Android app feature requests

[sindre_mehus]

Hi,

I'm hoping to add a shuffle/random play feature in the next release.

Thanks,
Sindre

[beyondinferno]

+1 For the exit button!

Also, the ability to chose what folders you would like displayed would be AMAZING!
example: I have 1 server running with 2 separate libraries (mine and my wife's) I would like to be able to limit the app to just the folder containing my music. (I don't like seeing brittney spears when I'm trying to listen to death metal )

[cooperg21]

Hi,

I'm hoping to add a shuffle/random play feature in the next release.

Thanks,
Sindre

You rock!!! Thanks!!!

Another thing that would be AMAZING! The ability for the admin (with the ability to turn this option on or off for the other users) to rate songs on an android phone and have it upload onto the main computer automatically. Ratings are embedded into practically all tags, so if there was a way to see what it was rated originally, then the ability to change it on the fly would be great! (With an option for rating something zero stars.) The reason that I ask is that it is the only thing that is keeping me attached to my ipod. With this feature, I can officially sell it! JOY!

On that note, the ability to see lyrics embedded into the tags would be awesome! This should only be used for the songs playing because I have about 40k songs with lyrics and that could really bog everything down if they were all cached.

Another thing that would be awesome would be integration with ScrobbleDroid (the standard for third party apps that want to integrate last.fm) This can be done completely on the backend and would only need an option in the preferences.

Also, the ability to chose what folders you would like displayed would be AMAZING!
example: I have 1 server running with 2 separate libraries (mine and my wife's) I would like to be able to limit the app to just the folder containing my music. (I don't like seeing brittney spears when I'm trying to listen to death metal )

Can't you already do that by creating playlists? Just create two playlists. One for your wife, one for you. That way you can even have some crossover if you want.

[beyondinferno]

call me obsessive, but I don't like my music (that i spent countless hours tagging and such) mixed in with her's....
No biggie, just thought it might be a simple addition that may help some people achieve a little more powerful music server. Another example, my friend uses my server since he doesn't have a pc on 24/7. So her could separate his music player from mine.

[flyerwire]

+1 on exit, and is there a way that you can resize album art to display on the screen? Right now i get a monster album art that i can only see a portion of

[AmazingLarry]

+1 on exit, and is there a way that you can resize album art to display on the screen? Right now i get a monster album art that i can only see a portion of

+1 on exit or stop button. Really just a way to kill downloads without killing the task itself with a task killer.

[ftwo]

An awesome feature would be a solution to switch between different players with only one click.

For example you stop listening on SubAir to a mp3 and click on a 'bookmark' button. And you can continue listening to your mp3 on your Android device just by clicking the bookmark again... This would be awesome²! =)

[makkonen]

I love this app. 5 days of using it, and it's already my favorite thing about Android. It's amazing. Fills a need perfectly. Here's a few feature requests, at least one of which should be super easy to implement.

1) Add an option in the settings to swap the Play and Queue buttons in the file view. Personally, I'm much more interested generally in queueing up more songs than playing them directly, so having Queue as a button and Play as an option in the "More..." submenu would be an improvement. I don't imagine everyone uses the app like I do, though. (That's the one that's easy. I might try to look at the source code and do it myself; it'd be a good learning experience. I'm also quite likely the only person who cares, so I'll probably have to do it myself. )

2) Add the ability to reorder tracks in the Now Playing list. My preferred implementation: long press on a track -> Remove / Remove All / Move Up / Move Down.

3) (Unless it's in there, and I've missed it,) Add playlist-saving. Specifically, the ability to save the now playing list as a playlist. Seems like the easiest way to add playlist-saving functionality to the Android app.

I think I had a few more, but I can't recall right now. Thanks again. Seriously, my favorite thing about Android. It's made my mp3 player obsolete.

[sindre_mehus]

It's made my mp3 player obsolete.

I'm glad to hear that!

