Guide While it plays

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While it plays

The quick bar (UP)

Play/Pause · Restart · Previous · Next · Cast & more · Phone · Download · Private · Back, each where it applies. It goes round (past the last is the first) and closes after 5 seconds without a key.

• ▣ Phone (continue on phone): a QR code of what's playing, to open on a phone in VLC (the default) or Infuse (they play MKV, HEVC and surround sound a phone's browser would only download), or as the Direct link; your pick is remembered. A YouTube video's is its page, at the minute you're at. It's shown only when you ask, since anyone who scans it can play what you're watching (see Privacy). Not for files on a USB drive; a channel that needs its own user agent or referrer may not open elsewhere.
• ⬇ Download (the sideloaded app, a USB drive plugged in, a source that's a link): saves what's playing to the drive, with the subtitle that's on (see Downloads). The video keeps playing.
• ◐ Private: Off / On (not for trailers or live channels): private viewing for what's playing, from that moment (see Private viewing).
• Cast & more (with a TMDB key): who's in it, with photos and roles, on a see-through strip over the video, which keeps playing. LEFT / RIGHT look through it; OK on a person shows their movies and series, OK on one of those its Cast & more, and so on. BACK goes up a level at a time; UP or DOWN close it. Hold OK on a title there for the poster menu: Add to / Remove from Continue Watching and Mark watched / unwatched happen right away; Details stops playing (your place kept) and opens its page.

The menu (DOWN)

• Subtitles and Audio track.
• Select source: another source, at the same point, with its own quality list, subtitles and file details; the title and Private viewing stay.
• Video quality (HLS streams: YouTube, and links to an .m3u8); it says so when a stream's qualities can't be read.
• Playback (restart, rewind / forward).
• Picture: Fit, Zoom or Stretch, remembered (a live channel keeps its own).
• Format (an Xtream channel): MPEG-TS or HLS, kept for that channel.
• Stream info.
• Reload: opened again (a live channel at the live edge, a video where it is).
• Sleep timer: Off, 30, 60 or 90 minutes, then playback stops (the menu shows what's left).

The time of day shows at the top right of the screen, while the progress bar is on screen.

Keys while it plays

Key	What it does
LEFT / RIGHT	Move a marker along the progress bar, faster the longer you hold; playback jumps once you stop. The step is set in Settings › Playback › Seeking & buffering.
Play / Pause / Stop / FF / REW	As labeled, even with the menu open.
⏮ / ⏭	The previous / next episode (a live channel: the previous / next one).
Red	The audio tracks (a YouTube video's: its audio languages).
Green	The subtitle languages.
Yellow	The sources (Select source).
Blue	The stream info (see below).
1 / 2 / 3	Subtitles 0.1 s earlier / back to the file's timing / 0.1 s later (kept for the title).
4 / 5 / 6	Subtitle position: Lower / Bottom / Raised.
7 / 8 / 9	Subtitle size: Medium / Large / Extra Large.

On a live channel the number keys pick a channel instead (see IPTV and radio). A colored key's list closes with BACK or the same key again.

The stream info (blue) shows the source (its addon, name, file name and size, the addon's description), what it is in short (4K · HEVC · HDR10 · Atmos · MKV), the video and audio as the player has them, the subtitles, quality, bandwidth, server (its name only), how it plays (straight from the server, through StremioK's service, or YouTube's service), the buffer and the position.

While the progress bar shows, the right side sums up what's playing: resolution, video format, bit depth, HDR / Dolby Vision, audio, channels and file type (4K · HEVC · 10-bit · HDR10 · Atmos · 5.1 · MKV).

Skipping intros, recaps and credits

• Skip Intro, Skip Recap and Skip Preview appear when StremioK knows where they are (from TheIntroDB, SkipDB and IntroDB; for anime, also AniSkip). OK skips. With Skipping set to a countdown (Settings › Playback › Skipping), it skips on its own (Skip Intro · 5), with Cancel to keep watching; the countdown waits while you're paused.
• Skip Credits → Next appears at the credits; without known credits, in the last 10 seconds. With Next episode set to a countdown, Next episode · 10 plays it at zero, with Watch Credits to stay.
• The known sections are colored on the progress bar: intro cyan, recap and preview blue, credits light blue.

Next episode

• Previous / Next and the episode queued at the credits skip episodes that haven't aired yet.
• The next episode plays a source like the one you were watching (the same addon, resolution and release group). Its sources are fetched shortly before the credits, so it starts at once.
• Reaching the credits marks the episode or movie watched (once 80% of it has played) and queues the next episode in Continue Watching.

Also good to know

• Progress is saved as you watch, and the TV's screensaver stays off.
• In the background (the TV's Home button, another app): a movie or episode pauses and its place is saved (sent to Trakt too); coming back, it waits paused (OK plays on). A live channel plays on.
• A stalled stream reloads at the same position; a live channel that drops reconnects (see Reconnect live channels in Settings). See Troubleshooting when it keeps happening.