Play Count Increment Bug

[534n]

I've emailed this for more than a month but got no reply at all, so I'll repost it here in the forum.

Version Info ======================
Build: Poweramp build-905-arm64-play full verified cached
Store: Play
Unlocker: build-302
Arch: 64
Skin: ActivityTheme_Black
Device: Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 sdm660 lavender lavender [arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, armeabi]
Installer: com.android.vending (25.1.24-21 [0] [PR] 370129622)
Android: 9 xiaomi/lavender/lavender:9/PKQ1.180904.001/V11.0.6.0.PFGMIXM:user/release-keys en_US

Your message:

Hi admin, I found a bug with the most played feature. It's not updating properly if I play a song with a "Single Song" mode on. I will attach a picture to make it more clear.

 

As you can see from the song info. It has been played 2 times. But it will not appear in the most played section. The feature work properly if I played without the "Single Song" mode off. Hope you can fix this issue, as I'm using this "Single Song" mode frequently.

 

I want to suggest a way to clear the play count info too if possible. Thank you very much for the great software.

 

Here's the screenshot to make it clearer: https://imgur.com/a/74P8msK

[andrewilley]

The play counter increments whenever the current track has reached at least the threshold length at the point playback moves on to the next track - either by you manually changing the track, or if PA auto-advances to a new track.

The counter does not increment if you stay within the same track. So continuous repeat playing won't keep adding to the counter for example, nor will changing track while the counter is at zero (i.e. less than the threshold limit).

The counter also does not increment whenever you are playing from any of the counter-based categories - Most Played, or any other category sorted by Play Count - as changing the counter for one song on-the-fly would change the list that is currently playing and could confuse the forthcoming order.

You can clear the Most Played viewing list (Library > Most Played > (menu) > Clear) but that does not actually erase the play count saved for each track, only the current list view, and a song will re-appear in the list with its full original count the next time you play it. I agree this might seem somewhat counter-intuitive, see also:

Andre

[534n]

Hi admin, you're explaining it long without actually address the issue. Have you tried to reproduce it at your end?

The issue in a simpler form is this : play a song with "Single Song" mode on -> finish the song -> advance manually to the next song

And now before you play the next song, check the most played section. The previous song count will not increase.

I'm not staying within a same track. If I want a continuous repeat of a single song, I will simply activate the "repeat song" mode.

[MotleyG]

2 hours ago, 534n said:

Hi admin, you're explaining it long without actually address the issue. Have you tried to reproduce it at your end?

The issue in a simpler form is this : play a song with "Single Song" mode on -> finish the song -> advance manually to the next song

And now before you play the next song, check the most played section. The previous song count will not increase.

I'm not staying within a same track. If I want a continuous repeat of a single song, I will simply activate the "repeat song" mode.

Short version - in single song mode, the play count will not increase.

[andrewilley]

7 hours ago, 534n said:

The issue in a simpler form is this : play a song with "Single Song" mode on -> finish the song -> advance manually to the next song

When a single song stops playing, the counter is reset to zero rather than remaining paused at the end of the song. So when you later advance to the next song, PA considers the current song is 'unplayed' (counter at zero).

Try pausing a song just before its end, and then advance to the next track, and see if that works.

Andre

[534n]

Hi admin, thanks for the counter-productive workaround.

But I'm here to report a bug (as here is the bug reports section, not Q&A section) and hope for it to be acknowledged.

I actually will appreciate it more if you can tell me if this is classified as bug or will it come in the future bug fixes?

If this is not a bug and your workaround was the only solution, then I can just move on.

[andrewilley]

It's not a bug insofar as the feature is functioning as per design. However I do agree that, especially in the recently implemented 'one song' playback mode, the design is not necessarily what everyone might want it do be. I'll move this thread to Feature Requests for you.

Personally I think that if the song-play-count method stays the way it is, then in single-song mode the counter ought to stay paused at the END of the current song when it is finished (so pressing Play at that point could start the next song playing, rather than playing the same one again). Either that, or achieving the threshold value should be based on the actual duration spent listening to the track, rather than merely the current position of the counter when you move to the next track.

Andre

[534n]

Thanks admin.

