Customise album layout

[SimBun]

I had posted this on XDA, but seeing the "skip backward" request got some feedback from other users here I thought it might be worth posting this here too, just in case it's only me that's missing such a feature.

Hi @bubbleguuum ,

Firstly, I love the Compact lists option so thank you for that. When browsing indexes it's perfect but when viewing albums it's perhaps a little small - although not small enough to stop me using it.

For me, the only thing missing in BubbleUPnP is the ability to define layout preferences for album view. When searching for values (in indexes) I always prefer list view, but when viewing albums I prefer to view in a grid layout and see the larger artwork. Currently if I want a grid layout when viewing albums I have to keep switching back and forth as when changed in the app it becomes the default everywhere (apart from for the initial index selection).

All I envision is:
Default view: (List/Grid): Size
Album View: (List/Grid): Size

It's weird, I've lived with this for ages now and it hasn't really bothered me, but the closer this app gets to perfection the more I want to see the remaining tiny wrinkles ironed out.

Thanks again for a wonderful app that just keeps getting better and better.

 

[Bubblesoft]

Hi,

Yes the grid view toggle is global, although the grid view is only shown for folders that have at least 1 folder with defined thumbnail (and it is disabled for the root folder).

So if you had a folder containing artist folders with thumbnails (not a common case among media servers) grid view would be displayed.

It's difficult to do what you ask without adding complication. I'll think about it but no promise.

[SimBun]

I see, so that's why when running MinimServer (with artwork at every level) it appears always ON or OFF.

In my simple mind I thought it would have been as simple as looking at the first couple of containers returned and if they're 'object.container.album.musicAlbum' then classify the whole listing as an album listing. I think this is what Hi-Fi Cast does.

If I filter out bonus tracks then look at the album listing MinimServer classifies the albums that are incomplete as 'object.container' with the rest as 'object.container.album.musicAlbum', so I appreciate that it's not going to be perfect, which I guess may be a reason not to do it. Filtering by track artists - which is a scenario available on most music servers - would have the same affect. I suppose if the only objects are containers AND musicAlbum then that would probably be safe, but then that assumes you're parsing all the xml first.

Anyway, I'm going to stop talking now :-)

In theory it's a nice way to specify a visual preference, but if it adds too much complexity then don't worry about it.

Thanks

[whin...@gmail.com]

I like the idea but this looks complex.

Maybe having the top bar at the bottom where it's more easily reachable with your thumb would help though, what do you think?

[SimBun]

If it's not possible/practical then a popup like when you're at the root of your library (see attached) might be an option, rather than move the top bar. I guess you could even hide it on scroll if people think it'll get in the way.

Obviously a set it and forget it option is better, but not at the expense of adding too much complexity.

[SimBun]

This isn't intended to push my request, just to take into account what you said.

An enhancement to my original request that would address everything (I think) would be:

Grid Layout:   ('Any Custom Image' | 'Artist & Album' | 'Album' | 'None')      Size: [200] px
List Layout:    Size: ('Compact' | 'Default')

The idea being that the default would be:

Grid Layout=Any Custom Image, Size=200px

List=Default

Which is essentially the default today I believe.

Alternatively users could choose 'Artist & Album' which more servers provide artwork for (KODI and derivatives), 'Album' which hopefully all servers provide artwork for or simply 'None' for Lists everywhere.

I promise that's the last I'll say on the subject :-)

On Monday, September 25, 2023 at 10:19:46 AM UTC+1 Bubblesoft wrote: