Queue Only Mode

[w3wilkes]

I prefer using the Queue as I can add songs / albums or just about anything to the end of the Queue without interrupting what is currently playing. If this were a mode you would long press an Album / Artist / Album Artist / Genre and be given a choice of "Add to end" or "Play Next". A short tap on Album / Artist / Album Artist / Genre would drill into that item. If you tapped a song it would default to "Add to end" or long press to "Play next". When you picked to clear the Queue everything in the Queue would be removed and the player would stop. The Queue would support Shuffle and repeat Queue options.

Other than having this play mode this is the best player I've come across, THANKS!

[andrewilley]

A couple of things which might get closer to what to you want:

Settings > Library > Queue > On Queue End --> Stay in Queue/Repeat Queue
Settings > Library > Queue > Ignore Shuffle --> Disable
Settings > Library > Queue > Play Next: Start Queue --> Enable
Settings > Library > Lists > List Item Click Action --> Enqueue and stay in list.

For any item (either a song, or a category such as an album/artist/genre/etc) that you want to add to the queue, or to Play Next, just long-press on the item and select either '>> Queue' or 'Play Next'.

Note: the Queue can only contain individual songs, not category group items - so for example if you add an Album then all of the songs within that album will be added to the queue individually (in the album sorting order).

Andre

[w3wilkes]

@andrewilley, Thanks for the reply. I do have all the settings that you referenced set as you describe and in addition Settings > Library > Queue > Start Playing Queue - Immediately. In the Queue only mode I would like a couple of changes to this that would come even closer to a Queue only mode. 1- The "Stay in Queue/Repeat Queue" would be honored even after a Clear Queue is executed. 2- A short tape on a song would prompt for "Next" or "End" of Queue or a short tap would default to "End" of Queue and a long press would prompt like it does now.

[andrewilley]

It would not be possible to stay in the Queue when you have cleared it, there is no queue to stay in - what would the song in the player screen be shown as for example? Poweramp always requires something to be considered as the currently active song, even if it is paused/stopped.

If you have Settings > Library > Lists > 'List Item Click Action' set to 'Enqueue and stay in list', then a tap on a song title will already add it to the Queue.

Remember that whatever you are trying to make it do, the Queue in Poweramp is designed to be a temporary/transient thing, which jumps away from 'normal' playback and then returns to normal playback again after the queue is done with. 

Andre

[w3wilkes]

3 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Remember that whatever you are trying to make it do, the Queue in Poweramp is designed to be a temporary/transient thing, which jumps away from 'normal' playback and then returns to normal playback again after the queue is done with. 

Andre

When you select "Settings > Library > Queue > On Queue End - Stay in Queue / repeat Queue" the player stops and does not return to "normal" playback. I would just like it to stay that way (stopped) when I clear the Queue. Nothing would be something if there were such a thing as a "Queue only mode".

[andrewilley]

21 minutes ago, w3wilkes said:

I would just like it to stay that way (stopped) when I clear the Queue. 

But if you clear the queue but still want to remain "in" the queue (even though there isn't one) what should be shown as the current song in the main player screen?

Andre

[w3wilkes]

5 hours ago, andrewilley said:

But if you clear the queue but still want to remain "in" the queue (even though there isn't one) what should be shown as the current song in the main player screen?

Andre

I would show the stock kind of record album cover art (darker gray square border with a lighter gray circle with spindle hole in the center) that says something like Queue Empty. I would then go along and select a new music population for the player (Queue). Sorry, it's just the method I've used in all my other players over the last 20 years. As said, I've got all the tweaks you've mentioned so far in play and it comes close to the way I prefer that there was a mode for. Thanks for a great player that I use exclusively on my android devices.

[andrewilley]

That would be up to Max, but library/filesystem errors notwithstanding, the design of PA requires something to be the current item in the player screen, it can't be blank or empty. If you don't choose one, PA will default to the first song in the All Songs list.

Andre

[w3wilkes]

Thanks for the reply Andre. I understand that it would be up to @maxmp. I know he reads these forums and I can only hope he'll consider this feature request.

[w3wilkes]

On 4/23/2021 at 1:51 PM, maxmp said:

The Queue list is there for the plain now playing list adopters.

 

What would be perfect for me would be a Queue only mode so that all the default mode category stuff would be disabled.

