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[bob]

JRemote iOS 3.31 is in Beta now, I hope to release it as soon as I get some feedback from the Beta testers. Released 2 Apr 2020.
I've done testing on all of the hardware devices I have and so far it looks good.

Changes in iOS13 broke the top level sort, views on iPhones and the local video player which should all be fixed now.
Also, we are using a newer video player API so that may fix some streaming issues that were occurring as well.

Outstanding issues NOT addressed in this build are the jump to letter index in one of the views when article sorting is enabled and the problem with some delimiters in article sorting when using MC's articles (this only works in MC25 and newer).

[maky100]

Nice to hear 

[thorsten]

Thank you very much that you don't forget iOS!

[TheShoe]

+1!

This is great news!

[windowsx]

It's been bugging me for several years already that JRemote can't handle CD playback at all. Even if I can put CD in with auto playback function, I can only press back and forward to navigate music and can't select track number like real CD player remote.

Worst of all, there's no eject button function meaning I'll need to eject CD through remote desktop feature. Some good drive like certain Teac model won't have eject button implemented and now I need to buy Unified Remote app setup on PC to do that.

I hope JRiver will realize this issue and develop CD remote function for audiophiles who want to use server as CD player too. Trust me this is one of reasons why many of audiophiles haven't joined in computer audio yet. They have massive CD collection and don't have time to RIP them all yet.

[samuel5168]

The search function in app jremote cannot be used on apple ipad air3 ios13

[jayla]

The search function cannot be used on iPad Pro 11" as well

[Awesome Donkey]

They know, it might be already fixed in the beta.

[bob]

They know, it might be already fixed in the beta.

Yup, the search function is fixed on all devices in the Beta.
I'm just waiting for some more feedback from the testers before making it live.

[bob]

It looks like the issue streaming videos (other than mp4 or m4u) over a dozen minutes or so remains.
I'm starting to think that issue is in the conversion in MC and not in JRemote itself.
Since the other remote playback options don't use the same format that would explain why it works on other platforms.

[Hendrik]

I'm starting to think that issue is in the conversion in MC and not in JRemote itself.
Since the other remote playback options don't use the same format that would explain why it works on other platforms.

The conversion is fine, I just don't use it in JRemote2 for Android because the other option is superior.
Try playing the HLS link in a stand-alone video player, or even MC itself, and it works fine.

The only thing special about the conversion is that its basically a "live" playlist that produces content faster then realtime, because we're transcoding and not recording or something like that. But thats perfectly valid. It just trips up Apples silly player as it runs out of memory because it basically overeats until it explodes.

[TheShoe]

does that mean that mp4 and m4v will play back natively in JRemote without issue at least?

[bob]

The conversion is fine, I just don't use it in JRemote2 for Android because the other option is superior.
Try playing the HLS link in a stand-alone video player, or even MC itself, and it works fine.

The only thing special about the conversion is that its basically a "live" playlist that produces content faster then realtime, because we're transcoding and not recording or something like that. But thats perfectly valid. It just trips up Apples silly player as it runs out of memory because it basically overeats until it explodes.

It's an interesting theory that the AVPlayer is the issue but that means it would never work for that type of material.
Since MC isn't properly setting the cache-control on the index file I'm going to fix that first and see if it makes a difference then look for flaws in JRemote code.

[bob]

does that mean that mp4 and m4v will play back natively in JRemote without issue at least?

Yes

[greynolds]

What do other apps, like VLC, do for playback of the other file types?  I haven't encountered issues playing video in any other apps.

Glad to see that you guys are still trying to fix it though.

[dmitch77]

Is there any chance that the long-standing bug involving problems handling files with large artwork can fixed in this go-around?

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,98810.msg683736.html#msg683736

This problem is getting worse in practice, because nowadays almost all of the music files I buy online have artwork large enough to trigger this bug. (5 years ago, very few files came with artwork larger than 1500x1500. Now, most files do.) So...almost every time I buy music, I have to delete its artwork, shrink it, and put the smaller artwork back in the file. All of this, to accommodate a JRemote bug that has been around for 5 years....

Thanks.

[TheShoe]

Can confirm that video still encounters playback issues in 3.31 when transcoded.  Unlike previous versions where the video would stop however, this time it plays for a few mins for me and then the audio drops while video continues to play.  I have not let it continue to play long enough to see if video also stops.  I am going try mp4 playback tonight as that's native to iOS and per bob that should playback.

