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[durufle]

I know this has been discussed before but I've never seen a real answer from the company.  Hoping someone can chime in on the following:

A) Why no love for iOS?  If it's because the developer's are unfamiliar with the platform or are too busy building other features, why not at least provide an standard low-level API so others can build something?  I've spoken to a few iOS devs who are interested in building something for JRiver but have decided against it after looking at the docs and realizing your interface is too crippled to build anything good.

B) Gizmo.  I don't know where to start with this one.  Played around with it the other day at a friends place and the only thing I could think of was "clunkly".  If you're going to go to the trouble to build a native app, why deviate from best practices and open a browser window to provide certain functionality?  It does work, but given what's happening with other platforms and remotes Gizmo looks amateurish.

C) DLNA.  Great and all -- and I'm one that believes in exploiting existing technology when appropriate but I feel that the DLNA spec prevents a truly seamless experience as a control point.  Without gap-less support I can't consider this a real option.

D) Web Remote.  I won't even comment as it's 2011 -- we shouldn't be dealing with anything other than a native app.

JRiver is so close to being the perfect playback app.  With it's infinite flexibility and audiophile quality output it truly is an amazing product.  Now, why is it too much to ask for an elegant iOS app?

[JimH]

A.  Apple is not a friendly environment for developers.

B.  Sounds like you were using WebRemote, not Gizmo.

C.  DLNA is the industry standard.  Apple doesn't follow it.

D.  Maybe you can write your own.

[durufle]

A.  Apple is not a friendly environment for developers.

Doesn't seem to be a problem for the 40000+ other developers who have apps in the store?

B.  Sounds like you were using WebRemote, not Gizmo.

No, I'm sure it was Gizmo.

C.  DLNA is the industry standard.  Apple doesn't follow it.

I wish DLNA would work, I really do.  But how you can consider it an option with all of the apparent flaws (including no gapless support) is beyond me.

D.  Maybe you can write your own.

I'd love to, but as other developers have also mentioned in the past, JRiver doesn't provide a proper API.

[JimH]

Doesn't seem to be a problem for the 40000+ other developers who have apps in the store?

Who have average annual sales of a few thousand dollars. 

If Apple ever opens up again, we'll probably support their gear, but I doubt it will happen.

[durufle]

I'm not quite sure what you are getting at here?  Are you in the business of selling remotes or are you in the business of selling JRiver?  What does it matter what a developer makes in the store?

Like I've said before.  I really respect what you've done with JRiver -- but your rationale for not supporting iOS seems vague at best.

Who have average annual sales of a few thousand dollars. 

If Apple ever opens up again, we'll probably support their gear, but I doubt it will happen.

[JimH]

Thanks.

[pcstockton]

durufle,

It is NEVER going to happen.  I dislike Macs with the best of them, but I do love the iOS devices.  You know when you can feel the unwavering hatred for a particular platform.  It sounds the same either way.  The responses above sound just like my buddy's who despises PCs.

Apple will never "open up" and JRiver will dislike that.

Just get PlugPlayer and/or eLyric and be done with it.

-patrick

[durufle]

I hear ya... what does "open up" mean?  Isn't JRiver a closed app? Makes no sense.

[Sheugel]

we shouldn't be dealing with anything other than a native app

If you want to have the "sensation" of a native app, you can use a dedicated iOS browser for the remote use, e.g. Mercury, in conjunction with WebRemote or better BitRemote (http://www.bitremote.com).
So you can benefit from multitasking without seeing the page reload. The only weakness is that you don't have a "cool" BitRemote icon... The strong point of a web remote is the ability to tweak the remote interface but that requires a little bit of html knowledge. With BitRemote, I'm able to move files inside the queue as next to play, to display the lyrics from LyricWiki...

[pcstockton]

WebRemote's "Page" method is unusable.  If they would/could implement something easier I would use it.

How the hell am I supposed to know what page "R" starts on?

The "jump letters" (down the right side of screen) of every iOS app I know of is great.

Having to Search for everything defeats one major way I listen.... I like to scroll around looking for Artists.

