Questions and or suggestions for the B&O app team

[Mikipedi4]

Hi All,

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, but I didn’t want to exclude you guys. Pretty soon, but no exact date set yet, I’ll be having a chat with Mr Anderson about the direction and state of the B&O app. I currently don’t really see the vision and with so many revisions in beta it leaves me a bit befuddled about where it’s going. So I was going to ask him about that and publish it on my YouTube channel. Since I can only do and ask so much from my own experience, I wanted to reach out to you guys and see if you had any questions and or suggestions you’d like me to ask the B&O App Team. Feel free to leave them here and I’ll do my best to get a satisfying answer to it 🙂

Kind regards,

Michael / Mikipedi4

[trackbeo]

Bring back “_StreamURL” as a choice in the “Sources” menu.  It was visible in some versions of the Balance firmware (perhaps by mistake).  Or a user interface alternate, make  [Triple-Dot] or [Gear] / Music/”Open Stream URL…” become standard in the B&O App, alongside Deezer, Spotify, etc.

See the user’s request for some Radio France streams at the top of https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/how-to-add-stations-to-bo-radio/.  Trying to be nice to B&O, it doesn’t need a whole user interface to add the station to B&O Radio, unless that’s easy or on the roadmap.  But *absolutely* one should be able to play a stream proffered by a content provider, without having to use some web browser and then divert its audio output using Airplay or Chromecast.   P.S. And save the string so one could then put it onto a MyButton!

[B3OHACK3R]

trackbeo wrote:

But *absolutely* one should be able to play a stream proffered by a content provider, without having to use some web browser and then divert its audio output using Airplay or Chromecast.

A little off-topic for this thread but technically you can do so using the Mozart platform API that is available to public. Not convenient but it works.

https://bang-olufsen.github.io/mozart-open-api/

E.g. from command line with cURL. Replace the IP with the one of your speaker and string with a URL to a radio station.

curl --request POST \
--url http://0.0.0.0/api/v1/playback/uri \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
"location": "string"
}'

[Millemissen]

Mikipedi4 wrote:

Hi All, It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, but I didn’t want to exclude you guys. Pretty soon, but no exact date set yet, I’ll be having a chat with Mr Anderson about the direction and state of the B&O app. I currently don’t really see the vision and with so many revisions in beta it leaves me a bit befuddled about where it’s going. So I was going to ask him about that and publish it on my YouTube channel. Since I can only do and ask so much from my own experience, I wanted to reach out to you guys and see if you had any questions and or suggestions you’d like me to ask the B&O App Team. Feel free to leave them here and I’ll do my best to get a satisfying answer to it Kind regards, Michael / Mikipedi4

There is a lengthy thread about the app versions here that has been going on since september.
Enough stuff there to fill a whole Beotalk.

Would you want us to repeat our troubles in this new thread?
I’d say, if Mr andersen had comtinoued to be in that thread – as he was in the begging – he’d know our questions.
Alternatively, you could read the thread to know, what people on Beoworld think of the new app.

MM

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

I think the trend here is the missing internet sources missing from the menu at the top.

Some people also seem to hate the new Multiroom and volume interface.

Personally my main concern with the app is generally navigating between speakers.  An iOS widget would also be a blessing.

[Mikipedi4]

The other thread is so much that I don’t fully know what’s up to date any more or not and which issues have been solved or made worse. I have been slightly out of the loop as I was moving internationally and am remodelling a house, but I am getting up to speed again. So if there are any current outstanding questions and or suggestions, I would appreciate it if people would  collect them here.

Please and thank you!

[XavierItzmann]

I’ be grateful if the Android B&O app would let itself work while in landscape mode.

Whereas the iPad B&O app works in landscape, the Android one does not.

[Millemissen]

Now that Mr Andersen and the app team – or whoever did it – has decided to honor us with a new redesigned app, why didn’t they think of adding the 4 MyButtons to the Now Playing screen?

We find these MyButtons on the new B&O Mozart devices, on the Beoremote Halo and – not to forget – on the Beoremote One.

Would have been a cool and usefull feature.

Maybe Mikipedi4 could ask that question!

MM

[Mikipedi4]

I shall ask him that as we’ll be speaking tomorrow!

[Millemissen]

You can find the link HERE

MM

[Millemissen]

@Miki

What a weird ending…..why?

MM

[trackbeo]

Someone needs to make clear to @MrAnderson just how unacceptable his response @43:20 was, for streaming from a non-B&O website/radiostation: (1) I do not care to waste an hour with the morons they call “customer support”; (2) The Morons will filter or aggregate the data, and will sooner or later pass whatever they deem “frequently requested” to the Developers, more lossage; (3) the development team will  bring it up in a meeting (more lossage) to “request our partners to add the station”.

Oh, be serious.  I want to stream it.  Now!  Not with the “assistance” of intermediating Morons, Developers, and Third Party stream service B&O has contracted with.  Doesn’t matter how much you streamline your currently-too-manual process, it’s no substitute for just-let-me-listen-to-this-URL.  Preventing this, presages a future with locked-in choices dictated by B&O, and subscriptions.

