Straw phase M-1: tap-thumbnail-to-play + hi-res thumbs + Picture-in-Picture

a tester's real-use feedback: "playing a video is a button under a very
pixelated thumbnail, no playing in window mode, ... where are all the
features." This is the visible-UX pass.

Thumbnails:
- New util/Thumbnails.kt#bestThumbnail picks the highest-res image from
  NewPipeExtractor's List<Image> by w*h pixel area. Was firstOrNull()
  which is the smallest in the sorted list. Applied across Search,
  Channel video rows, Channel avatar + banner, VideoDetail.

Tap-to-play:
- VideoDetail thumbnail is now wrapped in a clickable Box that fires
  onPlay(). Centered semi-transparent black circle with a white play
  triangle overlay so the affordance is obvious. The standalone "Play"
  button below stays for accessibility (tap target consistency).

Picture-in-Picture:
- Manifest: android:supportsPictureInPicture="true" on StrawActivity +
  added screenLayout|smallestScreenSize|screenSize to configChanges so
  rotation into PiP doesn't recreate.
- PlayerScreen: top-right floating button enters PiP with 16:9 aspect.
- Lifecycle ON_STOP observer now checks isInPictureInPictureMode and
  skips pausing when we're in PiP (was killing playback on PiP entry).

Phase M-2 next: MediaSession + background audio + foreground service
(the "play with screen off / lock screen controls" feature).

strawApp/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml

@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
             android:name=".StrawActivity"
             android:exported="true"
             android:launchMode="singleTask"
-            android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize|keyboardHidden">
+            android:supportsPictureInPicture="true"
+            android:configChanges="orientation|screenSize|smallestScreenSize|screenLayout|keyboardHidden">
             <intent-filter>
                 <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                 <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/channel/ChannelViewModel.kt

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package com.sulkta.straw.feature.channel
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
 import com.sulkta.straw.feature.search.StreamItem
+import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.NewPipe
 import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.ServiceList
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ class ChannelViewModel : ViewModel() {
                                         title = it.name ?: "(no title)",
                                         uploader = it.uploaderName ?: info.name ?: "",
                                         uploaderUrl = it.uploaderUrl ?: channelUrl,
-                                        thumbnail = it.thumbnails?.firstOrNull()?.url,
+                                        thumbnail = bestThumbnail(it.thumbnails),
                                         durationSeconds = it.duration,
                                         viewCount = it.viewCount,
                                     )
@@ -74,8 +75,8 @@ class ChannelViewModel : ViewModel() {
                     loading = false,
                     name = info.name ?: "",
                     subscriberCount = info.subscriberCount,
-                    banner = info.banners?.firstOrNull()?.url,
+                    banner = bestThumbnail(info.banners),
-                    avatar = info.avatars?.firstOrNull()?.url,
+                    avatar = bestThumbnail(info.avatars),
                     videos = videos,
                 )
             } catch (t: Throwable) {

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/detail/VideoDetailScreen.kt

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.feature.detail
 
+import androidx.compose.foundation.background
 import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Arrangement
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxWidth
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.height
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
+import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.size
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.width
 import androidx.compose.foundation.rememberScrollState
 import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.RoundedCornerShape
@@ -24,8 +26,11 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.AssistChip
 import androidx.compose.material3.AssistChipDefaults
 import androidx.compose.material3.Button
 import androidx.compose.material3.CircularProgressIndicator
+import androidx.compose.material3.Icon
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
+import androidx.compose.material.icons.Icons
+import androidx.compose.material.icons.filled.PlayArrow
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
 import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
@@ -72,14 +77,37 @@ fun VideoDetailScreen(
 
             else -> {
                 val d = state.detail ?: return@Column
-                AsyncImage(
+                // AUD-feedback: tap the thumbnail to play. Was hidden under
-                    model = d.thumbnail,
+                // a "Play" button below. Now the thumbnail is the obvious
-                    contentDescription = null,
+                // affordance with a play-icon overlay.
+                Box(
                     modifier = Modifier
                         .fillMaxWidth()
                         .aspectRatio(16f / 9f)
-                        .clip(RoundedCornerShape(8.dp)),
+                        .clip(RoundedCornerShape(8.dp))
-                )
+                        .clickable(onClick = onPlay),
+                    contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
+                ) {
+                    AsyncImage(
+                        model = d.thumbnail,
+                        contentDescription = null,
+                        modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(),
+                    )
+                    Box(
+                        modifier = Modifier
+                            .size(64.dp)
+                            .clip(androidx.compose.foundation.shape.CircleShape)
+                            .background(Color(0xCC000000)),
+                        contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
+                    ) {
+                        Icon(
+                            Icons.Filled.PlayArrow,
+                            contentDescription = "Play",
+                            tint = Color.White,
+                            modifier = Modifier.size(40.dp),
+                        )
+                    }
+                }
                 Spacer(modifier = Modifier.height(12.dp))
                 Text(
                     text = d.title,

