The last update I showed off the new queue ui which did involve a complete rewrite of the underlying queue backend code. Due to that and switching to the new data model (Room-based), I ended up taking the plunge and rewriting the MusicService. It seemed like a waste to try to hack it up to use all the new stuff I added when I eventually planned on rewriting it anyway. Due to that I dont have too much to show UI wise, but I did make some queue improvements and redid how shuffle works.
One of the largest complaints I've gotten over the years was the inability to skip back/forward while shuffled and get a consistent track order. Once you skipped back, the next track would be chosen at random. My response was always that I understood the frustration but without rewriting shuffle / music service entirely there was not much i could do. Since I am rewriting the music service and queue, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to fix this issue.
In the video below, it shows off the new shuffle queue. It essentially works like the "randomize" option in the queue. Turning it on will put your current playing song at position 1 and shuffle the order of the rest. Pressing next track will simply just go to the next track in the queue. This allows you to go back and forth and maintain the same order. This also greatly simplifies the code on the backend. Next track doesnt care if its in shuffle or not.. it just goes to the next track listed in the queue. When shuffle is turned off it will return to the previous order. Any new tracks added while in shuffle will just be placed at the end when shuffle is turned off. Note: For this video and testing i added a shuffle button to the min player at the bottom. This was just so i could keep the queue up and change the mode back and forth.
Notifications were managed by the MusicService, so I gave them a rewrite as well. Google has added a lot API since I originally created these notifications, so this time around I will just leverage what they provide instead of doing a custom view for it. These newer notification apis will also allow album art to play on your lockscreen on devices that it didnt work before (most phones would already show the album art on the lockscreen but a select few would not).
Plans for the notifications will be 5 customizable button slots (most likely just the common actions like next / prev / play/pause / exit / toggle shuffle) and 2 (maybe 3?) metadata lines that are customizable like the other metadata views I've shown in previous updates. The images below just show off the standard next play/pause and prev buttons.
3.4.5 was just uploaded to google play and should be rolling out over the next few days. Changelog: 3.4.5 (2023-08-29): Added Dutch translation Fixed crash editing rules in rule groups Disable IAP donation options if Full Version Unlock has not been purchased to prevent confusion Other changes since 3.4.0: Added Finnish translation and updated other translations Added donation options to the purchase settings area Fixed crash when trying to bookmark / unbookmark currently playing song Fixed Finnish not showing up in the language select Fixed other various crashes Fixed issue where rating or editing tags could potentially split the album Fixed some of the lists/grids not refreshing after changes 3.5 Preview I've been working on some new UI options planned for 3.5. So far I've finished a new gradient background option for now playing. There are 2 different styles (linear / radial) with 2 different color sources for each. One source will take from the theme colors, the other st
More fixes. Check out discord for info on the 3.5 alpha. 3.4.9 (2024-02-14): Fixed tab navigation returning to the wrong view on screen orientation change Fixed queue not being focused on the playing track sometimes while using tab navigation 3.4.8 (2023-12-21): Fixed backup/restore intent receiver not working with IAP unlock Fixed crash sorting playlist contents
Plans for 3.4 changed a bit when google announced they will be hiding apps on newer versions of android if they dont target the newer sdks. GMMP always tries to target one of the more recent versions of android, but the unlocker has no need for that since its essentially just a license key. As of May 1st the unlocker will be hidden on newer versions of android to those who have not already purchased. Because of this, the focus of 3.4 was to get in app purchases working to allow users to buy the full version after May 1st. There is a new 'Purchase' section in the settings where the unlocker can now be purchased. One other change in 3.4 is the support for the Android 13+ media controls. They changed around how to customize them, so that is reflected in a new 'Media Controls' section of the settings. The language can also be changed for just GMMP via the system settings The changelog itself is fairly small but I did a large update of all the libraries / dependencies t
