A question about the music player

[power5]

Seems illogical to me as well. But I have not even used a windows phone yet and only basing off my iphone usage. Music player comes up if I double click my home button. If I then press pause and double click home again, it goes away. Then when I touch the volume rockers it does not pop back up. If MS had a shortcut of the same concept for the music player it could alleviate this issue. Its just something a new user needs to get used to. I will have to get used to using the top button to get the lock screen to illuminate instead of the home button on the bottom of the device near my thumb.

 

[Curtieson]

To the one comment that you want it to go away whenever you stop music, like the iOS...that goes back to MS's principal thought of this...for someone that uses their phone to play music (which it deems anyone that has listened to a song)...it wants to allow you to constantly have your music one click away just by clicking the volume rocker.. It is the In And Out, At a Glance phone.

It would be unused space in most situations yet Microsoft designed it in such a way that every one of their phones has your music one physical button press away at all times for all those that use their phone for music.

As the fanboi would say "It's genius, really."

jd had a legitimate question to ask. Curtieson was at least courteous in his responses (albeit, a little condescending).

Yes, I realize I do come across like that. The internet has given me a tough skin.

 

[jdd77]

To say you need a stop button is just being stuck in an old PHYSICAL media mindset and somewhat shows we as a population don't have a grasp on what our items are actually doing...

In the old world...pause meant the tape would stay out of the cassette, ready to play where as stop would remove the tap from its mechanics and allow you to remove the cassette. When we moved to CD, pause would stop the electrical eye from moving but the disc kept spinning ready to play, when stop would shut the thing down.

Now, in the MP3 on Phone age, your phone stays on, so there is absolutely no point in a stop button because you aren't wasting battery with a spinning disc or need to remove the tape from the mechanics of the player... a "stop" button would perform ZERO benefit except to calm the mind of people stuck in the past...so that is why it is not needed and not present.

I came to a conclusion... Its just a clumsy set up. If I want to pick up listening to an album from 3 days ago, Im gonna want to hear it from the beginning, not from the middle of track 5. But the only way to do that from the "convenient" feature of only pause, is to scrub back to the first track. It's just clumsy to me.

 

[starblade876]

I came to a conclusion... Its just a clumsy set up. If I want to pick up listening to an album from 3 days ago, Im gonna want to hear it from the beginning, not from the middle of track 5. But the only way to do that from the "convenient" feature of only pause, is to scrub back to the first track. It's just clumsy to me.

If you want to go to the beginning of an album, you just go to the music hub and click the album in your history. That's what you would have to do if you had your way and the mini-player were removable when you stop the music.

Anyway, that scenario seems weird to me. If I start listening to a new album and I have to leave off in the middle of track 5, then, at most, I would want to start track 5 over again a few days later, not go back to track 1. I'd want to finish the rest of the album before going back to the first song.

Also, actually, I'd say the only clumsy thing about the music player is that it doesn't remember enough. Specifically, it doesn't remember the place you leave off on playlists and shuffle all. Unless I REALLY want to listen to a song again, I prefer going through the whole list before repeating songs. It's the only thing that annoys me about the player.

 

[jdd77]

If you want to go to the beginning of an album, you just go to the music hub and click the album in your history. That's what you would have to do if you had your way and the mini-player were removable when you stop the music.

Anyway, that scenario seems weird to me. If I start listening to a new album and I have to leave off in the middle of track 5, then, at most, I would want to start track 5 over again a few days later, not go back to track 1. I'd want to finish the rest of the album before going back to the first song.

Also, actually, I'd say the only clumsy thing about the music player is that it doesn't remember enough. Specifically, it doesn't remember the place you leave off on playlists and shuffle all. Unless I REALLY want to listen to a song again, I prefer going through the whole list before repeating songs. It's the only thing that annoys me about the player.

