Hi Folks,
I am new to WP8 and I have the following question that I have not found an answer for:
There is one thing really missing in WP8 - it is ability to play mp3 streams in the background.
You can open mp3 stream in internet explorer and it will play. But you can not switch to any other screen - music stops playing.
I have not found any applications that allow you to play mp3 streams in the background also. Usually players allow you only to play music from library or from hardcoded stream. So is there any way hidden way to do it?
There are definitely APIs to do it; even Windows Phone 7 could do this. For a random example of an app that uses background streaming, see Pandora.
It's also possible to stream music from a web page while the browser is not in the foreground, using HTML5. For example, both Pandora.com and m.SoundCloud.com work fine. Typically web-based streaming only allows play/pause controls on the global media control, though you can of course switch back to the web browser tab for more control.
If you're looking for an app that will play music from an arbitrary stream that you pass it, I'm not aware of such an app but I haven't been looking. It's possible in the APIs, and there's probably an app that does it...
Related
I was thinking of making this a generic discussion thread on what the going media players are. There are a couple of subjects I'd like to bullet-point:
1) (HD) video players
2) Music players
3) music/video streamers
4) Remote control functions for media players
To elaborate, and I'll start of with asking questions so people can add their comments/suggestions/questions/et al to the thread. If we can keep it tidy maybe we can turn this into a sticky at some point.
1) I guess there are plenty of (HD)video players around. Could someone tell me which ones are the more popular ones currently?
2) Same question for music players
3) This one applies to both points 1+2 I guess: Are there any players that can stream directly from your shared music/video folders wirelessly?
How about iTunes integration? I'm kinda considering an Apple TV kind of approach, where you can play all your music and videos stored somewhere on your network. This may require additional hardware though if the gTab is to be used as remote. Though another option would be to hook up the gTab to your TV and have it function as the Apple TV, and use for example your iPod/iPhone, or better yet, your Android phone, as a remote.
Another option would be to use the Viewsonic VMP75 (or similar media player) for the desired functionality (web browsing/streaming music/streaming video on your TV) and use the gTab as remote control. However, I actually did look around and couldn't find an app that allows an android device or apple device to control the VMP75 from Viewsonic.
This leads us to the final point:
4) Remote control functions: Are there any apps that allow this unit to control for example iTunes
So any thoughts/ideas/opinions/etc will be welcome...
Can't answer much.
2) I've tried these so far:
winamp
mortplayer
simple player
I actually like the widget that comes with tntlite, since it just works and doesn't take up a lot of space. On my phone I like to have more than one program so my music listening doesn't throw off my audiobooks.
I haven't messed around with winamp much but it is supposed to have some type of music integration with winamp on windows. I think it will sync wirelessly somehow.
3)upnpplay, might not have the spelling correct. I've gotten a few things to play, but don't think the interface works too good on a larger screen. But again I will admit to not trying it much.
4) someone on here had a post on reconfiguring the XBMC remote for use with the bigger screen. I don't use itunes so can't comment on that at all.
Hope that helps.
I have tried winamp and realplayer beta. I like the realplayer better and it scans pictures/movies/music from a SDCARD2 (micro SD card).
Hi,
I am making a Foobar2000 control app by using the foo_httpcontrol add-on. I figured out how I can run certain commands, but I am completely blank on how to get information back from the server like playlists or current playing song. Does anyone have exprience with this on Android or knows how to do it on wp8?
Also: currently I am using a hidden browser for executing the commands, would it be better/possible to use webrequests or something for that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Tweekzor said:
Hi,
I am making a Foobar2000 control app by using the foo_httpcontrol add-on. I figured out how I can run certain commands, but I am completely blank on how to get information back from the server like playlists or current playing song. Does anyone have exprience with this on Android or knows how to do it on wp8?
Also: currently I am using a hidden browser for executing the commands, would it be better/possible to use webrequests or something for that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say I could help you with foo_httpcontrol. I haven't used it that much.
I'd recommend using the DLNA plugin instead. Using the DLNA app made either by Nokia or HTC (it was that way with wp7, not sure on wp8) would be a similar experience to playing music that's in the music+video tab. Most DLNA apps have the capability to play music from the phone to another device, play music from another device and share it to a third device, e.g. Phone Music -> foobar, foobar -> WP8 -> Bluray player.
Also the album art will display if its in the same folder as the music (the dlna plugin on foobar looks for the folder.jpg first.)
thals1992 said:
I can't say I could help you with foo_httpcontrol. I haven't used it that much.
