About BBViewer Chrome Extension
Due to changes on the Paramount+ (previously) CBS website, US Live Feeds may no longer be available in the BBViewer application.
To continue to enjoy the features we have enjoyed for years, I have developed a Chrome extension to transform the Paramount+ live feeds page player, add some familiar features and some new ones to enhance your feed watching enjoyment.
- For install instructions, visit the Install section to learn how to get this crucial live feed viewing tool!
- Check out the ridiculous amounts of Features that are provided.
- Look at the Known Issues before tweeting me :P
- Just getting started? The FAQ answers some common questions.
- Curious what changed? Look at the Changelog
- Still need help?
Install
BBViewer Chrome Extension is not an app, but a browser extension that enhances the Paramount+ Live Feeds site. Find your browser below to learn how to install the BBViewer Chrome Extension
Disclaimer
This chrome extension is not endorsed or associated with Paramount+/CBS/Viacom. DO NOT CONTACT PARAMOUNT+ SUPPORT WHILE USING THIS EXTENSION as the extension modifies the website and could cause issues unrelated to the live feed player. Disable the extension and use the standard Live Feeds player to see if any issue is still occuring before contacting support.
Supported Browsers
Follow the steps below, or hold tight until the extension gets approved in the Chrome web store.
Note: If you previously installed in Developer Mode, you should remove the existing extension before installing from the Chrome Web Store. Make sure you redo any extension settings you might have changedClick your preferred browser for installation instructions:
Chrome
Install the BBViewer extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Post Install
Once installed, visit the Paramount+ CBB or BB Live Feeds page. You will see a large button below the player to open BBViewer mode.
Some icons on this page provided by icons8.com
Features
- Modified full page player
- Use Audio Panning (Left/Right channel control - useful for Quad cam)
- Use Gain Boost for low audio
- Adjust Video Aspect, Playback Rate, and Quality Switching
- Display BBT (Big Brother Time i.e. Pacific) for the play time instead of local time
- Toggle Live Feed tabs (Chat, Highlights, Flashbacks) and Thumb Video
- Launch Picture in Picture
- Open multiple "popup" windows
- Hotkeys
- BBViewer Bookmarks
- Feedsbot integration
- Built-in interactive site with stats
- Notifications
Extension Settings
Like other Chrome extensions, you can modify some settings through the plugins settings:
1. Click the plugin (puzzle piece) icon in Chrome to show installed extensions:
2. Click BBViewer and the extension settings will be shown:
If you want quick access to launch the live feeds or change settings, you can pin the extension so the icon always shows in the toolbar at the top right of your browser:
The following settings are available:
- Autostart: auto load BBViewer when visiting the Live feed page
- Hide Controls: hides the controls after a few seconds delay
- Show Info on Hide: shows a small info label at the bottom right with date-time when controls are hidden
- Seek Small, Seek Large: this is the time to seek back or forward in seconds when using the BBViewer seek buttons. You can use 2 to 3600 (1 hour)
- Username: the default name when submitting bookmarks
- Extended Watch: allows you to extend the 'Still watching' popup to much longer. Be aware that leaving the video running will continue to use bandwidth.
- Use Big Brother Time: this converts the times shown to Big Brother Time (aka BBT aka Pacific time). By default, your local time is displayed.
- Switch Camera at Launch: if enabled, the player will try to switch to the specified camera when BBViewer is launched.
- Custom Boss Image: a custom url to an image shown when you click the Boss Key button.
Known Issues
0.9.6
- Skip (small or large) forward jumps to live (this may be related to changing seek times in settings)
- Flashbacks/Bookmarks sometimes act funny and show wrong date or don't jump to correct date/time.
- Feedsbot module when enabled only shows UNDEFINED
- Module enabled/disabled, settings don't save.
- Chrome "Shortcut" only launches to Paramount+ main site
- Switching from Left or Right only audio back to Stereo is glitchy (try just clicking Center, then back to other)
- Some BBViewer features for regular BB (BB23) feeds may not work properly due to CBB changes.
FAQ
Why are the feeds no longer available in the BBViewer application?
Due to the use of Widevine DRM, it is not currently possible to play the content as a third party application. I'm looking into possible solutions, until then you will need to install the chrome extension and directly access the live feeds website in your browser.
Can I use this on browsers other than Chrome?
Yes, go to the Install page and click your preferred browser for install instructions.
Can I use this on mobile?
For Android devices, yes. You can use Kiwi Browser on Android which allows Chrome Extensions. Once the extension is installed, you need to access the Live Feeds page and switch the site to Desktop mode.
As far as I know, iOS does not support Chrome extensions.
I am getting 'dash.js Error. Type = download, ID = manifest, Message = Unknown'
This is an error with the Live Feeds player, not the BBViewer extension. It seems like this may just be a load issue on their servers, try waiting a bit and refresh until it works again. You might also try exiting your browser and restarting it, or try another browser.
I'm getting 'An unexpected condition was encountered. VCI error initializing ICO ...
This is an error with the Live Feeds player, not the BBViewer extension. This is typically caused by some ad blocker or web security software being detected and causing the player to not work. Try disabling any adblock, if that doesn't work, try another browser and see if the error still occurs. If it does, it may be some security software system wide that is causing the issue.
Quality control doesn't seem to be working?
Switching qualities is not immediate, the player will use the buffer you have before switching to a new quality. If you want to check, you can toggle on the 'CBS Player Debug' in the menu (gear icon). Look at the 'current index bitrate' to see it switch.
What Hotkeys are available?
