Squeeze Control for Android (support thread)

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi, thing is just that I can play from my NAS to this device with DS Audio Station and the respective app but not from LMS and Squeeze Ctrl although I can use my PC and the LMS web interface.

You've only mentioned Squeeze Ctrl. Are you also running SB Player (or Squeeze Player) on the device? Without it the device would not be able to connect to LMS as a Squeezebox player.

 

[streifenleopard]

You've only mentioned Squeeze Ctrl. Are you also running SB Player (or Squeeze Player) on the device? Without it the device would not be able to connect to LMS as a Squeezebox player.

I am running SB Player but SB Player asks me to select a server but can't find any.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

I am running SB Player but SB Player asks me to select a server but can't find any.

Audio streaming and server discovery use different networking mechanisms. If SB Player can't find your server, then there is something on the network between the app and the server that is either blocking the discovery broadcast from the app to the server or blocking the reply from the server. It could be a lot of different things, firewalls, proxies, vpn's, misconfigured routers, or a single erroneous network setting on your device. I can't really diagnose it remotely.

However, you can still manually type the ip address of the server into the address field in SB Player.

 

[streifenleopard]

I have a Surface 2 with the Soundicity App installed. There are zero issues accessing or controlling LMS. I have also two Android devices (the Zettaly and a Motorola Moto G). Both have Squeeze Ctrl installed and both cannot connect to LMS as of recently. It might have something to do with the Synology update from 5.2 to 6.0 but then why does the Surface not have any problems?

EDIT the only difference I see in the Router's HP is that Wlan properies state for the surface "2x2 streams" while it states "1x1 streams" for the Moto G whatever this means.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

I have a Surface 2 with the Soundicity App installed. There are zero issues accessing or controlling LMS. I have also two Android devices (the Zettaly and a Motorola Moto G). Both have Squeeze Ctrl installed and both cannot connect to LMS as of recently. It might have something to do with the Synology update from 5.2 to 6.0 but then why does the Surface not have any problems?

EDIT the only difference I see in the Router's HP is that Wlan properies state for the surface "2x2 streams" while it states "1x1 streams" for the Moto G whatever this means.

If both apps used to work and stopped working recently and neither app has changed, then the logical conclusion is that something else (outside of the control of the apps) has changed. Not sure how Soundicity works, but it may be using a different method (and port) to talk to the server. The upgrade may have reset the security settings on the NAS. You need to make sure that port 3483 is not block for server discovery to work and also that the port that LMS uses for the browser controls is not blocked (Squeeze Ctrl uses the same port).

 

[reknitse]

Hi,
is it possible to add Spotify playlists/albums/etc to favorites directly from the app? I was not able to find this feature. If not, are there any plans to implement it? Beside this: great app!
Cheers

 

[CypherMK]

Hi,

I have a question. I bought this app, and I would like to share this app with my 10 year old daughter. I know it is possible to add my account on her tablet, and she can download the app, but I don't like to have my account on her tablet.
Are there other ways to share this app with her?

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi,
is it possible to add Spotify playlists/albums/etc to favorites directly from the app? I was not able to find this feature. If not, are there any plans to implement it? Beside this: great app!
Cheers

You can already do so. When you see a "+" button with a little menu at the corner (most of them are like that), tap and hold to open the context menu for that item. From the context menu, you can save spotify items to favorites.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi,

I have a question. I bought this app, and I would like to share this app with my 10 year old daughter. I know it is possible to add my account on her tablet, and she can download the app, but I don't like to have my account on her tablet.
Are there other ways to share this app with her?

As far as I know, there's currently no way to share apps across accounts.

 

[streifenleopard]

If both apps used to work and stopped working recently and neither app has changed, then the logical conclusion is that something else (outside of the control of the apps) has changed. Not sure how Soundicity works, but it may be using a different method (and port) to talk to the server. The upgrade may have reset the security settings on the NAS. You need to make sure that port 3483 is not block for server discovery to work and also that the port that LMS uses for the browser controls is not blocked (Squeeze Ctrl uses the same port).

Hi in a multidevice attempt I managed to get it working again which, however, was not an easy task... thank you very much for support - as always

 

[streifenleopard]

Hi,
two questions:
Why do I have to allow access under Data Protection / Apps for Squeeze Ctrl?
Did you manage to solve the issue where downloaded playlists would only download the files in the playlists but the playlist as such remained empty?
Thank you.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Hi,
two questions:
Why do I have to allow access under Data Protection / Apps for Squeeze Ctrl?

