I'm after a media player for WM 5.0 as it seems that my Univeral didn't come with a decent one (I don't consider WMP to be decent - lacks one of my requirements). I have two real requirements - might add some if I think of them:
- Must be able to play .mp4 files, .avi (DivX if possible), .wmv and .mpeg
- Important: must be able to skip through files one after another.
Explanation: the XDA2i which I used to have comes with an 'Album' program which can be used to view photos and videos. This had two great features; the ability to view photos and videos in one program (not a problem for me as I have an even better photo viewer now) and the ability to point it at a folder of videos and then watch them one after the other, skipping to the next just by pressing on the d-pad.
Can anyone name a good media player which can meet both criteria? I've looked at some comparison charts but none seem to specify what seems to be a small feature to them but is actually an important one to me.
I have tried TCPMP and that doesn't seem to meet the second criterion.
Suggestions?
Look at TCMP again, but this time look in the settings menu and configure some hotkeys to skip tracks, there are is no shortage of keys on the Universal when it comes to picking a hotkey.
I'm willing to have another go, but doesn't 'skip track' mean to just go to the next one in the playlist?
Due to the way I use my device (take lots of short videos when out with friends) I can't be constantly adding them to playlists. The number of files I deal with is too large for me to have to organise them myself.
TCMP's playlist idea is completly different to mediaplayer. Browse to your folder in TCMP's file selector and use the select ALL option to give yourself a temporary playlist with all the files in the folder. You can even use the DIR command to select your Media folder which may have further folders below it with music, pictures and video in them and everything will be selected for your playlist.
Ahh okay, I didn't realise one could do this. Going to give it another go then report back.
Thanks.
No probs, it will also play your images too so you've got everything your XDA IIi could do, and probably more
Seems to be okay, I'm a bit confused with the buttons but I have set it so they at least change the playing video. I also managed to get it to play all the files in a folder.
Its best to pick something you will remember, like 'N' for next and 'P' for previous.
Hi all.
Apologies to begin with - can't find the WMP mobile troubleshooting page MS alludes to on it's "welcome to win mobile" page.
Questions:
1. With WMP mobile 10.3, any tracks from a compilation album (i.e. different artists but same album name) cause the album to be listed loads of times, one per artist. Obviously I'd like the album listed only once. Any clues? Is this a bug? I import with winamp and the album names are identical, the tags are clean, the folder structure on my desktop hard drive is VA\Album for compilations, artist\album for normals.
2. If this isn't workaroundable, does anyone know if there's a manual for coreplayer? I have it & use it for videos but can't make head nor tail of it's library function - i think it might be corrupt, in fact. Or should I give up completely and use pocket player 4?
3. WMP mobile - will skins improve the size of the library items? It's tough to hit them on the move, give the small size. Seems ill-thought-out, given the amount of free space on the page. Classic Microsoft, I suppose.
Thanks all!
Dez
2. Found manual here, which helps. CorePlayer is massively unintuitive and both have been designed with no consideration that the users may be mobile, and don't want to have to use the stylus all the time.
No ideas for #1? Fixing this would save me having to use CorePlayer to play music, which would be a bonus since it's a pain to go through so many menus to do something so simple...
Hi. Hope that this is the correct place to post...
I have been playing this weekend with a Foobar plugin that allows web control.
The web interface that this plug-in creates is skin-able, and indeed somewhat predictably there are already a couple of i-phone themes available. I did get them working well with the HTC HD2.
However the graphics quality is not stellar when an i-phone designed interface is scaled up, so I started having a poke at the javascript code for myself... I am no coder by any means, so I have been adapting other peoples work noteably the IxoFith template at the above link...
So far I have a HTC music playeresque theme working, with the odd glitch here and there, I reckon that a talented javascript programmer could do a lot more a lot faster than I can, anyone up for it?
I will continue to fettle this and eventually will post my code at "Justblair's Audio and Electronics Pages" but if you are interested in seeing what damage a ham fisted amateur can do to some competently written code, either comment at my site or contact me through here and I can get it to you..
It is very scrappy at the moment, though functional. I tried to post images, but outside links are a no no for newbies here. Google my site name if you want a taster. Hopefully the mods will lift the restriction soon.
Off-topic, but another way:
GRemote works VERY well with WinAmp, allowing you to browse all your PC files on your HD2, and play or queue files/folders in WinAmp (even tho I hate WinAmp!). You can also launch any file in whatever app you choose, so I can browse all my movies in a very slinky, fast-scrolling manner on my HD2, and whichever one I click starts playing full-screen (e.g. VLC, GomPlayer etc), and a swipe on my phone then gives me Play/Pause, fast-forward, rewind, volume, next file, full-screen/windowed etc.
