Sync playback with another user

[jjbrash2012]

I think it could be a nice feature to be able to sync your music / video playback with whatever another user is listening to / watching. Or to have the ability to create a playback "channel" which you could play something through and that multiple users could listen to simultaneously.

[acroyear]

I've been sketching out ideas for how to implement that for SubFire for some time, having 1 user be the controller and others connect as listeners, and using either bookmarks or the chat protocol to send updates down to the clients. I would tie it in to my own Chromecast client (as that's also a basic html5 app, when you make one from scratch). It isn't an easy thing to do, and one issue is the chromecast factor: getting my own app to become aware when the chromecast has finished playing a song so we can send it the next one. The situation would be the same in a plex-like remote control service: if i'm controlling others on my tablet (like the box connected to my hifi system), but not playing the song myself, i need to kinda guess or figure out when the client has finished playing the track, or some how have it tell me, so i can update the UI to show what is now being played on the client.

So like any issue of sync, it seems simple on the surface, but devilish in details.

It is the second big feature I want to do, after i finish a kind of "smart playlist" generator.

[jjbrash2012]

I'm sure it's not very easy. I've developed some basic webapps before but this is way beyond my skill set at the moment, so I couldn't suggest any technical solutions. From a users point of view though I think it would be awesome and I can imagine many use cases for it. I wonder if Sindre has put any thought into this for Subsonic?

[jjbrash2012]

Anyone else think this is a good idea? Perhaps it's too big a challenge?