Topic: JRemote for Android -- Now available (Read 275064 times)

JimH · « **on:** March 20, 2015, 10:23:29 am »

Edit by JimH -- Please see the last post in this thread.]

We're finishing it up now. You can take a look if you're willing to spend $9.98.

Here's the announcement Hendrik made a week ago on our private board.

----------------- begin Hendrik -------------------

JRiver proudly presents, JRemote for Android!

JRemote for Android is available in the Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jriver.jremote
Make sure you get the JRiver version. There is another product with the same name.

--------------------------------

Please note that JRemote for Android currently requires at least Android 4.1 or newer. We may re-evaluate this requirement in the future, however.

JRemote for Android will work with MC on any OS that MC runs on.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2015, 11:09:20 am »

Please use this thread for feedback. Thanks.

Hendrik · « **Reply #2 on:** March 20, 2015, 11:12:48 am »

Please do note that this is still an early beta version, and there will be issues. We appreciate any help we can get with testing our new code, but if you would rather have a fully working app, you may want to hold off until a later phase.
If you want to help us solve these issues and see the app grow and develop however, then we thank you for it! Please report any actual bugs you find, and send crash reports to the Play Store if it should crash.

One note about feature requests: At this point we would prefer to get everything we have planned and started to work on into place and working properly, and only then start to consider feature additions.
So please keep that in mind, and maybe remember your requests for later, when it makes more sense to ask!

beginner44 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2015, 12:16:45 pm »

Hi there,

first thank you for this new toy, it looks great !

I've been playing with it for a few minutes, and I'm wondering if the volume could be changed thanks to the physical buttons of the phone / tablet ?

pkehoe · « **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2015, 12:26:06 pm »

When I search for an artist, it finds that artist, but then when I attempt to play, it takes the first artist from the full list instead of the selected artist.

beginner44 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 20, 2015, 12:33:08 pm »

I'm not sure about what the "remote" mode is supposed to do, but currently it dusplays 4 items : "audio, video, images, playlists" in the gizmo style. pressing on Audio then jumps to the main audio menu.

I guess remote is more about navigating in the menus in theater mode, right (like EOS does ?).

beginner44 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2015, 12:38:45 pm »

after switching from the player zone on the pc to the local device, when displaying again the current playing item on the pc, the time slide on the phone will go back and forth eraticly.

switching bak to the phone the current playing screen is Ok but the album image is not updated : it displays the one of the current plating track on the PC

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2015, 12:49:22 pm »

i know this was just posted and beta...Few things happening with my tests if you are not aware.
1. Authentication not working for me. (connects without it though)
2. When in Audio/Video...press and hold where there are multiple items in the folder shows available play options and a popup confirms the item pressed is in effect/ Playing all files starting with. however nothing happens. (playing now remains empty or at the state it was prior to press and hold choose play options.) if I press and hold on an individual item then it will begin playback immediately. (Images works. press and hold choose playback option will begin playback of images immediately.)
3. Remotes... im not sure what this means or what it is for but that has the same results as #2. (im assuming this would be similar to theaterview remote in gizmo/eos? However on my device when clicking on it it shows audio, images, video, playlists. and when i press playback of an individual item then it begins playback on which ever zone is default.

all these tests were done connecting to main library and playing back on device via wifi/home network.

pahunt · « **Reply #8 on:** March 20, 2015, 01:27:39 pm »

On the whole it's working great for me on my Samsung Galaxy S4. Issues I've found so far are:

1. After connecting to the server for the first time, an apparently random track was selected in the "now playing" section at the bottom of the screen.
2. The initial configuration was not set to play to the current device, it took me a while to work out why nothing would play. This may or may not have been an intentional decision but if it confused me I'm sure it would confuse others as well.
3. My "Most Played" playlist doesn't show any files when I open it.
4. If I click the "change view" button while the "Most Played" playlist is open and showing no files the app crashes. My guess would be the "change view" button hasn't been designed to cope with an empty list.

