Considering to remove "External player" feature

[sindre_mehus]

Hi,

I'm considering to remove the "External player" (and "External player with playlist") options in Settings > Players.

I have a feeling that this feature is not much used, and I would like to clean up the code.

I would like to hear if there are any compelling reasons for not removing this.

Thanks
Sindre

[joost]

I have no flash installed, because it sucks.

If you can combine this action with adding a HTML5 player, that would be cool....

[Schnip]

As far as I know External player with playlist is used for subsonic apps like DSUB for android. (At least my DSUB app shows up like that in the settings)

I have no flash installed, because it sucks.

If you can combine this action with adding a HTML5 player, that would be cool....

Yes I would be very happy about the HTML5 Player too.

[jsonnabend]

Please do not remove external player functionality. I rely on it, and I think apps like DSub do, too.

[mitrailer]

If removing the external player breaks third party applications like dsub or isub, then is really a problem

[manwithaplan]

Sindre, please do NOT remove this feature, I use it all the time, because I'm one of these insane audiophiles that likes to stream not only native FLAC but also .dsf files (DSD rips from SACD's), as well as high resolution FLAC files from sites like HDTracks.com, and I use the external player feature to trigger the use of VLC, or in some cases Foobar2000 - in Foobar's case, it's the only one that supports the streaming of .dsf files natively with use of a Foobar plugin...again, I do NOT transcode from FLAC to other things, my entire collection is streamed in native formats, normally FLAC (often high bitrate/sample frequencies like 24/96 or 24/192) or WAV or DSF...VLC is genius now that they fixed their SSL handling, so the stream works great there, and for .dsf files, I use Foobar2000 from Windows clients/VM's....

I am heavily invested in Subsonic for this purpose, if it's not clear Though I am still running 4.7, I plan to upgrade to 5.1 beta 1 VERY VERY soon, as I really want to experience the new web design, so thank you as always for the firm commitment to this AWESOME tool.

-Brian

[tmwsiy]

ditto: If it breaks dSub then I would be very sad.

[daneren2005]

I don't think he is talking about taking away third party client support. He is talking about taking away the ability to play directly to a third party client from the web interface, correct? Like being able to play from the web interface to vlc, not to a client designed to use the subsonic APIs.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[manwithaplan]

Daneren, that's what I'm talking about as well! The users log in to my web interface on a PC or a Mac typically, and they use External Player with Playlist to play directly to VLC or in some cases Foobar2000. So yes, Sindre was asking about External Player (and External Player with Playlist), and I'm saying emphatically NO! Please do not get rid of this functionality, some of us need it for the type and manner of playing that we do.

Thanks again.

[aaronk6]

I think this would break iSub (it uses the player type "External player with playlist"). So please do not remove this!

Thanks!

[sindre_mehus]

Just to clarify: I will of course make sure that apps using the REST API (like iSub, DSub etc) continue to work.

But it sounds like at least some users still use external players like VLC so I guess I will not remove this feature.

Thanks for all the feedback!
Sindre

[wjdosch]

I see you decided to keep the feature, but I will chime in anyway. I use this feature all of the time. I create a playlist of random tracks and send it to Winamp or AIMP.

[mbro]

I haven't been able to find any documentation on how to set up an "external player", and I think I have a need to do so. Do I put an IP address in the Player Name field? How does this option know where to send the music stream to?

My need: I have a jail running subsonic on my NAS box. It would be supremely awesome if I could use this option to stream music to my Yamaha receiver (which is network connected). I just don't know how to configure this to stream music to another node on the network.

My work around: I have a PC running subsonic slid behind my entertainment centre, and have the audio output from that going to one of the audio inputs on my receiver, and I use Subsonic in jukebox mode. While this works, I also still have the jail running Subsonic on my NAS. If I could get this external player option working, then I could eliminate the need for the PC behind my entertainment centre.

Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, does "External Player" mean a process running external to Subsonic (not external in the sense of another node on the network)? Is there another way to use the subsonic interface and stream the music stream to an external DLNA node? It would be sweet to add a player option that says DLNA (radio button), and then an elipses button that would select the external DLNA node to stream the music to... Feature suggestion???