iSub iPhone Client - Version 1.0 Released

[einsteinx2]

...another iPhone client was also in the works. My client - iSub - was just approved a few hours ago

Excellent! Does it work over 3G data connection? I want to access my music remotely and won't always have wifi hotspots to use.

Unfortunately at the moment it doesn't

Apple rejected my first submission which had fully working 3G support. They said I was using too much bandwidth and it was against the rules! It makes no sense when other apps like Orb and Pandora were accepted just fine and they openly advertise 3G support. I'm currently fighting with them over this. I plan on being allowed to put 3G support back in at some point once they realize how ridiculous this is.

For now at least, anyone with a jailbroken iPhone can use 3G Unrestrictor to remove the restriction. Sorry non-jailbrake users are out of luck for the moment thanks to Apple.

[bombjack]

I think you could mention for Apple that Z-zubsonic is working over 3G. Let Apple explain why two programs, doing the exact same thing, is not using the same rule book...

[utopian]

will certainly be grabbing this one..much more reasonable price..

many thanks...

[einsteinx2]

I think you could mention for Apple that Z-zubsonic is working over 3G. Let Apple explain why two programs, doing the exact same thing, is not using the same rule book...

Heh I did exactly that and was completely ignored. I sent them a long email mentioning Z-subsonic, Orb, Pandora and explaining my case, and also mentioned that I resubmitted a crippled version as they requested. The only response I got was "Thank you for submitting another binary we'll let you know if there are any other problems". UNBELIEVABLE! So I emailed them again and have not gotten a response yet. I'll wait until next week and if they still haven't gotten back to me I'll try another channel. They seem to be singling me out on this and it's ridiculous.


Side note, I will be in Miami the rest of the day today and all through Monday for the Winter Music Conference, so I probably won't be able to answer support email or visit the board. I'll be back Tuesday.

[pufnstuf]

Apple rejected my first submission which had fully working 3G support. They said I was using too much bandwidth and it was against the rules!

Thank you for responding. What a bummer about Apple's silly review process! It must be very frustrating as a developer....

Goodluck with getting it through.

What would happen if you submitted the next version with 3G back in again??

[einsteinx2]

Apple rejected my first submission which had fully working 3G support. They said I was using too much bandwidth and it was against the rules!

Thank you for responding. What a bummer about Apple's silly review process! It must be very frustrating as a developer....

Goodluck with getting it through.

What would happen if you submitted the next version with 3G back in again??

Yes it's incredibly frustrating.

I finally heard back from the Apple review group after my second email. They told me to email a different department about it. So I got one step further up the ladder...


In other news, I just got the email from Apple that the update to fix the no duration crash has been approved. It will be in the App Store within 24 hours.

Also I would like to thank everyone that has purchased iSub so far! Thanks for the support

[bob1029]

Hi, I recently purchased your app and it looks very promising so far. I've had a few questions/issues.

Issue: When navigating through artists with self titled albums, I simply get stuck in an infinite loop of selecting albums. I have also noticed that tracks that are named the same behave oddly. Example: Adema as the artist and the album is called Adema. Simply loops back to the album selection screen.

1. I am using 3g/unrestrictor and notice periodic dropout due to what seems a very small buffer size. Is there any way to adjust the pre buffer and running buffer size? (i.e. in a config file in the phone or in the binary itself)

Assuming this is not possible, then a feature request:

Implement functionality similar to simplify media (R.I.P.) where the tracks are cached entirely at a preset maximum speed (i.e. 500kbps) until all of the current and next track are fully loaded. This would allow for virtually dropout-free operation (even on shady 3g/edge networks) and seamless track changes.

Again, thanks for all the hard work. Keep it up.

[einsteinx2]

Hi, I recently purchased your app and it looks very promising so far. I've had a few questions/issues.

Issue: When navigating through artists with self titled albums, I simply get stuck in an infinite loop of selecting albums. I have also noticed that tracks that are named the same behave oddly. Example: Adema as the artist and the album is called Adema. Simply loops back to the album selection screen.

