Finamp Beta Update 0.9.12

Hi everyone!

It's time for another Finamp beta update, and we have a lot of fixes and improvements for you!
New looks, improved transcoding on iOS, offline mode fixes, and some customizations; there should be something for everyone.
Have fun with the update, and be sure to read the release notes below to get all the details!

The beta is a work-in-progress, there are several new features already, but we will be adding more features over time.

If you're not using the beta yet (how to join) (click to expand)

The beta is free and open to everyone, but we'd like to get as much feedback as possible. So please do try it out and then let us know what you think!

1. Join the Finamp Beta Testers Discord server
   • This step is optional, but since we're looking for feedback, it would be great if you could join!
   • Alternatively, there's a discussion for the beta right here on GitHub: Redesign Beta discussion
2. Take note of your current Finamp settings, since this is a beta it could happen that the update changes some of them.
   • Downloads should be migrated, but since the new download system is completely different, there might be inconsistencies.
3. On Android, join the beta on Google Play or download the APK file from below.
   On iOS, join the beta on TestFlight.
   • We're currently not able to offer a beta on F-Droid (more info here), but you can use an app like Obtainium to automatically download the latest APK from GitHub.
4. Open Finamp and enjoy!

Keep in mind that not all of the text in the beta has been translated yet, so it will be shown in English no matter which language your device is set to. We're not able to add more translations to the beta just yet (it's not as easy to configure as we'd hoped), but we'll let you know once you can help translating all of the new stuff!

Bug Fixes

• Shuffling all tracks in offline mode will now only queue track from the currently selected library
• Fixed the queue source name when tapping a track in offline mode
• Tracks and albums longer than 1 hour will now have their duration displayed properly again
• Fixed album sorting on artist screen for albums released in the same year (thanks @Maxr1998!)
  • Now the full PremierDate is used, instead of just the year
• Use system settings for date formatting on playback history screen (thanks @Maxr1998!)
• Migrating downloads from the stable version to the beta should now work again (thanks @Komodo5197!)

What's New

New Look for the Track List Items

The main reason for having this beta version is the redesign of Finamp. We are trying to overhaul the UI to improve some long-standing pain points and make room for new amazing features. Despite that, the look of the beta hasn't changed a lot since the first beta version. We added a new new screens and menus here and there that use the new design language, but nothing drastic.
With this release, we're trying to get the redesign efforts going again. The track list items, which are used everywhere a track is shown, have a new and consistent look now.
They are slightly more compact, can show more additional information (like the album), show their favorite status (which can be tapped to quickly add the track to favorites or another playlist), and they highlight the currently playing track using its accent color.
They should look and behave the same across the entire app now, aside from some clear semantic differences (tracks in the queue can be reordered, tracks on an album show their position instead of the album cover, etc.).

The next step now is to start updating the screens where these tracks are shown, starting with the album and playlist screens. We will also update the way albums, artists, playlists, and genres look at some point, but are still thinking about the design.
We don't have an estimate yet on when these other design updates will arrive, but they will arrive eventually.

We hope you like the new look, and let us know if you're having any problems!

Transcoding Now Uses Fragmented-MP4 (fMP4) Segment Containers By Default

Previously we always used MPEG-TS segments when transcoding, but it seems like fMP4 offers better compatibility with codecs.
This change should fix transcode-streaming Vorbis audio files on iOS, and might fix some other issues too.
It's also possible to switch back to using TS containers, if needed.

Accessibility Improvements

As promised in the last update, we have made some more improvements to the screen reader experience. If you notice anything that we missed or that you don't understand when using a screen reader, please reach out to us so that we can fix it!
It was also reported by users that the issues with iOS's "Explore by Touch" have been resolved with recent updates.

We are also aware that there are people with vision impairments that require high-contrast viewing options instead of using a screen reader. We are aware that with all the pretty new accent colors, contrast might be suffering. We plan to add more explicit controls about the accent colors soon, like a high-contrast color mode or manually picking a fixed accent color.

