play:Sub — a new Subsonic client for iOS.

[Michael Bech Hansen]

If I buy this for my iPad, can I use it in landscape mode knowing that it's not optimized?

Currently there is no support for landscape mode.

In the next version play:Sub will become a universal app, meaning the upscaled phone UI will go away and it will look (more) like an iPad optimized app.
This won't bring landscape support though, but since you are far from the first to ask for it, I guess this is one thing moving rapidly up in priority.

I can't say when landscape mode will happen exactly - It won't be in the upcoming version, no further features will og into that and a few bug fixes is all that's remaining before App Store review/release.

/Michael.

[lpr]

Currently there is no support for landscape mode.

In the next version play:Sub will become a universal app, meaning the upscaled phone UI will go away and it will look (more) like an iPad optimized app.
This won't bring landscape support though, but since you are far from the first to ask for it, I guess this is one thing moving rapidly up in priority.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll wait for the universal app, but a landscape iPad optimized version would be great!

Take care.

[thatkeith]

A couple of thoughts from reading a few different posts...

Re landscape mode on iPad, given that it works in portrait only on my iPhone (like many apps) I'd say the answer's nope. It'll behave exactly as designed for the iPhone other than being scalable to 2x size to better fill the iPad's screen.

Re spending on this app, I try to keep in mind that app prices are almost always around the price of a coffee. Spending a few pounds/dollars each time on a handful of apps looking for the 'right' one can get a little frustrating and it does add up. I personally am not happy with AVSub; the UI really is not to my tastes and I found browsing too limited, so I just deleted it. But hey, it's a coffee – I'll live. I'm happy to throw a few bucks at play:Sub, and it's been behaving quite well... considering that my server connection is seriously messing me about.

(FYI, I have my music on a NAS in the house. The 'server' is an eight-year-old MacBook Pro sitting in my garden shed so it's out of the way, with ethernet running to the house and an old Apple AirPort wifi router acting as the wired hub out here. It's a fun reuse of old kit, but... this part of the network drops mysteriously a few times a day. Which obviously buggers Subsonic's indexing as the NAS disappears each time. THIS time Subsonic is refusing to index anything. I'm scratching my head but I'm working on it.)

[padraic]

Looks promising, but before i spend another $5 I'll wait and see that development is sustained and performance is rock solid, and that features meet and/or exceed that of iSub. Have been burned before, and have learned my lesson.

Thanks padraic.

I have probably been spending $$ on the same abandoned iOS Subsonic clients as everyone else around here... which is part of the reason for starting development of play:Sub, so I can fully understand where you're coming from.
The next version of play:sub will be sent for App Store review soon, and contain both fixes for most of the v1.0 bugs as well as a few features.
Stick around, play:Sub and I will

/Michael.

Great to hear. Not trying to be a cheapskate, to be sure. Will probably give your app a go sooner rather than later, as iSub is starting to act a little wonky.

[rich600]

Re spending on this app, I try to keep in mind that app prices are almost always around the price of a coffee. Spending a few pounds/dollars each time on a handful of apps looking for the 'right' one can get a little frustrating and it does add up. I personally am not happy with AVSub; the UI really is not to my tastes and I found browsing too limited, so I just deleted it. But hey, it's a coffee – I'll live. I'm happy to throw a few bucks at play:Sub, and it's been behaving quite well... considering that my server connection is seriously messing me about.

First of all, thanks for pointing out that apps like these are actually quite cheap, all things considered. They are definitely a labour of love!

Secondly, and I'm in no means trying to hijack this thread (please move the reply over to the AVSub one if necessary) but I'd love some feedback on AVSub UI and limited browsing. Both play:Sub and AVSub are driven by user requests and feedback, so the more the better.

Thanks
Rich

[timlance]

In the description there is this:
Manually cache selected folders, artists, albums or tracks without having to play them.

How do I do that?

[timlance]

In case anyone else is wondering and is as ignorant as I apparently am, just slide an album/folder to the left for options.

Much thanks to the developer for prompt reply to my email.

[pdcorcoran]

I've had and enjoyed using the app for a couple of weeks and had time today to poke around a bit, so I checked out the Random songs feature. It was great listening to random songs for a few hours. When I tried to do that again, and hit Random songs, the app crashed. When I looked to delete the queue that was generated the first time I used Random songs, it looked like I could only delete them one by one. How can I (or can I) delete them en masses? How can I simply replace the queue with a fresh set of random songs?

Thanks.

[Michael Bech Hansen]

I've had and enjoyed using the app for a couple of weeks and had time today to poke around a bit, so I checked out the Random songs feature. It was great listening to random songs for a few hours. When I tried to do that again, and hit Random songs, the app crashed.

Great you like the app, and the random songs feature.
Not so great it crashed the second time around.
I believe this is fixed in the version that have been sent for review with Apple, and I hope they will approve soon (they've been thinking about it for 10 days now).

When I looked to delete the queue that was generated the first time I used Random songs, it looked like I could only delete them one by one. How can I (or can I) delete them en masses?

Currently there is no way to clear the queue, except by replacing it with something else.

How can I simply replace the queue with a fresh set of random songs?

Replacing the current playqueue can be done in multiple ways:
- Selecting a track from any container, such as the "Random songs" list will replace the queue.
- Swiping right-to-left on any artist/album/track/folder and selecting "Play" will replace the queue.
- Long-pressing on any artist/album/track/folder and selecting "Play" will replace the queue.

So to answer your question: Just go back to "Random songs" and tap the track you want the play queue to start with.

For all containers, except the "Songs" and "Random songs", all tracks in or "below" the container will be queued.
For "Songs"/"Random songs" 250 tracks will be queued.

Hope this helps.

Michael.

[Failed Engineer]

Does the app use the iOS built in libraries for audio playback or it's own? I ask because all the apps I've bought that use the iOS engine have major issues with resumption of playback after a period of dormancy. I use it all the time in the car, and after I come back to the car the audio can loop back several times, or error out. There is no consistency to it.

This happens with Audiophone and AVSub. iSub has it own engine and it's playback is rock solid. It's an immediate purchase if not using iOS library.

Thanks!

[Michael Bech Hansen]

Does the app use the iOS built in libraries for audio playback or it's own?

play:Sub is using the same audio engine as AVSub: StreamingKit, which builds upon iOS' audio implementation (CoreAudio).

I ask because all the apps I've bought that use the iOS engine have major issues with resumption of playback after a period of dormancy. I use it all the time in the car, and after I come back to the car the audio can loop back several times, or error out. There is no consistency to it.

I'm using play:Sub in a similar way, streaming music in the car to and from work, and leaving it alone for the most of the workday.
I do not experience anything like what you describe with play:Sub (or AVSub for that matter).
In my experience, iOS' audio engine itself is not to blame for any issues, but rather the way apps use it.

This happens with Audiophone and AVSub. iSub has it own engine and it's playback is rock solid.

iSub I believe is using a commercial audio engine - libBass - and the iSub author has spent a lot of time integrating and fine-tuning the libBass integration.
libBass is also building upon iOS' audio engine, and the libBass itself has several years of tuning.

I was also an iSub user, until its rocky period with no updates and crashes on newer iOS versions and devices.
Obviously I'm into another Subsonic client new

The only actual gripe I have with StreamingKit is that gapless playback is not really supported (and not advertised as supported by play:Sub).
Gapless playback is pretty important for some users (myself included), but I have prioritized it lower than other features for now.

Hope this helps (or clarifies something)
MIchael.