Finally a question, does playback take account audio analysis for volume levelling purposes?

Keep up the good work!!

Castius · « **Reply #9 on:** March 20, 2015, 01:59:20 pm »

authentication user name "return" made a new line.

Steps:
On server setup.
While typing in the authentication user name.
Hit return. This made a new line below. Instead of moving to the password field.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #10 on:** March 20, 2015, 02:33:52 pm »

Castius were you able to connect with authentication on?

I'm noticing on one of my pc's i cannot connect to main library either, the id and password are correct (tried numerous times) i tried different passwords on server, and jremote/pc client continue to fail, ive rebooted server still devices are not authenticating. the devices remember the credentials but fail.

pahunt · « **Reply #11 on:** March 20, 2015, 03:51:53 pm »

Quote from: xtacbyme on March 20, 2015, 02:33:52 pm

Castius were you able to connect with authentication on?

I'm noticing on one of my pc's i cannot connect to main library either, the id and password are correct (tried numerous times) i tried different passwords on server, and jremote/pc client continue to fail, ive rebooted server still devices are not authenticating. the devices remember the credentials but fail.

Can't help with why it's not working for you but can at least confirm that authentication is working fine for me.

jmone · « **Reply #12 on:** March 20, 2015, 04:47:03 pm »

Authentication has been working fine for me as well

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #13 on:** March 20, 2015, 04:50:05 pm »

just tried adding authentication to a pc thats never been connencted...same issue.
will start new thread.

Al ex · « **Reply #14 on:** March 20, 2015, 06:10:37 pm »

Playing a movie and “giving 5 stars“. Playing around in the menu, coming back to the movie playing: star rating gone = not saved from previous

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #15 on:** March 20, 2015, 11:36:58 pm »

Thanks guys for confirmations, got authentication working... had to reset Server access key and reset up all my devices.

Perhaps you can confirm # 1 is working for you as well? I've tested numerous times and nothing...(press and held on Rock under 5 star ratings and dialog popped up stating playing, i let phone sit for over 5 minutes, and nothing played.)

Quote

When in Audio/Video...press and hold where there are multiple items in the folder shows available play options and a popup confirms the item pressed is in effect/ Playing all files starting with. however nothing happens. (playing now remains empty or at the state it was prior to press and hold choose play options.) if I press and hold on an individual item then it will begin playback immediately. (Images works. press and hold choose playback option will begin playback of images immediately.)

2. I entered an access key to a private library of ours and noticed that remember password is not an option.

DomieMic65 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 21, 2015, 12:27:36 am »

I am sorry but why should such an early beta version be charged 5,67€??

sjhilton · « **Reply #17 on:** March 21, 2015, 01:06:13 am »

Hi,

I'm not getting any 'playing now' information on my phone when playing audio on my media center (it says 'nothing is currently playing'). All of the controls work (stop, play, volume etc) (except the progress bar.) The correct zone is showing in jremote.

I'm also having some erratic behaviour authenticating with the access key (it often takes multiple attempts) - this is an issue with Gizmo as well. I haven't changed my network settings so I'm not sure why this would be happening. I'm not sure if the two issues are related.

Hope this is helpful.

cheers,

Stuart

marko · « **Reply #18 on:** March 21, 2015, 01:17:12 am »

JRemote for Apple has separate apps for iPad and iPhone.

How will the experience differ between android phone and android tablet?
If I were to try this, it would be on an HTC M8.

sjhilton · « **Reply #19 on:** March 21, 2015, 01:36:37 am »

Quote from: sjhilton on March 21, 2015, 01:06:13 am

Hi,

I'm not getting any 'playing now' information on my phone when playing audio on my media center (it says 'nothing is currently playing'). All of the controls work (stop, play, volume etc) (except the progress bar.) The correct zone is showing in jremote.

