[mYnDstrEAm]

How subtitle files are handled is described in the wiki here. The srt files need to be named exactly like the video file.

Please change it so that the files don't need to be named exactly like the video files. They usually aren't named like so. In addition, many users don't know this, for example some have asked about this here and here.

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It should also search through all the subdirectories of the video file. It wouldn't even need to parse the subtitle file title because it would only need to be located in the same folder. In the case of series episodes, detecting the episode already works well based on file names so the same would be used for the subtitle file. To detect the language it would check for language codes separated by dots (like ".en." and ".eng.") and for full language names (like "English").

The better solution eventually is to use subtitle services of course. But there are issues with these and as a fallback and until these issues are solved, auto-detecting srt files is of special usefulness and probably not too hard to implement as one would only need to detect srt files in the same folder (maybe add a toggle option "scan for .srt files in the same folder" that is enabled by default).

These are the issues I found with subtitle services (but that's probably outside the scope of this request which would only be the most important subtask of a request to improve subtitles-support):

• No subtitle service is set by default in Kodi v19 on Debian11/KDE
  
• Subtitle services can't be set or changed from the subtitle button in the bottom right of a video (but only from Kodi Settings->Player->Language)
  
• The only preinstalled subtitle service "OpenSubtitles.org" returns "Your open subtitles username and password is empty or not valid"
  
• When trying to install the subtitle service "Subscene Subtitles" it shows the error message "The dependency on vfs.libarchive 2.0.0 could not be satisfied." (unsolved thread on this here)
  

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The same thing should be done for external audio tracks, but that's also out of this thread's scope and I'll make a separate thread about that.

[Klojum]

The only preinstalled subtitle service "OpenSubtitles.org" returns "Your open subtitles username and password is empty or not valid"

Your Opensubtitles registration must have gone wrong. The Opensubtitles addon works fine here.

[mYnDstrEAm]

I didn't configure anything for that addon. I only selected it to change the subtitle services for Movies and Series in the Language settings from none to Opensubtitles.

I didn't clarify that this error message box shows when I try to download subtitles for a video, no error displays when changing the setting. There is no error message in the kodi logs when trying to download subtitles.

[Klojum]

I didn't configure anything for that addon.

AFAIK, for a while now, the use of the OpenSubtitles add-on requires a (free) account from the OpenSubtitles website. Without the account credentials, the Kodi add-on won't work.

There is no error message in the kodi logs when trying to download subtitles.

Not every add-on is as forthcoming with log messages when errors occur. This time, the onscreen error should be clear enough.

[mYnDstrEAm]

If it requires an account then it:

• shouldn't be the one service that is preinstalled, instead some other service should be preinstalled and set as the default service (rather than None)
  
• should prompt you for account details when you set it up (changing from None to OpenSubtitles at Kodi Settings->Player->Language))
  
• have an easily visible button to change the account details where you set it up at the Kodi Settings->Player->Language
  

[Klojum]

shouldn't be the one service that is preinstalled, instead some other service should be preinstalled and set as the default service (rather than None)

Sorry, but no subtitle add-ons are pre-installed on a new Kodi setup, nor is OpenSubtitles the default service.

should prompt you for account details when you set it up (changing from None to OpenSubtitles at Kodi Settings->Player->Language))

You do get a prompt saying "Your open subtitles username and password is empty or not valid". Use your imagination.

have an easily visible button to change the account details where you set it up at the Kodi Settings->Player->Language

We're not going to add visible buttons in the main Kodi GUI for every problematic add-on setting in Kodi. That's an impossible task. Lots of add-ons are standalone tools, use them as such.

[mYnDstrEAm]

Sorry, but no subtitle add-ons are pre-installed on a new Kodi setup, nor is OpenSubtitles the default service

I don't think I installed it but I could be wrong. Maybe it's preinstalled in the version in Debian11's repos. That part doesn't really matter.

I know it's not the default service, please also read what I read before: I was referring to the issue "No subtitle service is set by default in Kodi v19 on Debian11/KDE" and I also put (rather than None) there to make it clearer that I'm referring to that.

You do get a prompt saying "Your open subtitles username and password is empty or not valid". Use your imagination.

Only when trying to eventually download subtitles. Users may not do so immediately after configuring it in the settings. It should prompt you for that immediately when configuring it and allow you to set these there rather than somewhere else in the settings or allow you to jump to that setting by the click of a button (for example a prompt after setting it as the default service) to configure it there.

We're not going to add visible buttons in the main Kodi GUI for every problematic add-on setting in Kodi. That's an impossible task. Lots of add-ons are standalone tools, use them as such.

I don't think it's a good approach for Kodi to be very userunfriendly and only for experienced users.

For example, I didn't even know this was an addon, I was in the settings and configured a subtitle service, how should I know that this is an addon? That's not something you should expect, neither would be requiring all users to learn the ins and outs of Kodi before being able to properly use it instead of having a good UX even for tech-illiterate people.

Moreover, even after learning that it's an addon I could not find it under addons. The only way to find it there is the hack of clicking some small package button in the top left in the Addons page, then clicking on Search and then typing in OpenSubtitles to find the addon. Other addons (that need to be configured) have this issue too, somebody please fix that.

[Klojum]

That's not something you should expect, neither would be requiring all users to learn the ins and outs of Kodi before being able to properly use it instead of having a good UX even for tech-illiterate people.

What can I say? There are millions of Kodi users worldwide, and while there will be some people that do not entirely get the 'rhythm' of our application, the vast majority seems to have no real GUI issues after some 15 years of XBMC and Kodi.

Kodi may have a steeper learning curve than other multimedia software has, our challenge is to make it accessible (and working) on lots of hardware: from Raspberry Pi devices, to PCs, Apple hardware, to Nvidia Shields, and "all" other Android 5.0+ devices: phones as well as those 'boxes'. Totally rearranging the shape of our application isn't something feasible right now.

[mYnDstrEAm]

You didn't consider the rest of what I wrote there. For example that the addon doesn't even show up under addons.

I don't see an actual point there either (something constructive that addresses the issues raised), you're just saying things are fine because Kodi has many users and not many have reported this yet (for example they may have just selected another subtitle service). I wasn't saying this was the most important issue. Also the thread is completely derailed by now: the subtitle service was just one of several additional issues. The thread is largely about "Auto-detect .srt subtitle files in the same folder".

Lastly, it's not "Totally rearranging the shape of our application" and I don't understand why you think it is. Just add a button to jump to the addon settings from the place where the subtitle service is set if configuring them is needed. I outlined a problem, or rather several, that's not a bad thing and you can just postpone it or for example only implement the things that easiest to implement and/or most critical such as making this/all addons show up under addons and making it show this warning right after configuring the subtitle service rather than when trying to download a subtitle service. If you don't think it's important I'd suggest doing nothing. Let's please keep the thread focused on the issue itself, mainly "Auto-detect .srt subtitle files in the same folder ".