I'd recommend using the DLNA plugin instead. Using the DLNA app made either by Nokia or HTC (it was that way with wp7, not sure on wp8) would be a similar experience to playing music that's in the music+video tab. Most DLNA apps have the capability to play music from the phone to another device, play music from another device and share it to a third device, e.g. Phone Music -> foobar, foobar -> WP8 -> Bluray player.
Also the album art will display if its in the same folder as the music (the dlna plugin on foobar looks for the folder.jpg first.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer, but I don't think that is what I am looking for. My desktop has a music collection that is far greater then the 32gb of my device, and the sound quality is a lot better as well. So I don't want to be streaming from or to my device. Also since my library has about 50.000+ songs I'd prefer to use my well known and set-up music player over searching through my windows folders.
I have seen a couple of android apps that control Foobar2000 by using the plugin I use as well, and they are able to get the song info etc. So it is possible, I just can't figure out how.
(I did download the Nokia Play To app, because streaming like that is also useful at other times )
Tweekzor said:
Thank you for your answer, but I don't think that is what I am looking for. My desktop has a music collection that is far greater then the 32gb of my device, and the sound quality is a lot better as well. So I don't want to be streaming from or to my device. Also since my library has about 50.000+ songs I'd prefer to use my well known and set-up music player over searching through my windows folders.
I have seen a couple of android apps that control Foobar2000 by using the plugin I use as well, and they are able to get the song info etc. So it is possible, I just can't figure out how.
(I did download the Nokia Play To app, because streaming like that is also useful at other times )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well most of my foobar collection are chiptunes, (vgm/sid/gbs) modules (mod, xm, it) and album in a single flac with cue files (flac doesn't always play, but mostly works) so I need it to stream WAV 48khz (its the highest I've tried) over wireless N using that dlna plugin. I have seen some foobar apps thats in the marketplace, but nothing that I'd seen work. Also somthing else that works, is the foo_touchremote plugin. It uses the boujour service (also in Apple's iTunes, but used in other things as well) and works simply with entering a pairing code.
If you still would like to use foo_httpcontrol, I'd ask over at http://www.hydrogenaudio.org.
thals1992 said:
Well most of my foobar collection are chiptunes, (vgm/sid/gbs) modules (mod, xm, it) and album in a single flac with cue files (flac doesn't always play, but mostly works) so I need it to stream WAV 48khz (its the highest I've tried) over wireless N using that dlna plugin. I have seen some foobar apps thats in the marketplace, but nothing that I'd seen work. Also somthing else that works, is the foo_touchremote plugin. It uses the boujour service (also in Apple's iTunes, but used in other things as well) and works simply with entering a pairing code.
If you still would like to use foo_httpcontrol, I'd ask over at .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That touchremote plugin sounds like it could be what I need, I will look into that when I have a bit more time. Thank you for the answers.:good:
*I couldn't commit my post because I quoted your hydrogenaudio link *
I created this thread for people to suggest features they like to see the chromecast do. Whether it be the chromecast device itself, the chrome browser extension, chromecast app on the phone, or even just to give ideas to developers to create an app for or integrate into apps they already have.
Suggestions:
1) Cast embeded videos like youtube videos in google+ straight to chromecast? I'm currently watching a video on google+ and went to cast it but there is no button in the video. I'd have to start playing it first, click to watch it in youtube, then cast it from there.
2) Be able to use chromecast with Picture-In-Picture. I haven't tried thus yet so it might already work.
3) An app that integrates chromecasting into the android share menu so you can cast any app straight to your T.V. I know Koush is working on sharing the gallery but being able to cast almost any app would be huge! Cast pdfs, facebook pictures, instagram, etc.
Control Control Control
1) When controlling the chromecast from my phone, if a call comes in, it would be great if the Chromecast would record the time the call started and when I hang up, ask me if I want to rewind to that point or optionally pause what's playing when I pickup the phone.
2) I would like a generic app in the notification bar to control ffw/rwd/pause of any media playing on the Chromecast. The idea being it would be a standardized interface for all media apps (instead of the per app notifications like netflix uses) and any device on the wifi network could control any chromecast (rather than having to start up netflix or whatever app the chromecast is servicing on another device.
3) Queuing/queue control either in apps or in the generic app in #2. Watching Mad Men on netflix is a PITA because as a episode ends, I have to open up the phone and then open the series, then scroll to the next episode and hit play. Would be nice if it was easier to just skip to the next episode, song, whatever.