- 1-5: Camera switch
- A: Add Bookmark
- B: View Bookmarks
- F: Fullscreen
- Q/W/E: Audio Pan: Left/Both/Right
- I: Picture in Picture
- L: Live Feed tabs - Chat/Highlights/Flashback
- M: Mute
- P: Pause
- S: Share url
- T: Thumbnails
- Comma/Period: Small Skip
- Semicolon/Apostraphe: Med Skip
- Left/Right Arrow: Large Skip
- Down Arrow: Go Live
- Backslash: Boss screen
Any way to make the extension work like the app?
The feeds will always be stuck in the browser, but if you use Chrome you can create a desktop shortcut to simulate a BBViewer app-like experience:
Working on the Chrome extension updates.
— liquid8d (@liquid8d) June 27, 2021
Here's a tip for the upcoming season:
Chrome lets you create shortcuts to launch pages as its own window.
If you enable Autostart in the extension, you can have a shortcut right to a BBViewer window. 😉 pic.twitter.com/50u0m5sZcd
Unfortunately, the shortcut to the live feeds page seems broken, but you can fix it by editing the shortcut target property and changing the app-id that is being launched:
The correct app-id is lnpiknmkfdlbgjnbgjpnpldoomephhcm
Once you fix the shortcut, just make sure you enable Autostart in the chrome extension options and you now have a dedicated BBViewer window, separate from your browser.
Can I get in trouble with Paramount+/CBS/Viacom for using this?
This extension is not affiliated with Paramount+/CBS/Viacom in any way, but there should not be any issues with using it. The extension only modifies the display of the live feed website and uses the local javascript code to control the player. If Paramount+/CBS/Viacom has any concerns or requests to modify anything, they should contact me at liquid8d@gmail.com.
One thing I do ask as users of this extension is that you do not contact Paramount+ support while using the extension. Please understand that the extension could cause issues unrelated to the live feed website, and they cannot and should not have to deal with support inquiries unrelated to their player. If issues arise, please first disable the Chrome extension and test that any error or issue still occurs before contacting them.
Is this extension safe to use?
The extension must pass through Chrome Web Store policies. It does not access any personally identifiable information and does not perform tracking of any kind with the exception of server logs accessing BBViewer content like getting and posting bookmarks. Obviously some extensions that make the Chrome store can still be suspect, so a partial issue of trust is required. If you have concerns, reach out to me at liquid8d@gmail.com. If you feel it is necessary, you can report extensions on the Chrome store for suspicious activity.
Why can't I capture screenshots or video?
Sites using copyright protection tech such as Widevine prevent you from copying screenshots or recording video. You might be able to avoid this by disabling hardware acceleration in your browser. Check google for a description on how to do this for your browser.
Changelog
0.9.8:
- update for BB24
0.9.7:
- fix for when seek jumps to live
- - transition hide controls, optional scale video when menu is opened
0.9.6:
- support for Celebrity Big Brother live feed page
- added overlay modules, wip (config, camera switcher, audio, notify, live, feedsbot, splat, counter, debug)
- double-click on video to toggle between quad cam and one of the quadrants on quad cam
- No longer tries to seek past live (player was freezing until time was reached)
- Fix time not displayed when seeking to player start
- Live button will now unpause if it was paused
- Live now goes live properly when watching flashbacks from a previous day
- fix bug where time was draggable
- autohide fixes: menu shown if it was open before, timer reset when typing in bookmark search
- performance fixes
0.9.5:
- switch from CBS to Paramount+
- add Live Feed button in settings popup
- custom Default Camera on startup - default is enabled for quad cam (5)
- pause should now pause thumbnails also
- combobox for options (quality)
- replace boss image with generic google search
- hotkeys disabled when menu is open
- changed hotkeys (due to conflicts):
- A for Add Bookmark
- P for Pause
- I for PIP
- L for Live Feed tabs (Chat/Highlights/Flashback, previously 'CBS tabs')
- hotkeys for left only and right only audio pan have been removed
- prep for potential use on other sites
0.9.3
- Remove CBS bar, add custom controls (Cast is available in the menu)
- Hide controls (in Extension options, enable/disable hiding, showing info on hide)
- Dynamic controlbar adjusts visible controls on size
- Bookmarks should mostly work, seeks on live stream or delayed load/seek on VOD (may not go to exact timestamp on live)
- Bookmark searching
- New hotkeys:
- Q/E are now stereo audio pan
- A, D for audio pan l/r only
- M for mute
- Down Arrow for Go Live
- S to get a flashback url you can share
- T to toggle thumbnails
- C for Live Feed tabs/Flashback
- Backslash for Boss screen
- Add audio pan overlay controls on quad cam
- Add 2x playback rate
- Fix saving default camera
- Adjusted popup initial display size
- Pause/Play and Mute button should reflect player state
- Default to flashback tab on CBS tabs (calendar icon)
- Time fixes (should properly show BBT or local on live or flashback streams)
- Hide date when not available (Edge can't display date-time on live)
- Prevent adding bookmarks when time is not available (Edge on live stream)
- Add experimental share flashback option (gives you a url you can share with other BBViewer users - enable Autostart to use this)
- Firefox compatibility
0.9.2
- Published to Chrome store
- Various bug fixes
0.9.1
- Add Extended Watch option
- Add descriptions to options
- Fix seek buttons not working
- Label/Desc of bookmarks is cleared when showing Add Bookmark window
- Fix Exit BBViewer not working properly
0.9.0 - initial release
Get Help
You can contact me on Twitter @liquid8d or via email at liquid8d@gmail.com.
If you want to talk BBViewer or BB in general, feel free to visit my Discord server.