myVideoDrawer Manual

Last Updated: September 30th, 2025

Introduction

This simple app provides a widget that displays videos (with posters or cover art), in an easy-to-use interface, similar to Netflix, Plex, or Prime Video. It shows video thumbnails or poster images for videos found in a selected folder.

I originally created this app for my young child. It's perfect for preloading videos onto a device for long trips, camping, shopping, or anywhere you might not have access to streaming.

As I’m a big Plex user, this app follows many of the Plex conventions.

Widget as rendered on a tablet device — Fig.1 - Widget.

Widget as rendered on a mobile device — Fig.1 - Widget.

Notes

myVideoDrawer is a launcher only; It doesn’t play videos directly. Instead, it opens the video using the player you've set as default on your device (or the stock player if none is set). While myVideoDrawer scans for many common video formats, your device must be able to decode the video for proper playback. For best compatibility, we recommend using VLC a free and widely supported video player that handles most formats.

This application assumes you’re familiar with transferring files to your device. A straight forward process on most Android devices.

Android places strict limits on which folders apps can access (for good reason), as it helps protect your data and privacy. For best results with myVideoDrawer, we recommend using the Media folder (or creating a subfolder within it). This location is one of the system-approved directories that can be accessed by multiple apps, including video players you might already have installed.

File Formats / Conventions

Video Files Formats Supported:	'mp4', 'ts', 'mkv', 'mov', '3gp', 'mv2', 'm4v', 'webm', 'mpeg1', 'mpeg2', 'mts', 'ogm', 'bup', 'dv', 'flv', 'm1v', 'm2ts', 'mpeg4', 'vlc', '3g2', 'avi', 'mpeg', 'mpg', 'wmv', 'asf'
Poster Filename Conventions:	(image file with same name as video), '-poster', '-cover', '-thumb', '-thumbnail'
Poster Extensions:	'.jpg', '.jpeg', '.png'

First Launch

Upon first launch, myVideoDrawer will request permission to send you notifications (this is required for the little toast message shown when you launch a video. The app itself will not send any other types of notifications) and permission to access your device's media storage. This is necessary for the app to function properly and to scan for video/poster files.

* If you deny these permissions, the app will not function correctly. You can always change your decision later in your device's settings.

Home Screen

When launched, myVideoDrawer opens the main home screen where you can set up and configure the widget. The primary options include setting the title, choosing colours, and selecting the media folder.

Widget Background Colour:

Opens the colour selection box, allowing you to choose any colour for the widget background. You can pick from a set of pre-sets or enter custom RGB values if you're aiming for something specific - like that perfect shade of hot pink.

Widget Background Opacity:

Allows you to set the opacity of the widget background (from 0 (transparent) to 100% (solid)). This setting works in conjunction with the selected background colour to achieve the desired look. Default value is 25%.

Show Settings icon on Widget:

Enables or disables the settings (gear) icon on the widget, allowing quick access to the configuration app.

Show Widget Title:

Enables/Disables the widget title bar (which is slightly darker) as well as the title text.

Widget Title:

Customisable widget title (e.g., ‘Charlies Favourite Movies`). Displayed only when ‘Show Widget Title’ is enabled.

Widget Title Colour:

Opens the colour selection box, allowing you to choose any colour for the widget title. You can pick from a set of pre-sets or enter custom RGB values if you're aiming for something specific - like that perfect shade of hot pink.

Media Folder:

This option lets you select the primary media folder (see Note 3 above). myVideoDrawer will scan this folder for supported video formats and poster images. Subfolders are also included in the scan, allowing you to organize your media as you prefer. When you select a folder.

Selection of media folder on mobile device — Fig.5 - Selection of Media Folder.

The system will display a folder selection dialog and then request permission for myVideoDrawer to access that folder. While we do not track or monitor the media you store, this permission is necessary to read poster images and video metadata so the widget can display content properly. (Technically, widgets are separate apps on Android with their own permissions, so the widget requires its own access rights independent of the main settings app)

Permission request of media folder on table device — Fig.6 - Permission Request for Media Folder Access.

