Fix ITV add-on for official Kodi Repository
#1
I wanted to fix an old add-on that appears to have been abandoned. This add-on is not an official Kodi add-on so before I start I wanted to understand why to see if it is possible to make it official. The add-on is ITV, basically the ITV Hub, so being the BBC iPlayer has an official Kodi add-on I was unsure why the ITV add-on wasn't. 

If this is possible then any pointers or advice would be appreciated.
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#2
If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong), I think either the original author or one of the subsequent maintainers along the way was also the author of some more dubious addons, and as such never submitted it to the repo.

Fundamentally there is no reason why it could be submitted, if it's in a suitable and functional state (and updated to Python 3).
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#3
(2021-05-02, 13:16)DarrenHill Wrote: If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong), I think either the original author or one of the subsequent maintainers along the way was also the author of some more dubious addons, and as such never submitted it to the repo.
That's also my recollection, but in addition I had a feeling that the same author also received an official notice from ITV to desist from developing the addon any further. It's been a good few years since I've seen a working copy of the addon, so would be very nice to see an up-to-date working copy. Maybe ITV's position might have changed now as well.....
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#4
(2021-05-02, 18:01)Dumyat Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 13:16)DarrenHill Wrote: If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong), I think either the original author or one of the subsequent maintainers along the way was also the author of some more dubious addons, and as such never submitted it to the repo.
That's also my recollection, but in addition I had a feeling that the same author also received an official notice from ITV to desist from developing the addon any further. It's been a good few years since I've seen a working copy of the addon, so would be very nice to see an up-to-date working copy. Maybe ITV's position might have changed now as well.....
I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
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#5
(2021-05-02, 20:12)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 18:01)Dumyat Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 13:16)DarrenHill Wrote: If I remember correctly (and this may be wrong), I think either the original author or one of the subsequent maintainers along the way was also the author of some more dubious addons, and as such never submitted it to the repo.
That's also my recollection, but in addition I had a feeling that the same author also received an official notice from ITV to desist from developing the addon any further. It's been a good few years since I've seen a working copy of the addon, so would be very nice to see an up-to-date working copy. Maybe ITV's position might have changed now as well.....
I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
All catchup was working on Leia until last Tuesday. All shows from Wednesday onwards will not work but those prior to Wednesday still work. This suggests to me that the front end streams changed format last week. Live TV hasn't worked for many years.
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#6
(2021-05-02, 20:46)chrissxuk Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 20:12)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 18:01)Dumyat Wrote: That's also my recollection, but in addition I had a feeling that the same author also received an official notice from ITV to desist from developing the addon any further. It's been a good few years since I've seen a working copy of the addon, so would be very nice to see an up-to-date working copy. Maybe ITV's position might have changed now as well.....
I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
All catchup was working on Leia until last Tuesday. All shows from Wednesday onwards will not work but those prior to Wednesday still work. This suggests to me that the front end streams changed format last week. Live TV hasn't worked for many years.
Yeah that sounds about right, I remember reading that is was broken but I've not used since I switched to Matrix a few months ago. And yes, the Live TV hasn't worked for years.
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#7
(2021-05-02, 20:12)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 18:01)Dumyat Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 13:16)DarrenHill Wrote:  
I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
Ahh, maybe it was the LiveTV parts of the original addon ITV had an issue with, but it's not out of the realms of possibility that I'm not remembering correctly at all, particularly as it was several years ago now. Just rang a bell in my my head that they piped up and complained about it at the time.
I wasn't even aware that the addon still existed, let alone it was still working up to last week for catch-up.
Do you still have the adverts for catch-up programmes when using the Kodi addon? That's the main reason I don't really use either the official ITVHub or STV Player on the shield. Yup, a Matrix revival would be very welcomed!  Smile
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#8
(2021-05-02, 22:32)Dumyat Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 20:12)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 18:01)Dumyat Wrote:  
I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
Ahh, maybe it was the LiveTV parts of the original addon ITV had an issue with, but it's not out of the realms of possibility that I'm not remembering correctly at all, particularly as it was several years ago now. Just rang a bell in my my head that they piped up and complained about it at the time.
I wasn't even aware that the addon still existed, let alone it was still working up to last week for catch-up.
Do you still have the adverts for catch-up programmes when using the Kodi addon? That's the main reason I don't really use either the official ITVHub or STV Player on the shield. Yup, a Matrix revival would be very welcomed!  Smile
You have no adverts which is one of the reasons I like it but there are others. The ITV Hub on a Smart TV or in an Android app has awful resolution, not great when viewing on a big TV. The website has a better resolution, although still not HD, but much more acceptable. The Kodi add-on uses the website streams so you're getting the better quality without faffing around in a web browser. Another thing I like is you can use Kodi's ability to customise the subtitles, colour and size, something important for me.
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#9
(2021-05-02, 22:54)chrissxuk Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 22:32)Dumyat Wrote:
(2021-05-02, 20:12)FXB78 Wrote: I recall who the original author was & that it was in some dubious repos hence never becoming an official addon, however I don't ever remember there being any sort of takedown notice. The addon was working in Leia as recently as a couple of months ago, I think I read this week that it had broken but when I was using Kodi 18 the addon was still working well, certainly the catchup element. It would be great to see it revived for Matrix!
Ahh, maybe it was the LiveTV parts of the original addon ITV had an issue with, but it's not out of the realms of possibility that I'm not remembering correctly at all, particularly as it was several years ago now. Just rang a bell in my my head that they piped up and complained about it at the time.
I wasn't even aware that the addon still existed, let alone it was still working up to last week for catch-up.
Do you still have the adverts for catch-up programmes when using the Kodi addon? That's the main reason I don't really use either the official ITVHub or STV Player on the shield. Yup, a Matrix revival would be very welcomed!  Smile
You have no adverts which is one of the reasons I like it but there are others. The ITV Hub on a Smart TV or in an Android app has awful resolution, not great when viewing on a big TV. The website has a better resolution, although still not HD, but much more acceptable. The Kodi add-on uses the website streams so you're getting the better quality without faffing around in a web browser. Another thing I like is you can use Kodi's ability to customise the subtitles, colour and size, something important for me.
Thinking more about this a bit more it's quite possible that ITV may have complained as they provide the service funded by advertising. They now actually charge £3.99pm for the service without advertising so someone providing it free would be frowned upon. All this makes me wonder if this add-on would be accepted as an official Kodi add-on.
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#10
Removing advertising isn't done on purpose. Its just a side affect as the addons play the streams directly. Web players and android inject their ads on the client (CSAI - client side ad insertion) which kodi can't really do. Even if the addon did, it most likely wouldn't 'count' and they wouldn't get paid for it anyway.

