With the Samsung Smart View SDK, you can develop mobile apps that can stream multimedia content from mobile devices to Samsung Smart TVs. This chapter provides basic guidelines you must consider when you are designing a Smart View enabled app.
Smart View enabled apps should show their current status with the following button images:
Click here to download the Cast button images for Android and iOS.
If your app only supports one type of receiver, such as TVs or speakers, you can make your app filter out unsupported devices.
If both the TV and mobile device support Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), make the TV name appear in the available devices list even if it is not connected to a Wi-Fi network. Selecting the TV name should open the Device Connection Guide pop-up window. ? Refer to chapter Supported Models and Versions for information about troubleshooting tips.
There are two ways to stream multimedia content from a mobile device to a TV: The Connect and Play method and the Play and Connect method. With the Connect and Play method, users can stream multimedia content to a TV after selecting a multimedia file using a file browser to connect to a TV and launch a TV app. With the Play and Connect method, users can stream multimedia content to a TV after tapping the Cast button while the multimedia file is playing on the mobile device.
(Connect and Play) Connection will launch the TV app and content can be selected using the TV remote control.
Multiple multimedia content items can be selected and sent from the mobile device to the TV.
(Play and Connect) Tapping the Cast button while a multimedia file is playing on a mobile device will temporarily pause the playback on the mobile device while connecting to TV. When the connection is complete, the mobile app will resume the playback and the TV app will start playing it on the TV screen.
Users should be able to see the “Now Playing” status with content information while browsing other pages on a mobile device.
Tapping the Cast button while multimedia content is being streamed should show the information about the cast status and available options.
Volume control
This chapter describes the synced playback between mobile and TV apps. If there is no corresponding app on the TV, the TV’s default media player will be used to play the multimedia content streamed from a mobile device. Refer to Chapter 7.9 for more information about synced playback.
The same feedback should be shown on the mobile and TV apps while the TV app is loading the content.
The same playback controls (Fast Forward, Rewind, Play, Stop, and Pause) should be shown on both the mobile and TV apps.
When controlling the playback on the TV using the remote control, the playback status should also be updated on the mobile device.
The Disconnect pop-up window has only one option and leaves the TV app open even after disconnection.
When a TV app is active in the background, the connection remains and the mobile app should still show the “Connected” status.
Whilst still connected, the TV app must be pushed to the foreground when new cast requests are received from the mobile app.
When there is no corresponding TV app, the TV’s default media player can be used to play content from mobile devices. The default media player supports playback of videos, photos, and songs. Click here to find more details on spec&features for Default Media Player.
When the TV and mobile device are connected to the same network and the TV is turned off, streaming multimedia content from the mobile device to the TV will make the TV automatically turn on and start playing the content. Click here to find more details on spec&features for WoW.
We recommend that you show the correct Cast button and provide appropriate pop-up windows to help users if they fail to discover their Samsung Smart TVs through the Smart View enabled app on their mobile devices or if they have Samsung Smart TVs that do not support Smart View.
Users may fail to discover their Samsung Smart TVs even if they have one. To help the users troubleshoot this issue, follow the guidance below:
Title: Device Connection Guide Sub-title: Samsung Smart TVs Description: Follow these steps to connect {TV app name} to your TV without a dongle!
Even if users successfully connect their Smart View enabled apps to their TVs, users may still have to perform other tasks to play the streamed multimedia content on their TVs. Provide them with appropriate messages that correctly describe what they need to do.
The TV app must be installed Provide the users with a message telling them that the TV app is not yet installed, and tell them to try connecting again after installing the TV app. If the users confirm this message, they should be taken to the app download page, on the TV screen, where they can manually install it using the remote control. Example of a message: {TV App name} is not installed on this TV. You must confirm this manually with a TV remote and try reconnecting once finished. Open the download page on the TV?
The TV app must be updated Provide the users with a message telling them that the TV app needs to be updated to the latest version, to support the casting functionality, and instruct them how to do this. Example of a message: {TV App name} must be updated to support this feature. You will need to confirm this manually with a TV remote and try reconnecting once finished. Open the update page on the TV?
The TV app doesn’t support Smart View yet Provide the users with a message telling them that their TVs do not support the Cast functionality, even though the app is available on their TVs. Example of a message: {TV App name} does not yet fully support this feature. Try launching anyway?
The TV app is not available Provide the users with a message telling them that the TV app does not support their TV models at all. Example of a message: Sorry, {TV App name} is not available for this TV model.
On the mobile app installation stage, provide the users with a link to the Play Store or iTunes to let them to check supported TV models. ? Attribution for contents