Permission request of media folder on mobile device — Fig.6 - Permission Request for Media Folder Access.

Poster images should be placed in the same folder as your video files. The app checks these images against supported naming conventions and file extensions, covering most common cases. myVideoDrawer copies each thumbnail to a ‘cache’ folder, which requires a small amount of extra storage. However, the images are resized to smaller dimensions to minimize space usage.

Media Selection Preview:

After selecting a folder, video titles and posters will appear in the preview box.

Media Selection Preview on mobile device — Fig.7 - Media Selection Preview.

Clicking on an item will open a dialog displaying the preview image/poster along with its title.

From here you can also do a TMDB (The Movie DataBase) lookup to find a better image for the video (or if you don't have an existing one). This requires an internet connection and works best with movies that are listed in their database. Clicking the TMDB Lookup button will open a dialog where it will show you the found results (based on the file name of the video clip) and let you select one to use as the poster image for the video. * While the results will not contain adult content, please be aware that the TMDB database may still include some material that is not suitable for all audiences.

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Prefer System Generated Thumbnails:

Whenever available, use thumbnails that are automatically generated by the system. On Android, the OS typically attempts to generate a thumbnail (usually a frame from the video), but it may not appear right away. In some cases, restarting the device can trigger thumbnail creation, though this behaviour can be inconsistent and depends on Android's internal processes.

Display Clip Image as:

Sets the aspect ratio of the preview image or poster. Available options are Poster (2:3), Film (4:3), and Widescreen (16:9). If an image is available for the video clip, it will be resized or cropped to fit the selected aspect ratio.

Scale:

Adjusts the scale of the preview image or poster, ranging from 60% to 140% in 10% increments.

Show Clip Title:

Toggles the display of the video title below the preview image or poster.

Colour of Clip Title:

Allows the colour to be selected for the clip title. Will bring up the colour selection dialog.

Strip Year from Clip Title:

If the filename includes the year (commonly formatted like Plex does), this option will remove it from the clip title. The year format it looks for is (9999) — that is, an open parenthesis, four digits, and a close parenthesis.

Clicking Save & Update Widget updates the widget but keeps the settings app open, while Save and Exit updates the widget and closes the settings app. Before updating, the form is validated; any errors will be shown as messages below the relevant fields.

Menu Drawer

This allows the following functionality;

Dark Theme:

Lets you switch between light and dark mode, overriding the system theme if desired.

Flush Image Cache:

Fig.12 - Flush Cache Confirmation Dialog.

This brings up a confirmation dialog that allow you to clear the image cache. This will clear the cache and quit the app. Afterwards you should re-run the application for it to rebuild it from any images stored within the media folder. Any Images downloaded from TMDB will have to be re-downloaded.

Manual / Help:

Opens this user manual in the app’s built-in web browser.

Rate Application:

Takes you to the app’s page on the Google Play Store, where you can leave a rating and review - thank you!

Feedback:

Launches your email app with a pre-filled message (including device details) so you can easily send feedback, suggestions, or report issues to the developer.

Privacy Policy:

Opens and displays the app’s privacy policy.

Adding the Widget

To add the widget to your device’s home screen, follow the usual steps for adding widgets: long-press an empty area on the screen to open the widget selection dialog (this is a system feature, not part of myVideoDrawer).

Then, select myVideoDrawer and place it wherever you like. The widget can be resized and moved across different home screens.

Widget Selection Dialog on tablet device — Fig.14 - Widget Selection Dialog (System).

Widget Selection Dialog on mobile device — Fig.14 - Widget Selection Dialog (System).

Once added, the widget will display the videos from the selected media folder. If you change the media folder in the settings app, the widget will update automatically.

The widget offers the following features:

Video/Poster Display

Videos appear in a grid showing either the poster image or the system-generated thumbnail. Tapping a video will launch your device’s media player for that file type.

Settings Icon

Opens the myVideoDrawer app to configure the widget.

Refresh Icon:

Rescans the media folder to detect new or removed videos and updates the display accordingly. While the widget refreshes periodically on its own, Android may delay this process, so the refresh icon lets you update the content immediately.