Is anyone going to write a new channel code for Picasa? The existing one gets API return invalid errors.
It working just fine for me since Sept. 18, 2014. It just stopped running with the same “API return invalid” message this morning (Oct. 15, 2014). Apparently, this has happened several times before. I have no idea what the down time will be (I hope not long)
I have been having the same error for nearly a week on both Roku 2 XS and a Roku 2 XD. Roku, when is someone going to fix this error and stop it from happening all of the time?
I’ve just send an email to the developer informing him of this issue, which I’ve verified on my device.
- Joel
“RokuJoel” wrote:
I’ve just send an email to the developer informing him of this issue, which I’ve verified on my device.
- Joel
Thanks Joel. Hope Chris is still around to take action on the Picasa Roku interface… :?:
This might help you while you’re waiting for the channel to get fixed: http://forums.roku.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=30575&start=135#p460164
I made up my own version of Chris Hoffman’s Picasa channel with re-written registration/authentication code and several other bug-fixes. It works for me. You’re welcome to use it.
Thank you belltown! Your Picasa app actually works! My kids will be thrilled they can watch our family videos again!
Our Roku has had api invalid return for about a week. Is there a fix for this?
“fmdisplay1” wrote:
Our Roku has had api invalid return for about a week. Is there a fix for this?
It looks like the original Picasa channel is having problems again.
However, Picasa2 should still be working. Feel free to use Picasa2 until the official Picasa channel gets fixed. If you are having problems with Picasa2, let me know.
The Picasa2 channel cured my problems that I was having with the old Picasa Web Albums channel.
Now my only request is there any way we can get an update to the Picasa screensaver? It seems to be pointing to the old Picasa web albums and I don’t see a replacement.
+1 to the plea to get the Picasa screensaver updated also - really missing that feature now the standard Picasa channel appears to be dead for good.
Yes Please! I miss my picasa screen saver!
I plan to add a screensaver to my Picasa2 channel. Unfortunately, it may be a few weeks before I get to it. My computer broke, and I’m waiting for a new one to come from China, so I’m not doing any Roku development right now. Once it arrives and I finish off a couple of other projects, I’ll get to work on it.
When I open an album in Picasa2, pause the slide show and attempt to go backward (i.e. from the first picture in the album to the last picture in the album) all I get is the Picasa logo. When I hit the reverse button a few more times, I still get the Picasa logo – no pictures. Then when I hit the forward button, I get the last few pictures from the album. Seems like a bug.
Also, it would be nice to be able to pause without seeing the slide number displayed on the screen.
Not complaining, mind you. 
If nobody else wants to do it, I might take a crack at it. Google Photos is a pretty impressive offering and the old PWA API still seems to be able to get at most of the underlying data model.
“wpinkman” wrote:
If nobody else wants to do it, I might take a crack at it. Google Photos is a pretty impressive offering and the old PWA API still seems to be able to get at most of the underlying data model.
I’ve been hearing good things about Google Photos, although I haven’t tried it myself yet.
I just uploaded my Picasa2 code to GitHub (https://github.com/belltown/Roku-Picasa2). It was based on Chris Hoffman’s original Picasa code with some bug-fixes and OAuth2 authentication added. Feel free to use the code if you wish to make any changes or to create a Google Photos channel (or start from scratch if the code looks too horrible).
Love the Picasa2 Channel…def +1 to the screensaver and now that Google has updated Google Photos, I see huge potential.
“belltown” wrote:
I plan to add a screensaver to my Picasa2 channel. Unfortunately, it may be a few weeks before I get to it. My computer broke, and I’m waiting for a new one to come from China, so I’m not doing any Roku development right now. Once it arrives and I finish off a couple of other projects, I’ll get to work on it.
Belltown, thank you for making the picasa2 channel! Can you please add the screensaver function?? I’ve been waiting!
By popular demand, Picasa2 now has a screensaver!
From the Roku home screen, go to Settings>Screensaver>Screensaver, and select ‘Picasa (v2)’. From there you can select Custom and specify either Featured Photos or Your Photos. If the Picasa2 channel has been run and authorized, the default is to display photos from your own Picasa Web Albums. It will also display photos from your Google Photos uploads.
That’s great news on the screensaver, thank you for your continued development belltown!
I admit it’s a bit confusing sorting out the photos/videos available across Google’s product set (Picasa Web Albums, Google Photos, Google Drive, Hangouts, etc).
Google Drive has a “Google Photos” folder/tab (sometimes auto-sorted in folders by year), but any file/folder organization there is not reflected in the view at the actual Google Photos site/app. Likewise any albums, photo edits, or the auto animations/collages/etc at Google Photos don’t show up in the Google Drive view.
As far as Picasa Web Albums (both on the site and apps), it shows “Auto Backup” as well as any manual albums created at Google Photos (it also seems to show pictures sent/received from Google Hangouts sessions).
On the Picasa Web site, the “Auto Backup” album is organized into a separate sub-album for each day, and the deprecated “Instant Upload” album (which is empty most of the time) still shows up for some reason. But on the Picasa Roku channel, “Auto Backup” plays as one slideshow without sub-albums (more practical?), and there’s no “Instant Upload”.
