Stream Netflix and Hulu into FrontRow using 'understudy'

Cleve Nettles
|
February 17, 2009
|
Share

A new Google Code project dubbed understudy promises to deliver Hulu and Netflix right into your FrontRow interface.  We haven't tried this yet (damn you work!) but will the second we get home.  Any takers out there?

Update: Hulu is working fantastically for us!  We have confirmation that Netflix works well, but you must be logged into your account in Safari (not Firefox).  Head to the comments for more details.

Description Understudy allows access to streaming video through the Front Row interface of Mac OS X. The user can subscribe to multiple feeds, and select a video to watch from them. Understudy currently supports Hulu and Netflix.

Understudy is stable, but is also a work in progress. Please feel free to report any problems on the issue tracker. If you would like to know about future releasees, please subscribe to the "Downloads" feed.

Understudy is not affiliated with any of the streaming video sites the plugin supports, and will only work in cases where those site would (typically this means you must live in the United States).

Comments (17)

rsbell (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 7:46am

Tried it. It only allows limited access to Hulu. If all Hulu content were available, it would be awesome.

admin | February 17, 2009 - 8:08am

copy a feed url into the clipboard before you go into frontrow.  (for instance the daily show)  Then add from there.

talkingfuture.com (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 7:55am

Nice, all it needs is BBC iPlayer for those of us who aren't American and the living room Mac takes a stride forward.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 8:03am

now somebody hack this into the appletv!

admin | February 17, 2009 - 8:07am

see boxee

fishbert (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 12:36pm

boxee is a bit heavy, and doesn't stream netflix on the appleTV

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 4:55pm

I second that motion

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 8:14am

Netflix works!!! You have to be logged into your account in Safari (Firefox didn't work when I tried). Also, you have to add your "Instant Queue" to the feeds, but it is easy, intuitive, and works great.

Grey (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 8:39am

I have been trying Undertudy since last Friday, and I cannot get it to see my "Hulu's Subscriptions" and "My Queue" feeds. Standard Hulu feeds work fine, though.

There's a thread about this problem on the Understudy "Issues" page:
http://code.google.com/p/understudy/issues/list

From the same page, it seems that Understudy has a few other issues that people are complaining about. The project is barely a month old, though, so I am hoping that this will become a good alternative to Boxee.

So far, I like the way Understudy integrates with Front Row better than Boxee. Frankly, I installed Boxee on my Mac, and could not figure out how to get any feeds in it, although I didn't spend much time on it. I also did not like the current Boxee GUI for Mac. I don't have an Apple TV, so I am not sure what Boxee looks lik on it.

Understudy looks sleek, but I wish the developer would fix the obvious problems. Also, I wonder if Understudy can be installed on an Apple TV because that's really the only reason to have a plugin like that so that you can control playback of the content with a remote control. Otherwise, if you are watching content on a PC screen, why not use the browser to access Hulu or Netfix instead of using Front Row, which only supports keyboard or remote control.

S

dickvanwrinkle | February 17, 2009 - 8:45am

 Nice idea, Netflix does not go to full screen for some reason, it is off center to the top right.  I cannot access any of my Hulu information yet.  I have been trying to use Boxee, but it still has a lot of bugs as well.  When I view it on my TV (external Monitor) the navigation bar is off the screen and I can't do anything with it.  Both great ideas but still need to work out the bugs.  I would prefer the understudy if they can make it work better.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 9:21am

Why the heck is this Hulu only for people living in the US? This would be so great for us out-USers.

Kev Orng (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 10:09am

Their official non-answer: http://www.hulu.com/support/geofilter

That being said, I heard some whispers that they are trying for Canada "and other countries" this year. Take that any way you like

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 9:41am

Why not just use Boxee? Does all this and more.

Calvin (not verified) | February 17, 2009 - 10:47am

So I installed it but I don't know what to do next. I don't see anything new in Front Row. I'm on Snow Leopard 10A222 btw

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 18, 2009 - 1:07am

you're savvy enough to have access to a dev build of snow leopard but you can't get figure out understudy?

something smells fishy

Grey (not verified) | February 18, 2009 - 11:00am

I can now get to both Hulu's Subscription and My Queue feeds. You have to add http:// to the beginning of the feeds in Front Row's .plist file. The instructions are now posted in the thread that covers this bug on the project's web site.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 12:40am

Yesterday Hulu pulled their content from both Boxee & TV.com.
So Boxee is no longer an option.
Understudy could run into some serious issues with Hulu now that they are clamping down on where their content is displayed.