[only1hammy]

How do you track in progress status?  Apart from the OSD, that is really the only thing that I have lost by moving to Kodi 21.

You need to use MPC-HC functionality to save resume points. At that point you won't have the option to start from the beginning but if you exit the player and then play again, it will start from where you left off.

Yes, resume points can be saved this way -in the external player-, but Kodi can't be informed about resume points from external players.  If something is half watched in an external player, Kodi will either be told it's unwatched or watched (via playcountminimumtime).  It seems there is currently no way of achieving what I am asking.

@tiben20 I would like to echo ashlar's offer of assistance.  Although I'm not a coder, I am more than happy to help with any testing.