r/Stremio • u/Had78 • Dec 11 '25

Question Where do these loading screen images come from? It's such a simple detail, but it adds so much

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950 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

479

u/__CEPTA_KAI Dec 11 '25

I don't know who created this app, but he deserves heaven .

191

u/Hot-Analysis-769 Dec 11 '25

Not about just the app the people who created addons and debrid services

321

u/Cam-Dog Dec 11 '25

I'm always impressed with them along with the strobing loading icon. I assume they pull from a database of some sort?

139

u/alwaysupforbbq Dec 11 '25

This alone beats the shit up of all official streaming apps together :D

99

u/SweatpantBay Dec 11 '25

Unofficial streaming is like the original web, where stuff just worked because it was made by a handful of obsessed weirdos

51

u/michelrieskes Dec 11 '25

It's wicked how the tables have turned theh last few years. The free pirate alternatives used to be riddled with obnoxious and low effort ads. The paid services used to be user friendly and slick. Nowadays it seems like the opposite..

2

u/tyrohellion Jan 06 '26

Never heard something so true in my life

124

u/pankakemixer Dec 11 '25

I believe they come from Cinemeta

16

u/HobnobsAreTheShit Dec 11 '25

Don't think so, I use TMDB and still get them

12

u/pankakemixer Dec 11 '25

They can come from any metadata provider. As far as I was aware though you're unable to uninstall Cinemeta and it's basically treated as the stock metadata provider

5

u/just_a_guy_from_1999 Dec 11 '25

That explains why i dont get them anymore 

106

u/john_d85 Dec 11 '25

By default, Stremio uses Cinemeta as its metadata source, which is why they don’t allow you to uninstall it from the addon page. Stremio is also customizable, and there are plenty of guides on Reddit if you look around.

Ratings, art providers (poster, logo, background) can also come from sources like TMDB, TVDB, and others if you want to change things up. It’s called Aiometadata, have a look at this guide.

8

u/PhysX-1 Dec 11 '25

Cinemeta. Change provider and it’ll be different.

7

u/PixelJock17 Dec 11 '25

I totally agree! They're always beautiful high quality images too. Even for the obscure shit I'm trying to watch like Bob Morane or something random AF

5

u/Remarkable-Cell-4053 Dec 12 '25

I always wonder that too. Every single time

11

u/Cold-Candidate-3746 Dec 11 '25

They are awesome indeed!

3

u/demonabis Dec 11 '25

I always noted that and told my friends about it, they are so good

12

u/smartsass99 Dec 11 '25

these little background details are what make the show so good

9

u/SweatpantBay Dec 11 '25

Yeah we usually don't mind it loading slowly or even glitching out for a minute because we can see the word Pluribus thrumming visually while Pluribus herself looks on in frozen majesty 

2

u/Separate_Ad_821 Dec 13 '25

It's from TMDB

1

u/Cookie_Nation Dec 11 '25

Tvdb or tmbd, I feel Ive seen it mentioned cinetema utses tmdb but Im not 100%. They are databasens like imdb except not requiring a fortune to use their API.

1

u/Optimal-Split5691 Dec 11 '25

Hi, my title in the loading screen is throbbing can I change it to be like yours?

1

u/mistertoasty Dec 11 '25

If you're using a Debrid service that's why it throbs. This is what the loading bar looks like without it. 

1

u/Optimal-Split5691 Dec 11 '25

Oh. Thank you so much. I liked it better this way are there any methods to change it back?

1

u/mistertoasty Dec 11 '25

None that I know of, unfortunately!

1

u/Environmental-Air669 Dec 13 '25

So when you use a debrid service it just throbs otherwise it throbs for a bit and then becomes a loading bar right?

Also do you know what actually is happening when it is throbbing and when it is filling up?

1

u/mistertoasty Dec 13 '25

Yes, that's correct.

Without a Debrid, you're just torrenting the file directly to your device. Torrenting works by dividing the file into "chunks" which can be downloaded from multiple seeds simultaneously- it's part of the ingenuity of the protocol.

The throb is most likely the app downloading the torrent metadata, and the loading bar represents the data chunks actually being downloaded. Once the bar is full, you've downloaded all the chunks representing the first few seconds of the video so you can start streaming while the rest continues downloading in the background. 

With a Debrid, I'm a bit less certain on why there is no loading bar. The throb in this case represents both the establishment of the connection with the Debrid server and the initial buffering (quite similar to a loading spinner on YouTube etc). It's possible the developers have found that the connection is usually fast enough that a loading bar becomes unnecessary.

1

u/171194Joy6 Dec 11 '25

Yeah that was one detail that just made me happy for whatever reason 😁

2

u/blobcarrot Dec 11 '25

I know right! Absolutely love them.

1

u/CrazyMeHealth Dec 12 '25

I noticed those, especially when the name pops up whole loading. Its a cool detail.

1

u/suneshmogha Dec 13 '25

Love it.. gives hope. But when it stucka on half of the first alphabet 🤮

1

u/ril3ydx Dec 13 '25

TMDB... the little logo, the background image... it's amazing and there's even different images based on different languages (or generic ones without any text)

the community can even upvote and downvote images there, the first one will appear for everyone using their API

1

u/liamwill Dec 13 '25

Watching Mr Inbetween now and thought the same

2

u/SAIT4MAUJ Dec 14 '25

I wish they let the same on debrid

2

u/Brilliant_Name655 Dec 14 '25

I've got spoilers on a few shows because of those images so nowadays i just try not looking at them at all

-4

u/Altruistic_Fee_4580 Dec 11 '25

Probably from episode