Next builds priorities

[maxmp]

What should be the next build priorities?

[flyingdutchman]

From posts on this forum i would say dlna, export and import ratings and settings, album artist tag.

Purely for selfish reasons, additional functionality in the api to allow creating, maintaining deleting Poweramp playlists by external apps.

[franklymydeer]

Please add Album Artist tag as a next build priority, or at least in your to-do list. Thanks!

[nithingowda]

Please Add Backup Playlist

[andrewilley]

Please Add Backup Playlist

That is already there, Settings > Folders and Library > Export Poweramp Playlists.

However it might be an idea to make user modifications to file-based playlists also saveable back to the original files too.

Andre

[andrewilley]

Please add Album Artist tag as a next build priority, or at least in your to-do list. Thanks!

I think that one (along with reading and writing tag-based star-ratings in files) would probably make more happy users than any amount of visualisations and material design tweaks. Oh, and in addition to Album Artist, support for the Disc# tag when sorting by Track# is urgently needed, as multi-disc albums currently don't sort correctly by disc first and then track number.

(I would edit the poll to add Album Artist as a choice, but as it's Max's poll I think that might be overstepping my remit somewhat. )

Andre

[andrewilley]

Of the four items listed, I would say Google music and cloud music storage (including NAS) are equally highly requested in most users eyes, and basically come under the overall heading of 'streaming', which would be very popular if phrased like that.

DLNA has been kinda overtaken by Chromecast (and now Chromecast Audio) in terms of requests for playback options, but I gather that Chromecast is actually nowhere near as simple to implement as it seems, especially if Poweramp's famed audio quality is to be retained. I assumed it was just a case of send the existing audio bitstream to different output plugin API, but I guess it's not.

Material design has its fans, but as far as I'm concerned is a complete red herring and will do nothing to make Poweramp a better player. Audio players have always had their own distinct personalities (going all the way back to things like Winamp on the PC) and turning Poweramp into a bland clone of everything else on the market would be counter-productive. IMHO, adding user-requested features rather than time-consuming (but ultimately superficial) fiddling with the look would be a far better use of Max's valuable time. And anyway, surely it's almost time for Google to come up with yet another vacuous form-over-function re-think to their Android design ideas, so might as well wait for that to happen.

Andre

[rodrigoyasuda]

I wish I could have a list showing the next songs that will be played while playing on Shuffle mode

[jaydubbs]

I wish I could have a list showing the next songs that will be played while playing on Shuffle mode

Great suggestion! That would be nice.

[andrewilley]

For what it's worth, my own suggestion for priorities would be:

1) Address the minor bugs already reported for the alpha release (such as Bluetooth resume, hide panels not working, album art not showing correctly with Playlists, etc) and issue a new alpha test.

2) Tackle some of the long-outstanding "low hanging fruit" user requests, many of which date back 4+ years now, ideally releasing them item-by-item for testing and feedback via regular new alpha or beta versions. These include, off the top of my head:

• Tag support (album artist tag, disc number tag, ratings scan from files and save back to files, cover art save to files)
• Single-file playback and pause before starting next song (as an option in the Repeat menu)
• Allow some folders to be ignored by Shuffle play to prevent audiobooks, long concerts, radio shows, etc appearing during Shuffled music playback
• Saving changes back to file-based playlists
• More precise positional control during long file playback - possibly by adding a new optional mode for swiping on the album-art area to give +/-10 or +/-30 second jumps, or better still an 'MX Player'-like finger-slide for variable scrubbing from the from the current location
• Real-time lyrics overlay in the album art area
• Option for brief large-text overlay of album name & artist, and also option to wake the screen briefly when a track change occurs, for in-car use
• View shuffled play order like other lists (rodrigoyasuda reminded me of that one )

I could compile a more detailed list of these given a bit of time.

3) More advanced and time-consuming long term feature additions such as streaming audio formats (Google Music, other cloud sources, LAN/NAS, etc); output formats (Chromecast/Chromecast Audio, DLNA, etc); manufacturer-specific audio features (e.g. LG's high quality DACs, USB output, etc).

99) Material Design

To be honest, I think (2) would be by far the most beneficial in terms of the impact on user-experience, as the understandably heavy workload for the whole v3 project over the past few years has unfortunately led to an impression among the user-base that their concerns and requests were being ignored.

Andre

[andrewilley]

I wish I could have a list showing the next songs that will be played while playing on Shuffle mode

I'd have thought that would be simple enough to add too, as I believe the whole shuffle order is created in memory in advance when you start playback (to avoid duplicates being heard, rather than each new song being added randomly in real-time) and if so all it would take is an extra entry in the categories list (along with 'Queue', 'Playlists' and 'Most Played' could be a new entry for 'Shuffled Playback')

Andre

[t.tucker91]

Possibly fix the album art not sticking while playing music in a playlist bug? I can't honestly think of much, this alpha build has been pretty damn solid.

[TeutonJon78]

For what it's worth, my own suggestion for priorities would be:

1) Address the minor bugs already reported for the alpha release (such as Bluetooth resume, hide panels not working, album art not showing correctly with Playlists, etc) and issue a new alpha test.

2) Tackle some of the long-outstanding "low hanging fruit" user requests, many of which date back 4+ years now, ideally releasing them item-by-item for testing and feedback via regular new alpha or beta versions. These include, off the top of my head:

• Tag support (album artist tag, disc number tag, ratings scan from files and save back to files, cover art save to files)
• Single-file playback and pause before starting next song (as an option in the Repeat menu)
• Allow some folders to be ignored by Shuffle play to prevent audiobooks, long concerts, radio shows, etc appearing during Shuffled music playback
• Saving changes back to file-based playlists
• More precise positional control during long file playback - possibly by adding a new optional mode for swiping on the album-art area to give +/-10 or +/-30 second jumps, or better still an 'MX Player'-like finger-slide for variable scrubbing from the from the current location
• Real-time lyrics overlay in the album art area
• Option for brief large-text overlay of album name & artist, and also option to wake the screen briefly when a track change occurs, for in-car use
• View shuffled play order like other lists (rodrigoyasuda reminded me of that one )

I could compile a more detailed list of these given a bit of time.

3) More advanced and time-consuming long term feature additions such as streaming audio formats (Google Music, other cloud sources, LAN/NAS, etc); output formats (Chromecast/Chromecast Audio, DLNA, etc); manufacturer-specific audio features (e.g. LG's high quality DACs, USB output, etc).

99) Material Design

To be honest, I think (2) would be by far the most beneficial in terms of the impact on user-experience, as the understandably heavy workload for the whole v3 project over the past few years has unfortunately led to an impression among the user-base that their concerns and requests were being ignored.

Andre

 

 

While I voted for material design, your #2 is a much bigger issue. there are TONs or little things people have been asking for awhile now (many of which have already been made into the alpha).

 

And I think there could be a minor amount of work to update the current skin without necessarily redesigning the whole UI just yet. Like updating the icons from GB-era to something more current. That alone would help in that area. If you look at the threads on reddit and such places, more people care about the look of the app than one might think.

 

I think DLNA is a big thing, as long as that ALSO includes Chromecast support, which is becoming more of a needed feature.

 

And I think most people would be happy with this pushing out to the release channel even, as long as it was followed up with consistent bug fixing. If there is going to be long stretches between releases, then it's better to just leave it as a sideload.

[raymond555]

Bass and treble knobs set to 50% as default values.

Should have been added along time ago.

[Tristan Young]

For what it's worth, my own suggestion for priorities would be:

1) Address the minor bugs already reported for the alpha release (such as Bluetooth resume, hide panels not working, album art not showing correctly with Playlists, etc) and issue a new alpha test.

2) Tackle some of the long-outstanding "low hanging fruit" user requests, many of which date back 4+ years now, ideally releasing them item-by-item for testing and feedback via regular new alpha or beta versions. These include, off the top of my head:

• Tag support (album artist tag, disc number tag, ratings scan from files and save back to files, cover art save to files)
• Single-file playback and pause before starting next song (as an option in the Repeat menu)
• Allow some folders to be ignored by Shuffle play to prevent audiobooks, long concerts, radio shows, etc appearing during Shuffled music playback
• Saving changes back to file-based playlists
• More precise positional control during long file playback - possibly by adding a new optional mode for swiping on the album-art area to give +/-10 or +/-30 second jumps, or better still an 'MX Player'-like finger-slide for variable scrubbing from the from the current location
• Real-time lyrics overlay in the album art area
• Option for brief large-text overlay of album name & artist, and also option to wake the screen briefly when a track change occurs, for in-car use
• View shuffled play order like other lists (rodrigoyasuda reminded me of that one )

I could compile a more detailed list of these given a bit of time.

3) More advanced and time-consuming long term feature additions such as streaming audio formats (Google Music, other cloud sources, LAN/NAS, etc); output formats (Chromecast/Chromecast Audio, DLNA, etc); manufacturer-specific audio features (e.g. LG's high quality DACs, USB output, etc).

99) Material Design

To be honest, I think (2) would be by far the most beneficial in terms of the impact on user-experience, as the understandably heavy workload for the whole v3 project over the past few years has unfortunately led to an impression among the user-base that their concerns and requests were being ignored.

Andre

 

I agree with this.

Before complicating matters, fix the simple things first.  Then add more.

For me, the only two things that are making me contemplate reverting to Poweramp v2.x is the Bluetooth resume and Bluetooth play position reset bugs.  The first one is a safety issue.  They are both a serious issue in Ontario, Canada due to current laws; regardless of whether you are parked along the side of the road, parked in a public parking lot or stopped in a drive-through, if you are fiddling with your phone while behind the wheel, it's an automatic fine when caught.  Kinda puts a damper on testing this alpha version when there is a fine involved, or you risk drawing your attention away from the road.

