Skip to content

roadmap.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
48 lines (33 loc) · 3.9 KB

roadmap.md

File metadata and controls

48 lines (33 loc) · 3.9 KB
Raw

Roadmap

See mediaplayer-comparison.md for a detailed feature comparison with the dominant Chrome extension competitor (MediaPlayer, ~100K users) and prioritized gaps to close.

Discoverability & Growth

We have a working product — Chrome extension, PWA, npm library — but almost no users find it. These items are about being where users search and making a strong first impression.

  • Chrome Web Store listing polish — better screenshots (showing MKV/AC3 playback, subtitle rendering, library view), feature bullet points, and a short promo video. The listing is the storefront; right now it's bare.
  • SEO landing pages — targeted pages on playsvideo.com for the queries people actually search: "play MKV in browser", "MKV no audio Chrome", "AC3 audio Chrome OS", "play video files offline". Each page explains the problem and links to the extension/PWA.
  • PWA file handling — register as a file handler via the web app manifest (file_handlers) so the PWA shows up in "Open with" on Chrome OS and desktop Chrome, same as the extension already does.
  • Chrome Web Store categories & SEO — add relevant categories, localized descriptions, and keyword-rich copy. Consider listing in "ChromeOS Recommended" if eligible.

Player Polish

Small features that make the player feel complete. These are the "why would I switch from VLC" moments.

  • Screenshot button — capture current frame as PNG via canvas.drawImage(video). One button, instant download.
  • Audio boost / volume amplifier — Web Audio API gain node (up to 3-4x). Solves the common "video is too quiet" complaint without touching the file.
  • Playback speed 3x/4x — expand speed options beyond 2x. Useful for lectures, tutorials, surveillance footage.
  • Picture-in-Picture — one-click PiP button (browser API, trivial to add). Lets users watch while doing other things.
  • Keyboard shortcuts overlay — show available shortcuts on ? press. Users don't know what's available.
  • Drag-and-drop URL — drop a video URL onto the player to play remote media via range requests (engine already supports loadUrl).

Library & Media Management

The app has a library with folder scanning and watch state. These features make it a real media manager.

  • Library thumbnails — generate thumbnails via VideoDecoder single-frame capture, store in IndexedDB. The grid is text-only right now.
  • Search / filter / sort — filter by name, sort by date/size/watch state. Essential once libraries get large.
  • Playlists — create, reorder, and manage playlists in IndexedDB. Play next automatically.
  • Responsive sidebar — permanent on desktop, hamburger drawer on mobile.
  • Recently played — quick access to the last N files without navigating the full library.
  • Series grouping — auto-detect episode numbering and group files into series. "Continue watching" for the next episode.

Subtitle & Audio

  • ASS/SSA subtitle rendering — external .ass/.ssa files with styled rendering (libass.js or similar). Currently only SRT/VTT.
  • Multi-audio track selection — surface all audio tracks and let users switch (engine already demuxes multiple tracks).
  • Audio visualizer — waveform or spectrum display for audio-only files. Nice visual polish, differentiates from competitors.

Engine / Technical

These are invisible to users but unlock future features or improve performance.

  • WebCodecs audio transcode — replace ffmpeg.wasm with AudioDecoder/AudioEncoder for supported codecs. Smaller bundle, lower latency, no wasm download. ffmpeg.wasm remains fallback for AC3/DTS.
  • WebCodecs video transcode — hardware-accelerated transcode for edge-case codecs (HEVC on Firefox, MPEG-2). Hundreds of fps vs ~2-5 fps with software x264 in wasm.
  • Seek preview thumbnails — decode a single frame at the seek position via VideoDecoder for thumbnail preview on the seek bar.