I also noticed that when the iPad is in "Dark" mode, the top menu in JRemote (where the Gear / Back icons are on the upper left and the function you are in are listed, e.g. "Audio", "Video", etc) do not display, or are rather hard to see as the text is black and the background is dark gray.  Turning off "Dark" mode and back to "Light" resolves this

Finally - the Search function seems to work for me; I don't actually use it often but it works, and it's FAST.

--

Tested on: iPad Mini 4, iOS 13.3.1 & iPhone 11, iOS 13.3.1

[bob]

Thanks for the feedback all.

Unless there are regressions I'm going to release this one since it fixes several issues especially with iOS 13.

As for the other issues raised here:

1) The themes will need adjusting to deal with Dark Mode. I noticed that as well but it didn't seem to prevent use in any particular area for me.
That can be done by either disabling Dark Mode in JRemote globally (easy) or detecting it and adjusting (more time involved).

2) Large cover art in ALAC files, we'll need to see where that's breaking. There are 2 components for playing in JRemote and I'm not sure which one handles ALAC. I assume this is only for local playback on the device itself?

3) As for video, the way we generate video for non-mp4/m4v files to stream is the standard way to do that on iOS (HLS streaming).
We are generating a proper stream according to Apple's stream validator.
It is however a complex stream since the index file changes in real-time as the segments are generated. Gizmo uses the same method and this works perfectly on Android. Interesting, it fails in Safari on MacOS in exactly the same place with my test video as it fails in JRemote on iOS. There are 2 approaches to this. One is to generate a less challenging stream for JRemote to deal with. This will require changes in MC that Hendrik is considering. The second which I've been working on is to coax the AVPlayer in iOS to behave properly (basically to not overbuffer). There are a number of parameters that can be set to do this but the AVPlayer is broken enough to not handle them properly. I haven't given up on that yet but I don't want it holding back a release.

[TheShoe]

I know on Safari (iOS and macOS) HLS via Panel works fine for me.

I’ve been experimenting with MP4 and first off noticed that if the audio is DTS-HD, video will play but audio is muted.    have to try a resample to aac and add it as a separate audio track.    i am sure the base player in iOS is not supporting the dts stream.

audio is an easy issue to overcome for mp4.   subtitles on the other hand are not.  at least PGS subs.   need to see if converting to vobsub and muxing that in will work.    always some compromise!

[bob]

I know on Safari (iOS and macOS) HLS via Panel works fine for me.

I’ve been experimenting with MP4 and first off noticed that if the audio is DTS-HD, video will play but audio is muted.    have to try a resample to aac and add it as a separate audio track.    i am sure the base player in iOS is not supporting the dts stream.

audio is an easy issue to overcome for mp4.   subtitles on the other hand are not.  at least PGS subs.   need to see if converting to vobsub and muxing that in will work.    always some compromise!

I suppose it's possible that it's the particular test movie I'm using but I can watch the requests into MC and the AVPlayer is definitely not paying attention to the set buffering parameters and there are others on the net having the same issues.

Generally if a movie is long enough and the MC server is fast enough you'll see it sooner or later. I'm not sure why you are getting OK results from Panel and Safari. Doesn't make any sense to me since I can take the exact URL JRemote is requesting and put it into Safari and get the same error.

[TheShoe]

i will test again.


what i did was take the url to the getFile api call in MC via dev tools in safari as i wanted to see what Panel was doing.    feeding that url directly into safari, it starts the video playback.   but in any case, i have watched a few hours of mkvs in panel without issue in safari.

this is on an iPad pro 12” but don’t know if that makes a difference or not.   will test and report back.

UPDATE:

Tried a few MKV files via Panel on Safari /macOS and playback worked fine all the way through (> 1 hour).  Same for Safari on iOS 13.3.1.

Here's one example of a URL - restarted playback: GET /MCWS/v1/File/GetFile.m3u8?File=760569&Token=iqoBFRjg&Conversion=WebPanel&Quality=High&Start=97.01128668171556&Playback=2&HLS=1 HTTP/1.1\r\n

(this URL was captured from Wireshark).  I've not looked at the interaction of and the API call from JRemote.  I do note that when I stop playback in Safari/Panel, network activity continues - looks like the stream itself continues even though the video has stopped.  this is verified in developer tools and wireshark as I'm continuing to see segments sent to the browser.

was wondering why Panel doesn't actually tell MC to stop - is it buffering?

not sure if any of this is helpful or not.  feel free to request any additional testing

[tented]

I just updated to the latest version. Every time I try to open it on my iPhone, the app crashes. On my iPad, it will open, but if I tap Audio, Images, Video, or Playlists in the left column, the app crashes.

