[Feature Request] Immersive "Card Style" Video Feed & Smart Thumbnail Generation

[aransari1]

Hi Devs,
First, thanks for the great work on Next Player. I’m a Web Developer (Laravel) and I have recently migrated from MX Player to Next Player.
I use the player primarily for watching offline videos downloaded from YouTube (via Ytdlnis). I have two requests to improve the experience for this use case:

1. UI Enhancement: Card Layout (YouTube Style)

The current list view is compact, but it doesn't highlight video content well. I request a new "Feed" or "Card" layout option similar to the YouTube or LibreTube home feed.
Layout Concept: Instead of a small thumbnail on the left, use a "Card" container.
Visual Hierarchy:
Top: The thumbnail should span the full width of the card with a fixed height (large preview).
**Bottom: **A row containing the Title, Metadata (duration/resolution), and the 3-dot menu button.
Reference: See the "YouTube Feed UI" screenshot below.

2. Backend Logic: Thumbnail Generation Strategy

Currently, the player seems to grab a random frame, which often results in blurry or irrelevant images. I suggest implementing a prioritized fallback strategy similar to MX Player:

Priority 1: External Image File. Check the directory for an image file with the exact same name as the video (e.g., if the video is video.mp4, check for video.jpg or video.png).

Priority 2: Embedded Artwork. If no external file exists, use MediaMetadataRetriever to check for getEmbeddedPicture() (common in downloaded YT content).

Priority 3: First Frame. If neither of the above exists, fallback to getFrameAtTime(0). This ensures the thumbnail is the clean Title Card rather than a random timestamp.

Screenshots:

1. Desired UI (YouTube Feed Style):

2. Current Issue (Random Frames):

3. Desired Logic Example (MX Player - First Frame/Art):

Additional Context:

You can look at LibreTube's Trending Section for UI inspiration. The goal is to make the library look more like a media feed and less like a file explorer.
Thanks!