I just don't understand why its not an option. Different people do things different ways. And I still power the phone off/on when I'm done with the player so I don't have to see the song and artist drop down whenever I use the volume keys. Ah..if I was a phone developer...

 

[11B1P]

I just don't understand why its not an option. Different people do things different ways. And I still power the phone off/on when I'm done with the player so I don't have to see the song and artist drop down whenever I use the volume keys. Ah..if I was a phone developer...

jdd,

Half of these people don't understand your complaint. I do and I'm with you. I think it may be a bit worse for me, as I don't use my phone to listen to music, that's what my Zune HD is for. So when if I do happen to listen to a song through the Marketplace, I hate seeing the music controls drop down after I'm done.

That's what the complaint is about. Having the controls drop down. Not whether we're going to listen to the song from the beginning or right where I left off. I appreciate that feature, but there needs to be a way to turn it off.

 

[jdd77]

jdd,

Half of these people don't understand your complaint. I do and I'm with you. I think it may be a bit worse for me, as I don't use my phone to listen to music, that's what my Zune HD is for. So when if I do happen to listen to a song through the Marketplace, I hate seeing the music controls drop down after I'm done.

That's what the complaint is about. Having the controls drop down. Not whether we're going to listen to the song from the beginning or right where I left off. I appreciate that feature, but there needs to be a way to turn it off.

My point exactly... You summed up what I've been trying to say.

 

[Curtieson]

I came to a conclusion... Its just a clumsy set up. If I want to pick up listening to an album from 3 days ago, Im gonna want to hear it from the beginning, not from the middle of track 5. But the only way to do that from the "convenient" feature of only pause, is to scrub back to the first track. It's just clumsy to me.

That is the beauty of how it is set up, you want to start the album over, you can do that whether or not it remember where you were...however if you wanted to start with track 5 again (which I agree, would be the case for most people) you can do that with one physical button.

jdd,

Half of these people don't understand your complaint. I do and I'm with you. I think it may be a bit worse for me, as I don't use my phone to listen to music, that's what my Zune HD is for. So when if I do happen to listen to a song through the Marketplace, I hate seeing the music controls drop down after I'm done.

That's what the complaint is about. Having the controls drop down. Not whether we're going to listen to the song from the beginning or right where I left off. I appreciate that feature, but there needs to be a way to turn it off.

1) Again, using the justification that you have a completely separate device does not work. MS is not going to ever design something for the 1 of 100000 people that would willingly carry around one device (Zune) that does a fraction of what their other new device does. That is like saying you don't think it would be odd to carry an iPod Touch and an iPhone...

2) I agree, it wouldn't hurt anything if there was an option to turn this off because I would just ignore it. HOWEVER, to install this option would have taken another 100 hrs of testing and programming...and it is just one of thousands of features that 1 person in a corner somewhere might find handy once in a lifetime. I personally am extremely glad they left it off and gave me mango 4 days earlier and didn't wait for this one feature...

Has anyone posted the idea/searched for the idea on the MS feedback site? What kind of traction has it earned there?

 

[Boodev]

You know...I'm pretty sure I can make an App that stops the music and removes it from the Volume Bar. That would stop you needing to reboot your phone all the time.

I'll submit it tonight for you, although it will take a few days to get certification (This is assuming Microsoft don't reject it for messing with the Active Song...*sigh*)

You'll just need to pin it to your home screen and as soon as you open the app, your issue will vanish

 

[Boodev]

The app has been submitted to the marketplace for approval. I'll make another post here if/when it gets approved!

It works a charm, totally removes everything from the Volume Bar and the Lock Screen and all you have to do is open the app. No more rebooting and no more accidentally pressing play. Magic.

(On a side note, if Microsoft don't approve it, I'll release the Source Code and XAP for everyone to compile or side load)

 

[Vulak'Aerr]

What are some 3rd party apps that play music?.. And while I'm asking, does anyone know of any apps that add more colors or backgrounds?