This has to do with the way my code handles caching the folders which was added somewhat quickly between when my app was first rejected for having 3G and when I submitted a "fixed" binary. This is currently being overhauled for version 1.2 which will be including the list all albums and list all songs features that I mentioned in the upcoming features list (among other things).

1. I am using 3g/unrestrictor and notice periodic dropout due to what seems a very small buffer size. Is there any way to adjust the pre buffer and running buffer size? (i.e. in a config file in the phone or in the binary itself)

Assuming this is not possible, then a feature request:

Implement functionality similar to simplify media (R.I.P.) where the tracks are cached entirely at a preset maximum speed (i.e. 500kbps) until all of the current and next track are fully loaded. This would allow for virtually dropout-free operation (even on shady 3g/edge networks) and seamless track changes.

Again, thanks for all the hard work. Keep it up.

The buffer can definitely be increased. I think I may have just been lucky so far with my 3G connectivity while testing so I didn't notice it much. I was trying to keep the buffer small so that songs start fast, but I will play with the buffer size to try to find a happy medium. I'll include a larger buffer size into version 1.2 (and possibly an in app setting for buffer size).

Also, at the request of one of the forum members here (and to keep up friendly competition with Z-Subsonic ) I will be working on adding local caching of tracks in the future. However, at the moment it looks like that would require a complete rewrite of my song streaming code, so I want to finish coding the extra features I promised first. I will be shooting to add full song caching to version 2.0 though.


Thanks for the suggestions and the support

[einsteinx2]

Guys, I have a favor to ask. Right now I'm doing all my testing on my personal Subsonic instance. That works pretty well, but sometimes it can cause me to miss things (like the no duration and self titled album bugs) because I have my collection organized in a particular way and may not have the directory structure, file types, or artist/album/song names needed to cause a particular bug. So if any iSub users want to help me increase the efficiency of my testing, please create a test account for me on your Subsonic server and PM me the login details. I promise I won't hog your bandwidth as it will mostly be used for browsing around and short test plays. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help!


p.s. Version 1.2 should be out by early next week. Features that are definitely going to be in 1.2 (could be more depending on time): multiple server support, all albums list, all songs list, bigger buffer, bug fixes (including the infinite loop for self titled albums/songs)

[wallbanger]

Great app, much nicer interface than Z-Subsonic. We definitely need 3G though!

Check your PM, I've send you a login for my server.

[wallbanger]

Great app, much nicer interface than Z-Subsonic. We definitely need 3G though!

Check your PM, I've send you a login for my server.

I'm noticing some force closes when skipping tracks, I haven't been able to reliably duplicate it though. It seems somewhat random.

[einsteinx2]

Thanks wallbanger and Sporkman for the test accounts! That will really give me a leg up on bugs for this next version. Anyone else willing to create a test account for me will be greatly appreciated

@wallbanger: I've noticed that bug once in use but I haven't gotten it to happen with the debugger running to see exactly what the problem is. It's definitely a memory bug.. it's trying to access some object that's not there anymore. I'm looking into it, but it's so rare and random that I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. As I improve the memory handling in general over the next few versions, those random crash type bugs should all eventually be squashed

[utopian]

just bought this app.. wonderfu...l the access is almost instantaneous..

i loove it...

you have a PM

[bob1029]

The buffer can definitely be increased. I think I may have just been lucky so far with my 3G connectivity while testing so I didn't notice it much. I was trying to keep the buffer small so that songs start fast, but I will play with the buffer size to try to find a happy medium. I'll include a larger buffer size into version 1.2 (and possibly an in app setting for buffer size).

It would be awesome if you could make it possible to adjust the buffer in the app. Most of us have varying levels of connection reliability and tolerance for startup delay. Personally, I don't mind sacrificing 10+ seconds at track start to ensure reliable playback, whereas others may not want to wait as long.

[u2jrmw]

It sucks that they rejected streaming over cell data. It is crazy especially compared to the other iPhone app that does this for subSonic. That really puts you at a disadvantage.