I'm also having some erratic behaviour authenticating with the access key (it often takes multiple attempts) - this is an issue with Gizmo as well. I haven't changed my network settings so I'm not sure why this would be happening. I'm not sure if the two issues are related.

Hope this is helpful.

cheers,

Stuart

This issue seems to fixed by restarting the App. Sorry I should have tried this first before posting.

HTPC4ME · « **Reply #20 on:** March 21, 2015, 02:14:24 am »

Quote

if I press and hold on an individual item then it will begin playback immediately.

correction... Audio works. i never tried video until 30 minutes ago and ive yet to get a video to play, jremote just spins, I tried uninstalling/reinstalling, i changed video stream to low, and let it sit for over 5 minutes as well. (and then when i went back to drop down. i have this. only way to get menu back is to force close jremote.
I tested all videos i tried on jremote on eos and gizmo and they all played.

http://i60.tinypic.com/8wxz80.jpg

firedog · « **Reply #21 on:** March 21, 2015, 02:58:51 am »

Tried using it for basic smartlist functions and playback. It worked fine. It also successfully streamed hi-res to my phone from my MC server. Cool.

I did have some issues with it accepting my key and/or my user/password. Did get it to work after a few tries.

Like having this on my phone and now I can get an Android tablet and use it as a remote.

Al ex · « **Reply #22 on:** March 21, 2015, 03:56:52 am »

Search doesn't seem to work. Searched for several artist names, which are in my library for sure, but 0 search results.

Al ex · « **Reply #23 on:** March 21, 2015, 04:07:03 am »

Quote from: Al ex on March 21, 2015, 03:56:52 am

Search doesn't seem to work. Searched for several artist names, which are in my library for sure, but 0 search results.

Edit:
search works from the main menu in the left bar on my device, but when I am in “music“, then Search doesn't find artists in my library.

pegazus · « **Reply #24 on:** March 21, 2015, 06:02:37 am »

Hi,

thank you very much for this great tool.
I can only use music. If I try to play video or pictures on my tablet, nothing is happen. Also if I select the remote it jumps to music.

.....sorry for my bad English.

styxx10 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 21, 2015, 07:04:07 am »

I know it is only early days, but I see no difference to using this application over Gizmo & Theater View... or benefit.
Are there plans to incorporate newer functionality ?.

JimH · « **Reply #26 on:** March 21, 2015, 07:15:57 am »

Maybe, but don't count on anything special. Our intention is to match the feature set of the iOS version of JRemote.

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** March 21, 2015, 07:28:07 am »

Quote from: DomieMic65 on March 21, 2015, 12:27:36 am

I am sorry but why should such an early beta version be charged 5,67€??

It's a discount from the normal price, which will probably be $10, but if you think it's too much please don't buy it. Gizmo is free.

Suricatus · « **Reply #28 on:** March 21, 2015, 10:44:31 am »

The app is promising!

- Is it going to be be implemented Album attachments like iOS version? (back cover, pdfs, etc).
- Artist Bio is working? I see only a logo.

Thanks a lot
Leo

PeeBee · « **Reply #29 on:** March 21, 2015, 11:00:05 am »

Installed and test today, no problem till now..

For future hopefully chromecast support (for my Sonos Playbar)

cavediver · « **Reply #30 on:** March 21, 2015, 12:06:23 pm »

I installed the beta last night and connected it to JRiver MC. I haven't used it much yet other than just to look around the app. I've been using Gizmo without any issues. What is JRemote going to bring to the table that Gizmo doesn't already offer?

mattkhan · « **Reply #31 on:** March 21, 2015, 02:53:18 pm »

looks v nice, more professional than gizmo IMV.

