Stream URL Title

[Crisender]

Hi,

The addition of "Stream" support is a welcome change! Thus far, I had to use a separate Android app to stream from online radio URLs.

However, I have a suggestion. Please allow us to name a stream. Allowing "Title" in addition to URL would be very helpful.

Example.

Stream URL: http://musicxyzabc.com:4437/stream

Title: Disco Radio

This would make going through the list much easier. Currently only URLs are shown which result in not knowing

which streams they correspond to.

Thank you.

Andy.

[andrewilley]

The stream title (and any supplied artwork) for a streamed URL should be retrieved from the source and cached in PA the first time you actually play the stream:

Andre

[null]

On 4/14/2020 at 4:13 AM, andrewilley said:

The stream title should be retrieved from the source

That's asking a bit too much. You do know we can't tag streams, do you? Same goes for the artwork, we can't modify that, that's why we need to modify them in PA.

[maxmp]

@null Do you mean you want to manually override station name and keep it that way? Even if stream advertises some new name? Thanks!

[null]

14 minutes ago, maxmp said:

@null Do you mean you want to manually override station name and keep it that way? Even if stream advertises some new name? Thanks!

Well I mean I'd really like to have the choice. Just like tagging music, just having the option to change how it's organized would be nice.

…I mean, not that I'm a good use case because I don't really use that function. Still, the most customizable music player out there should have the option to rename online streams and maybe even select the artwork for it.

I guess you also could either notify the user that the info has changed, or give the option to fetch it manually just whenever (maybe showing a preview first. that could potentially save a lot of work to users that have lots of streams!)

[maxmp]

@null The problem here is that station can actively change its name thus overriding user entered name (usually, when next track comes). Thus, logically, user entered name should be free of such forced change.

[null]

10 minutes ago, maxmp said:

@null The problem here is that station can actively change its name thus overriding user entered name (usually, when next track comes). Thus, logically, user entered name should be free of such forced change.

Oh no, but of course! Once custom name or artwork has been entered it should not change automatically. However, there has to be the choice to start using the default name again, lest you make the user do something as silly as removing the stream and adding it again to achieve the same thing.

EDIT: Actually, we can't even do that. Why can't we remove streams from the list? Is that not yet implemented or… nvm it's because I disabled the delete button. The delete button should not be able to be disabled on the stream list, even if the user disables it. There is no other way to remove streams so the option must always be there.

I went off-topic there. Oh well. I don't care enough to make a bug report.

Edited April 22, 2020 by null
delete button

[andrewilley]

All my streams exist in playlists, I add or delete them from there. I agree with Max that if a stream name is broadcast by the station you are listening to, that name should be shown. When you are watching TV, you can't normally edit the broadcast channel name.

Andre

[null]

1 minute ago, andrewilley said:

When you are watching TV, you can't normally edit the broadcast channel name

Is this a good thing though, if some of the streams broadcast names incorrectly? The fact is we don't have to copy how TV works just because it's similar.

Besides, some streams just straight out don't broadcast their names, and the URL doesn't help. Surely you agree that the current solution isn't ideal in such cases.

[andrewilley]

If a stream does not broadcast its name, then I guess you should be able to add your own text, yes. Both .pls and .m3u specs allow for that functionality, not sure if PA reads that data though:

e.g. a section of a BBC radio streams .pls file:

[playlist]
NumberOfEntries=2
File1=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1_mf_p?s=1569878499&e=1569892899&h=7f766ba5684c554e92463424aeff6911
Title1=BBC Radio 1
Length1=-1
File2=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio2_mf_p?s=1569791360&e=1569805760&h=c25e7b8fee282efa2494132b72861aef
Title1=BBC Radio 2
Length1=-1

Andre

[Crisender]

On 4/14/2020 at 1:43 PM, andrewilley said:

The stream title (and any supplied artwork) for a streamed URL should be retrieved from the source and cached in PA the first time you actually play the stream:

Andre

===================================

Edit:

Hi Andrew

After posting the stuff below, I think I found a solution.

Custom Album-Art!

None of my streams seem to be providing an album art of the currently playing song. And the Album art I select seem to be sticking even after closing the app.

On reopening the app, although the URLs are a mess, the Stream section does in fact show the correct Album Art (which can now be used for Radio Channel Name!)

Thank you.

===================================

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the response. I simply add Streaming URLs to the "Streams" section.

What I am saying is this...(based on Winamp's "file info" of Streaming URL)

The Streams section should have a listing of each stream as follows....

 

Stream name: This should be user-selectable for each stream. A user can choose "User-edited name" wherein the user provides the name & it stays that way irrespective of what the Stream sends. This will thus act as the Permanent Radio Station Name! If the user chooses "Stream-Sent" then it displays whatever the stream sends or just the URL if it doesnt send anything.

Current title: This will always be as provided by the stream.

 

This minor change would make using streams a hell of a lot easier. Right now several of my streams do not provide Stream Names or provide random song info in it. This results in an absolutely messy looking Stream section.

With several streams added, all I see is a jumbled mess of URLs. More importantly, even with those Streams which do provide Stream-Names (which is essentially the online Radio Station's Name) when I stop them, close app & return back to the app later, it just shows the URL & not the name!! So then I do not know which Stream that was.

Please make this change. For Android, I used to use an app called ServeStream which again has this facility like Winamp on PC to give name to each Stream. However, since Poweramp supports Streams, I would love to use it for all the equalizer functions. Please make it such that the above 2 Fields are clearly displayed as sent by the stream with the 1st option being user-editable (& stuck till changed again or chosen to be what the stream sends)

Thank you!

Edited May 22, 2020 by Crisender
Apparent solution found

[Crisender]

On 4/23/2020 at 5:23 AM, andrewilley said:

If a stream does not broadcast its name, then I guess you should be able to add your own text, yes. Both .pls and .m3u specs allow for that functionality, not sure if PA reads that data though:

e.g. a section of a BBC radio streams .pls file:

[playlist]
NumberOfEntries=2
File1=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio1_mf_p?s=1569878499&e=1569892899&h=7f766ba5684c554e92463424aeff6911
Title1=BBC Radio 1
Length1=-1
File2=http://bbcmedia.ic.llnwd.net/stream/bbcmedia_radio2_mf_p?s=1569791360&e=1569805760&h=c25e7b8fee282efa2494132b72861aef
Title1=BBC Radio 2
Length1=-1

Andre

 

Addition to my post above this one...

I tried the suggestion given in Quotes here. No, Poweramp does not read the "Title1" field. It shows what the Stream provides.

============

EDIT: I think I found a solution. I mention it in the post above this.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Crisender

[6b6561]

I would also appreciate the possibility to name the streams as all broadcasters are not as organized as BBC... My streams list looks like crap, and it's not intuitive to try to find the channel that you want to listen to. Stream names are updated with name pf played track e.tc.

[Mark234]

A bump for this post from me.
I use Poweramp on my car radio, as my standard "radio player".
But my overview of streams is a mess...

Having the option of forcing a "Title1=MyStationName" would be really helpful.

Then I could make a nice list of all my radio stations, named the way I want them to.