I’m using iOS 13.4 on both devices.

[bob]

i will test again.


what i did was take the url to the getFile api call in MC via dev tools in safari as i wanted to see what Panel was doing.    feeding that url directly into safari, it starts the video playback.   but in any case, i have watched a few hours of mkvs in panel without issue in safari.

this is on an iPad pro 12” but don’t know if that makes a difference or not.   will test and report back.

UPDATE:

Tried a few MKV files via Panel on Safari /macOS and playback worked fine all the way through (> 1 hour).  Same for Safari on iOS 13.3.1.

Here's one example of a URL - restarted playback: GET /MCWS/v1/File/GetFile.m3u8?File=760569&Token=iqoBFRjg&Conversion=WebPanel&Quality=High&Start=97.01128668171556&Playback=2&HLS=1 HTTP/1.1\r\n

(this URL was captured from Wireshark).  I've not looked at the interaction of and the API call from JRemote.  I do note that when I stop playback in Safari/Panel, network activity continues - looks like the stream itself continues even though the video has stopped.  this is verified in developer tools and wireshark as I'm continuing to see segments sent to the browser.

was wondering why Panel doesn't actually tell MC to stop - is it buffering?

not sure if any of this is helpful or not.  feel free to request any additional testing

One thing that's important to do is to restart MC between each test because the conversion will be cached if you don't.

[bob]

I just updated to the latest version. Every time I try to open it on my iPhone, the app crashes. On my iPad, it will open, but if I tap Audio, Images, Video, or Playlists in the left column, the app crashes.

I’m using iOS 13.4 on both devices.

What version of MC and what are your MC server authorization settings?

[tented]

What version of MC and what are your MC server authorization settings?

MC 25
 
In Tools/Options/Media Network the Server authorization settings:
"Media Network to share this library and enable DNLA" is checked (everything else unchecked), and I'm using an access key.

Is that what you want?

[bob]

MC 25
 
In Tools/Options/Media Network the Server authorization settings:
"Media Network to share this library and enable DNLA" is checked (everything else unchecked), and I'm using an access key.

Is that what you want?

Yes. Just to verify you haven't enabled Authentication and Read-Only is set to Everyone?

[greynolds]

I just tried a quick test of video playback of a TV recording (a .ts file) for just a few minutes on my iPhone XS; I'll try my iPad Pro (first gen) later.  It worked fine for the quick test, but what happened to the ability to jump forward and back?  Same thing with a ripped Bluray - it plays but no ability to jump forward and back or use a slider to jump to a point.  I obviously haven't been able to get video playback to work at all for a while, but I thought these features had existed previously.  Either way, this is at least a big step in the right direction.

[Cinelder]

Many thanks for the 3.31 update!  So far, so much better!

[bob]

I just tried a quick test of video playback of a TV recording (a .ts file) for just a few minutes on my iPhone XS; I'll try my iPad Pro (first gen) later.  It worked fine for the quick test, but what happened to the ability to jump forward and back?  Same thing with a ripped Bluray - it plays but no ability to jump forward and back or use a slider to jump to a point.  I obviously haven't been able to get video playback to work at all for a while, but I thought these features had existed previously.  Either way, this is at least a big step in the right direction.

Mp4 and m4v are played natively, they are seekable. The other formats can only be streamed.

[maky100]

Thank you also from my side 

[tented]

Yes. Just to verify you haven't enabled Authentication and Read-Only is set to Everyone?

Here's a screenshot:

[bob]

Here's a screenshot:

Ok, thanks. It works for me with the same settings and same MC version.
It's possible your JRemote settings are corrupt. Can you uninstall and reinstall it and try again?

Note that with iPhones the first connect on a fresh install might abort but when you rerun it the server should be there.

[tented]

Ok, thanks. It works for me with the same settings and same MC version.
It's possible your JRemote settings are corrupt. Can you uninstall and reinstall it and try again?

Note that with iPhones the first connect on a fresh install might abort but when you rerun it the server should be there.

Same results.

