Announcing Roku Remote 2.0 Beta!

[Gregg Reno]

Hi all. I'm happy to announce the beta release of Roku Remote 2.0 for
Android. You can download the beta here:

http://greggreno.com/beta/RokuRemoteBETA.apk

and see a screen shot here: http://greggreno.com/beta/screen1.jpg

Roku Remote 1.6 is already available in the Android Market. However,
version 2.0 is pretty much a total rewrite to take advantage of Roku's
new API for developers.

Here is a list of what has changed
- Uses a new layout to match the upcoming physical Roku remote
controls with extra buttons for Back, Info and Replay buttons
- Fast device detection - can scan your entire network for all Roku
devices in about 1 second.
- No need to enter IP addresses - pick from a list of scanned devices
rather than entering an IP address. And if the IP address of your
device changes, Roku Remote will automatically find the right device
and use the new IP address
- Added an additional button (magnifying glass) for text entry on
search screen
- Better text entry on search screen - instead of using an onscreen
keypad, use your phone's physical keyboard or preferred soft keyboard.
- Hold down direction buttons for smooth scrolling through
- All new skins
- Total re-write of network code

Notes:
- The old keypad is still there for now. You can swipe the screen to
the left to show it, and hit the return key to go back to the home
screen. Note that Roku doesn't support some of the buttons in it's new
firmware (like the Clear and Delete buttons)

I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions!

[Gregg Reno]

Note - the BETA version is not available in the Android Market. To
install it, you will need allow Android to install from unknown
sources. Here's a good tutorial:

http://pocketnow.com/how-to/how-to-install-non-market-apps-on-your-android-phone

Just go to your Settings -> Applications screen and check the Unknown
sources checkbox.

[kiyo21]

So I've downloaded the beta on my Nexus One and gave it a go. Here's a
few observations I've made so far:

- Auto scan works fine when my Roku box is connected with an ethernet
cable. However auto scan doesn't work when the Roku box is connected
wirelessly. I remember this being an issue in the older builds. It was
mentioned in your discussion forum on your main website. Though once I
enter my IP address, the remote works fine.
- If I close the application, and relaunch it, sometimes a message
will pop up with the following message "auto scan did not detect any
roku devices. Will use your previous settings (IP Address)." Again
this is when my Roku box is connected wirelessly. It works fine after
since it defaults back to the IP address entered.
- The forward and reverse scan buttons seems to work fine on the home
screen, but doesn't work so well in the Netflix app. The buttons tend
to be unresponsive when I press them to scroll through my movies in
Netflix.
- As mentioned in your post the clear button doesn't seem to work.
However the delete button works fine for me.

Besides the issues noted above, everything else seems to work fine. I
was pleasantly surprise that all the new buttons work with the latest
firmware on my HD-XR. The option button works in the home screen. Even
the instant replay button has already been integrated in the firmware.
Very nice.

Just to note, I am using a Google Nexus One with CyanogenMod 6.0 which
is on Froyo v2.2.

Look forward to your response and thanks for updating the application.

On Sep 30, 10:48 am, Gregg Reno <gregg.r...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Note - the BETA version is not available in the Android Market.  To
> install it, you will need allow Android to install from unknown
> sources.  Here's a good tutorial:
>

> http://pocketnow.com/how-to/how-to-install-non-market-apps-on-your-an...

[Gregg Reno]

Kiyo21 - thanks so much for the detailed feedback!

I re-tested with one of my Roku boxes set up as wireless and found the
same thing - the auto detect doesn't work. The new Roku firmware uses
Simple Service Discovery Protocol, but I guess it doesn't work when
wireless. My guess is this is being blocked at by the router somehow.

This actually raises a different problem. I have two Roku's, and now
have 1 wired and 1 wireless. My current logic is that if the scan
finds any devices, you can choose one of them. If not, it uses your
previous setting or lets you enter a new IP address. The problem with
that is that won't work when some are wired and some are wireless. I
think I may need to present a list of devices that were either scanned
or ever previously entered.

About the fast forward and rewind buttons - do you typically use those
when scrolling through the movie list in Netflix? I assumed most
people would use the navigation buttons (up/down/left/right). I did
notice this though and sent my comments to Roku. Didn't get a
response back from them yet.

As far as the Info button goes, I think the only place it works right
now is the home screen when you have a channel selected.

Thanks again,

-Gregg

[kiyo21]

I actually use the fast forward and rewind buttons quite often when
scrolling thru the movie listing in the Netflix home screen. It makes
searching for a particular movie in your instant queue, for example,
much quicker if you have a large queue list since you can scroll thru
5 movies at a time with a single click rather than one.

For users with a single Roku box on wireless, like myself, would it be
possible to add an option in preference to disable the dialog screen
regarding auto scan not working when launching the application again.
It's a slight inconvenience having to see and close the dialog screen
each time it happens since I already know this would happen. Though
this might not be a favorable option in your situation since you have
two Roku boxes, which is why I mention it as a setting you can enable
or disable in the preference of the application.

Let me know what you think. Thanks.

[Gregg Reno]

I'll consider fixing that, but have you tried holding down the direction buttons?  It lets you scroll through movies without having to click one at a time.  Once you try that, let me know what you think and if the change for reverse and fast forward is still needed.

Yes, I'll either add an option to the preferences screen to disable that message, or maybe just show it at the bottom briefly and not require you to click on ok.
-Gregg

--
- Gregg Reno

[kiyo21]

Yeah, this is more a preference on my end. I tend to prefer clicking
the reverse and fast forward buttons for faster scrolling rather than
clicking or holding the left/right buttons. It's not much of a deal
breaker though whether it gets fix or not as using the left/right
buttons still gets the job done anyway.

[Eric J]

Working good for me this is the first time i have tried your product
by downloading the beta so i cannot attest to previous builds, I can
confirm that the application cannot find the roku when it is connected
wirelessly. Personally i would have have the background as a simple
color or gradient by default and let the users pick between the
pictures like the snow.

Droid X running 2.2, i have the first generation roku which i believe
is now called the roku HD.