iPad/iPod/iPhone application: TiSageTV

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

hi - stream a "playlist", as opposed to individual audio files?

As in streaming all the albums/songs in a selected SageTV Playlist...

The app has been submitted, so hopefully it will get accepted by the end of next week...

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

The app has been submitted, so hopefully it will get accepted by the end of next week...

It will probably be the following week. I borrowed an iPad and realized the app was no longer supporting landscape mode on it. So while I'm at it, I might has well port some other improvements to the iPad UI, that I was only expecting to address in a later update...

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

It will probably be the following week. I borrowed an iPad and realized the app was no longer supporting landscape mode on it. So while I'm at it, I might has well port some other improvements to the iPad UI, that I was only expecting to address in a later update...

yes sir, landscape is a must

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

yes sir, landscape is a must

+1

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

3) Separate menu item for Recorded TV Shows and Recorded Movies seems like it would be useful.

Not really what you asked for, but if you sort by year, I think that only movies have them, so everything else would end up in Unknown...

[tvmaster2]

I have a request

in the area where you would call up what channel you want guide info for, at the top of the screen...currently, you have to finger scroll 500 channels.

any chance we could have numerical entry as well, so if you knew you wanted the guide info for channel 1346, all you had to do was enter that number?

that would be very Christmasy...

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

any chance we could have numerical entry as well, so if you knew you wanted the guide info for channel 1346, all you had to do was enter that number?

I wasn't quite sure how to fulfill darcilicious request, but that sounds like a great way to do it! Though I actually submitted version 1.61 on Friday, so it will have to be in version 1.62, so probably more of a "new yeary" thingy at best...

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

I wasn't quite sure how to fulfill darcilicious request, but that sounds like a great way to do it! Though I actually submitted version 1.61 on Friday, so it will have to be in version 1.62, so probably more of a "new yeary" thingy at best...

Santa won't show if you don't ask...

[Fonceur]

Version 1.61

- Now requires iOS 5+.
- Added iPod/iPhone 5 support.
- Locked the iPod/iPhone in Portrait mode.
- Added Song/Album/Playlist play on device.
- Now the whole photo is downloaded.
- Photo can be zoomed and/or rotated.
- Updated the various details view.
- Updated some lists of items.
- Updated the iPod/iPhone Remote control.
- Updated the order of some menus.
- Fix: switching to a Playlist could crash.
- Fix: some buttons/headers were not actually visible.
- Fix: Favorites count was wrongly increasing on modifications.
- Centered the channel picker.


For the iPod/iPhone detailed views, I essentially replaced a one size fits all (any type/orientation) by some more dedicated ones... I haven't touched the Status screen yet.

The iPad's UI has not been modified as much. In portrait mode, you no longer get the Menu + back button, only the root screen has the Menu button, while the others in the navigation stack just get the back button. BTW, swiping from the left also brings that menu...

The Music "play on device" feature will download the whole file (no caching) to play it, so it's fine over wifi, but probably not so much over cellular...

[adamwh]

Hello!

Just a few comments on the latest version:

Every time I go into the Album view in media center it is sorted by Artist. Would it be possible to remember the sort method used? For example changing the sort method to Title then switching to another view like Photos. When I go back to Albums it's again sorted by Artist. This is not new with this version, but it's my main gripe.

I like being able to play a song from the detail listing of an album. I can't seem to get the Play to Client to work however. It always plays the song on the device. How is this supposed to work? I envision pushing "Play on Client" and having that button light up as active to show what the song will be played on. But I get momentary feedback on the button and always hear the song on the iPad. Ideally you could get rid of the "Play on Device" and "Play on Client" buttons by putting the device (iPad) on the client selection popup window. That way selecting media to play would always play on whatever you have selected there.

I'm also not sure of the correct usage of the "Add to Playlist" button as well. I haven't been able to add a song to the playlist from the album detail view. I again envision it like a toggle: If "Add to playlist" is enabled pushing the play button next to the song adds it to the Now Playing playlist.

How do I stop playback on the iPad once it starts playing? Is there such a thing as a playlist for the iPad itself or is it always just play one song then stop?

The song order on the album detail view doesn't seem to be the real track order. It's not alphabetical either, it appears random.

Would it be possible to add the ability to play an album (or add to playlist) from the list of albums?

Would it be possible to ignore "The" in the title of an album when sorting?

Clicking on a playlist to get a list of its contents seems to be "Now Playing" no matter what playlist I click on. In fact, if I change clients the playlist appears to remain the "Now Playing" from the previous device. "Start Playlist" starts the correct playlist even though the display of its contents is wrong.

Just to clarify how I use the program: I wanted a way to select and play audio from an HD200 without turning on the TV. I don't stream much.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by adamwh

Every time I go into the Album view in media center it is sorted by Artist.

Hmm, I remember having that working at some point, maybe it's not in the iPad version or it's only in the Android version... Or I might have broken it at some point, I'll have to check.

Would it be possible to remember the sort method used? For example changing the sort method to Title then switching to another view like Photos.

Actually, Title is a special case which doesn't fit in the regular work flow, try sorting by Genre or such and coming back, it probably wouldn't be at Artist...

I like being able to play a song from the detail listing of an album. I can't seem to get the Play to Client to work however.

On the iPhone/iPod version, you can actually tap that row to go to the song itself, and then have more option. I disabled that tap on the iPad, but just didn't have time to implement the replacement, which was to have the selected row expand (like on many other lists) to present more options.

It always plays the song on the device. How is this supposed to work? I envision pushing "Play on Client" and having that button light up as active to show what the song will be played on.