I did notice that I was able to launch the app on my iPhone, but as soon as I entered the server access key, it crashed.

[bob]

Same results.

I did notice that I was able to launch the app on my iPhone, but as soon as I entered the server access key, it crashed.

Even when you went back in after it crashed? The server should still be in the list even though it crashed and if you try to connect again it still crashes?

[tented]

Even when you went back in after it crashed? The server should still be in the list even though it crashed and if you try to connect again it still crashes?

I deleted the app, reinstalled it, launched it, entered the server info, the app crashed. Tried to reopen it, app crashed.

[bob]

I deleted the app, reinstalled it, launched it, entered the server info, the app crashed. Tried to reopen it, app crashed.

Ok that's weird.
What are the exact models of your devices?

In MC, full version number and OS it's running on please?

Also in MC Tools->Options->Media Network->Click on Access Key do "Test Connection ..." report results please.

Thanks.

[tented]

Ok that's weird.
What are the exact models of your devices?

In MC, full version number and OS it's running on please?

Also in MC Tools->Options->Media Network->Click on Access Key do "Test Connection ..." report results please.

Thanks.

Test results:
“This library server is not reachable from the internet, but you can still use it within your local network.
To use this server from other computers on your local network, select it in the tree ...
To make this server accessible from the Internet, you’ll probably need to configure ...”


Is that the problem?


Models:
iPad Pro
iPhone 7

[tented]

Ok that's weird.
What are the exact models of your devices?

In MC, full version number and OS it's running on please?

Also in MC Tools->Options->Media Network->Click on Access Key do "Test Connection ..." report results please.

Thanks.

And to be clear, the apps were working correctly on both devices prior to this update. It’s not as if this crashing problem had been happening before.

[bob]

Test results:
“This library server is not reachable from the internet, but you can still use it within your local network.
To use this server from other computers on your local network, select it in the tree ...
To make this server accessible from the Internet, you’ll probably need to configure ...”


Is that the problem?


Models:
iPad Pro
iPhone 7

No problem there since I assume you are on your local LAN.
MC version and OS??

I'll run in the simulator here and see if I can duplicate your results.

[tented]

No problem there since I assume you are on your local LAN.
MC version and OS??

I'll run in the simulator here and see if I can duplicate your results.

MC 25, OS 10.15.4, iOS 13.4

[bob]

MC 25, OS 10.15.4, iOS 13.4

Thanks and the exact MC version? Help->About Media Center?

[tented]

Thanks and the exact MC version? Help->About Media Center?

25.0.128

[bob]

Thanks, I'll setup the simulator and let you know.

[tented]

Thanks, I'll setup the simulator and let you know.

Thank you!

[bob]

Thank you!

I tried it with the pad, no luck it won't crash.
Would you try changing your Read-Only authentication to Everyone and try again?
You probably should remove and reinstall JRemote again to make sure the settings are cleared out.

[tented]

I tried it with the pad, no luck it won't crash.
Would you try changing your Read-Only authentication to Everyone and try again?
You probably should remove and reinstall JRemote again to make sure the settings are cleared out.

Did that, but same results. I haven't a clue.

The only other option I can think of is uninstalling everything, including MC, and start from the beginning.

[bob]

Did that, but same results. I haven't a clue.

The only other option I can think of is uninstalling everything, including MC, and start from the beginning.

MC shouldn't matter.
Can you email me a copy of one of your library backups? (it will have the settings in it).
Send it to bob (at) jriver (dot) com
Thanks!

[bob]

So it turns out that, if there is a parenthesis in the articles to ignore list in MC, the parser in JRemote barfs on it.

A simple workaround until there is an update is to remove that article from the list.

In this case it was to remove
);
From Tools->Options->Tree and View->Sorting->Articles

[wer]

Bob,

The interface rotation problem on Iphones is still not fixed in this version.  I'm referring to the problem that has been reported by multiple people going back years:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=118465.0
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,121615.msg841449.html

IOS 12, IOS 13, MC21, MC25, MC26 all make no difference.

Can this issue PLEASE get some serious attention?

Thanks very much!

[dmitch77]

2) Large cover art in ALAC files, we'll need to see where that's breaking. There are 2 components for playing in JRemote and I'm not sure which one handles ALAC. I assume this is only for local playback on the device itself?

Yes, it's a problem only on local device playback.

Thanks for fixing the global search. Works great.