HTC Accessories (BoomBass & Mini+) support on the M9?

[dorelse]

I'll be upgrading to the M9 from the M7. Anyone know if they've built in support for my BoomBass & Mini+?

TIA!

 

[srkmagnus]

I'll be upgrading to the M9 from the M7. Anyone know if they've built in support for my BoomBass & Mini+?

TIA!

I'm pretty sure that the Boom Bass is Bluetooth connected, right? If so, then yes it should be compatible with the M9.

 

[dorelse]

Yes, it is, not the best bluetooth speaker in the world, but its 'unusual' and I like it.

 

[seebeexee]

I'll be upgrading to the M9 from the M7. Anyone know if they've built in support for my BoomBass & Mini+?

TIA!

The M9 supports the mini+, but not to the extent that the M7 and M8 do. Specifically, the IR remote function is not supported. The "remote" menu item does not show up on the mini+ when paired with an M9. This was disappointing to me as the IR functionality of the mini+ is the feature I use most.
There may be other functionality differences with the mini+ when paired with an M9, but I haven't played with it enough to notice. Perhaps pulling the htcaccessory.apk (I think that's what its called) from the M7 and pushing it to the M9 will restore the lost functionality. That will be my next experiment.

 

[dorelse]

The M9 supports the mini+, but not to the extent that the M7 and M8 do. Specifically, the IR remote function is not supported. The "remote" menu item does not show up on the mini+ when paired with an M9. This was disappointing to me as the IR functionality of the mini+ is the feature I use most.
There may be other functionality differences with the mini+ when paired with an M9, but I haven't played with it enough to notice. Perhaps pulling the htcaccessory.apk (I think that's what its called) from the M7 and pushing it to the M9 will restore the lost functionality. That will be my next experiment.

Please let me know how it turns out!

 

[msm0511]

Yes, it is, not the best bluetooth speaker in the world, but its 'unusual' and I like it.

It's definitely an interesting design, but I wasn't sure how it sounded.

 

[seebeexee]

Please let me know how it turns out!

Well, I tried playing around with this last night with partial success.
First, since I use the Mini+ largely for the IR remote capability, I attempted to get that functionality back. The Mini+ does not seem to work at all with the Peel remote that HTC has transitioned to as of midnight last night. If you try to use the HTC Sense TV app after the March 31 app update, it will not let you do anything other than download the Peel app. The HTC Sense TV app has been removed completely from Google Play. The workaround is to use an older version of the TV app. I had an older apk already saved, so I installed the slightly older TV app. This allowed me to still use the TV app on the M9 without being forced to use Peel.

Now, I wanted to get the Mini+ to work with the M9's remote capability. On the M9, in the /system/app folder, there is a folder called HtcAccessoryService. I replaced the HtcAccessoryService.apk inside that folder with the HtcAccessoryService.apk from my M8 running Lollipop, set the correct permissions, then rebooted the phone. Then, I paired the Mini+ with the M9 and the resources from the alternate HtcAccessoryService.apk were properly loaded to the Mini+. I had a "TV" menu item on the Mini+ and could select and load the various remote controls I had configured within the HTC Sense TV app. The only problem is that when choosing a command to perform on the Mini+ (like Volume + or Power On/Off), nothing happened. The IR signals weren't getting sent from the Mini+ at all, even though it was acting like it was working properly. I even paired the Mini+ with the M8 to verify the Mini+ wasn't broken, and it worked perfectly.

So, while things are kind of working, I believe there are still some libraries or something missing from the M9 that will need to be on there for things to work how I want them to. The TV and HtcAccessoryService APKs on my M9 are the same ones on my M8 and the M8 works perfectly. I'll keep digging and testing to see if I can get it to work properly.

 

[gilligan793]

Exciting to hear the progress on the mini+. I ended up buying one about two weeks ago and was sad to see the TV function gone on my m9. Hopefully things go well!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[seebeexee]

I've continued to test different combinations of files with the same results as before. I'm convinced there's a way to get this to work.

In the meantime, I've decided to attach the latest version of HTC Sense TV before the final update that had the April 30th time-bomb built-in. As a stand-alone app, its working fine on my M9, just not with the Mini+ (yet). Just extract the .apk from the .zip file and install it manually; the .zip is not flashable.

I'll keep testing...

 

[seebeexee]

I'm still working on this. I've tried a variety of file combinations and have only been able to get the same results as mentioned earlier: I can get the TV/Remote options appear on the mini+, but the IR commands don't get sent. I still feel like there are just some libraries missing when using the M8 TV and HtcAccessoryService.apk files. I'm no developer, so I'm kind of just making educated guesses at what to try.

If the mini+ were a more popular device, I'd ask for some additional help either here or on XDA, but it doesn't seem that many people have or use the mini+. That's a shame really, because it really is a much more useful device than it may seem.

If any developers see this, I'd be willing to pay to get the M8 TV/Remote functionality of the mini+ working with the M9. I just can't believe that's the one feature HTC removed with the M9/mini+ combo.

I'll keep working on this...

 

[Dowakaday]

Hye. I'm just wondering since I don't own any mini+ yet. I'm using an M8. my question is, since the HTC TV service is shut down and replaced with Peel Remote, does the mini+ TV remote capability is also gone even with the M8?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[seebeexee]

Hye. I'm just wondering since I don't own any mini+ yet. I'm using an M8. my question is, since the HTC TV service is shut down and replaced with Peel Remote, does the mini+ TV remote capability is also gone even with the M8?

Posted via the Android Central App

To answer your question, no, the mini+ TV remote is not gone when using it with the M8. I use my mini+ as a TV remote all the time with my M8. The only problem is that since HTC no longer supports the TV app, you cannot add additional remotes (I think the app calls them Rooms or something) because the app is programmed to look up the remote control settings from their server. The TV app returns a server error when attempting to add remotes (and when you first launch the app, even though it works fine after clearing the error).

If you already have remotes programmed into the M8's TV app, then the mini+ will work just fine.

 

[Dowakaday]

I see. But if I bought a mini+ now, I can still use the remote function? Or is it just a certain TV that I can use it to?

Posted via the Android Central App on my HTC One M8

 

[seebeexee]

I see. But if I bought a mini+ now, I can still use the remote function? Or is it just a certain TV that I can use it to?

Posted via the Android Central App on my HTC One M8

It will work with any remote you've got programmed into the TV app. You're good.

 

[Dowakaday]

It will work with any remote you've got programmed into the TV app. You're good.

Well, that's the problem... I just got my one m8 a month ago and the TV app are already out of service so there's no programmed remote in it

Posted via the Android Central App on my HTC One M8

 

[jamesbrack]

Glad to hear this