SmugMug on TV and Tablets - Where? How?
bcuzz
Registered Users Posts: 6 Big grins
I have used SmugMug for a couple of years now. It is a great site for sharing photos as long as everyone is using a PC. Now I am looking for a way to view SmugMug photos on a TV. This comes about partially because I want to share photos with parents (or in general people older than 70). They can work a TV and some TV devices (XBox, Wii, etc.), but are not so great with the PC. Also, why should we have to leave the living room/den to view photos?
TV
We all pretty much have a big screen TV now. So what is the best way or any way to view my SmugMug photos on a TV? What I have tried so far.
1. XBox 360. No SmugMug app here.
2. WD Live TV Hub. Nice little device for hundred bucks or so. No SmugMug here. It has a 1Tb drive, if I am going to put all my photos on here, why do I need SmugMug?
3. Samsung TV and Blu-Ray player. Got some Flickr here. No SmugMug though.
4. Windows Media Center. I could live with a WMC plugin and leave the PC running and get an XBox to bridge to the TV. But I can't find a SmugMug WMC plugin anywhere. Somebody point me to one if it exists?
Somebody please help me with some ideas. This should be a no brainer and there should be a product that is dead simple to view photos on a TV in this day and age. I can't find it.
Tablets
I just bought the new Nook Tablet. It is pretty awesome for $250. In addition to reading, etc. this would be so cool to sit on the sofa and view photos on. So how do I view SmugMug on this tablet? I tried the web browser, but the SmugMug mobile site does not do a great job here. Only shows me thumbnails for first 12 photos in a gallery. Plus no support for passworded galleries. How am I supposed to work with that? Passworded galleries are passworded for a reason. Am I supposed to remove the password as a work-around? Really?
B&N and Amazon are likely to sell tons of Nooks and Fires. The B&N store I went to and got mine said they had 300 pre-orders they were waiting for people to pick-up. Eight other people came in while I was looking and wanted one. However, both companies have chosen to keep the Android Marketplace at arms length. So while there seems to be a SmugMug Android app (even thought other threads in this forum say it is not very good), I can't get to it from my Nook. I suspect the Kindle Fire is the same way. So where is the SmugMug app for the Nook? Fire?
Actually, in my opinion, maybe we don't even need an Android app. Can't HTML 5 be used to do a good job of viewing photos? It seems like that might be a more universal solution.
Anyway, I seem to be running into problems with SmugMug giving me a great viewing experience on the tablet. Can someone help me here and explain what I am doing wrong?
Finally, let me say I am a big SmugMug fan. The site is great and I feel like I get my money's worth. I just wish some of these extensions could be fixed.
Billy C.
TV
We all pretty much have a big screen TV now. So what is the best way or any way to view my SmugMug photos on a TV? What I have tried so far.
1. XBox 360. No SmugMug app here.
2. WD Live TV Hub. Nice little device for hundred bucks or so. No SmugMug here. It has a 1Tb drive, if I am going to put all my photos on here, why do I need SmugMug?
3. Samsung TV and Blu-Ray player. Got some Flickr here. No SmugMug though.
4. Windows Media Center. I could live with a WMC plugin and leave the PC running and get an XBox to bridge to the TV. But I can't find a SmugMug WMC plugin anywhere. Somebody point me to one if it exists?
Somebody please help me with some ideas. This should be a no brainer and there should be a product that is dead simple to view photos on a TV in this day and age. I can't find it.
Tablets
I just bought the new Nook Tablet. It is pretty awesome for $250. In addition to reading, etc. this would be so cool to sit on the sofa and view photos on. So how do I view SmugMug on this tablet? I tried the web browser, but the SmugMug mobile site does not do a great job here. Only shows me thumbnails for first 12 photos in a gallery. Plus no support for passworded galleries. How am I supposed to work with that? Passworded galleries are passworded for a reason. Am I supposed to remove the password as a work-around? Really?
