VortX 0.5.6 beta 10 - Accounts that always open, Cast, saved playlists and AetherEngine

Build 281 for Apple TV, iPhone, iPad and Mac. This beta brings the Apple apps everything since beta 7 (the beta 8 and beta 9 numbers were not published): accounts that keep opening when one saved value is unreadable, sign-ins that refresh themselves, Google Cast on iPhone and iPad, add-on subtitles in the built-in players, saved playlists and Library genre filters, a new AetherEngine player to try on Apple TV, plus the fixes below.

Fixed

• Accounts open even when one saved value is unreadable (#262, #263, #265). One saved setting or name the app could not read stopped the whole account from loading, so profiles never appeared. Titles and add-on names that start with tags such as [RD] [4K] or [TB⚡] are now read as text. If a single device setting still cannot be read, the account opens without it, and a name that cannot be read shows as "Untitled". The original stays in your account's cloud copy, and the diagnostic log notes what was set aside.
• Sign-ins no longer run out. VortX accounts now refresh their sign-in while you use them, and the apps keep the refreshed one. If the account service does turn a session away, Library and profiles show a way to sign in again instead of loading forever.
• Your Stremio library in the Library tab (#267). Titles imported from Stremio show in the owner profile's Library instead of only the titles played in VortX.
• Connecting Trakt (#271). Connecting could fail with "Could not reach the VortX Trakt service" when the service sent a compressed reply. The app now accepts it.
• Tapping a movie on iPhone (#279). Some titles closed the app before their page appeared. The detail page now builds its information without running out of room.
• Installed add-ons stay visible. An add-on you had removed and installed again could stay hidden by its old removal record.
• Imported collections. One add-on with a broken catalog no longer hides the valid collections imported from the others.
• Saved seek previews show again instead of being replaced by a blank preview from memory.
• A crash while handling a background notification is fixed.
• Diagnostic logs leave out add-on settings. Add-on addresses in exported logs no longer include the part of the address where add-ons keep debrid keys and sign-in tokens.

New

• Google Cast on iPhone and iPad. Send what you are watching to a Cast device and take it back.
• Add-on subtitles in the built-in players. Subtitles from your installed subtitle add-ons load in the built-in players, with automatic timing alignment where the video allows it.
• Saved playlists. Create named playlists in your profile, saved with your account, and play them later. Each profile's playback queue is also kept between launches.
• Library genre filters.
• AetherEngine player on Apple TV, to try. A second player for VortX and VortX Lite that uses Apple TV's own video decoding and display. Choose it under Settings > Playback > Player engine, or for a single source from its player menu. Auto stays the default. If AetherEngine cannot play a source, VortX Player takes over on the same source from the same moment. Picture-based (PGS) subtitles are not drawn with it yet.

Android

Android stays on the 0.5.6 beta 7 packages for now. Its Cast, subtitle, playlist and collection work is still finishing its account-sync testing, and it ships as soon as that passes.

Please test

• Sign in on a device whose account would not load before, and check that profiles and Library appear. If something shows as "Untitled", tell us which screen.
• Connect Trakt, and on the owner profile with Stremio connected, open Library.
• Cast a few titles from iPhone or iPad and bring playback back.
• Add a subtitle add-on, play something with it, and check that the subtitles stay in time.
• Create a playlist, add titles from their pages, and play it on another device.
• On Apple TV, pick AetherEngine under Settings > Playback > Player engine and play a few Dolby Vision, HDR and Atmos titles. Tell us how picture and sound compare with VortX Player, and whether any source fell back to VortX Player.

Watch Party is built into this beta but stays switched off until its account service is ready.

This is a prerelease for testing. Update using the same platform and variant to preserve your app identity and saved data. Apple IPAs require compatible sideload signing; the Apple-silicon Mac app is ad-hoc signed and is not notarized. Device playback, focus, audio routes and signing capabilities remain part of testing.

Install

Mac (.dmg). Download VortX-macOS-v0.5.6-beta.10-ci.dmg and drag VortX into Applications. If macOS blocks the app downloaded from this official release, use System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway, or run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/VortX.app

The command removes the download quarantine flag; it does not notarize the app or change its signature. The Mac app is for Apple silicon, needs macOS 14 or later, and is ad-hoc signed rather than notarized. macOS may ask for your password so VortX can use its saved sign-in information in Keychain after replacing the app; approve only a prompt that names VortX. Step-by-step guide: Install on Mac.

iPhone, iPad, Apple TV (sideload the IPA). The IPAs are unsigned and need to be re-signed with a compatible sideloading tool or signing service, such as Sideloadly, AltStore / SideStore, or Signulous. No jailbreak. Use VortX-iOS-v0.5.6-beta.10-ci.ipa for iPhone and iPad. On Apple TV, VortX-tvOS-v0.5.6-beta.10-ci.ipa is VortX TV with Top Shelf, and VortX-tvOS-lite-v0.5.6-beta.10-ci.ipa is VortX TV Lite without it; both need tvOS 18 or later. Step-by-step guide: Installing on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

Android phone, tablet and TV. Keep using the 0.5.6 beta 7 APKs.

All four packages are built by the public release workflow from v0.5.6-beta.10. SHA256SUMS.txt lists the package checksums, and VortX-Hosted-Direct-Beta-Provenance.json records the source, build and package verification details.