A couple of issues

- WOL doesn't seem to work within the LAN, it says it sends a WOL packet but the server doesn't wake up. If I switch to gizmo then it wakes up immediately.
- images don't "play", it says "playing" but it doesn't show them

morrison · « **Reply #32 on:** March 22, 2015, 09:34:03 am »

Generally best remote for MC, thanks for android version.
Looks a little tiny on my SGT 8.4 CM12 400dpi, but not bad for beta version.

salora · « **Reply #33 on:** March 22, 2015, 10:02:10 am »

Hi
It's so far working great for a beta
Not any bug yet

I'd like to start à song on zone 1, stop it or pause it, and then resume on zone 2
Is it possible ?

If yes it depends on the app or the server ?

Finally a nice Widget for basic commands like it exist for play music would be great

Castius · « **Reply #34 on:** March 22, 2015, 10:53:42 am »

I also have issues playing images.
Hit play and it say playing. But nothing is happening.

marko · « **Reply #35 on:** March 22, 2015, 07:57:38 pm »

Initial Feedback

Typical usage: In the car, connected via the factory fitted Bluetooth option.

It does not remember that the last time it was used, it was set to play "On this device". Freaked the wife out when music began playing out of the HTPC all on its own.
When using Gizmo, the Album, Artist, Name and elapsed time are displayed on the in-car media screen. With JRemote, these are not shown.
When using Gizmo, when I cut the ignition, the Bluetooth is disconnected and the track pauses. Next time it connects, the track begins playing again, albeit from the start again, but it still begins automagically. None of this happens with JRemote.
Images do not display.
Album art, all stored inside the file, do not display. (Sorry, they display in the list, but not in "Playing Now")

First test this evening connected via the HTPC which has no authentication.
Later, I will test connected to the main server and check that ratings, number of plays, last played are incrementing as expected and report back.

Over all. looking good so far.

marko · « **Reply #36 on:** March 23, 2015, 01:43:37 am »

Some more...

The HTPC is an authenticated library server client, which in turn, runs library server without authentication so that the girls can connect to it from the iPad and I know that the tags and files are safe. It does have direct access to the files though, and album art is not displayed in Playing Now.

Connecting directly to the server, with authentication however, does display cover art in Playing Now.

Now, more on authenticated connection:

Number plays and last played are not updated.
Scrobbles are not sent to last.fm.
Changes in the rating of the currently playing track are not saved on the server.
The "playback on this device" choice is not remembered. To test, restart device and reconnect.
When using Gizmo, the Album, Artist, Name and elapsed time are displayed on the in-car media screen. With JRemote, these are not shown.
When using Gizmo, when I cut the ignition, the Bluetooth is disconnected and the track pauses. Next time it connects, the track begins playing again, albeit from the start again, but it still begins automagically. None of this happens with JRemote.
Images do not play.
When I select "Audio", I get the same set views as displayed by Gizmo. The first of these is a smartlist, called "4 Star Plus". In Gizmo, if I long press on that, I get a menu, and if I choose "Play" from there, the smartlist loads and plays. In JRemote, the info bubble states "Playing all tracks starting with 4 Star Plus" and nothing plays. I have to tap to load the smartlist, then hit the play button at the top, the info bubble states `Playing all tracks starting with ""`and playback begins. I see the same if I want to play an album by way of long press on the album cover. I need to go into the album first, then press play.
The little "info" button is neat. The Metadata panel is showing raw data for dates though, which is no use at all.

In my typical usage case, I don't use video on my phone as I don't have 4G and 3G is just not fast enough.
Having quickly whipped around to see where we're at, I will probably fall back on Gizmo until the next release, as that "4 Star Plus" smartlist is for the car and relies on a "Last Played is not in the last seven days" rule to ensure I don't get the same track in the car in the same week. It works, it's neat. It would need to work in JRemote before I switched to it full time.

-marko

pahunt · « **Reply #37 on:** March 23, 2015, 04:56:12 am »

Quote from: marko on March 22, 2015, 07:57:38 pm

When using Gizmo, when I cut the ignition, the Bluetooth is disconnected and the track pauses. Next time it connects, the track begins playing again, albeit from the start again, but it still begins automagically. None of this happens with JRemote.