B&N and Amazon are likely to sell tons of Nooks and Fires. The B&N store I went to and got mine said they had 300 pre-orders they were waiting for people to pick-up. Eight other people came in while I was looking and wanted one. However, both companies have chosen to keep the Android Marketplace at arms length. So while there seems to be a SmugMug Android app (even thought other threads in this forum say it is not very good), I can't get to it from my Nook. I suspect the Kindle Fire is the same way. So where is the SmugMug app for the Nook? Fire?
Actually, in my opinion, maybe we don't even need an Android app. Can't HTML 5 be used to do a good job of viewing photos? It seems like that might be a more universal solution.
Anyway, I seem to be running into problems with SmugMug giving me a great viewing experience on the tablet. Can someone help me here and explain what I am doing wrong?
Finally, let me say I am a big SmugMug fan. The site is great and I feel like I get my money's worth. I just wish some of these extensions could be fixed.
Billy C.
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What happens if you use the full site, not the mobile site?
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No, you can use the full site to view passworded galleries - it's not built in yet to the /m mobile site version (for any platform). Sorry!
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On the Nook, I went into the browser settings and put the browser into "Desktop mode". This makes the browser render the SmugMug site more like a PC. In this mode, I see all my thumbnails and can navigate manually as on a PC. Hard to click on the controls because they are so small, so this is less than ideal.
The slideshow works ok sometimes as long as the tablet is in portrait mode. However, the slideshow does not center photos if started when the tablet is in landscape mode. Nor does the slideshow render the photos centered if started in portrait mode and then rotate to landscape mode.
Also, even starting and staying in portrait mode for a slideshow, every now and then it starts showing the photos zoomed in to about an x2 size. So the photo gets clipped. You can't pinch the photo to make it smaller when in slideshow mode either. Or pan the photo around to get around this.
Finally, three times when I started the slideshow I got a blank screen. If I exited the slideshow and restarted it, then it would work.
So did I, just now (after you posted this thread). SmugMug sites display best in full mode (scroll to bottom and click 'full site') - you can view homepage slideshows, login, use the shopping cart, use SmugMug, Journal, Slideshow, or Thumbnails style.
We'll figure out why the /m mobile site is only showing 12 photos and stalling on "loading more"
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Hi Andy,
I just purchased a Kindle Fire with the thought of being able to view my Smugmug photos and videos on it. I have not opened the box yet because this would be the Fire's selling point for me. The store did not have it hooked to the Internet so I had to buy it to try at home with a generous return policy.
What do you think? How, what, when? lol
Thanks a bunch,
Karen
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videos do not load and slideshow function for images do not work, but the images are fine
We'll take a look!
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Thanks Andy for your trouble, but don't trouble yourself for little ole me because overall I do not like it.
Happy holidays to you!
Love Smugmug
(is there a way to load the smugmug android app to revue ? )
Does Google TV use Chrome? SmugMug should display fine if so.
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Yes, it does.
BTW I got smugmug working on google-tv by disabling javascript on chrome. Something on the home page that is causing the screen go blank.
re-opening an old thread here, but is there any news on getting a smugmug app for samsung smart tv's??
We are not working on an app for a Samsung TV, but we are working on ways to make it easier to view your SmugMug photos any internet connected TV (Via laptop etc)
Michael
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I have been using Roku with Smug for over a year on my own TV (Samsung, Smart, HD, etc.) and take the Roku and an HDMI cable with me when I travel so I can access my Smugmug galleries in a hotel or at a friends/relatives house. Connecting to hotel networks can sometimes be a challenge (and sometimes I have not been successful), but for the most part the combination works great.
Wish I could say the same for viewing Smug galleries with videos on my Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet! When I bought it, it specifically said "Adobe Flash compatible" (and it was!). But then I had a system lock-up at some point that necessitated a replacement unit be sent. Problem was that the refurbished replacement unit comes loaded with the "latest" software...and since Adobe and Samsung couldn't come to terms on the use of Flash, it's no longer supported on my tablet...attempting to download Flash is blocked. So the biggest reason for buying the Tablet (instead of an iPad) in the first place is no longer of any use to me! Very disappointed in both Samsung and Adobe over that.
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