[Android] Perform tasks in background to "improve speed"
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:49 pmevery time i navigate to the library folders, the app has to contact the server and i must wait for some sort of handshake to perform before navigating my artist list. i think the app would feel way more polished if this was performed in the background. this is how i envision the implementation:
the android app should keep a local copy of the entire folder tree (maybe even cache album art thumbnails if that is possible) on the device. when i press the library button, this list should immediately be populated and i can start to navigate my library. in the background, the necessary handshakes and looking for updates to the folder tree will occur. if communication to the server fails, a prompt will interrupt you to tell you this. if it is found that the folder tree has been changed since the last time, a prompt interrupt says "updating media library" until it is finished. otherwise, the server communication should be entirely transparent to the user.
this same concept could be extended to the pin system. currently, every time i pin something i have to wait for the server communication to go about the rest of my business. it would be much nicer for this to occur in the background. if something fails, prompt me about it but otherwise just do that stuff in the background and let me move around the app while you're working out the technical details.
maybe there are technical details that prevent this sort of thing from being feasible, but if not i think it could really make navigating the app feel a lot more responsive.
the android app should keep a local copy of the entire folder tree (maybe even cache album art thumbnails if that is possible) on the device. when i press the library button, this list should immediately be populated and i can start to navigate my library. in the background, the necessary handshakes and looking for updates to the folder tree will occur. if communication to the server fails, a prompt will interrupt you to tell you this. if it is found that the folder tree has been changed since the last time, a prompt interrupt says "updating media library" until it is finished. otherwise, the server communication should be entirely transparent to the user.
this same concept could be extended to the pin system. currently, every time i pin something i have to wait for the server communication to go about the rest of my business. it would be much nicer for this to occur in the background. if something fails, prompt me about it but otherwise just do that stuff in the background and let me move around the app while you're working out the technical details.
maybe there are technical details that prevent this sort of thing from being feasible, but if not i think it could really make navigating the app feel a lot more responsive.