If I can give my opinion, I think there's a flaw in the current implementation of song-play-count.

As per you explanation, I agree with the latter alternative.

It supposed to simply count after the minimal duration spent on the song. That's it. Whether it played with a "Single Song" or "Repeat Song" mode.

It's a simple counter, why overcomplicate it with filtering "a continuous repeat playing" or else?

[andrewilley]

2 hours ago, 534n said:

It's a simple counter, why overcomplicate it with filtering "a continuous repeat playing" or else?

Repeat plays are ignored deliberately, Max decided to actively NOT count any repetitive playbacks as 'new' plays.

Other than that, the play-count increment system is very simple, it occurs whenever the track changes: if the counter has got beyond the configured threshold figure, the count gets incremented. Of course that fails if you spool back to the start of the same track before moving on.

Andre

[534n]

It's a "play count", not a "new play count".

But anyway, you do you. Good luck with all that workaround and your own "very simple" play count logic.

[andrewilley]

I'm just letting you know how it works. Repeat plays of the same song have never been counted though, and that is by design.

The feature-update to implement a one-song playback mode a year ago (build 856) combined with the percentage threshold method for play counts (build 899; previously the count was incremented merely by opening a track without needing to actually play any of it) means that the behaviour is perhaps not exactly as you would wish though - hence this Feature Request for it to work in a different manner. 

My own preference (for what it's worth, and remember I'm not the developer) would be for the play-count threshold to be triggered based on the actual time spent listening to the track, rather than just a snapshot of the counter when the track changes. Not only does the current method break for single-play mode (where the counter gets zeroed after playback) but it also breaks the other way if you simply scroll to somewhere near the end of a track and listen to a few seconds before moving on (which increments the play-count even though you have only listened to a few seconds of the track).

And then as a separate issue, the method of zeroing the play-count list seems a bit counter-intuitive at the moment (see https://forum.powerampapp.com/topic/20879-poweramp-builds-899-905/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-95993 ).

Andre

[MotleyG]

6 hours ago, 534n said:

It's a "play count", not a "new play count".

But anyway, you do you. Good luck with all that workaround and your own "very simple" play count logic.

@534n Can I suggest if you really want to identify key tracks that you instead consider creating a “Favourites” playlist and use that for your purposes? It would be far more dependable and predictable than any play counts.

TL:DR The play count has had many different requests previously from users, search this forum and you can see how many opposing opinions there are. Some want it to count every single play but others prefer to count the events (thus the one count when using it in one track repeat mode). Some want it to count as soon as the track starts and others after some time has passed to prevent false starts. So there is no winning formula for the dev to work with here. But I believe the design in this case was to assume that in single track repeat, it is really considered a single event of listening to a track. Bottom line is it is not a bug, but a design choice. The admin has moved this thread to a feature request now, so perhaps some option for choice on this behaviour can be implemented in the future.

[Roxanne]

So what you're saying is it doesn't capture a count for every song played? I brought this app to replace Rocket Player, where you can play any song regardless of the circumstances and it be counted. It seems a very off way of setting up a music play count process. 

Rocket player is good but all of a sudden its full of glitches, hence the switch. I might keep with it for the time being then. 

[andrewilley]

@Roxanne I think it's been broadly discussed in this and other threads, but the Play Count should perhaps be taken as a guide rather than a scientific absolute. It is also database driven based on filenames, so results could be lost when re-installing the app or moving music files around in storage.

In general terms, the play count is incremented only when the counter has already passed a given (user-customisable) threshold value when you move on to a new song.

There are some limitation to that logic though, and the count will not be incremented if:

• You do not move on from the current track and stop playback near the end instead.
• The counter has otherwise been returned to zero when you do eventually move on (such as if you have enabled one-song playback, or if this is the last song of an album played in 'Repeat Off' mode so playback stops at the end).
• You simply use Repeat to listen to the current track multiple times (any number of repetitions counts as one play).
• You are using one of the Categories or List Option modes that are sorted by play count, where changing the count for a song could muddle the existing sorting order and move things up or down the currently playing list.

There are plans to update the logic at some point, especially to include Repeat plays and allow for stopping before the end of a song.

Andre