Subsonic Android 1.3.2 released

[matthew]

Does downsampling work for the client? I dont' really want to download a 7MB mp3 via 3G. thanks!

[necrosis]

The updates are really awesome. I finally made my donation on subsonic and am currently patching it within my setup

I was wondering if seeking is going to be possible on my android. Now i first have to download the song before i can seek. On a normal pc one can seek with an external player? Using you phone within you LAN caching a song is not necessary (also for people with flat free 3G or HSDPA).

Also an idea would be to use your Android as a sort of remote to play songs on your subsonic jukebox

[dcastellani]

random option is sweet, especially if you have a giant music library. Could you add the Artist name to the results too, and not just the album? Make artist name in larger font, then in small letters, the album underneath?

[cwilliams]

Does downsampling work for the client? I dont' really want to download a 7MB mp3 via 3G. thanks!

On your subsonic server, under Settings->Players there is an android player. You can set a max bitrate here. I find 192 works just great for 3G with acceptable quality.

Maybe one day this will be included as a setting in the Android app, with settings for Wifi/3G/edge bitrates

[cwilliams]

Sindre,

I haven't commented on the last few updates (had a crazy few months), but they have been incredible. The new interface is great, and all of the bugs I had were addressed. The cache/download control is absolutely awesome. I have updated my Subsonic wishlist in my signature.

Am I missing something or is there no longer an offline mode to play cached tracks? Bringing that mode back or storing the cache in the place where the default Android player can play the tracks would be nice.

I am however experiencing one annoying bug:

No track advance while asleep. I experience this bug approximately 50% of the time. With Subsonic as the active app, when the phone sleeps (screen turns off) and the current playing track ends, Subsonic does not advance to the next track. The instant I "wake" the phone, even to the lock screen, the next track plays. The only additional details I can give is this is not related to downloading as it occurs if I play a cached album.

[lpadron]

Am I missing something or is there no longer an offline mode to play cached tracks? Bringing that mode back or storing the cache in the place where the default Android player can play the tracks would be nice.

Same problem here. Have noticed it for a couple of revisions back on the ANDROID app. Can cache all you want. But, when going OFFLINE server, get ERROR DOWNLOADING message (at top) when trying play cached tracks.

[sindre_mehus]

Am I missing something or is there no longer an offline mode to play cached tracks?

It's still there. From the main screen, Select server > Offline.

No track advance while asleep.

That's weird. What phone and Android version is this? Anyone else?

Thanks,
Sindre

[cwilliams]

It's still there. From the main screen, Select server > Offline.

Ha, there it is. Thanks.

That's weird. What phone and Android version is this? Anyone else?

Original T-Mobile MyTouch 3G running stock 1.6. Wish I could provide further details on this bug but I can't, but it does happen 50%+ of the time. It sucks because my main use of Subsonic is while driving, and if I have to reach for the phone every track it is no fun Hopefully its an easy fix!

Thanks again Sindre for both Subsonic and my most used Android app.

- Cody

[lpadron]

Sindre,

Can you please address the ANDROID offline "error" issue that I've raised several times.

I can go to the OFFLINE (server choice) AFTER downloading tracks from an actual server. But, trying to play the tracks (previously downloaded) yields an DOWNLOADING ERROR (displayed at top of screen).

The only way to play the PREVIOUSLY downloaded tracks is to re-attach to the server when available. This defeats the purpose of the OFFLINE mode.

If I'm missing something in the setup, please advise.

Am using HTC INCREDIBLE with latest Android version.

BTW, just paid my donation for FULL access after a month of use.

Thanks for all Sindre.

Lee (U.S.A)

[cwilliams]

I can go to the OFFLINE (server choice) AFTER downloading tracks from an actual server. But, trying to play the tracks (previously downloaded) yields an DOWNLOADING ERROR (displayed at top of screen).

He's right, just tried offline mode. Broken.

[baroquedub]

Took me a little while to get this set-up and working (problems with the server not recognising a NAS) but this was solved in this helpful thread: http://forum.subsonic.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2895

Now that it's running, wow, I am so impressed! The recommended €20 donation for registering is nothing when you compare it to a £10 a month Spotify subscription. Thank you so much for all the hard work.

@driveonparkways [http://forum.subsonic.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12308#12308] The program does seem to stop downloading new songs once you reach your cache limit. Sindre's solution of the app periodically (every two hours) checking how much disk it's using, and automatically deleting the least recently played tracks didn't work for me when the cache limit was set to the default 500MB - I assume because within that 2hour interval I'd already played more than 500MB's worth of music. So you have to personally fine tune this setting depending on how much music you're likely to p[lay (and for how long).

I went into Settings>Manage Applications but Android only shows a cache of 508KB after listening to two albums... where is the cache actually stored and how can you manually clear it if you need to?

[cwilliams]

I went into Settings>Manage Applications but Android only shows a cache of 508KB after listening to two albums... where is the cache actually stored and how can you manually clear it if you need to?

Its stored on the memory card in a folder called Subsonic. You can use a file manager, such as the excellent Astro, to delete this folder.

Perhaps rather then checking the cache space on a timer Subsonic should check pre download?

[sindre_mehus]

Sindre,

Can you please address the ANDROID offline "error" issue that I've raised several times.

I can go to the OFFLINE (server choice) AFTER downloading tracks from an actual server. But, trying to play the tracks (previously downloaded) yields an DOWNLOADING ERROR (displayed at top of screen).

The only way to play the PREVIOUSLY downloaded tracks is to re-attach to the server when available. This defeats the purpose of the OFFLINE mode.

Strange, I haven't seen this myself as far as I remember. Does it also happen if the playlist is initially empty? You can clear it by going to the playlist, long-click one item and select "Remove all".

I'll soon be releasing a new version. Maybe the bug will disappear; I've done some changes to how the app behaves when no network is available.

[linuxman]

I noticed that the android app tags the mp3 tags with an end tag so that the player knows the file is complete and this makes it impossible to migrate the files over into the local player's playlist or cache. Could you add a function to migrate the music cache over to the native player which would enable it to have more like a download function like subsonic does natively? Just do a move function and delete the end tags from the files would be a very nice option

[cwilliams]

Could you add a function to migrate the music cache over to the native player which would enable it to have more like a download function like subsonic does natively? Just do a move function and delete the end tags from the files would be a very nice option

One idea is perhaps storing the Subsonic download cache in /media/Subsonic rather then /Subsonic. That way any media player could see the music, but Subsonic still can manage its cache. Not sure if that would create any problems though...