iOS Application in Development - Testers Wanted

[droobah]

Hello there! Over the past few months I've been working on an iOS application for Rainwave. It is by no means complete, but basic functionality is working. I would like to know if anyone would like to be an early alpha tester. It may also keep me motivated to work on the application if there are folks that want to use it and/or direct development in any way. TestFlight link to join in on the testing below. I'll also answer questions you may have.

Working:
- Login
- Station Switching
- Playback (including Now Playing for Bluetooth/Airplay)
- Voting
- Favoriting
- Rating
- Requests
- Library
In Progress:
- Search
- Auto vote
- iPad support
Not Started:
- Apple Watch/TV support
- Machine Learning requests

Known Issues:
* Now Playing screen counter sometimes gets stuck and doesn't update [Investigating]
* Sometimes the UI does not update to allow voting even if the station is playing [Investigating]
+ Artists/Categories disappear if app is in background for a long time [Mitigated in 0.5 build 28, continuing to monitor]

Resolved Issues:
- Albums/artists/categories not sorted in Library view [Fixed in 0.5 build 28]
- When voting failed, the row stayed highlighted [Fixed in 0.5 build 28]
- External link buttons hard to tap [Fixed in 0.5 build 28]
- External link buttons are non-functional [Fixed in 0.5 build 24]
- Requests list will randomly reset to blank. Pause+Play will repopulate [Fixed in 0.5 build 24]
- Library table goes down "too far" and the last few rows can not be selected [Fixed in 0.5 build 24]
- Random crashes due to non-threadsafe array updating [Fixed in 0.5 build 24]



Test Flight Invite Link:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/y3g3U2Y5
Open the above link on your iPhone or iPad after installing TestFlight from the App Store
Current Build: 0.5 Build 30 [2/2/2020]

Note: Builds on TestFlight are only good for 90 days at a time. So if I'm unable to work on the app for a bit and do not get a new build uploaded, the app will stop working until I do.

Change Log:
2/2/2020 - 0.5 Build 30
- [UI] Incorrect channel descriptions
- [UI] Double-tap for Request in Library
- [UI] Requestor colors for ‘your’ requests
- [UI] Banner/text showing position in request line
- Implemented auto-vote configuration
1/29/2020 - 0.5 Build 28
- [BUG] Double tap would fire haptic even if vote didn’t go through
- [BUG] Failed votes stayed highlighted
- [BUG] Library not sorted alphabetically
- [BUG] Made external link tap targets target so they were easier to tap
- [BUG] Top/bottom percentile numbers were incorrect
- [UI] Reduced unneeded empty space in table views
- [UI] Triple-tap to rate song
- [UI] Haptic feedback while rating
- Added vote counters to playlist
- Implemented Listener Info menu
- [NewFeature] Implemented auto-vote
1/26/2020 - 0.5 Build 24
- [BUG] Requests list would occasionally blank itself
- [BUG] Library table would not allow the last rows to be shown/selected
- [BUG] Crash due to non-threadsafe Storage array being accessed concurrently
- User menu, instead of tapping logging out
- Allow user to fave from Now Playing controller
- Reduce data usage by not refreshing albums/artists/categories more than once daily
⁃ External links in Library now launch Safari when tapped
⁃ External links work in playlist
- Long press allows lookup album/artist as well as rate/fave/vote options
- Double tapping can be used to vote in addition to swiping
- Added request reordering
0.5 - 1/21/2020
⁃ [BUG] When logging in/out where voting/requests did not refresh properly
⁃ [BUG] Artwork did not update properly on now playing screen
⁃ Implemented request pause/resume
⁃ Implemented fave/unrated requests
⁃ Added new controller to handle Library search and details
⁃ Added throttle to socket to prevent errors from requesting too fast
⁃ Implemented requests from Library
⁃ Implemented favoriting from Library
1/13/2020 - 0.4
- Initial release

[Rob]

I don't have an iPhone, but I've tweeted this thread out from the Rainwave Twitter account, so hopefully we get some testers.

[LionheartHobbes]

The tweet worked. I’m interested! I’ll try to remember to look here from time to time.

[CKyle]

I’m definitely interested in testing.

[Mendelson]

Would love to help. Got an iPhone and iPad I can test on.

[R0b0tNinja]

i'm interested.

[droobah]

Awesome, I have a build submitted to TestFlight and I'll post the public link here as soon as it's available. Should be within 48 hours.

App has been approved by Apple for testing. I've added the public invite link to the base post. You should also have received a PM from me.

