2 requests. Deletion and shuffle skip..

[Brandon Limkemann]

The shuffle feature at the very least should be smart enough to not play any file that I've marked with a thumbs down. It isn't. --- or I haven't found how to turn that feature on. Additionally - in order to save space on my device I'd like the ability to delete "thumbs down" files from my library and the device itself. Some people may only want to not "see" them in their library, but if I have a thumbs down on a track it means I will never intentionally play that song so I may as well remove it from the device altogether to save space. (Think albums or collections where I have moved all songs to the library but only really listen to a few) Thank you for your time! Love the app!

[andrewilley]

Shuffle is just a randomisation feature, it doesn't do much by way of logical filtering of the songs - that's rather more up to you, via your choice of playback category.

For example, if you want to avoid one-star rated songs (aka 'Thumb Down') then simply choose the 'Top Rated' library category and tap the Shuffle icon at the top of the list. That will technically play anything from 2-5 stars, but if you are using the 'Thumbs' system instead of stars then there will only be three possibilities in your collection: No Thumb (i.e. unrated, zero stars); Thumb Down (1 star); or Thumb Up (5 stars).

To quickly delete all the Thumb Down items in your collection, go to the 'Low Rated' library category (which will show all the 1 star, or Thumb down, songs), and tap Select=>All=>Delete. 

Andre

[Brandon Limkemann]

I'm starting to understand what you have going on here and technically it's not a bad idea, but in practice it's not good. Not ideal - let's say that. Every day at the gym I'm on the treadmill for an hour - it's quite easy to hit a thumb as a track comes up in between my sprints etc. whereas the stars aren't even on my screen (I'm betting you'll tell me there's a setting to turn them on) I don't even know where the star ratings are. IF it's possible to put the stars on the main screen then I'll give that a try, but the reason I was using the thumb system is because it's right there and intuitive. Thank you for the delete information, that was perfect - exactly what I was looking for - and again - related to the thumbs system. I get that the star system can be more robust because of the multi choice, but it's just not as intuitive I don't think - hence why streaming services use thumbs I would guess. Please let me know how to turn on stars.

[MotleyG]

55 minutes ago, Brandon Limkemann said:

I'm starting to understand what you have going on here and technically it's not a bad idea, but in practice it's not good. Not ideal - let's say that. Every day at the gym I'm on the treadmill for an hour - it's quite easy to hit a thumb as a track comes up in between my sprints etc. whereas the stars aren't even on my screen (I'm betting you'll tell me there's a setting to turn them on) I don't even know where the star ratings are. IF it's possible to put the stars on the main screen then I'll give that a try, but the reason I was using the thumb system is because it's right there and intuitive. Thank you for the delete information, that was perfect - exactly what I was looking for - and again - related to the thumbs system. I get that the star system can be more robust because of the multi choice, but it's just not as intuitive I don't think - hence why streaming services use thumbs I would guess. Please let me know how to turn on stars.

Settings>Look and Feel>Player UI>Rating Type...
You can choose Disabled, Like/Unlike Thumbs, 5 Stars, % stars (menus/lists only)

Different users have different preferences, I believe the thumbs is set by default to start.

[andrewilley]

Poweramp always used to use star ratings (1-5) which went back a long way in terms of PC ratings for audio and other material. When PA v3 was released about six years ago, Max opted for a simpler Thumbs-Up/Down system instead (which internally still equated to the old 1-star and 5-star anyway). This met with, shall we say, a bit of resistance for existing users, and hence the option to use either version interchangeably was quickly introduced via Settings=>Look and Feel=>Player UI=>Rating Type. 

Personally, I prefer 1-5 Star Ratings to Thumbs - for the simple reason that PA only deals with local files. For an online service, which may be presenting you with new and unknown content, a thumbs-down button makes sense to indicate that you don't like what is being offering to you so you don't hear it again. But for your own files, which you have placed on your own device deliberately, I can't see many reasons to keep lots of songs that you don't like in the first place - something you have highlighted in the original question in fact. You can delete them directly from the player screen or library view, or flag them with a particular rating for dealing with later.

Andre

[Brandon Limkemann]

Thank you all for your explanations and guidance. I'll try this system and see how I get along. You can delete this post if you like since I found my answers, but I did want to say thank you first and I really do enjoy the app!