accessibility.
These features would bring Next Player much closer to the flexibility that power users expect from modern open-source players, while still keeping the clean and simple philosophy of the app.
Thank you again for all the hard work you put into this project. Looking forward to seeing how it continues to evolve!
Best regards
Hi @anilbeesetti,
First of all, thank you for creating and continuously improving Next Player. It’s one of the cleanest, most lightweight, and truly open-source Android video players available. The Material 3 design, absence of ads/tracking, solid Media3 foundation, and thoughtful features already make it a joy to use. Your work is genuinely appreciated.
I’d like to propose a few quality-of-life improvements that would significantly enhance compatibility, control, and flexibility — especially for users dealing with problematic video files or who want a more personalized experience (inspired by the excellent UX in mpvEx and MX Player).
1. Decoder Selection Menu in the Playback Screen
Many videos (especially certain 10-bit, high-bitrate, or less common encodings) either fail to play, stutter, show artifacts, or drain the battery heavily when forced to use the hardware decoder. Conversely, some devices handle hardware decoding perfectly while software decoding is slower.
Request:
Add a quick decoder selection option directly in the player UI (similar to mpvEx’s decoder sheet and MX Player’s HW / HW+ / SW toggle). Ideal options would be:
Being able to switch this during playback without leaving the player would be extremely useful.
2. Independent Player Volume Control
Currently, the volume gesture (and system volume keys) appear to adjust the system/media volume. This is inconvenient when watching videos while other apps are open, using Bluetooth devices, or when you simply want the player volume to be independent.
Request:
Implement an internal player volume control (like MX Player) that only affects the player’s audio output and does not change the system volume. The existing vertical swipe gesture could continue to control this player volume, with an optional setting to choose between “Player volume” and “System volume”.
3. Player Menu / Controls Layout Customization
The current player controls are clean, but users have different preferences for button placement, density, and which actions should be one-tap vs. buried in menus.
Request:
Add a customization option for the player controls layout/shortcuts (similar to what mpvEx offers). This could include:
Even a relatively simple version of this would greatly improve long-term usability and accessibility.
These features would bring Next Player much closer to the flexibility that power users expect from modern open-source players, while still keeping the clean and simple philosophy of the app.
Thank you again for all the hard work you put into this project. Looking forward to seeing how it continues to evolve!
Best regards