PlugPlayer is OK.  eLyric is a bit finer but doesn't stay connected when locked until the next build.  But either are loads better than WebRemote.

The ONLY time I use WebRemote is when I start playback inside MC then want to control from iOS.  Since JRiver uses its own, seemingly proprietary playlist protocol, PP and others apps are not sent the current playlist and therefor cannot do anything but pause and restart current track.

It really sucks.... But typically the shoe is on the other foot, so I will make due.

I find myself using Foobar (with Remote app) for a majority of my listening.  Mostly due to control point preference.  I unfortunately only use JRiver when I want to show off with Theater View.

I would LOVE to delete Foobar though and will as soon as MC and the more popular control points get along a bit better.  I would develop one if I had the means.

It sure would sell a few more licenses if they had a sexy control point.  Even if they charged for it....

-Patrick

[Matt]

I'd love to, but as other developers have also mentioned in the past, JRiver doesn't provide a proper API.

Everything that Gizmo uses is documented here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Web_Service_Interface

[Matt]

You weren't looking at the current Gizmo.

Gizmo doesn't use a web browser.  It's fully native.

[TMA-1]

Doesn't seem to be a problem for the 40000+ other developers who have apps in the store?

Im developing an native android app to controll MC with my tablet and this is the first thing I've ever done in Java and Android. If I can do it so should any app-developer with basic programming skills.
Yes, there are some querks to work around but still doable.

No, I'm sure it was Gizmo.

It really sounds like you tried an old Gizmo version.

I wish DLNA would work, I really do.  But how you can consider it an option with all of the apparent flaws (including no gapless support) is beyond me.

Im glad J river uses DLNA as almost all non-apple devices uses it. If J River decides to support other alternatives, thats great! But to drop DLNA would be a terrible misstake.
[/quote]

I'd love to, but as other developers have also mentioned in the past, JRiver doesn't provide a proper API.

J river provides an API. Sluggish perhaps but still an API. If you want to us it, you can. I am.

[)p(]

I use splashtop remote to show theaterview on my ipad2. I mainly use it to watch videos and photo's on the iPad. With a fast server the theater view gui is really smooth and looks great on an iPad. I guess you could also use it to just control MC from the iPad.

That said I would love to see an iOS native remote as good as ipeng for the squeezebox that also works with image and video files.

This is how theaterview looks with splashtop on an ipad here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf1cQJ0KAHo
Just a quick capture with my phone but I think you can see how well it looks and works.

[durufle]

As soon as the gapless issue gets resolved with PlugPlayer and MC i'll be OK.  From what I understand it's currently in the MC court... ?

[wombat66]

I use splashtop remote to show theaterview on my ipad2. I mainly use it to watch videos and photo's on the iPad. With a fast server the theater view gui is really smooth and looks great on an iPad. I guess you could also use it to just control MC from the iPad.

That said I would love to see an iOS native remote as good as ipeng for the squeezebox that also works with image and video files.

This is how theaterview looks with splashtop on an ipad here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf1cQJ0KAHo
Just a quick capture with my phone but I think you can see how well it looks and works.

Thanks for the heads up on splashtop. Wow!

[)p(]

Thanks for the heads up on splashtop. Wow!

Did you try it yourself? It does work wonderfully doesn't it The only thing that does not work as well as a native app is the flicking. With a large list its hard to control its so fast. That's why you see me mainly using the the scrollbars in that video. I did set them to extra wide in the theaterview skin settings...by default they are a bit to small on an ipad.

[PeeBee]

Splashtop is a nice alternative to use on an iPad, I used eLyric but is not reliable all the time.
Is it possible to choose a color for the scrollbars in theaterview ? They are not clearly visble

[mattsnuts]

So, just to recap, what are the current iOS remote control options?

1. PlugPlayer (does this work?)
2. BitRemote - (uses its own server instead of MC's Library Server? - not so keen on that)

Any others?

For me, I'm interested in controlling my Library from my iPhone (not iPad).

[JimH]

My River

[pcstockton]

MY RIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best yet.

PlugPlayer for streaming remotely.