• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Any decent media players for TV box?

I've purchased a couple Android "TV Boxes" and was shocked to learn that none of the supplied software will play media from SMB/Samba/Windows shared network locations. :(

My boxes are running Android 4.0x, A9 single core at 1Ghz, Mali400 GPU's, 512MB + 8GB or 1GB + 4GB of memory.

Device 1 link (G-Box Midnight?
Device 2 link (No idea what model this is)

Just a few of the apps I've downloaded and tested:
- XBMC: Used on my PC's, but too heavy for the Android boxes I have.
- BSPlayer
- Buzz Player
- MX Player
- Mobo Video Player
- Dice Player
- Movie Browser HD
- mVideo Player

Most of these don't support Windows shares very well, or are not user friendly.

Are there any decent media player applications that will do the following?
- Play media located on Windows or Samba shares
- Provide a simple interface so my kids won't get confused
- Play video, audio and pictures
- Possibly link to Netflix and/or YouTube accounts
- It would be great if it were a "launcher" app

Basically, I want a launcher type interface that operates like this:
- I add icons to the main screen.
- The icon can be associated with one or more local folders and/or windows network shares.
- The icon can have rules set to show or hide files and folders that..
- have a specific filename extension (.avi, .mp3, .jpg, etc...).
- that are hidden.
- files of a specific type.
- When the icon is clicked, show the contents of the associated that...
- Match the rules set up for the icon.
- Show thumbnails for files or folders, if available. (use folder.jpg for folder icons, for music or video, locate a .jpg/.png/etc. with the same filename as the movie or music file.
- Allow browsing folders with the same rules as the parent icon.
Alternately, does Android provide any way to set up a Windows share to look like a locally mounted device? This would make some of the players I've found more workable.

I know I'm being pretty specific, but I know what my wife and kids want when it comes to watching movies and playing music.

Any suggestions or ideas are welcome!
 

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones