We've been working on the Vimeo TV app for the past few months and we'd love feedback

by Vennom

It's been about 5 months in the making with pretty limited resources but we managed to pull a beta of our app together. It's something we're all very proud of and we tried to not half ass yet another app on the Android TV app store.

We wanted to put together an experience that has the look and feel of Android TV but with a little more flair. If you're interested in trying it out, please follow the instructions below. Unfortunately they don't make betas on TV as easy as on mobile.

  1. On web or mobile, opt in to the beta of our app by finding it in the play store and clicking the join beta button or opt in directly through this testing link
  2. Go to the Vimeo play store listing in a browser (not the play store app). It should say the app name is "Vimeo (Beta)". Click the "Install" or "Installed" button. This should give you the option to choose which device to download the app on.
  3. Pick your Android TV device from the list
  4. It should show up on your Android TV within 5 minutes

Some more info about the app if you're interested: Our designer on the project came up with this concept of "blooming" of the information cards. The cards expand with more info the closer you get to them with the varying levels of selection. We'd love to know how you feel about it.

I also highly recommend creating an account (which is totally free) since a lot of the best features of the app require being logged in. To get you started, I recommend checking out some of these awesome channels!

Thanks!

P.S. We've got tons of other cool features we're planning to add over the next year so hang tight for more cool stuff.

FoferJ

This looks and feels GREAT! Just installed and am checking it out now. Thanks Team Vimeo.

fleker2

I was just writing about Vimeo the other week and commented that a Tv app would make a lot of sense. It's great to see a beta. Any plans on supporting the TV Input Framework?

pianoplink

So happy Vimeo is on Android TV now. I've been waiting since I got a Shield. Thanks for putting in the (even small) resources to get it out.

After two days of trying it out I'm finding no issues so far and quite like that it's based on navigating:

  • The same feed I have on the Vimeo site
  • A feed of Staff Picks
  • Trending videos
  • My own liked videos
  • My own 'water later' selected videos
  • Categories to choose from

And you have voice search too, which is fantastic. I'm not sure if I would perhaps prefer if 'watch later' and 'liked' videos were at the root of the navigation/in the sidebar, as I would go to those as frequently as staff picks and feed. 'Watch Later' in particular as it's such a simple way for me to make a note of something I'd like to watch properly in the evening and - with such little effort - find it lined up on my TV in its own sidebar choice. 'Trending' feels odd. Maybe this is of relevance to Vimeo as a whole rather than the app, but it looks like an ad for rental videos. I expected, from the name, to see the videos currently getting the most views today (which is why I liked it being easy to access). Instead it's a list of a videos that I need to rent that look like the only have several hundred views and have been there for years. After the rental ones, there's some videos that don't appear to have many views or be recent. I'm not sure what it's showing me but it isn't what I expected to find, and I'd love to have what I expected to find.

I'm not sure if I picked up on: Our designer on the project came up with this concept of "blooming" of the information cards. The cards expand with more info the closer you get to them with the varying levels of selection.

Cards don't seem to do anything different the closer I get to them, it's only when I actually select a card it presents expanded information. I do love the variation on the standard leanback UI. The eased animation for expanded text info and how the image slides up subtly are nice touches and certainly succeed in getting "the look and feel of Android TV but with a little more flair". It's a lot classier without being OTT, keeping the form and function balanced. The leanback library itself would benefit from taking these adaptations on (I noticed a few more of them, like the icons beside sidebar choices. Nice positioning and styles that play well and stay in harmony with the UI as a whole. Good job).

513

Hey, got it working too on my Shield TV, the app is beautiful, I really like the small animation everywhere ! Great job :) Thanks

joesamui

I just wanted to try it out on my Sony Bravia Android TV with lollipop (KD65X8508C) but it didn't come up available for TV only for Android phone, curious about is it should be supported or no?

Waggmans

Nevermind I got it working.

xanderten50

Has anyone got an apk or the sideload tag for the ATV beta app? The play store is convinced my Android TV has vimeo installed - but it isn't so I can't push it from the play store :(

AlienGruvGod

I just completed all the steps. My Android TV did show up in the list of devices. But it's been over an hour and there is no Vimeo app to be found.

VirTERM

hmm, can't apply for a beta anymore...

BlackSER

Dam #sideloadtag is great...Please I bet you can do it in a matter of secs. IT'S AWESOME

BlackSER

Why didn't you give us a sideloadtag? Most of us have a Mi box and still don't understand why developers have not embraced sideload tag