[MotleyG]

49 minutes ago, w3wilkes said:

What would be perfect for me would be a Queue only mode so that all the default mode category stuff would be disabled.

And yet I rarely, if ever, use the Queue mode myself. I generally start playing an Album, or more accurately AlbumArtist>Album. Or if I am feeling more variety is required I start from Genre>(Whatever mood). Good thing we have options!😋

[w3wilkes]

On 12/24/2021 at 1:39 PM, MotleyG said:

Good thing we have options!😋

I'm glad you have your options, it would be nice if we ALL had options. With a Queue only mode we would have the option for PA to work like about all other players work. To me the PA data base is why I stay. The data base is the most complete of any android type music player and compares somewhat well to Logitech's Media Server which for me is the gold standard for home stereo music systems.

[MotleyG]

53 minutes ago, w3wilkes said:

I'm glad you have your options, it would be nice if we ALL had options. With a Queue only mode we would have the option for PA to work like about all other players work. To me the PA data base is why I stay. The data base is the most complete of any android type music player and compares somewhat well to Logitech's Media Server which for me is the gold standard for home stereo music systems.

But if you were to eliminate all of the other category modes as you suggested before, how could you possibly sort or drill into your library with any sense. If you only had a queue mode, there would be no order, and chaos would be the best one could describe things. The database would basically be useless in this case.

I wasn’t suggesting a queue mode wasn’t useful in any way. But having the other current options certainly allows one to manage to play a music library effectively. The suggested Queue would be a great addition, but not a limiting factor in Poweramp’s function. In my humble opinion of course.

[w3wilkes]

19 minutes ago, MotleyG said:

But if you were to eliminate all of the other category modes as you suggested before, how could you possibly sort or drill into your library with any sense. If you only had a queue mode, there would be no order, and chaos would be the best one could describe things. The database would basically be useless in this case.

I wasn’t suggesting a queue mode wasn’t useful in any way. But having the other current options certainly allows one to manage to play a music library effectively. The suggested Queue would be a great addition, but not a limiting factor in Poweramp’s function. In my humble opinion of course.

I would not eliminate any of the current modes as I know there's several users thatgo that way. I'm just looking for a Queue only mode. In this mode the looking through the library would be the same. When something was selected that would be put into the Queue and when that item(s) was finished playback would stop just like it does now with the setting of "stay in Queue" on end. When someting was selected it would be added to the Queue. If the Queue was empty it would just be added, if there was something already in the Queue you would be prompted for "Play next" or "add to end". 

[andrewilley]

I've just merged a couple of identically titled 'Queue Only' request threads together to make the conversation more coherent.

This response from @maxmp in another thread (which was requesting a 'Now Playing' songs list) relates directly to this conversation too:

On 3/11/2023 at 9:59 PM, maxmp said:

Some extra intermediate list. We have it - it's Queue. It already can be used as Now playing list in other players, but with few options it can completely mimic the approach:

• force all playback only from Queue (no any other lists will be ever played, player plays only Queue)
• all playback commands (track click, header >, shuffle changes, etc.) repopulates Queue
• edge cases should be polished and some options should be disabled in this mode
• we write a ton of extra knowledge base articles explaining 2 modes of playback in Poweramp.

This would basically mean the Queue could be set so it never exits back to the existing 'regular' Category-style playback at all, even when all the queued songs are completed. That mode would mimic how several other players operate, which I think is probably why people want it as they have come to PA already very familiar with that method of operation.

Making the list-header 'Play' and 'Shuffle' icons honour the 'Click Item List Action' setting (including the third option to 'Enqueue and Stay in List', and adding a fourth 'Enqueue and go to Player UI' option), plus the 'never exit queue' and 'start playing queue immediately' options (both of which broadly already exist) go a long way towards that goal.

The 'Repeat' and 'Shuffle' controls would have to be simplified while in this mode, as there would no longer be any concept of 'Category' available - just a flat, fully-editable, list of songs with no hierarchy (but with the ability to be manually re-sorted as per existing menu choice). So Repeat would simply become Off | Repeat One Song | Repeat All Songs, and Shuffle would be just an On | Off toggle.

I agree this would be great as an option, but it probably shouldn't become the default method of operation - merely an alternative mode for people who are happier to listen the same way as the Sonos app, etc.

Andre