Just a suggestion if you like finding new ways to play your media
smeddy said:
Off-topic, but another way:
GRemote works VERY well with WinAmp, allowing you to browse all your PC files on your HD2, and play or queue files/folders in WinAmp (even tho I hate WinAmp!). You can also launch any file in whatever app you choose, so I can browse all my movies in a very slinky, fast-scrolling manner on my HD2, and whichever one I click starts playing full-screen (e.g. VLC, GomPlayer etc), and a swipe on my phone then gives me Play/Pause, fast-forward, rewind, volume, next file, full-screen/windowed etc.
Just a suggestion if you like finding new ways to play your media
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's worth a look I am sure. I have tried the freebie version of G-remote which is of course a little limited. I did have a few crashes when using the free version of G-remote, kinda put me off spending on it.
I also happen to like foobar as it has the plug-ins needed to run it as an "audiophile" source, i.e. wasapi and native flac playback. I used winamp a while back and did not like it. I dare say it has improved since then.
Hello Guys!
I am planning to get one of the Transformers (probably 32G+dock) and sell my notebook (will still have a desktop computer).
Now, I'm on a performance notebook (with piss-poor battery life), but I do not use it - only for web surfing, chat, watching movies, sending stuff & downloading - and maybe some games (1x a month LOL)
So my question is - what are the features you like or MISS in the Transformer compared to a notebook.
Thank you!
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Magnesus said:
1) Proper browser with adblock.
2) Proper audio player (like Amarok/Clementine/Exaile etc.).
3) USB port for attaching keyboard (I don't have the dock).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
also a system-wide adblock via apps.
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
gottahavit said:
Better task swapping(alt+tab) or windowed view.
Text selection. Android NEEDS a better text selection desperately.
Other than that it makes a pretty good laptop replacement for simple things. Using remote desktop to a windows machine, greatly improves #1, and moderately improves #2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alt+tab works with the keyboard dock.
Windowed view won't happen until there is a significant increase in system resources available to these devices. Everything currently runs in full screen because 1GB of RAM is just barely sufficient for most of the current apps, and Android devices don't use swap, which means apps get flushed out of memory if the system starts running low on RAM. Windowed apps would crash or degrade under the current Android memory management scheme, which was instated because phones and tablets are so starved for resources when compared to traditional desktops and laptops.
Text selection requires a long press because click and drag on a touchscreen handles panning. I'm not sure what else you're expecting from text selection when many apps allow you to modify the size of the selection to your heart's content. Those that don't integrate nicely with Android's built-in text selection are the fault of the developers.
Thank you for the replies.
Well, Just as finalhit said - firefox has a plugin, and AFAIK Dolphin Browser, too. And by the way, Ad-free is not working on these devices? Like on my rooted Desire?
Proper audio player - I saw the transformer in action and the stock player is great, also have purchased PowerAMP for my phone and the developer says, it'll work on HC 3.2, too. Will see.
Carrying on with Text Input ~
Android needs to be able to support Rich Text in Browser Email Apps (e.g. Yahoo) and also Copy/Paste text into an Email.
Copy/Paste works in Gmail but not in say Yahoo Mail.
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like that too, I tried plugging my USB SoundBlaster in but nothing happened.
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
1) Definitely better text selection/manipulation - it works, but it doesn't feel right
2) Right mouse button - yes, it has long press, but it's long press, meaning it's not very fast. Make the right track pad button function the same as long press, and it will feel almost like a notebook.
3) Better file manipulation/transfer speed. Copying and pasting/moving files is a pain and is very very slow. Astro works, but it's nothing compared to the ease of windows/linux.
Android has all the functions I want, a lot of them just don't feel natural, or are cumbersome to use.
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
mikelt89 said:
I like my TF, but I think it can't replace a notebook, unless we can port windows 7 on it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8 might run on it, as it has arm support and the TF meets the minimum requirements that MS has released so far.
cottinghamm said:
What I miss most is a decent productivity suite, WP & Spreadsheets. I am using the beta of SoftMaker Office & it will do the job when it's released, but at the moment it crashes a lot & isn't mainstream.
Printing isn't that easy either ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
FrankRr said:
What I miss most, is that the TF does not have a digital audio output via USB.
A notebook can simply be connected with a DAC by USB and I can listen to MP3s over my Hifi system ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can indirectly output to a DAC if you use the HDMI port. I have an Asus VH238H monitor that includes a SPDIF out, so I just hook up the Transformer via HDMI and have the monitor output the sound to my DAC.
For printing I use CloudPrint So far it works greatly (home & office) on my Desire - so that won't be a problem.
finalhit said:
firefox is available in android, and you can add the adblock plugin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firefox for Android is very far from a proper browser (in my opinion, proper browser is for example Google Chrome and desktop Firefox) and it's adblock is far from it's desktop counterpart. Maybe the new version will be better. In my opinion actually Firefox is worst browser for Android (the best being Dolphin Pad).
i have no idea what you would qualify as a "proper" audio player. unless you're refering stictly to that list as "proper", the stock player is also a proper player, as well as plently you'd find in the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Magnesus said:
Try using Amarok, Clementine, Exile or sth similar (or Foobar if you only have Windows, but it's quite bad looking). I tested most the music players in the market and none of them are even comparable. So I resigned from using Tranformer for listening to music and bought USB sound card for my laptop instead (without it the sound quality of my laptop was... well quite horrible ).