[exodius]

Material skin bro, it would nice.

[Kutsan]

Any plans for auto lyrics finder? Like MusicBee's feature. Otherwise material design will be good.

[anarion]

I would like to see Material design. Many say that Material hinders dev creativity etc but this is absolutely false. Maybe it does when you dont use it properly. The truth is Poweramp needed badly a complete makeover. There are other music player apps that gained momentum out there and Poweramp got forgotten. Poweramp is an Android app that needs to coordinate with the ecosystem system better. Material makes it easier for the eyes and more modern. The Alpha as it is seems almost the same as the old and this is not a good thing after all this year's that we waited the new version. Also Poweramp needs to be cool again to gain new users. Material can help with that.

[andrewilley]

OK, I give up. So from the last few messages in the poll it seems that most people basically seem to want buttons and menus that look trendy (well this year's idea of trendy anyway, which is always the problem with keeping up with the latest fads of course) rather than adding any actual real features that would make Poweramp a better player???

Can I ask why anyone actually cares about this? Other than fitting in and looking like all the other sheep anyway.

What is it that you want Max to do with 'Material Design' (no one has yet asked for anything specific that they feel needs to be done, just the generic phrase) that will make Poweramp sound better? Or be more powerful and feature packed? Or be easier to use? Or basically do anything other than putting a new coat of paint with trendy, but ultimately meaningless, go-faster-stripes onto an old car?

I'm genuinely curious as to why, of all the great things Max could implement for us, the shallow and vacuous option seems to be the most popular? Help me out here guys, what specific things do you want to look different and why? Is it just a visual skin that you want, or any changes to underlying functionality and interface operation?

Andre

[flyingdutchman]

Andre, I agree, functionality is much more important than look and feel. When I use Poweramp, the mobile sits in my pocket. I certainly do not sit and look at it all the time. For me the way it looks is fine. Material Design is perhaps of use for developers but I think it is a retrograde step for users.

[raymond555]

Hi Andre!

Would like to see bass and treble knobs set by Default to 50%.

Spectrum analyzer should be the only plug in as all other are overkill and should be offered in a different package.

Loudness button should be added also.

[andrewilley]

Would like to see bass and treble knobs set by Default to 50%.

Spectrum analyzer should be the only plug in as all other are overkill and should be offered in a different package.

Loudness button should be added also.

Agreed, I've always felt that the rotary Tone controls should have flat in the centre, and +/- on either side. I've never been quite sure why it was implemented as a boost-only feature.

As for Visualistions, I really can't see any harm in providing a decent selection as long as there's no great size overhead involved. I personal would probably use it as a visual pattern generator rather than as a frequency analysis tool.

Andre

[Tristan Young]

OK, I give up. So from the last few messages in the poll it seems that most people basically seem to want buttons and menus that look trendy (well this year's idea of trendy anyway, which is always the problem with keeping up with the latest fads of course) rather than adding any actual real features that would make Poweramp a better player???

Can I ask why anyone actually cares about this? Other than fitting in and looking like all the other sheep anyway.

What is it that you want Max to do with 'Material Design' (no one has yet asked for anything specific that they feel needs to be done, just the generic phrase) that will make Poweramp sound better? Or be more powerful and feature packed? Or be easier to use? Or basically do anything other than putting a new coat of paint with trendy, but ultimately meaningless, go-faster-stripes onto an old car?

I'm genuinely curious as to why, of all the great things Max could implement for us, the shallow and vacuous option seems to be the most popular? Help me out here guys, what specific things do you want to look different and why? Is it just a visual skin that you want, or any changes to underlying functionality and interface operation?

Andre

I could care less about material design.  Poweramp is a powerful and fantastic music player that doesn't need to conform to any specific appearance.

If you want new features, I'd like to have shoutcast support.  Many will say it's pointless as WinAMP is going down the tubes, but the new authors have to remove all the AOL-bits they don't have rights to, re-write parts, and from what I understand it's reached an internal alpha stage.

I don't want to use the android WinAMP (for which I also paid for), but I would like to be able to use Poweramp to access Shoutcast.  DLNA, while nice, is a very low priority for me, I don't even run a DLNA server anymore.  Considering all the buggy implementations of DLNA, It's easier for me to just copy my own media to my rather capacious phone, than deal with the crap that calls itself DLNA.

 

[yuuki]

i voted for material design since imo cloud and Google Music Support

 is useless.

 

Dataplanes of for smartphones are small enough to begin with and i dont get  why people would sacrifice their data volume for streaming music if they just as well could store it on the device it self and use their data volume for somethign more productive.

[andrewilley]

i voted for material design since imo cloud and Google Music Support

Ah, so perhaps people are voting for Material Design because they don't much need any of the other choices either?

I wonder how the poll would fare if the available options included Album Artist + Disc Number tag support, Ratings loaded/saved from files, and some of the other long-requested features?

Andre