Please add search and browse buttons to this screen & ditch the speaker out

jeffme

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Aug 3, 2023
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142
Not sure if this has been requested, but this is one of the more frustrating screens on WHA:
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a) No state information at all. Say, for example, this WiiM device was just taken out of a group. There's zero information about what was playing in the group, or what was last played in this room when it was playing on its own. (Let's assume it had been used on its own before.) Some state info would be nice, you know, to pick up where someone left off, if, for example, someone else in the house accidentally added this room to a group in the first place.
b) No way to directly (i.e., 1 click) fix what the app is pointing out. In fact, the user is left to guess what to do. There's no UI for "Pick a song." This is where search and browse icons would come in handy. I'm not sure the speaker out function is important enough to warrant being on the primary UI, as opposed to being part of the 3 dots to the right of "No Music Selected."

On this point, why does this view get rid of the bottom bar at all? Essentially, part of the UI just disappears, which is rarely a fun experience... in my experience.
 
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Bumping this to the top, as it was bugging me this morning. Seems so weird to have to click twice to search from the Now Playing screen.
 
This is the "Now Playing" screen. It should only contain what is playing and to where.

I do agree that it's strange that the tab selection disappears at the bottom.

As the mini version is always shown just above the tab selection I would also assume that tapping the mini version would just expanded it, still showing the tab selection bar.
 
Good points about what I call "disappearing UI," which isn't a good user experience.

Not sure if I agree with the assessment of what the Now Playing screen "should" do. IMO, the the app "should" minimize unnecessary interactions and steps. And, as it is, the NP screen provides much more than just what's playing and where... it provides, from top to bottom:
- Streaming source
- 3 dots... that doesn't include "Go To Track Radio" for some reason & changes the order of "Add to Playlist" and "My Music" from the normal track view 3 dots
- Streaming format and rate
- Player controls
- Shuffle / repeat toggles
- Playlist controls
- Volume
- Source

It's almost as if the Now Playing screen actually contains almost (but not all!) of the controls you'd need to... control the music you're listening to... except for one of the most important parts of control: accessing and selecting the music you'd like to play, either by searching or browsing.
 
Personally, I would like to see a "remote mode" added to the WHA where music search and basic device management can be added. It has the flexibility to be customized as desired by the user.
 
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