4) Android Netflix App - it's obvious that Netflix app on android is not (yet) optimized to be a remote control. As mentioned in #3 managing the queue is a PITA. Also the lack of FFWD/RWD buttons and the accuracy of the slider in portrait mode only leaves something to be desired. Landscape orientation when controlling chromecast, FFWD/RWD/NEXT/BACK, a better timeline (maybe a gesture to scrub fwd/back?) and most importantly a queue/automatic play of the next episode (like the browser app, PS3, most TVs already do) would all go to making the user experience greater. (While the lock screen overlay controls were a pleasant surprise, why it doesn't have more control buttons is beyond me).
kernelhappy said:
2) I would like a generic app in the notification bar to control ffw/rwd/pause of any media playing on the Chromecast. The idea being it would be a standardized interface for all media apps (instead of the per app notifications like netflix uses) and any device on the wifi network could control any chromecast (rather than having to start up netflix or whatever app the chromecast is servicing on another device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe RemoteCast does this already. I know it does within the app but I can't remember if it adds any controls to the notification bar.
Two more suggestions:
1) Add an option for auto power off of the device after a specified amount of inactivity. (saw this in another thread)
2) Add caller ID so we can see who is calling when casting from the phone. Pause the cast when the call is answered.
supernova_00 said:
I believe RemoteCast does this already. I know it does within the app but I can't remember if it adds any controls to the notification bar.
Two more suggestions:
1) Add an option for auto power off of the device after a specified amount of inactivity. (saw this in another thread)
2) Add caller ID so we can see who is calling when casting from the phone. Pause the cast when the call is answered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I learned about remotecast about 20 minutes after posting here, gonna check it out in a little bit.
I do like the Caller ID though.
kernelhappy said:
Yes, I learned about remotecast about 20 minutes after posting here, gonna check it out in a little bit.
I do like the Caller ID though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be soooo easy to do with Google Voice since the Hangouts app already supports it on the chrome PC extension
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
Suggestions:
1) Cast the clock app to your TV to display the current time, alarm notification, and/or display the countdown timer.
2) Cast daydream to the TV (I'm not sure the usefulness of this as I have never used the feature on the phone)
3) Cast google earth to the TV. That would be beautiful to have that on a huge screen!
4) Cast specific google now cards to the TV
Soundcloud
Amazon Cloud Player
Tab casting from Android devices.
How about having it work with a wifi webcam or something for a video hangout (similar to kinect)? May not be feasible but I like the idea.
Native chrome tabs
I would like to be able to cast a tab, but instead of it mirroring my screen over the local network, run it locally on the Chromecast. A remote control interface would similate a trackpad and buttons, and only send the pointer coordinates (oh, and keyboard entries) and button clicks over the local network.
I would think that this would give us a higher quality experience, especially when viewing a streaming site that is not "Chromecast optimized".
Another suggestion:
Please for the love of god make chromecast switch the input back to what was on before I casted. This is by far my single biggest gripe.
1) Split audio and video into two separate synchronized casts. That would allow you to send the video only to your TV and then listen to the audio on your PC/phone/tablet using headphones (i.e. similar to the roku 3). Also, it would allow you to send video to your TV but cast to a second device connected to a receiver.
2) Add the option to restrict casting from certain devices. That way you could put the chromecast on a semi-public network (i.e. hotel) and others on the network would not be able to hijack your chromecast.
3) If a cast is in progress, display a warning if you attempt to start a new cast. This would prevent you from accidentally terminating someone elses cast. I could easily see people getting a chromecast for every TV, and without this, you could accidentally cast to the wrong TV which already has a cast in progress.
4) It has been mentioned before, but add a sleep mode option.
5) User defined URL for chromecast backgrounds. This would allow the chromecast to display a sideshow of your pictures when not casting.
6) Cast to remote device. This would allow you to cast if on a network with access point isolation enabled. It would also enable casting to a different subnet. Lastly it would also allow you to start a cast for someone else if you were not at home.
Casting content from SMB shares
I'd like the Chromecast to be able to pull directly from an SMB share, rather than just HTTP.
I'd then also like a companion app on my phone that can browse SMB shares and allows me to select a file to be casted so that the Chromecast fetches and streams the file directly from the SMB share. An existing app that already supports browsing of SMB shares (such as ES File Explorer or XBMC) with the added casting ability would do the trick.
netflix should go to the next tv episode automatically. this is my number one request
UPNP and DLNA
The UPNP and DLNA support would simply be a killer feature for the chromecast. The bigest problem wold be the codec support
uncola said:
netflix should go to the next tv episode automatically. this is my number one request
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought I wanted it too but I'm not sure if I trust that to work properly. What if it skips an episode by mistake?
