When selecting "Shuffle" in the Main Folder, it only shuffles songs in a particular folder, not ALL folders.

[leeuniverse]

So, I organize my songs by "Folders", when I select the Root Folder that holds all my folders, and then select "Shuffle" the app will select a song from one of my folders, and then it will "continue" to play songs in THAT folder ONLY.

In other words, the app is not shuffling ALL my songs/folders, it will ONLY do so in a particular folder.

Shuffle works fine if I select shuffle "within" a particular folder, but just not the Root folder.

If this could be fixed, thanks...  I want to shuffle "all" my songs, not just those of a particular folder.

Version: 974 (974004-862d3789)  Full version build 307
Galaxy S23 Ultra
Model: SM-S918U1

[andrewilley]

Yes, that is by design. When you a viewing a list of Folders, the shuffle function will select one of those folders and play it at random, then when that's done it will pick another random folder, and so on.

To adjust that functionality and make shuffle instead pick individual songs at random from anywhere within the viewed folders, enable Settings=>Library=>Shuffle=>'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy'.

Oh, and a quick, slightly-related, tip: if you only have one root folder for your music, you can bypass seeing a pointless view with just one folder in it by enabling Settings=>Library=>Lists=>'Folders Hierarchy Immediate Root'. 

Andre

[leeuniverse]

On 8/25/2023 at 2:56 AM, andrewilley said:

Yes, that is by design. When you a viewing a list of Folders, the shuffle function will select one of those folders and play it at random, then when that's done it will pick another random folder, and so on.

To adjust that functionality and make shuffle instead pick individual songs at random from anywhere within the viewed folders, enable Settings=>Library=>Shuffle=>'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy'.

Oh, and a quick, slightly-related, tip: if you only have one root folder for your music, you can bypass seeing a pointless view with just one folder in it by enabling Settings=>Library=>Lists=>'Folders Hierarchy Immediate Root'. 

Andre

Thanks for responding...

1. I actually don't think it should do "random by Folder" by default.  That setting is for Randomizing "Songs" so I think that's how it should work by default.
So, I would recommend to have the "extra" Setting be for those who want to Randomize Songs "by Folder".  So, they can set that setting if they want that ability.

I think this would be more intuative and what people are needing as default.
If we select to Randomize songs that's how it should work I would think by default?

2. So, I have this setting "Enabled" already, so I'm guessing it's not working?

3. Strange, I've "Enabled" something else that Lists all the Folders in my Root Music Folder, I don't have that setting enabled?  But, thank you for the tip, maybe this method is better, will look into it.

Hmmm...  Thinking about it, I could have sworn that WAS actually the setting I enabled, but it's showing as "disabled" currently.  Maybe that's the same issue as the above "not enabled" setting?  Will Try enabling/disabling these to see if that fixes the problem.

Okay, so BOTH settings are enabled, and no change.
The Shuffle setting STILL doesn't work with songs in folders in the Root folder, it will only do as you said, continue playing songs in a particular folder it selected at random.

Thanks for your work...

[andrewilley]

If you want to shuffle everything in your root music folder (I assume you don't mean root level of your storage, which you should not be putting music files into) just use Shuffle All Songs, either by tapping the 'Shuffle' icon on the Player Screen or just using the small header icon at the top of the All Songs Category. I agree that PA does have a lot of shuffling options though, and it can take a while to get used to them.

The header Shuffle icon is NOT meant to be a "shuffle all songs from here down" button, it's designed to shuffle whatever is displayed in the current list. So for example if you are viewing a list of five albums by an artist, it will shuffle each album in turn as that is what you are viewing. In most Categories there is an 'All Songs in this Category' link at the top, which would for example show you all of the songs in those five albums in one long list, and at that level the Shuffle icon will shuffle everything on the current screen - i.e. all songs by that artist. That behaviour can be overridden in Settings=>Library=>Shuffle, in the same way you can override it for folders. 

Could you show a screenshot of the folders view where the 'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy' does not work for you? For me, it works even up the top level of my master 'Audio' folder which contains about half a dozen themed subfolders. For example, this is my root hierarchy level - i.e. all of my music subfolders that are contained inside my master 'Audio' folder. And tapping the Shuffle icon at the top (when 'Shuffle All Songs in Folder Hierarchy' is enabled) picks random songs from anywhere in any of the subfolders. 

Andre

[leeuniverse]

1. Hmmm I see.

2. Here's how I have my Folder Root set up, I notice it's slighting different from yours.
You show Folder info on the Right, i show the A-Z Menu, which is what I like.

Also, I tried to "long press" the Shuffle Icon in the Top header, and it ONLY shows "Shuffle Songs & Categores" as the only option.  So, it's not like in the Now Playing screen in which when you long press the Shuffle Icons it shows you other options you can select.

One other thing, just tested, and on the Now Playing Screen selecting "Shuffle All" it WILL properly shuffle ALL songs in all my folders.
So, it's an issue related to the below screen ONLY, when I select the Shuffle Icon in that pic, it appears with that setting of course, since you said it will only work that way.

 

[andrewilley]

That is plain Folders view - which is just a long flattened list of every subfolder in the whole music system. The header-line shuffle icon in that mode only works by selecting a random folder and then listening to its contents shuffled, and then the next random folder, so on. There's no point in it working any other way as there are no structure layers underneath each item to be accessed or grouped. That the top Folders view covers in your entire music collection anyway, so just use the All Songs Category instead, or select 'Shuffle All Songs' from the Player Screen.

The option I was referring to only overrides the shuffle system in Folders Hierarchy category, sorry for the confusion.

Andre

[leeuniverse]

Ah, I see....  Why are there "two" Folder sections?

What's the difference between regular Folders and Hiearchy, both show the hierarchy?
Is it just one shows the folders on the right instead of the A-Z Menu?  Seems unnecessary?

Ah, okay...  I guess from now on I'll just have to select the shuffle option from the playing screen, or use the Folder Hierarchy.

Guess not a bug.  Thanks for the help.
Guess it's more likely a "Feature Request" for the Shuffle options to be added to that Icon also?

[andrewilley]

1 hour ago, leeuniverse said:

Guess it's more likely a "Feature Request" for the Shuffle options to be added to that Icon also?

Yes, and I think increasing the options for that icon is something that's planned to be added at some point in the future. 

"Folders" mode does not show any hierarchy at all - it has no ability to drill down from one level into the next (like viewing folders and subfolders in a file explorer app). It just offers a flattened list of every existing subfolder, one after the other. There are actually several categories that are hidden by default, including Folders Hierarchy which is more like a file explorer layout, and you can choose which ones you want to show/hide by tapping the three-dots menu icon at the top-level Library view and selecting List Options.

Andre