WiiM Home App on Windows and MAC

[Wiimaster]

Bit niche, no?

ChatGPT answering to you:

While we don’t have a precise count of total desktop PCs, consider that in 2025, there are over one billion PCs in use globally.
If those figures include desktops and laptops and if Linux has ~4%, that's in the ballpark of 40 million devices.
In the U.S., that percentage translates to a smaller subset but still several million Linux desktop machines.

 

[Burnside]

ChatGPT answering to you:

While we don’t have a precise count of total desktop PCs, consider that in 2025, there are over one billion PCs in use globally.
If those figures include desktops and laptops and if Linux has ~4%, that's in the ballpark of 40 million devices.
In the U.S., that percentage translates to a smaller subset but still several million Linux desktop machines.

Anything that starts “ChatGPT…” I normally ignore

 

[EddNog]

ChatGPT answering to you:

While we don’t have a precise count of total desktop PCs, consider that in 2025, there are over one billion PCs in use globally.
If those figures include desktops and laptops and if Linux has ~4%, that's in the ballpark of 40 million devices.
In the U.S., that percentage translates to a smaller subset but still several million Linux desktop machines.

And then number of Linux desktop machine owners that actually own a WiiM streamer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Ed

 

[Saponetto]

Well, WHA for Windows isn't perfect for sure.

It does just barebone functions, it plays music, it does FF-REW that is for me a huge advantage, it makes several settings possible through a desktop, that is more endorphines for me, and performs basic dlna operation indexing tracks and albums, even if not in an actually feasible way.

If I should tell by heart, it could be my ideal WIIm interface if followed just a little bit more by Wiim.
Of course I'd like so much any update, but I'm also quite positive about a web-based variant that could expand a lot its applicability.

 

[hgo58]

And then number of Linux desktop machine owners that actually own a WiiM streamer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Ed

I do.

I do however use the Linux for work and there is no music handling on it.

I really don't see the need for a desktop WiiM Home App. A phone or tablet is fine. You can have multiple of them if you want.

 

[slartibartfast]

If someone is desperate to control a WiiM from a PC they can install server software on the same PC

 

[reniro]

Honestly, I don't think such an app can ever be finished.

I'm afraid you're right )

 

[Wiimer]

I'm afraid you're right )

I don't think that is necessarily unfortunate. I mean, the evolution of the WHA will continue until the team says It's over.

 

[reniro]

haha yes it would be awesome to have all the options in a nice state of the art design / layout in a desktop app to control the Ultra. Sure it works but it feels really unfinished but the basics are there in general it would be nice to give them a list with things to do or how to do them ... but I think they know what to do and there is only limited time and resources for the programming team and at the end the smartphone app will be more important.

 

[R. Neal]

All I wanted was a nice Now Playing display on my PC hooked to my living room tv. I installed the Windows app and much to my pleasant surprise it does that quite nicely. Previously I used the Roon, Tidal or Qobuz app for that. I control playback from my phone/tablet.

(I use the pc to show other stuff like date/time, weather, photo slideshow along side the now playing info.)

P.S. I do wish it responded to the standard windows media controls keys for pause/play and prev/next skip. But I'm not complaining.

 

[zynks]

And then number of Linux desktop machine owners that actually own a WiiM streamer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Ed

There are far more of us than you might think. I'm not sure I get the dismissive tone towards Linux users here, it's disappointing.

 

[harkpabst]

There are far more of us than you might think. I'm not sure I get the dismissive tone towards Linux users here, it's disappointing.

Facts are not dismissive, but yes, we are just guessing here.

What would be your expected ranking of the number of users on one of these operating systems:

• Android
• iOS/iPadOS
• Linux
• MacOS
• Windows

I listed them in alphabetical order, which I hope is sufficiently neutral.

 

[EddNog]

There are far more of us than you might think. I'm not sure I get the dismissive tone towards Linux users here, it's disappointing.

It's not about dismissive. It's about utilization of finite resources.

Companies don't work like this:
We'll hire 3 engineers for iOS/iPadOS
We'll hire 4 for Android
We'll hire 1 for Windows
Another 1 for MacOS
1 more for Linux

They work like this:
We hire 10 software engineers, we start off with some early software releases for multiple platforms, and we look at the take/download rate, and then we allocate their man-hours according to popularity. We also cross-reference that to known market share information such as: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share
Well it looks like we'll need to dedicate 4 to Android, 4 to iOS/iPadOS, and the last 2 can tag-team on everything else, because the people who actually buy our streamers are generally using those apps.

Let's be honest here: if you're a Linux-capable person, you'll probably just Raspberry-Pi it or something, because it's cheaper, sounds at least as good, and you're smart enough not to need the friendliness of Wiim's UI. The WiiM ecosystem is specifically designed to be easy to use, and that has its greatest appeal for people who are just into intuitive touch UI stuff like Android and iOS/iPadOS. Given the convenience factor, it makes sense that nowadays, the same people who choose WiiM for its simplicity are also likely the same people who would be intimidated by a Linux build.

-Ed

 

[Mike in NY]

Given the convenience factor, it makes sense that nowadays, the same people who choose WiiM for its simplicity are also likely the same people who would be intimidated by a Linux build.

While completely true, that doesn't mean those folks can't ever be shown the light.
Specifically, distros like Ubuntu and Mint are not only configurable to look very Windows-like from a UI perspective these days, but they are absolutely invaluable in breathing new life into older computers running crippled/EOL versions of Windows.
I have lots of friends and acquaintances who were very reluctant to do anything but throw old laptops in the garbage, until I showed them just how damn well that older hardware could run Linux. One of them even admitted after a clean install of Mint that it was now the fastest computer in the house, even though the hardware was quite old.
Admittedly, we did refresh that old machine with an SSD and a doubling of RAM (from 4 to 8GB), however that shouldn't be enough for an old Core i5 HP business class laptop to show up new Windows machines, but it did.
Windows has on and off sucked for many years now, most people have no good reason to keep beating their head against that wall. Creating a bootable thumb drive-based installer for something like Ubuntu or Mint is just not that hard.

 

[Wiimer]

Off topic, I was told that WiiM currently has more than 110 engineers

 

[slartibartfast]

While completely true, that doesn't mean those folks can't ever be shown the light.
Specifically, distros like Ubuntu and Mint are not only configurable to look very Windows-like from a UI perspective these days, but they are absolutely invaluable in breathing new life into older computers running crippled/EOL versions of Windows.
I have lots of friends and acquaintances who were very reluctant to do anything but throw old laptops in the garbage, until I showed them just how damn well that older hardware could run Linux. One of them even admitted after a clean install of Mint that it was now the fastest computer in the house, even though the hardware was quite old.
Admittedly, we did refresh that old machine with an SSD and a doubling of RAM (from 4 to 8GB), however that shouldn't be enough for an old Core i5 HP business class laptop to show up new Windows machines, but it did.
Windows has on and off sucked for many years now, most people have no good reason to keep beating their head against that wall. Creating a bootable thumb drive-based installer for something like Ubuntu or Mint is just not that hard.

The downside is you have to replace all the software you have been using comfortably for years with Linux equivalents.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

The downside is you have to replace all the software you have been using comfortably for years with Linux equivalents.

Provided that there are alternatives to the software used so far without major compromises...
My excursions into Ubuntu years ago were sobering.

Sudo Apt

 

[slartibartfast]

Provided that there are alternatives to the software used so far without major compromises...
My excursions into Ubuntu years ago were sobering.

Sudo Apt

Also cost of using paid software.