If the button is labeled "Play on Client", then it definitely should do that, if it doesn't then I wired it up wrong... If you mean the play icon, then it's really just a "Play on device".

Ideally you could get rid of the "Play on Device" and "Play on Client" buttons by putting the device (iPad) on the client selection popup window.

That's a great idea! I didn't like the multiplication of buttons due to the Client/Device choices... It also means that I can reuse the "Status" to display what is playing on the device and allow to pause/stop it...

I'm also not sure of the correct usage of the "Add to Playlist" button as well. I haven't been able to add a song to the playlist from the album detail view.

It is supposed to add the album to the currently selected playlist on the monitored client... Just keep in mind that SageTV doesn't allow to mix music and video in the same playlist.

How do I stop playback on the iPad once it starts playing?

You either start a new song or kill the app... The submission of apps ended for the holiday today and TiSageTV was approved last night after being submitted a week ago, so I did have to cut some corner round to make the deadline.

Is there such a thing as a playlist for the iPad itself or is it always just play one song then stop?

From the Playlist section, there is a button to play it on the device. But that's not an iPad playlist, it's the SageTV playlist on the monitored client.

The song order on the album detail view doesn't seem to be the real track order. It's not alphabetical either, it appears random.

Right, the database doesn't keep them in a specific order, so each time the app ask for the list of songs from an album, it gets a different order.

Would it be possible to add the ability to play an album (or add to playlist) from the list of albums?

I could definitely add a play button at the end of the row like I did for the songs on the album page. But I'd rather not have the "Add to playlist" button in there too.

Would it be possible to ignore "The" in the title of an album when sorting?

Not currently. But I'm pretty sure that SageTV can provide me with info for that. I'll have to check.

Clicking on a playlist to get a list of its contents seems to be "Now Playing" no matter what playlist I click on. In fact, if I change clients the playlist appears to remain the "Now Playing" from the previous device. "Start Playlist" starts the correct playlist even though the display of its contents is wrong.

I did fix that on the iPod/iPhone, I guess I missed it for the iPad. Killing the app and restarting would definitely show that specific playlist, and it's possible that re-selecting that client might update too.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Version 1.61

- Now requires iOS 5+.
- Added iPod/iPhone 5 support.
- Locked the iPod/iPhone in Portrait mode.
- Added Song/Album/Playlist play on device.
- Now the whole photo is downloaded.
- Photo can be zoomed and/or rotated.
- Updated the various details view.
- Updated some lists of items.
- Updated the iPod/iPhone Remote control.
- Updated the order of some menus.
- Fix: switching to a Playlist could crash.
- Fix: some buttons/headers were not actually visible.
- Fix: Favorites count was wrongly increasing on modifications.
- Centered the channel picker.


For the iPod/iPhone detailed views, I essentially replaced a one size fits all (any type/orientation) by some more dedicated ones... I haven't touched the Status screen yet.

The iPad's UI has not been modified as much. In portrait mode, you no longer get the Menu + back button, only the root screen has the Menu button, while the others in the navigation stack just get the back button. BTW, swiping from the left also brings that menu...

The Music "play on device" feature will download the whole file (no caching) to play it, so it's fine over wifi, but probably not so much over cellular...

hi...stupid question...after you've started playing a song from within Media Center, how do you stop it from playing?

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

hi...stupid question...after you've started playing a song from within Media Center, how do you stop it from playing?

As I said in the previous post: "You either start a new song or kill the app..."

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

As I said in the previous post: "You either start a new song or kill the app..."

ah...cutting corners..ok, thanks...found that line now. With an iPad three running 6.0.1, I am getting quite a number of crashes, especially from within Media Center section

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

With an iPad three running 6.0.1, I am getting quite a number of crashes, especially from within Media Center section

Yes, I am aware of that. Since I made the TCP communication more efficient, accessing the database from multiple threads is leading to crashes, or more precisely thread locks... Since those locks are supposed to be preventing crashes, they're not really doing what I hoped...

I've tried a more iOS 5 approach to the database, but so far it's not helping.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Yes, I am aware of that. Since I made the TCP communication more efficient, accessing the database from multiple threads is leading to crashes, or more precisely thread locks... Since those locks are supposed to be preventing crashes, they're not really doing what I hoped...

I've tried a more iOS 5 approach to the database, but so far it's not helping.

1.62 then?

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

1.62 then?

There is a version 1.62 in the work, but I don't know if it will have any actual database improvement by then...

[Fonceur]

Version 1.62

- [iPod/iPhone] Renamed the 'Media center' section to 'Media'.
- [iPod/iPhone] Fixed the skip forward button.
- [iPad] On the Album page, the selected song gained buttons.
- Fix: sorted list would crash when trying to change Server/Client.
- Fix: The first letter index had some issues.
- Now the iOS Device is considered a selectable Client.
- Now the Status also handles the iOS Device.

Technically it's still a work in progress, as my available development time as decreased. I was hoping for feedback from beta testers, but oh well, I figured I might as well get more testers instead...

The main thing is the clearer distinction between the play on client or device...

[tvmaster2]

sorry I couldn't beta test this one for you, too many post Xmas commitments. I think all most of us can wish for is a stable, $29.99 app that simply does what it should; play videos. anything else is gravy. maybe some of us will have time to work for you on 1.63

[tvmaster2]

ok, installed 1.62. can't get a single thing to actually play on my iPad 3rd gen. any idea what I'm doing wrong...if anything?

edit: ok, I assume now that the client is the iPad, which must be selected (as opposed to it being merely a choice)