Instructions for usage

[D451]

I have been using your app for years, but today I realized that the interface has also changed over the years.  It is not as intuitive and as simple as it was when I first got it. I was wondering if there was a manual or guild that will help me navigate the app?

[andrewilley]

There are several help files and FAQs in: https://forum.powerampapp.com/kb/en_us/faq/

However the reason why there isn't an official or printable manual per-se is the same as for other Android apps, features are getting added all the time and a text manual would be hard to keep updated to match. 

If you've got any particular questions though, please ask away here. I do understand what you are saying though, the more features that get added the more the learning curve to understand them all extends.

Andre

[D451]

Thanx, but that does not help much. There has to be some kind of Updated instruction manual. If not, maybe that would be something you would like to provide to make it easy for users. Maybe something with screen shots on your website.  It is a great app, but online instructions would make it greater. 

An ios version of the app would be nice also. 

[andrewilley]

29 minutes ago, D451 said:

There has to be some kind of Updated instruction manual.

An ios version of the app would be nice also. 

There isn't, and there won't be an iOS version either I'm afraid.

Very few phone apps have manuals if you think about it, Android apps are designed to use a common interface langauge and be generally intuitive to pick up.

I've actually written user-manuals for several software packages in the past, but always for a broadly finalised product rather than a moving target.

Andre

[6b6561]

There is also the on screen help which overlays the player screens which is quite handy.

[andrewilley]

I do wonder whether a "beginner's guide" might be a good idea sometimes though. Clearly it couldn't cover every option in every menu (they get updated so often, it would be out of date before it was even released!) but it could cover the basic operational principles that people sometimes misunderstand.

That was kinda where I was going with the more extended FAQs that I wrote, such as Granting Permission for Poweramp to access your Music Folders , What is the difference between ‘Categories’, ‘Playlists’ and the ‘Queue’ , How to use ‘Repeat’ and ‘Shuffle’ in Poweramp and Guide: Tags (embedded metadata), Albums, and CUE Sheets . Perhaps a Guide to the Poweramp Player Screen and a Guide to the Poweramp Library might be a good idea? Covering gestures and long-presses, List Options, etc.

That said, I covered the various 'Repeat' options in complete detail in that third FAQ I mentioned above, along with what the temporary Queue is (and is not) and yet it's still a very regular occurrence that I have to answer confused questions here or on Facebook about what 'Advance Category' means, or why seemly random songs keep appearing while listening to a K-pop Playlist. So maybe the problem is more a case of helping people find the information that is already out there? 

Andre

[hypomaniac-eric]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:03 AM, andrewilley said:

I do wonder whether a "beginner's guide" might be a good idea sometimes though. Clearly it couldn't cover every option in every menu (they get updated so often, it would be out of date before it was even released!) but it could cover the basic operational principles that people sometimes misunderstand.

That was kinda where I was going with the more extended FAQs that I wrote, such as Granting Permission for Poweramp to access your Music Folders , What is the difference between ‘Categories’, ‘Playlists’ and the ‘Queue’ , How to use ‘Repeat’ and ‘Shuffle’ in Poweramp and Guide: Tags (embedded metadata), Albums, and CUE Sheets . Perhaps a Guide to the Poweramp Player Screen and a Guide to the Poweramp Library might be a good idea? Covering gestures and long-presses, List Options, etc.

That said, I covered the various 'Repeat' options in complete detail in that third FAQ I mentioned above, along with what the temporary Queue is (and is not) and yet it's still a very regular occurrence that I have to answer confused questions here or on Facebook about what 'Advance Category' means, or why seemly random songs keep appearing while listening to a K-pop Playlist. So maybe the problem is more a case of helping people find the information that is already out there? 

Andre

those topics i needed help with years ago and you helped me with them.   and i need a manual for the sound settings.  i asked for help a few days ago and no one helped me.   I asked for help for the EQ app months ago and no help.   what happened to the Poweramp Support forum?  I used to see one and then it disappeared and then the Q and A showed up a few weeks or months later.  

[andrewilley]

I've just moved some of my more long-format responses from the FAQs section to a new Usage Guides area:

• Choosing your Music Folders, and Granting Access Permission
• What is the difference between playback by ‘Category’ and using the ‘Queue’
• How to use ‘Repeat’ and ‘Shuffle’ in Poweramp
• Creating and Using Playlists
• How are Albums and Artists defined in the Library (using embedded 'tags' in music files)
• What are CUE Sheets, and do I need them?
• Where does Poweramp store downloaded cover artwork files for Albums, Artists, etc?
• Using Direct Volume Control (DVC)
• Using ReplyGain to even out volume differences between different songs

More articles will probably be added over time to consolidate the more lengthy and repetitive answers to commonly posed queries from here in the forums.

However Poweramp is intended to be generally intuitive in its daily operation, and largely follows the standard operational design principles as used by by other Android apps. So I doubt this will never be an all-encompassing User Guide, as features tend to move quicker than I can update articles.

Andre

[D451]

@andrewilley

9 hours ago, andrewilley said:

I've just moved some of my more long-format responses from the FAQs section to a new Usage Guides area:

• Choosing your Music Folders, and Granting Access Permission
• What is the difference between playback by ‘Category’ and using the ‘Queue’
• How to use ‘Repeat’ and ‘Shuffle’ in Poweramp
• Creating and Using Playlists
• How are Albums and Artists defined in the Library (using embedded 'tags' in music files)
• What are CUE Sheets, and do I need them?
• Where does Poweramp store downloaded cover artwork files for Albums, Artists, etc?
• Using Direct Volume Control (DVC)
• Using ReplyGain to even out volume differences between different songs

More articles will probably be added over time to consolidate the more lengthy and repetitive answers to commonly posed queries from here in the forums.

However Poweramp is intended to be generally intuitive in its daily operation, and largely follows the standard operational design principles as used by by other Android apps. So I doubt this will never be an all-encompassing User Guide, as features tend to move quicker than I can update articles.

Andre

VERY NICE!   Thank you!