The WPCentral app podcast now has background playback. Also, try Tune-In Radio or BBC Radio Player for some of the best background audio stuff on the marketplace.

 

[jdd77]

The app has been submitted to the marketplace for approval. I'll make another post here if/when it gets approved!

It works a charm, totally removes everything from the Volume Bar and the Lock Screen and all you have to do is open the app. No more rebooting and no more accidentally pressing play. Magic.

(On a side note, if Microsoft don't approve it, I'll release the Source Code and XAP for everyone to compile or side load)

That's awesome! What do I need to do to get it...download from marketplace?

 

[power5]

Why does everyone think a smart phone should be something besides a phone first? These new "one touch to always have music at the ready" comments are backwards. The controls dropping down interfere with it being a phone first and a music player after. I still don't get how fast some people need to access their music. Like 10 seconds of silence is a death sentence while you relaunch the music app which should be on your home page since its essential. Yet I have music controls on my phone after listening to one song with no MS way of removing them without rebooting the phone. You guys really think that's how it should be? Thanks to BooDev we will soon have a 3rd party app to turn off the music controls after exiting the music app.

Compromise could be that as long as the music player is in the quick launch app switcher the controls can drop down. But if it has been booted from there then the controls no longer show. Or also if the player has not been used in 1 hour or something. I mean if you listen to music non stop this will not impede your day.

 

[Boodev]

That's awesome! What do I need to do to get it...download from marketplace?

Yep. I'll post a direct link to the marketplace as soon as its approved.

 

[jdd77]

Thank you Boodev for developing something for this...I hope it gets approved! And thanks to all you guys for seeing what I mean. As power5 said, it interferes with the phone being a phone. When I'm done with the music player I wanna be done until I use it again. I don't want my favorite artist to be associated with the everyday functions of my cell phone ( like everytime I use the volume keys). If the app gets approved, I'll use the music player alot more...thanks again.

 

[starsoccer9]

So what happened?

 

[Boodev]

Still waiting for certification of the App. It will take a couple more days probably. Usually takes between 3-6 days.

 

[11B1P]

1) Again, using the justification that you have a completely separate device does not work. MS is not going to ever design something for the 1 of 100000 people that would willingly carry around one device (Zune) that does a fraction of what their other new device does. That is like saying you don't think it would be odd to carry an iPod Touch and an iPhone...

2) I agree, it wouldn't hurt anything if there was an option to turn this off because I would just ignore it. HOWEVER, to install this option would have taken another 100 hrs of testing and programming...and it is just one of thousands of features that 1 person in a corner somewhere might find handy once in a lifetime. I personally am extremely glad they left it off and gave me mango 4 days earlier and didn't wait for this one feature...

You're still missing the point. The complaint is that some of us don't want the drop down controls and would like a way to get rid of it. It doesn't affect me all that much, BECAUSE I use my Zune HD for my media. Therefore, if I listen to a song in the Marketplace on my Trophy, to see whether or not I want to purchase it for my Zune, I don't want to see the drop down controls once I'm done looking for a song.

I find it hard to accept that it would take any more time for testing this feature. As far as Mango being released early, ....4 whole days?? And it is a disappointing update. You do realize Mango was mainly for devs, right? Very few of the 500+ features are consumer-related.

 

[Rodolfo#WP]

My beef is that we have less daylight since Mango -and no one seems to care about that...

 

[Boodev]

Unfortunately, the application was rejected by Microsoft last night.

Fortunately, the reason it failed is one which can be fixed. The application needs to ask the users permission to stop the music and clear the playlist. Now when the application is first launched, it asks for permission and then inside the application there is a permission toggle switch. Its a little pointless (Since why would you even open or install the app if you didn't want it to stop your music) but it hopefully fulfils Microsofts criteria regarding stopping the Zune music queue.

As a little treat (or tease), I will upload a video of the application in action a little later today. If it fails certification again however, I will just release it for people to sideload (which would be a shame...).