MoviePlayerApp : Cover images

The ins and outs of using cover images with MoviePlayerApp.

It includes details on how you can use the build-in cover-search feature, as well as how to manually include them with your videos.

This guide is split into a few different sections. The first 2 parts are a more detailed version of the information in the basic MoviePlayerApp guide and should give you an idea on how MoviePlayerApp works in regards of displaying cover images.

It then continues with different ways of how cover images can be used, including using a single cover image for all the videos in a single folder, useful for TV show seasons for example.


Before we continue with the guide, even though the cover-search feature is easy to use, our personal preference goes to adding the images manually. Aside from providing you with more control over which image is displayed, you also benefit from being able to use the same images on a different device. If you have multiple devices, or plan on upgrading later on, keeping the images with your videos will enable you to keep everything the same.




MoviePlayerApp Sample:


MoviePlayerApp is a video player/browser app, so in order to be able to do something with it, it needs videos it can find. If you just started MoviePlayerApp for the first time, and do not already have videos on your device, MoviePlayerApp will display a collection of sample trailers (only if your device has internet connectivity) to enable you to at least do something with the app. Don’t worry, these samples are not stored on your device, but instead the trailers are located on our website, and MoviePlayerApp just streams them from there.

samsing 12


If you already have videos on your device, MoviePlayerApp will automatically generate thumbnails for them so you are able to tell which one is which.




The trailers already have images and backgrounds assigned to them, which are also obtained from the website, so aside from playing with different settings and watching the trailers using MoviePlayerApp’s video player, there isn’t much else you can do unless you add some videos.

If MoviePlayerApp did find videos, it is possible to assign cover images to them using the build-in cover-search, however, in order to get you familiar with MoviePlayerApp easier, we recommend downloading our sample file, which includes a video trailer that can be played on almost all Android devices, along with 2 matching images:


1. download the zip file to your computer by clicking on the link above.


2. After the download completes, open the zip file by double-clicking on it, and you should be presented with the following:


3. Extract the files from the zip to a location where you can find them, such as your desktop (left-click on each one and drag them over to your desktop for example)

drag samples


4. Connect your device to your computer, and use Windows Explorer or My Computer to browse to the location of where you want to store the videos. The file location (memory/memorycard) or folder doesn’t make much of a difference, since MoviePlayerApp scans almost all locations, but if you have a “Videos” or “Movies” folder, it makes sense to place them there.

device copy


5. Copy the files from your desktop over to your device.


copy to device


Note: When copying videos to your device, you might encounter a message similar to this:

no just copy

The file is in the correct format, so there is no need to convert it. Just tap on “No, just copy”.


4. After copying the files over, restart MoviePlayerApp, or tap on the “refresh” button,



and MoviePlayerApp should find and display the sample:


If you look at the 3 files in the zip file again,


We have an MP4 file that is the actual video. In this case a sample movie trailer.

Then we have a jpg image file with the same name as the actual video. This is the cover image that MoviePlayerApp uses for the video.

Lastly, we have a jpg image file with the same name of the video but with _bg behind it. This is the background image MoviePlayerApp uses for when the video is selected.

Before you continue, add some movies to your device by following the guide here (link).

Using the build-in Cover-Search feature:

After you start MoviePlayerApp, it will scan your device for your movies. The very first time it sees a movie, it will generate a thumbnail image with the movie name on it.

Note: If you scroll through your movies, this might result in a brief stutter. If the thumbnails have been created already, the experience should be more smooth.

Aside from the thumbnail images, MoviePlayerApp also displays basic file-information at the top, such as the filename and where it found the movie on your device.



Center the movie you want to assign a cover to, and tap on the cover-image button,



and MoviePlayerApp 2 will perform a search online on “Google Images” for cover images with the file-name of the video.




If the file-name of your movie didn’t bring up any results, you can perform a manual search using the search-button,




From the resulting images, just tap on the image you would like to use, and MoviePlayerApp will use it for the movie and save it so it will be used the next time you start MoviePlayerApp.




Setting cover images by hand:

As mentioned at the beginning of this guide, this is our personal preference. While it takes a little work, it gives you a lot more control over the images you use (which one, quality, size etc), and as an added bonus, if you switch devices (for example a memorycard you use in a phone and a tablet), the images go along with it.

If you look back at the sample zip file, you will notice that the video file is accompanies by 2 images:


a jpg image of the same name as the video file, and one named similarly, however with _bg behind it.

The “Frozen.jpg” file is the cover image that accompanies the mp4 file, the “Frozen_bg.jpg” file is the background image we included for this particular sample video.

While the way it works isn’t much different than the cover-images, we will not go into detail on the background images in this guide. We have another guide for that.


So in order to have MoviePlayerApp display a cover image for a video file, all we need is an image file with the exact same name (Frozen.mp4 + Frozen.jpg), which, without the Frozen_bg.jpg file on your device, should look similar to this:



And that is all there is to it. For other movies, just do the same. As long as the image has the exact same name as the video file (MyMovie.mp4 + MyMovie.jpg), MoviePlayerApp will display that image to represent that movie.


Where do you get cover-images?


The cover-search feature build-in to MoviePlayerApp uses Google Images to search for images. A simple visit to and doing a search for the movie you are looking for will bring up a miriad of images to choose from.

google search

but to get nice cover images, using the “Images” part along with “cover image” added to the movie title in the search can make quite a difference.

google image search


Alternatively, (just switch it to DVD behind the search area) has nice ones:


and (or for TV shows) is quite well-stocked as well:



When you find an image you like, just right-click on it to save it to your computer, and rename it to have the same name as your movie.



Advanced Stuff:

With the basics covered, we can move on to the more tricky stuff.

So far, we have only covered using cover images for individual videos. While this works great for movies, it gets a bit tricky if you are dealing with TV show episodes. It becomes quite tedious to copy the same cover image file for each episode and rename it accordingly, so to make things easier, we included the ability to use a single image for all videos in a folder.


If you place your videos in different folders to keep them organized,



You can place an image (png or jpg) named “folder” or “cover” in each folder, and the image will be used for all videos in that folder. In the screenshot above, we have a “cover” image for season 1 in the Friends – S1 folder, and one for season 2 in the Friends – S2 folder.

MoviePlayerApp first looks for images of the same name as the video, so if you want to, you can assign an individual cover image to one (or more) videos, and use the “folder” one for the ones that do not have a cover image set.



Depending on where you get your cover images from (themoviedb has many in high quality), it is possible that your device isn’t fast enough to handle them properly. Especially with very high resolution images, you can encounter stuttering when scrolling through your videos, and in some cases, even memory issues resulting in the image not being displayed properly or at all.

For best results, use a size of about half that of the screen you are using to view (the sample cover image is 400×600, and looks good on even 1080p screens.

The smaller the images, the faster and smoother MoviePlayerApp can load and display them.