Basic App Feature requests.

Sully
  • Edited

Several years ago , Andrew H, made a statement (as below)  in an official response to a question titled "FUTURE FEATURES FLIP FLOP" regarding App Updates. Since I converted to BluOS, a few years ago (from SONOS) I have been appalled at the basic features missing from the app.  Ipve posted a few times.. received the same old dismissal response.  AND STILL we wait for a single new UI feature. WHAT DID THIS POST MEAN  or was it just another complete fob off. 


"Good day, as the product owner for BluOS and the apps I can tell you that we have an extensive roadmap for updates to the apps.  The updates are both visual and backend and reflect the changes to the overall market.  We have engaged our designers to create an overall better experience.  This also takes time and must be in parallel with BluOS as the core of the information sent to the apps comes from BluOS or triggers from BluOS.  The roadmap goes out for a couple years in terms of current plans.  Some of the legacy things that need badly to get updated (shuffle, in-service playlist mgmt, general communication, timers, presets) are all part of the updates planned.  As most organizations we will not post a roadmap or a date.  Many things happen and as such dates shift, bugs take time to find and fix and it's better to say it's now ready than publish a list that shifts around every quarter.  Our team reads everything we can find from a qualitative customer feedback perspective and we are grateful to receive thoughts and ideas, so happy to see things like vote for the best and so forth, so please keep that coming, and also include as wide an audience as possible for the discussion.  "

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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • Official comment
    Matt S.
    Brand Manager

    Hi Sully,

    Thanks for popping this back up to the top again. 

    You may have seen some of the chatter about BluOS 4.0 launching in October. This is a thorough revitalization of the App UI, the way we interact with music and navigate the app, and adds a few much-asked-for items (ex. sample rate indicator, updated Play Queue logic) at launch.

    BluOS 4.0 ultimately sets us up to be able to develop the features that our customers ask for, in a much more timely, focused fashion.

    Are there some specific basic features you're looking for? (I apologize, I haven't gone back through any of your posts yet to check).

    Looking forward to getting BluOS 4.0 into your hands!

    -Matt

  • Sully
    • Edited

    Hi Matt 
    Here's a few that have been proposed.  Some were proposed by others before I joined the fray. 

    Automatically rebuild the index -  allow us to set a time to perform this. Schedule it.  This is now a Now 4 year old request. 

    The ability to add a playlist to an existing QUEUE without wiping the existing queue.  Choose "Play next" or "Add to end" etc. This is there for Albums but not for a Playlist...  WHY NOT ? East with SONOS. 

    Volume control for each device when grouped from the "now playing" view and not from the "My Players" draw. 

    Ability to clear the "now playing" except the playing track. Allowing you to load a new playlist or new album etc. Without interrupting playback.

    To be able to view “year” or “date” tag of a track in NOW PLAYING view, when playing ? It’s available and you already list albums on date (great feature the Sonos never had). Can we have option to select to view date ?  THink about it.  What is the one thing people ask eachother when listending...  "What year was this?" 

    Option for Albums in "list view" not always cover view ? 

    If any of these made it then fantastic.  

     I have been always been assured after each prev suggestion in prev posts, that they were passed on to the dev team. Therefore, if they aren't in the upcoming 4.0, then  I guess they didn't make the cut. Having spent 35+ years in software and some of that in Prod Mgmnt, I "get" software release cycles.  But this App seems to have a maintenance only cycle, measured on bug severity only,  One of the slowest I've ever encountered. A good UI is about ease of use and consistency of design, consistency of the placement of options etc.  Looking forward to 4.0 improvements. . 
    Regards
    Kev. 

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  • central srutinizer

    Bluesound hardware absolutely deserves a “front end” interface software to match the top notch gear.
    I hope Matt’s V4. release comes up with the goods with constructive input from beta testers and hopefully with. reference incorporating the hundreds of suggestions real life users have contributed to this thread over the years.
    Somewhere along the road, I tallied how many were passed on to the Development Team, but little respnse was noted. That prompted my post, and Andrew H’s response.
    As October rapidly looms, let’s hope there’ll be way less traffic in this thread upon V4 being let out in the wild.

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  • Sully
    • Edited

     

    HI Matt. 

    So V4 is out. My view is that YES it is an  improvement. The 'draw' concept being gone is the main advance. 
    It's easier to use and easier for non regular users to understand.  

    Unfortunately, the features that many have asked for over the years and the requests that we were told we being considered, or passed on etc etc  appear to have bene largely ignore. I hope I am wrong but this is my take on a few of the main requests over the last few years. 

    FEATURE REQUESTS and are they in the long awaited v4 ? 
    1 - Automatically rebuild the index -  allow us to set a time to perform this. Schedule it.  This is now a Now 4 year old request. 
    NO  

    2 - The ability to add a playlist to an existing QUEUE without wiping the existing queue.  Choose "Play next" or "Add to end" etc. This is there for Albums but not for a Playlist...  WHY NOT ? East with SONOS. 

    YES - Thank you 

    3 - Volume control for each device when grouped from the "now playing" view and not from the "My Players" draw. 
    NO but its EASIER  -  still separate screen to the NOW PLAYING 

    4 - Ability to clear the "now playing" except the playing track. Allowing you to load a new playlist or new album etc. Without interrupting playback.

    NO not in V4

    5 - To be able to view “year” or “date” tag of a track in NOW PLAYING view, when playing ? It’s exists in metadatea... You already list albums on date (great feature the Sonos never had). Can we have option to select to view date ?  THink about it.  What is the one thing people ask each other when listening...  "What year was this?" 

    NO  not in v4.  But for some reason knowing that a track is 44.1 KHz, 16 bit is available and important enough to be displayed. Friends listening together are more likely to ask 'when' than what is the not rate.


    6 - Option for Albums in "list view" not always cover view ? 

    NO 

    V4 is better but it's really just a redesign of interface with minimal actual new features. 
    I would welcome being wrong on any of the above. 

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  • Sully
    • Edited

    Is Matt still at Blusound?
    No response?

    “a thorough revitalization of the App UI, the way we interact with music and navigate the app, and adds a few much-asked-for items”

     

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