I have noticed the same behaviour when I pull the headphones from my phone, i.e. Gizmo auto pauses, JRemote doesn't. I guess it's all probably related but I thought I'd mention it just in case they're separate issues.

styxx10 · « **Reply #38 on:** March 23, 2015, 06:47:05 am »

I hope that when the dust settles on the additional functionality that has so far been requested to be corrected & included in JRemote that
it is able to start up & control Theater View.

I assume it is intended to replace Gizmo ?. That Gizmo will no longer be supported or improved ?

salora · « **Reply #39 on:** March 23, 2015, 08:04:17 am »

Hello
I don't know if it Is related to beta program or the app
But after "opt in" I was unable to download to my tablet
Appstore did'nt find the app

I had to download it on my phone first
Then it appeared on my playstore installed app

And finally I could download it to the tablet

Suricatus · « **Reply #40 on:** March 23, 2015, 09:40:49 am »

These are the issues I found so far:

- When I enter in Audio -> Artists, I see all albuns Thumbnails order by artist name. If I search and artist, when I click on the album, another artist album one opened.
- I could not display extra files from music albuns. (In iOS version there is an attachment icon).
- I didnt see artist bio working.

Thanks

DomieMic65 · « **Reply #41 on:** March 23, 2015, 09:57:23 am »

Quote from: JimH on March 21, 2015, 07:28:07 am

It's a discount from the normal price, which will probably be $10, but if you think it's too much please don't buy it. Gizmo is free.

Well... I bought it even though I have eos too!

Is the screenshot shown in the playstore somehow different than how the app really looks or it's me? $:-\$
It looks promising but I didn't have the chance to test it for long yet! I generally like the GUI.
Is there going to be a tablet app too (hopefully with no additional charge)? I am mostly using my N7 for JRiver remote..

Al ex · « **Reply #42 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:23:12 pm »

Rating stars on Playing Now do not correlate with the number of rating stars on the meta info page of the same song.

Al ex · « **Reply #43 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:27:02 pm »

When I click on the “remote“ menu in the left bar, then music, then select and play a song, nothing happens.
What should happen? Should the song start playing remotely in another zone? Unclear what the “Remote“ menu is for...

Al ex · « **Reply #44 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:29:13 pm »

“Put server to sleep“ is not implemented yet, or couldn't I find it?

JimH · « **Reply #45 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:40:06 pm »

There are quite a few things still not done.

somebike · « **Reply #46 on:** March 23, 2015, 05:51:53 pm »

First off, let me say that the app looks great and when the full functionality is working, it looks like it will be far and away the best remote app. Issues I have noticed so far:

1. Star ratings do not work

2. Time remaining on track frequently off

3. Toggle to have screen remain on does not work

4. When adding a album with the same title as one already in the library, only the older version will show up in the recently added

sorepinky · « **Reply #47 on:** March 24, 2015, 04:37:52 am »

The progress bar on the JRemote interface has time lapsed on left and time remaining on right, but the time remaining can exceed the total duration of the track as shown on the PC MC20 interface. It can differ by several minutes.

Arcturus · « **Reply #48 on:** March 24, 2015, 07:25:13 am »

Just got it, Love the refresh button, something Gizmo really needs. Love the rich metadata also.

So far I had only 1 crash when I first tried to open up movies but the second time it was okay.

One thing though on my nexus 7 1080p screen the thumbnails and fonts are really really small.
Could use a few settings for that.

Great start though on the android port. This will definitely be the app I use.

Gonna test the hell out of it this week

The Computer Audiophile · « **Reply #49 on:** March 24, 2015, 08:50:55 am »

I'm trying to opt-in to the beta on the Play Store using the link below and I receive the following error (see image).
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.jriver.jremote

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: JRemote for Android -- Now available (Read 275064 times)

sorepinky