Chromecast Playlist Bridge
I mentioned this in my review at ChromeCastCentral.Com, but one of the big drawbacks for the Chromecast is that while it is cross-platform, it still has a single-user mindset. All my friends can send stuff to it, but only if THEY take control over it. There is no good way to have multiple people/apps add things to a playlist. So what we need is an app (on the PC preferably) that is both a RECEIVER and a TRANSMITTER. It could be called something like Chromecast Playlist. Multiple people/apps could cast to IT and it could build up a playlist queue that it casts to the actual Chromecast on the TV.
Casting content from SMB shares
boffo123 said:
I'd like the Chromecast to be able to pull directly from an SMB share, rather than just HTTP.
I'd then also like a companion app on my phone that can browse SMB shares and allows me to select a file to be casted so that the Chromecast fetches and streams the file directly from the SMB share. An existing app that already supports browsing of SMB shares (such as ES File Explorer or XBMC) with the added casting ability would do the trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It occurs to me that perhaps the Chromecast is already able to pull directly from an SMB share. Apparently Chrome browser itself (in Win7) can play mkv files directly from a share using URL formatted as file://host/share/file.mkv, so perhaps the Chromecast can too? If so, then I'd just need a companion app to support casting a file from an SMB share.
Btw, I don't actually have a Chromecast yet
Turn off TV/AMP after idle, or device disconnect.
Mine turns on and switches inputs automatically using HDMI-CEC, which is fantastic for putting music on in the house, but it would be nice if it would all turn off again when I'm done.
Ensure all app 'home screens' use burn in prevention techniques. The YouTube one is a ***** on our plasma.
Netflix app improvements as mentioned.
Google music on CC to store a playlist so source can disconnect from WiFi without stopping the music.
Various Options for visual stimulation whilst playing music, yet still indicate what's playing. Or even show screenshare /web stuff whilst playing music. Hogging a large screen just for music isn't super efficient, may as well use the Bluetooth method we have used till now and free up the tv.. here using the TVs optical out, can't change input or turn screen off.. Must be quite common.
Google photos /g plus incorporation. photos as screensaver etc..
Uh..
Sent from my Nexus 7
Hey all,
Other than the Tasker/Autocast solution is any one aware of an solution that can cast a photo slideshow (ideally either from device or a media server and/or SMB share) whilst simultaneously casting a music playlist (again from device or a media server and/or SMB share).
I use another automation app and don't really want to go down the line of installing and learning Tasker just for this one use scenario. But I'd love to be able to have picture slideshows with music on the big screen.
Thanks.... :fingers-crossed:
Well I've found one other app that does this - CastonTV - but limited to media on device and a single music track. Not great.
There are a lot of great music streaming services out there. Let me know which one(s) are you using with your personal notes so that I can decide which platform I should switch to.
I am a long time Spotify Premium user, who utilized Spotify connect religiously. But as we all know Spotify doesn't really put in a lot of effort on their Android app. So recently I have been having issues with playback (crashes in the background) and as Spotify is only making their app worse with every update on Android, I thought it is time to switch to another platform/go offline. What are your thoughts and experiences with the current music streaming services?
YouTube Music is very good app.
I have YouTube premium so I use Youtube Music and Google Play Music.
I use YouTube and Spotify - the best apps for me.
spotify ofc
I use Spotify. JRE podcast is moving to Spotify so that's a plus.
YouTube
YouTube
Made good use of my .5tb SD card and a 220 gb CD/HDCD collection that's ripped to hdds as wav files.
Over 6000 songs means I don't get bored of the music just listening at times.
Poweramp does an excellent job of managing playlists and playback. It's graphic equalizer that allows unlimited saved presets to be saved by song/album/playlist plus settings/playlist backup makes it a complete and unparalleled Android player solution.
The online sources don't cover a lot of what I want and are a pain to use. Worse I can't dial the sound in and/or saved multiple EQ presets.
I use Spotify to listen to my music
i just have all of my favorite songs on a youtube playlist. saves me money.
I dont let anyone choose music for me, never. So no need for any stream online platform. My music is with me on my SD card 128GB. more than enough!
I will never depend on the internet to access music...
I am a Spotify user but can you tell what's the difference in this??????
marstonpear said:
There are a lot of great music streaming services out there. Let me know which one(s) are you using with your personal notes so that I can decide which platform I should switch to.
I am a long time Spotify Premium user, who utilized Spotify connect religiously. But as we all know Spotify doesn't really put in a lot of effort on their Android app. So recently I have been having issues with playback (crashes in the background) and as Spotify is only making their app worse with every update on Android, I thought it is time to switch to another platform/go offline. What are your thoughts and experiences with the current music streaming services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same as I was 5+ years ago. YouTube and a YT to Mp3 converter.
Nothing can ever beat FLAC