Amarok/Clementine/Exile have clear interface with your files or library on the left (you can use both) and a playlist on the right. You can add tracks to the playlist, remove them, shuffle them, star songs, generate playlists based on the stars, select to repeat a track or repeat the whole playlist, filter the library (for example - you type John and you get all John Williams albums listed), the playlist is created by drag and drop etc. Also they play all music formats (flac, mpc included). If you never used a music player like this - try them, they are really good.
Most (all of them?) players in android market are designed for playing one album at a time (no playlist), have interface more suited for phones than tablets and no ability to use folder view (some can but are regenerating the index every time I unmount my samba share - and it takes ages). If I'm wrong - and there is sth like Amarok on the Market - please tell, I'll buy it in a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because the default Music player doesn't show the now playing and playlist views on the same page together doesn't mean you don't have such functionality. Remember what you're dealing with here; it's just a 10.1 inch screen. It doesn't take much to clutter the UI with a lot of menu options, especially when all the UI elements have to be doubled and tripled in size in order to be legible on the tiny screen.
Now, as far as the features of the default Music app, there's plenty to keep most listeners happy. Upon starting the app, in the upper left hand corner you have the ability to sort your music collection by New and recent, Albums, Artists, Songs, Playlists, and Genres. On the right, you can Search through all of your music, refining your results by the previously mentioned sort categories. Once you choose a specific artist, for instance, you can tap once on the "All songs" option to play all of the artist's selected music, or you can just select one album of theirs to play, either of these options taking you to a list of songs added to the queue. Long press will allow you to add the selected songs to the playlist of your choice. Once in the now playing queue, you can sort the songs by name or by album, or shuffle the whole thing. Then once you finally play a song, the now playing screen allows for toggling shuffle and advanced repeat functions just like what you're used to with other applications. The default player also supports mp3, ogg, and flac, and probably some other formats that I haven't tried yet. The only thing missing is the ability to "star" your music, which is a feature I always saw as pointless.
Seriously, why would you even bother with third party music apps at this point?
And what about the microSD slot on the tablet? I'm planning to get a 32GB A-DATA - will it work normally like with my Desire?
rtadams89 said:
Documents to Go works well (given the limitations of the input methods, screen size, etc.)
Printign is a major issue. There are paid apps that I hear do printing OK, but they require a server program to run on a computer already connected to the printer. I have yet to find one that works well with a networked printer (either shared through the native Windows functionality or a dedicated print server).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
printing works well for me, but yes, requires a server at this point -- free app: https://market.android.com/search?q=printershare&so=1&c=apps
I do use it as a laptop replacement. I find that 95% of the time I do not need to go back to my laptop; however, I do miss the ability to have more than one app on the screen at once (chatting and browsing at the same time is annoying). I also miss a full office program. I have tried DTG and polaris, and both work quite well by comparison to other office apps, but are not a replacement for MS Office or Libreoffice.
I also have a server in the basement for media serving running ESXi 4.1. I have 2 VMs on it: File/media server running ubuntu 11.04 and a windows VM for running various other things like video transcoding. I would not want to do either of those functions on an android tablet either.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Hey all,
I have an old (80's-style) full-length cabinet that sits on the floor. It's got a 8-track, FM/AM, and record player built-in, but the radio sucks and the record player is broken. I want to gut the whole thing, install some more modern speakers, install a new record player, and control it all from a tablet or touch screen computer. The big thing I'm looking for is a bit of "future-proofing" so that it can control both the built-in speakers and cast to other devices across the house or even the back patio. We have guests over pretty often, whether to cook out or just hang out in the house. I'd like to be able to pop open the lid of the cabinet and let anybody add/change the music playing, or be able to play the record player throughout the speakers in my house (my wife enjoys the records, while I prefer the convenience of Google Play Music).
I think the best way to do this is through Android, since it's much easier to cast to devices, and I can still change the music playing throughout the house via phones, tablet, and gHomes if I want.
Does anyone have a recommendation for building this solution? I think the most effective way to do this will be to set up the speakers in the cabinet and just plug them directly into a Chromecast Audio. I'll need either a ROM or a home launcher that's more conducive to selecting and limiting itself to a select few music apps & YouTube.
The big hurdles I see are setting up "zones" so that I can pick which Chromecasts the system plays to depending on where in the house we're going to be. I also need a way to feed the external audio (the record player) to the Tablet so it can forward that sound to other Chromecasts. I've looked for how to do this a bit, and it looks like Mozilla figured out a way to do it using a Raspberry Pi. I'm not opposed to this, but I want to be sure that I can use the tablet/computer I build into the cabinet to select which Chromecasts this streams to.
Thanks for the help / recommendations! If I get all of this figured out, I'll be sure to share the end result so people can see how well it all worked out!