[Mikipedi4]

Millemissen wrote:

@Miki What a weird ending…..why? MM

We had an hour and lost track of time, sorry about that. Did we go over enough otherwise? He’ll be back, so we can go for round two and do more Q&A

[Mikipedi4]

trackbeo wrote:

Someone needs to make clear to @MrAnderson just how unacceptable his response @43:20 was, for streaming from a non-B&O website/radiostation: (1) I do not care to waste an hour with the morons they call “customer support”; (2) The Morons will filter or aggregate the data, and will sooner or later pass whatever they deem “frequently requested” to the Developers, more lossage; (3) the development team will bring it up in a meeting (more lossage) to “request our partners to add the station”. Oh, be serious. I want to stream it. Now! Not with the “assistance” of intermediating Morons, Developers, and Third Party stream service B&O has contracted with. Doesn’t matter how much you streamline your currently-too-manual process, it’s no substitute for just-let-me-listen-to-this-URL. Preventing this, presages a future with locked-in choices dictated by B&O, and subscriptions.

I have the feeling a lot, if not too much is being overhauled in one go. I’ll try and press it a bit more as it seems simple enough, but can be hard if not yet possible. I’ve never used this feature before, but I see how people that used it before miss it dearly. (I agree that the customer support isn’t great, but even that is getting better ie last year vs now)

[Millemissen]

Mikipedi4 wrote:

Millemissen wrote:

@Miki What a weird ending…..why? MM

We had an hour and lost track of time, sorry about that. Did we go over enough otherwise? He’ll be back, so we can go for round two and do more Q&A

Thanks – but that seemed like ‘being cut off’.
Anyway, if you can do another round, that would be great.

Generally….it was nice – even if I personally already knew it – to hear how much efford they put into it – with the myriad of devices, product generations and the wish to be backwards compatible etc.
Especially it was nice to hear that they will not drop support for the NL/ML Converter.

However, there were many ‘everyday questions’ not asked.
I saw several in the chat for the first halv hour, that I managed to see live.
N.B. No chat available, when you watch the video later!?

I’d like to know who they cater for….the guy with a set of headphones or a BT device or the costumer, who has had a 10 piece – or more – setup for years and who still buy new products?
Who should be prioritized here, when creating a functional app.
Those with one set of headphones/a BT speaker will hardly ever use the app!

Recently I talked to a guy with an M5 – he did not even know, that that device has a built-in netradio function. He just used it for airplaying stuff….no need for the Bang & Olufsen app there.
I guess there are many out there like him.

So, why not focus on those with an otherweise well (hmmmm!) functioning setup of products and make an app, that matches the quality and handling of the B&O devices?

We want to know more of prioritizing the users and of the roadmap, which function we may expect becoming reality etc.
When will they clean up (!) the mess of sources in the Source List?
Something that should have been done right away…..before the official release of the app.
Why am I forced to have/to use a physical remote in order to have an easy access to my radio stations or to my 4 favourites/the MyButtons, when that could be done from within the app?
Why not prioritize that kind of stuff?

I’d like to know, why we can not access legacy products (via NL/ML Converter) from the Mozart platform just like it is possible with the ASE products?
I know that this might be a product issue, but it certainly also is an app issue…..this is about handling our stuff/our setup on a daily basis.
We have had Mozart products for a while now – still not solved.
That is a thing that can keep me from investing in Mozart products for my setup (except of course for the BST ?).

Enough to talk about, enough questions to be asked….and maybe answered.

MM

[Mikipedi4]

Thank you for the feedback! Mr Andersen will be back for a round 2 and maybe 3-4-5-6 and I’ll do the same thing again and try to collect peoples questions and ask them on your behalf. I am obviously only aware how I use my own B&O a certain way so I don’t know things other people run in to. I don’t have an NL/ML convertor for instance, I only have 2 mozart devices of which one is a tv.

PS the chat not being available is a function of YouTube not being done with their full rendering of the video. Once that’s done it should be back. I have no control over this.

[Millemissen]

Thanks!

There are major differences in how we use ‘our B&O’

I guess a single headphone user will have no need for the MyButtons (if he/she ever opens the app).
On the other side I have no need at all for the ‘Beosonic circus’ – never used it, I run my devices as ‘flat’ as possible.

I see a problem when/if they want to make the app ‘one shoe fits all’.

Looking forward to the next sessions ?

MM

[Sandyb]

I think, during the interview, that he did mention that the 4 MyButtons would be appearing on the black Now Playing screen in an upcoming update, unless I heard him incorrectly.

That at least does answer of MM’s questions in advance I hope.

[Tignum]

Hi, Michael,

Great to see you (we) are directly in touch with the people that make the stuff we love.

Hoping the NL/ML converter (BLC – aka “swiss army knife”) will get some development attention in the future, there are two things that I can think of.

I run a couple of MasterLink networks connected (and fed) through BLCs (the 4th one arrived this week :-)). The things that I would love (if possible):

• Get visibility and control of BeoSound/BeoMaster 5 on the app screen (cover art, playlist etc)
• Get the possibility to assign the AirPlay source directly to an ML IR command (as is possible with e.g ‘B&O Radio’ and ‘Optical’ (see photo).

Let me know what you think, Regards, Johan

[Stephen]

I requested it on Discord BeoTalk in November, so I will ask again here:

B&O, please restore the ability do delete an entire play queue in the B&O App, and not just individual tracks. This is a fundamental feature of every other system that employs music streaming. It disappeared after the app was ‘improved’ (?) a few months ago; it would be nice to have to back.

Also, the play queue in the B&O app used to have another great feature. That is, if you clicked on the three-dot symbol to the right of a given track in a play queue, you were given the option to ‘go to artist’. This was very useful when listening to a playlist but it, too, disappeared when the play queue vanished then reappeared in v5.5.2. The play queue was restored with 5.5.2 but with less than optimal functionality.

[Author]

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