Option to select 1 folder and shuffle only its subfolders

[PeteSapai]

I'm using 'folder hierarchy' and I have sorted it by genre, something like this:

- Folder A
-- Album A1
-- Album A2
-- Album A3
- Folder B
-- Album B1
-- Album B2
- Folder C
-- Album C1
-- Album C2
-- Album C3

I'm looking for a way to simply select e.g. folder B and only shuffle-play (so 'shuffle categories') Albums B.

If I create a playlist, that list will be viewed as 1 "category", so that's not an option. If I create a queue it's more or less the same (clicking the 'next category' button will leave the queue).

I can , of course, use the kebab menu (3 dots) to 'select folders' and then select only the one(s) I want to play, but is a wonky workaround, as it has to completely rescan the library every time.

Would it be possible to add this type of playback to 'folder hierarchy'? E.g. from the 'Folder hierarchy' library screen, when selecting a folder, add a button to the bottom (next to '+ Playlist' and '>> Queue', etc.) that simply says 'Play folder' (maybe in stead of the Send or Delete button?)

[andrewilley]

You should be able to simply drill down to view the relevant folder 'B' (so you see the subfolder names B1, B2, etc in the list) and then tap the Play icon at the top of the screen, and all the displayed subfolders should be played in order. However there does seem to be a bug at the moment which can cause this to misfire and play a different folder on occasions:

Andre

[hrolf1713]

28 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

all the displayed subfolders should be played in order

That's the problem. If I understand correcly what OP wants, that's the exact same request I addressed some time ago:

 

[PeteSapai]

This doesnt seem to be the same problem as Spyglass Jack's (the Recursuve folder play thread), but indeed exactly what hrolf1713 requested.

Playinig in order is not the problem. If no shuffle is set, it properly goes from B1 to B2 to B3 etc. The thing is, I want all B albums to be shuffled. I can enter the B folder, tap Play and it will start playing Album B1 track1. If I then set shuffle to 'Shuffle categories' the next album can be any album from the library (e.g. E17), not just from the B folder.

I'd like an option to tell PA to play and shuffle all albums from a certain folder (and preferably to save and start in the shuffle mode so you dont always start with Album 1).

Vanilla Music does this perfectly: from the file browser you can long-press a folder (e.g. 'Rock') and then select Play. It remembered the 'Shuffle albums' setting, so it will generate a queue with all albums shuffled and start playing the 1st album from that shuffled list (which then doesnt have to be \Rock\Album1). Pressing 'next album' will then properly jump to the next album in the (shuffled) list.

As mentioned, the queue option in PA is unusable for this cause, as it considers the entire queue 1 category.

[andrewilley]

4 hours ago, PeteSapai said:

as it considers the entire queue 1 category.

Yes, the queue is just a list of (any) songs, like a Playlist. It has no concept of albums, artists, or folders.

Pressing the Shuffle icon when viewing a folder should play all of its subfolders in random order, in the same way that the Play icon should play all of the songs in normal order . Check the shuffle options in Settings > Library > Lists too - especially 'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy', which makes the Shuffle icon randomly pick from all the contents, rather than shuffling one subfolder at a time.

Andre

[hrolf1713]

15 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Pressing the Shuffle icon when viewing a folder should play all of its subfolders in random order

It also shuffles the songs inside these folders. We would like it to shuffle ONLY the folders, not the content inside them.

 

15 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Check the shuffle options in Settings > Library > Lists too - especially 'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy'

This is shuffling all the songs in the lowest level, so this is also NOT what we want.

[andrewilley]

Yes, shuffle at that level is designed to, well, shuffle. It's doing what it says on the tin, but the problem is you want a different tin.

The best way to do what you want would be to start in Artists view (not folders), drill down to an album's songs level and tap on an individual song to start playing (any album, it's just a starting point). Then in the player screen, tap the Shuffle icon to set the mode to 'Shuffle Just Categories'. That way you will get the whole album played in order, then a new random album by the same artist will be chosen and played, and so on. This does not work with Folders though, when it finishes one folder the next one is chosen completely at random rather than playing all of the subfolders at the same level first. 

Andre

[PeteSapai]

11 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

That way you will get the whole album played in order, then a new random album by the same artist will be chosen and played, and so on.

I appreciate your help, but this (and the previous post about shuffling all songs) doesn't even come close to what we want. My Rock folder has 200+ albums, not 1 band with more than 3 albums. So I want to shuffle over 200 albums by all artists, yet you suggest to shuffle 1 to 3 albums by only 1 artist. I truly do appreciate you trying to help (though these suggestions only make me feel like you don't quite understand our request).

[andrewilley]

I understand what you are requesting (this is the Feature Request topic after all), I'm just suggesting some possible workarounds in the meantime.

I have no idea whether the new feature that you are asking for will be implemented soon (or ever) though, that's up to @maxmp the developer to decide. He was talking about increasing the flexibility of the Shuffle icon in lists at some point in the future though, so maybe this sort of functionality may come as part of that future work?

Andre

[maxmp]

On 11/14/2019 at 2:32 PM, PeteSapai said:

m looking for a way to simply select e.g. folder B and only shuffle-play (so 'shuffle categories') Albums B.

While in the B folder, hit Shuffle icon in the header. Thanks!

[PeteSapai]

30 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

I understand what you are requesting (this is the Feature Request topic after all), I'm just suggesting some possible workarounds in the meantime.

I have no idea whether the new feature that you are asking for will be implemented soon (or ever) though, that's up to @maxmp the developer to decide. He was talking about increasing the flexibility of the Shuffle icon in lists at some point in the future though, so maybe this sort of functionality may come as part of that future work?

Andre

Thanks for thinking of alternative solutions. Let's hope a proper solution will be implemented some day (soon).

[PeteSapai]

23 minutes ago, maxmp said:

While in the B folder, hit Shuffle icon in the header. Thanks!

Already has been suggested; this shuffles all songs and is not what is requested.

[andrewilley]

Just clarify Max, what they are asking for is: Shuffle Subfolders, Songs in Order.

Andre

[maxmp]

Ah I see. No such mode currently, there is very similar shuffle lists one, but that mode is not aware of the folders hierarchy structure.

I’m accumulating requests like this and next time shuffle modes will be retouched, features like this will be added (there will be a long press popup for that header shuffle button with more modes).

[PeteSapai]

Awesome! I'll be looking forward to this change, thanks!