The solution is they switch to ads that are injected into the stream itself (SSAI - server side ad insertion) which is getting more popular. I've mainly seen it on live streams.
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#11
(2021-05-03, 21:51)matthuisman Wrote: Removing advertising isn't done on purpose. Its just a side affect as the addons play the streams directly.

It's worth noting that the Catch-up TV & More add-on can play live STV programmes. STV is affiliated to ITV, so they have a lot of the same programmes.

The adverts are shown "as is" (as far as I know - there certainly are adverts and I'd be surprised if they came from any other source).

So in the absence of a "proper" ITV add-on, I find this one is just fine.
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#12
(2021-05-05, 22:21)YeahWhatever Wrote:
(2021-05-03, 21:51)matthuisman Wrote: Removing advertising isn't done on purpose. Its just a side affect as the addons play the streams directly.

It's worth noting that the Catch-up TV & More add-on can play live STV programmes. STV is affiliated to ITV, so they have a lot of the same programmes.

The adverts are shown "as is" (as far as I know - there certainly are adverts and I'd be surprised if they came from any other source).

So in the absence of a "proper" ITV add-on, I find this one is just fine.
Yes I use STV, the only problem with it is catchup is incomplete as it only goes up to "S", but for live it's essentially the same programming as ITV.
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#13
(2021-05-05, 22:52)FXB78 Wrote:
(2021-05-05, 22:21)YeahWhatever Wrote:
(2021-05-03, 21:51)matthuisman Wrote: Removing advertising isn't done on purpose. Its just a side affect as the addons play the streams directly.

It's worth noting that the Catch-up TV & More add-on can play live STV programmes. STV is affiliated to ITV, so they have a lot of the same programmes.

The adverts are shown "as is" (as far as I know - there certainly are adverts and I'd be surprised if they came from any other source).

So in the absence of a "proper" ITV add-on, I find this one is just fine.
Yes I use STV, the only problem with it is catchup is incomplete as it only goes up to "S", but for live it's essentially the same programming as ITV.
Yes I noticed that bug in the STV catch-up too and have reported it to the dev. It's better quality HD streams though but unfortunately there appear to be no subtitles for the STV shows something that's important for me. There are no adverts in the catch-up TV & more STV shows.
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#14
(2021-05-05, 22:52)FXB78 Wrote: Yes I use STV, the only problem with it is catchup is incomplete as it only goes up to "S", but for live it's essentially the same programming as ITV.

Not all of the time. Local programmes, e.g. local news, I think maybe some soaps, maybe other stuff, change across ITV areas depending on their broadcast area, and STV is no exception. In addition yesterday they replaced The Chase (normal ITV programming) with an election special because there were elections for the Scottish Parliament the previous day in Scotland.

I've found that live STV is a bit patchy, with picture breakup. Is it the same for you? Other channels on other add-ons are much better and any problems rarer so I don't think it's a problem with my internet connection. Do you see the same thing?
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#15
(2021-05-08, 11:34)YeahWhatever Wrote:
(2021-05-05, 22:52)FXB78 Wrote: Yes I use STV, the only problem with it is catchup is incomplete as it only goes up to "S", but for live it's essentially the same programming as ITV.

Not all of the time. Local programmes, e.g. local news, I think maybe some soaps, maybe other stuff, change across ITV areas depending on their broadcast area, and STV is no exception. In addition yesterday they replaced The Chase (normal ITV programming) with an election special because there were elections for the Scottish Parliament the previous day in Scotland.

I've found that live STV is a bit patchy, with picture breakup. Is it the same for you? Other channels on other add-ons are much better and any problems rarer so I don't think it's a problem with my internet connection. Do you see the same thing?
The quality of streams I've seen in Catch-up TV & More are far superior to the ITV Player add-on. Streams I've watched are 1080 but everything from ITV is SD. The problems with Catch-up TV & More are as I said previously, no subtitles and an incomplete show listing. Live TV in these add-ons has always been problematical so I never use it. The ITV Player is actually being fixed now for Matrix as you can see in this thread. https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid...pid3035207
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Fix ITV add-on for official Kodi Repository0