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/detail/VideoDetailViewModel.kt

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import com.sulkta.straw.data.WatchHistoryItem
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.RydClient
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.RydVotes
 import com.sulkta.straw.net.SponsorBlockClient
+import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ class VideoDetailViewModel : ViewModel() {
             try {
                 val info = withContext(Dispatchers.IO) { StreamInfo.getInfo(streamUrl) }
                 val videoId = info.id
-                val thumb = info.thumbnails?.firstOrNull()?.url
+                val thumb = bestThumbnail(info.thumbnails)
                 val title = info.name ?: "(no title)"
                 val uploader = info.uploaderName ?: ""
 

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/player/PlayerScreen.kt

@@ -8,12 +8,18 @@
 
 package com.sulkta.straw.feature.player
 
+import android.app.Activity
+import android.app.PictureInPictureParams
+import android.os.Build
+import android.util.Rational
 import android.widget.Toast
 import androidx.annotation.OptIn
 import androidx.compose.foundation.background
+import androidx.compose.foundation.clickable
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.Box
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize
 import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.padding
+import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.size
 import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.RoundedCornerShape
 import androidx.compose.material3.CircularProgressIndicator
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
@@ -71,11 +77,17 @@ fun PlayerScreen(
 
     // AUD-MED: pause playback when app goes to background. Without this,
     // ExoPlayer keeps playing audio with no MediaSession — user can't pause
-    // from the notification shade.
+    // from the notification shade. EXCEPTION: don't pause when entering
+    // Picture-in-Picture mode (that's the whole point of PiP).
     val lifecycleOwner = LocalLifecycleOwner.current
     DisposableEffect(lifecycleOwner) {
         val observer = LifecycleEventObserver { _, event ->
-            if (event == Lifecycle.Event.ON_STOP) exoPlayer.pause()
+            if (event == Lifecycle.Event.ON_STOP) {
+                val activity = context as? Activity
+                if (activity?.isInPictureInPictureMode != true) {
+                    exoPlayer.pause()
+                }
+            }
         }
         lifecycleOwner.lifecycle.addObserver(observer)
         onDispose { lifecycleOwner.lifecycle.removeObserver(observer) }
@@ -200,6 +212,33 @@ fun PlayerScreen(
                         )
                     }
                 }
+                // PiP button — top-right. Tapping it puts the player into
+                // floating-window mode so the user can use other apps while
+                // the video keeps playing.
+                Box(
+                    modifier = Modifier
+                        .align(Alignment.TopEnd)
+                        .padding(12.dp)
+                        .size(36.dp)
+                        .clip(RoundedCornerShape(6.dp))
+                        .background(Color(0xCC222222))
+                        .clickable {
+                            val activity = (context as? Activity) ?: return@clickable
+                            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
+                                val params = PictureInPictureParams.Builder()
+                                    .setAspectRatio(Rational(16, 9))
+                                    .build()
+                                runCatching { activity.enterPictureInPictureMode(params) }
+                            }
+                        },
+                    contentAlignment = Alignment.Center,
+                ) {
+                    Text(
+                        text = "⊟",
+                        color = Color.White,
+                        style = MaterialTheme.typography.titleMedium,
+                    )
+                }
             }
         }
     }

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/feature/search/SearchViewModel.kt

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package com.sulkta.straw.feature.search
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
 import com.sulkta.straw.data.History
+import com.sulkta.straw.util.bestThumbnail
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ class SearchViewModel : ViewModel() {
                     title = it.name ?: "(no title)",
                     uploader = it.uploaderName ?: "",
                     uploaderUrl = it.uploaderUrl,
-                    thumbnail = it.thumbnails?.firstOrNull()?.url,
+                    thumbnail = bestThumbnail(it.thumbnails),
                     durationSeconds = it.duration,
                     viewCount = it.viewCount,
                 )

strawApp/src/main/kotlin/com/sulkta/straw/util/Thumbnails.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Sulkta
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+ *
+ * NewPipeExtractor returns thumbnails as a List<Image> with width/height
+ * fields. Calling .firstOrNull() picks the smallest (the list is sorted
+ * ascending) — which gave us pixelated thumbnails. This helper picks the
+ * largest by pixel area instead.
+ */
+
+package com.sulkta.straw.util
+
+import org.schabi.newpipe.extractor.Image
+
+fun bestThumbnail(images: List<Image>?): String? {
+    if (images.isNullOrEmpty()) return null
+    return images
+        .maxByOrNull {
+            val w = it.width.takeIf { v -> v > 0 } ?: 0
+            val h = it.height.takeIf { v -> v > 0 } ?: 0
+            w.toLong() * h.toLong()
+        }
+        ?.url
+}