Hide Advanced Track Info on Player Screen

You can now hide the advanced info (like streaming mode, codec, file size, etc.) on the player screen to get a "cleaner" look. This was requested by many people, sorry that it took us to long to deliver! More info in the "New Settings" section below.
We try to build Finamp in a way that satisfies both audiophiles that want maximum control and information, as well as music enjoyers that want a self-hosted streaming experience as close to paid streaming services as possible. In some cases, like this one, this means that a single solution simply doesn't work well for everyone, and that's when we introduce additional customization. But it's not our goal to make Finamp highly customizable - the design should be good by default, without changing settings.
Still, given that the "value" of the information shown in the advanced track issue varies quite a bit (seeing if you're transcoding or not is arguably more important than seeing the volume gain or sampling rate), we will expand on this feature in successive releases, allowing you to show or hide certain infos and reorder them to your liking.

New Settings

• Added setting for hiding advanced track info ("feature chips")
  • Settings > "Player Screen" > "Show Advanced Track Info"
  • Default is advanced info is shown (unchanged)
• Added setting for using different segment containers when transcode-streaming
  • Settings > "Transcoding" > "Select Transcoding Container"
  • Default is "MP4" (changed from "TS")
• Added setting for showing the album cover for each track on the album screen
  • Settings > "Album Screen" "Show Album Covers For Tracks"
  • Default is off (changed)
• Changed the default setting for transcoded downloads to "Ask" (from "Never")
  • Settings > "Transcoding" > "Enable Transcoded Downloads"
  • This change will only affect new installations
• Renamed "Show all playlists offline" to "Download Playlist Metadata"
  • Settings > "Download Settings" > "Download Playlist Metadata"

Removed Settings

• The "Hide track artists if same as album artists" setting (Settings > "Layout & Theme") has been removed in this release
  • The new list items will always show two lines anyway

Other changes

• Searching should now be a lot faster again
  • Instead of performing a search for each character entered, Finamp will now wait with searching until nothing has been types for a short time
• Disabled auto correct for search field
  • Suggestions should still be shown
• When no results were found for the current filters and search term, a button is shown that will reset any active filters
  • This should prevent people from unknowingly having some filters enabled that hide the items they're looking for (like the "Favorites Only" filter)
• Updated the icon indicating items downloaded to the device (from blue download icon to grey SD card icon)
• The login flow (especially the page transitions) look better now (thanks @edeuss!)
• Finamp will now automatically download playlist metadata on first launch
  • This lets Finamp show partially downloaded playlists offline as well as show which playlists a track is already part of when adding it to a playlists
  • If you haven't downloaded it yet (previously called "Show all playlists offline"), it will automatically be downloaded after this update
• Improve offline logging of playback history (thanks @Maxr1998!)
• Finamp will now use up the entire screen on Android phones with gesture navigation (instead of showing a black bar) (thanks @pohuing!)
• The "Top Tracks" section on the artist screen will now only show tracks that have been played at least once (thanks @Maxr1998!)
• Improve alignment of player screen buttons for other languages
• Improve debug logging
• Upgraded dependencies (might fix a few issues here and there)

Upcoming Features

We have a lot of features planned for the future, and we're always open to new ideas. Here are some of the things that we're planning to add:

• Support for controlling Finamp through other Jellyfin clients or the admin dashboard ("Play On")
• More contrast and accent color improvements
• More design updates (album screen, home screen)
• Desktop Support 👀
  • This is now in a "soft release" stage, where it might already be available for your platform. An official release will happen in the future

You can take a look at the full list and current progress in the Redesign project.

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This was a rather large update again, with some big changes and important fixes. I probably won't be able to push out another major update until next year, but I hope to release a few more improvements until then. If you have time to contribute some features yourself, feel free to contact me and create a pull request!

Thank you for using Finamp!

- Chaphasilor

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Download Links

• Google Play: Join the beta
• TestFlight: Join the beta
• F-Droid: not available, see above
• APK: see below