Are you sure it's "Data Protection / Apps". on my Nexus devices it's "Photo and Media" (or something like that). It's to allow users to pick images to use as the background.

Hi,
Did you manage to solve the issue where downloaded playlists would only download the files in the playlists but the playlist as such remained empty?

Yes, I did solve it. Not sure if it was Android 5 or 6, but at some point Google changed the way the location of downloaded files are reported back to the app and you need a little extra code to resolve to actual location. Since the app didn't have the correct file locations, it couldn't add them to the playlist.

The fix will be in the next update, which should will be soon.

 

[tomfordham1]

I would like to say that I think your app is excellent and well worth the money.

Secondly, I am looking to make a tasker intent triggered by an NFC tag that plays random songs, e.g. for when I get in from work. I can get it to 'play' using the information you kindly published on your website, but obviously not a new random song playlist. Could you supply the command that will trigger this function?

Thanks.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

I would like to say that I think your app is excellent and well worth the money.

Secondly, I am looking to make a tasker intent triggered by an NFC tag that plays random songs, e.g. for when I get in from work. I can get it to 'play' using the information you kindly published on your website, but obviously not a new random song playlist. Could you supply the command that will trigger this function?

Thanks.

There are no intents that will do what you need. In fact I don't think there is a single command I could send to the server to have it play a random song. The only thing that might work is this: Go to Edit Home Menu. If you're on a phone click Edit List. On the list of available items, put one of the items under "Random Mix" onto the home menu. Then go back to the Edit Home Menu screen and select Auto Start on that item. Now every time the app starts, it will auto select that item. The changes made in Edit Home Menu only apply to the currently selected player, unless you save it as the default for all players.

 

[dipsqueezectrl]

I purchased Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player on Google Play. Now I intend to buy an Amazon Fire tablet. I saw that Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player are also available at the Amazon app store but would like to know if there is a way that I can use my already licensed versions on the Fire.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

I purchased Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player on Google Play. Now I intend to buy an Amazon Fire tablet. I saw that Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player are also available at the Amazon app store but would like to know if there is a way that I can use my already licensed versions on the Fire.

Unfortunately no, there's no way to transfer licenses between the two stores, unless Google and Amazon decide to play nice with each other (which is not going to happen).

If you do decide to repurchase it, be aware that the Amazon version is missing anything that requires Google specific API's like Chromecast or Android Wear support.

 

[dipsqueezectrl]

Thanks for your answer. I managed to install the Google Play Store on the Fire. In this way I was able to install Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player from Google Play Store and do not have to repurchase it

Another question: I have LMS running on a Linux machine which shuts down when there is a certain time of inactivity. When starting Squeeze Ctrl it wakes up the server via WOL which works fine. However, it takes about 20 seconds for the server to wake up. During this time Squeeze Ctrl tries to connect to the server but finally fails, although I have set the server timeout in Squeeze Ctrl settings to 30 seconds. That means that Squeeze Ctrl does not automatically connect to the server but starts with an empty screen and I have to manually connect to the server when it has finished starting (which is annoying since my wife never finds the "connect" menu item which is hidden in the Squeeze Ctrl menu). Is there a way to ensure that Squeeze Ctrl will connect automatically after the server has been restarted? Or would it at least possible to add a big "connect" button in the middle of the empty screen?

By the way, I use Squeeze Ctrl in connection with SB Player. Is it better to start Squeeze Ctrl (which then starts SB Player) or to start SB Player (which starts Squeez Ctrl)? This morning I had the problem that SB Player was not the active Player when I started Squeeze Ctrl (although it was the last used player yesterday evening). So I was wondering why I did not hear any music until I saw that Squeeze Ctrl controlled my (hardware) Sqzeezebox in the kitchen rather than SB Player on my tablet. Could it be that SB player was not yet running when I started Squeeze Ctrl and that for that reason one of my Squeezboxes was selected to be the active player in Squeeze Ctrl?

Thanks for your answers and your great programs.

 

[wayne@angrygoat]

Thanks for your answer. I managed to install the Google Play Store on the Fire. In this way I was able to install Squeeze Ctrl and SB Player from Google Play Store and do not have to repurchase it

Another question: I have LMS running on a Linux machine which shuts down when there is a certain time of inactivity. When starting Squeeze Ctrl it wakes up the server via WOL which works fine. However, it takes about 20 seconds for the server to wake up. During this time Squeeze Ctrl tries to connect to the server but finally fails, although I have set the server timeout in Squeeze Ctrl settings to 30 seconds. That means that Squeeze Ctrl does not automatically connect to the server but starts with an empty screen and I have to manually connect to the server when it has finished starting (which is annoying since my wife never finds the "connect" menu item which is hidden in the Squeeze Ctrl menu). Is there a way to ensure that Squeeze Ctrl will connect automatically after the server has been restarted? Or would it at least possible to add a big "connect" button in the middle of the empty screen?

By the way, I use Squeeze Ctrl in connection with SB Player. Is it better to start Squeeze Ctrl (which then starts SB Player) or to start SB Player (which starts Squeez Ctrl)? This morning I had the problem that SB Player was not the active Player when I started Squeeze Ctrl (although it was the last used player yesterday evening). So I was wondering why I did not hear any music until I saw that Squeeze Ctrl controlled my (hardware) Sqzeezebox in the kitchen rather than SB Player on my tablet. Could it be that SB player was not yet running when I started Squeeze Ctrl and that for that reason one of my Squeezboxes was selected to be the active player in Squeeze Ctrl?

Thanks for your answers and your great programs.

After the server hardware starts up, it probably takes LMS a bit of time to start up. Altogether it likely takes more than 30 seconds for the server to be responsive to connection requests.

The only way I can think of ensuring the app will connect is with a retry system, but that can bring some annoying problems that I don't want to have to deal with. I think a big connect button in the middle of the screen should be doable.

Even though Squeeze Ctrl does delay it's own connection a little when it's auto starting SB Player, sometimes it will still end up connecting to the server first. So if you want Squeeze Ctrl to always work with SB Player on startup, it's better to have SB Player start Squeeze Ctrl on connection.

 

[dipsqueezectrl]

After the server hardware starts up, it probably takes LMS a bit of time to start up. Altogether it likely takes more than 30 seconds for the server to be responsive to connection requests.

Starting the server hardware and LMS takes always almost exactly 20 seconds. I know that since when starting the server using one of my Squeezeboxes or my Squeezebox Boom I can see on the change in the display when LMS has been finished starting up. So I have the impression that Squeeze Ctrl does not really wait 30 seconds to connect to the server although timeout is set to 30.

The only way I can think of ensuring the app will connect is with a retry system, but that can bring some annoying problems that I don't want to have to deal with. I think a big connect button in the middle of the screen should be doable.

That would be great to have at least a workaround.

Even though Squeeze Ctrl does delay it's own connection a little when it's auto starting SB Player, sometimes it will still end up connecting to the server first. So if you want Squeeze Ctrl to always work with SB Player on startup, it's better to have SB Player start Squeeze Ctrl on connection.

On this tablet I want Squeeze Ctrl to always work with SB Player on startup. I tried to have SB Player start Squeeze Ctrl on connection but I have the impression that SB Player does not have the capability to send WOL packets to the server. At least it did not wake up the server and I did not find a WOL configuration and a field for the server MAC address in the settings of SB Player. Do I miss something?

 

[dipsqueezectrl]

I investigated a little bit further.

As already mentioned I have set the server timeout in Squeeze Ctrl to 30 seconds. I further have now set the option in SB Player to retry connecting 10 times.

When I start Squeeze Ctrl it shows its empty main window (without LMS menus) and a centered popup window appears saying "connection interrupted, connecting". At the same time a small popup windows appears at the bottom of the screen obviously generated by SB Player indicating "no connection" and "trying to connect" (or a similar text). While the centered popup windows generated by Squeeze Ctrl is continuously displayed, the small SB Player popup window regularly disappears and reappears.

After about 20 seconds an amended small popup window appears saying "high bandwith" and then "connected". This is exactly the time the server and LMS needs to start so WOL obviously was successful and SB Player was connected to LMS. At the same time the centered popup window created by Squeeze Ctrl disappears. That means, obviously Squeeze Ctrl also recognized that LMS is now available and a connection to LMS may even have been established. However, the screen remains empty and the LMS menus do not appear. Only after manually selecting the "connecting" item in the Squeeze Ctrl menu the LMS menus are displayed.

So my question is: Why does Squeeze Ctrl not complete the connection to the LMS although it obviously recognizes that LMS is running? Could it be that only a kind of refresh is missing and that the connection in fact has been established?