Thanks for your suggestions, I have recorded them in my list of possible features Once I release Subsonic 4.0 I will start working on a new version of the Android app.

Sindre

[AmazingLarry]

It's made my mp3 player obsolete.

I'm glad to hear that!

Thanks for your suggestions, I have recorded them in my list of possible features Once I release Subsonic 4.0 I will start working on a new version of the Android app.

Sindre

You really know how to get us to donate more than once. Can't wait to see how it turns out, the 4.0 beta is running great for me so far.

[aphuey]

Just got an Android phone and love the android app.

I like the request for an exit button.

Also, if there isn't already this function, it would be great if we were able to jump straight to the album we were listening to last time we were logged in, kind of like it does with the desktop app. Sometimes I have to shut down the Android app and get back in. When I do, it would be nice to be automatically returned to the most recent album I was listening to.

[happy_red]

Love the Android app - congratulations on an excellent product.

I seem to have some tracks where I have both a .partial and a .complete file - not a big problem, but something you may want to know about.

Agree with the max cache setting and look forward to seeing that in a future release.

When I can't connect to my server, can we have the option to drop to offline mode rather than just an error message. I only say this because I didn't realise there was an offline mode option and thought I was unable to play my music (after I stupidly forgot to start my PC before going to work) until I came on this forum and someone else mentioned there was an offline mode. Once I found it, I was sorted, but this could be automatic (could even be an option in settings - 'Auto Offline When No Server').

It would be great, once the max cache size is implemented, if the cache was smart about the songs it deleted when the cache becomes full. For instance, the least played tracks should be deleted first. This would allow me to have my favourite tracks available all the time. You may already have this implemented or planned.

Thanks again for a great music player.

[happy_red]

Just another small request.
Can you put in an option to disable the 'Subsonic is now running. Click here to...' notification when starting a Windows PC? The system tray icon is enough to let me know that it is there and running.
Not a particularly important request but will just improve the overall experience.
Thanks.

[makkonen]

Some more thoughts on features I'd like to see added/bugs I'd like to see squashed.

Instead of just play/add to queue from the file view, have both Queue (Next) and Queue (Last) options. (i.e. Add directly after the currently playing song, or add to the end of the queue.) I never realized how much I like tweaking my play queue until I didn't have the option.

Lyrics. Another thing I didn't realize how much I liked; in this case, until I had it on the web client. It'd be an awesome addition to the Android version.

More robust saving of playlist in the background. It sometimes persists, but other times will disappear when the app gets backgrounded. I haven't figured out the exact causes, but it usually seems to be related to a phone call coming in.

I'll echo all the calls for cache management (though it sounds like you're already planning to deal with this at some point in the future) and delaying scrobbling/playcount incrementing. I just noticed one album on my server had 850 listed plays (2nd place was maybe 40) -- turned out it was constantly trying, and failing, to download (sd card full), and each time would increment the counter. Another niggling issue -- it'd be cleaner if the app didn't create folders until it was actively downloading files. I notice if I queue up a bunch of files, and then exit/reboot/otherwise lose the queue, when I restart, if I go to offline mode to find the songs I'd downloaded, I've got a bunch of empty folders (for all the songs that didn't get a chance to download).

That ended up wordier than I expected. Anyway, I'm not complaining; just (hopefully) constructive criticism. I'm still loving the android app. And it's gotten me to clean up my music folders, which I've been meaning to do for months, so all the better.

Is the source code for the Android app available somewhere? I peered around inside the apk, but that's all compiled dalvik (?) code, I guess; and I didn't see it in the main subsonic source repository either, but could've just missed it.

Thanks again.

[sindre_mehus]

Hi,

Your suggestions are duly noted, thanks! Once Subsonic 4.0 is ready I will start working on the next Android version, where I hope to address at least some of your good suggestions.

The source code is freely available. You'll find it in the SVN repository from the SourceForge page.

Thanks,
Sindre