Shuffle folder in combination with List Position and save state

[user547823]

Hi,

I'm using Folder view. I have different kind of folders with different kinds of music. 

Example:

- Folder: Eurodance (300 files)
- Folder: Trance (400 files)
- Folder: Techno (500 files)
- Folder: Dubstep (200 files)
...

Everthing is sorted by filename.

The option: List memory > List Position is turned ON.

I want to play the Trance folder, so I open the trance folder and tap the Shuffle button. When I open the player I see in the tracknumber 350/400. It only plays 50 tracks and then stops. Why is that? It needs to shuffle the entire folder and start with 1/400.

Second, later I'm changing from folder cause I would like to hear Techno. I open the Techno folder and press the Shuffle button. What happens with the Shuffle state from the trance folder? How can I later continue with the trance folder with shuffling but without hearing the same tracks?

The shuffle thing en list memory is really confusing so I discoverd the option "Sort by shuffle order". I thought that was the solution but I saw that it shuffles all files in ALL the folders. I didn't want that because I also have podcasts that don't need shuffle sorting.

What's the best way to use Poweramp for me? So I have different kinds of folder with tracks that I want to shuffle, but the I want Poweramp to remember the shuffle so it continues. But I also have podcasts that don't need shuffle.

[andrewilley]

The List Position Memory feature remembers the song that was previously playing within any selected folder or playlist (the memory feature is enabled per folder, so if you enable it for the Techno folder it won't affect your Podcasts folder). However if you change the sorting order for the Folder category (either manually via its List Options, or due to a system reshuffle) PA will still return to that particular song, but it will now be in a different position within the scheduled playback order.

e.g. if you were listening to the fourth song ("Ziggy Stardust") in a David Bowie folder sorted by track numbering, and you then change the folder sorting order to 'By Title' instead, when you next return to that David Bowie folder you will still be listening to Ziggy Stardust, but it will now be located somewhere near to end of the list (in alphabetical order) rather than being the fourth song. 
 

There is only one Shuffle sequence in PA. As soon as you generate a new one by pressing the Shuffle icon or changing modes, it replaces the old one. So you can't later go back to an old folder and expect to see the same order that you were listening to before, it will be a reshuffled sequence.

If you enable the sort view 'By Shuffle Order' for any given category - e.g. for folder songs - then you will always see your folder contents displayed in their currently planned shuffle order (which as mentioned above, will be different after each reshuffle). It's just a view type though, you could just as easily change it to filenames, track#, or title, it's not a permanent modification.

One way to keep the order of a longer randomised listening list would be to add all the songs into a Playlist, then Re-sort that playlist into random order, and play it with the List Position Memory enabled. This is not as difficult as it might sound:

1. Go into your Techno folder, long-press on any song, tap 'All', and then '+Playlist' to add all of the songs from that folder into a new Playlist.
2. Go to that Playlist and use (menu) => Re-Sort to randomise the stored order of the songs.
   * Note: This second step will be redundant from the next beta release of Poweramp, which will have a feature to allow inserting of songs into a Playlist in randomised order.
3. Make sure you have set 'List Options' for that specific Playlist to remember both the 'List Position' and 'Per-Track Progress'.

Then whenever you return to that Playlist and tap the 'Play' icon at the top, PA will return to the exact spot where you last left off. As the song order is fixed (so not governed by variable list options) the sequence won't change.

Andre