Feel free to post any issues within this thread.

[SmaMan]

Oooh! I can't wait to try this out! Now I can listen on my phone without having to also have a stream going on my computer to vote!

[MrEmperor]

I’ve signed up as well. Not quite sure the interface to vote, but channel switching is working, as is the stream. I’m pretty sure the login worked, as I can see favorited albums in the library section. But requests aren’t working for me.

[R0b0tNinja]

login works, as does streaming. can't clear my que or set it to active.

[droobah]

I’ve signed up as well. Not quite sure the interface to vote, but channel switching is working, as is the stream. I’m pretty sure the login worked, as I can see favorited albums in the library section. But requests aren’t working for me.

Voting is done by swiping right on the song.
Rating and favoriting can be reached swiping left.

Requests are not fully implemented yet. They should be the next feature though.

[LionheartHobbes]

So far working well, constructive comments so far based on my initial experience.

Voting: Yeah, that took me a while to figure out how to vote also had to have the stream playing like we do on the site. I would suggest a one swipe for voting instead.

My feature request would be showing the past plays as it will make it easier for us to rate songs as there's no way to find the songs we just listened to.

The bars on the upper left is a confusing and automatically logs us out. I think a different icon or function might be better for that place.

Will keep using it! Thanks for all your work so far.

[droobah]

So far working well, constructive comments so far based on my initial experience.

Voting: Yeah, that took me a while to figure out how to vote also had to have the stream playing like we do on the site. I would suggest a one swipe for voting instead.

My feature request would be showing the past plays as it will make it easier for us to rate songs as there's no way to find the songs we just listened to.

The bars on the upper left is a confusing and automatically logs us out. I think a different icon or function might be better for that place.

Will keep using it! Thanks for all your work so far.

- You should be able to do a full swipe to the right to vote, you don't have to tap the Vote icon. Is this not working properly?
- Play history will be added "soon"
- And the 'bars' will end up being a menu showing your username, providing links to the forum, allowing signout, settings, etc. It is only there for testing force a logout in case something goes wrong

Sorry, this is truly an alpha and lots of things are unfinished.

[LionheartHobbes]

Voting didn't seem to work smoothly for me, but maybe because my fingers are not going all the way across. I'll play with this more. I have an iPhone 7 which is smaller than the newer iPhones so whatever "pixel" or ratio you use to determine full swipe might not register on iPhone 7 if it is designed and/or tested on new iPhones. I also don't know anything about iOS app development, but know from working in Unity that UI scaling for different dimensions is very tricky.

Re Alpha: Completely understand. Just providing as much feedback as I can to make it the best app it can be!

[LionheartHobbes]

Just following up on the voting, you have to start from the left side to pull it enough to make it a one-touch thing. If you start in the center or right side, you might not get enough "pull" to register a vote.

Another observation, there's a bit of a lag between displaying the current song/album on the locked screen and sometimes the album cover doesn't update/match. It's not a big deal to me, but just noting that.

[droobah]

Just following up on the voting, you have to start from the left side to pull it enough to make it a one-touch thing. If you start in the center or right side, you might not get enough "pull" to register a vote.

Another observation, there's a bit of a lag between displaying the current song/album on the locked screen and sometimes the album cover doesn't update/match. It's not a big deal to me, but just noting that.

Not sure if I can change the swipe functionality too much. I'm using the standard leading/trailing actions and I couldn't find any setting to change the sensitivity.

As for the album art not updating, good catch. It will be fixed in the next release which I hope to have out this weekend. I've almost finished my implementation of Requests.

[droobah]

Version 0.5 has been released for testing. It adds adds functionality for Requests and fleshes out the Library.

Please note: I had to change some code in the StorageController that seems to cause the app to crash a couple times as it fixes itself. You can either relaunch the app 4-5 times for it to fix itself, or completely uninstall and reinstall to get rid of the corrupted data.

[droobah]

New build of 0.5 (build 24) has been uploaded and is in the approval queue. Lots of bugfixes and added a few new things. I've updated the first post with all of the changes. Keep an eye out for the new build alert.

Couple usability changes of note. A long press on any of the schedule/playlist songs will bring up a menu to drill down, favorite, vote, and/or rate. Also, a double tap can be used to vote in addition to swiping for anyone having issues with the swipe gesture.

[LionheartHobbes]

I love the double tap addition to voting. Definitely easier with one hand like if you're working outside and just pulling out your phone for a vote or riding the subway.

[droobah]

I love the double tap addition to voting. Definitely easier with one hand like if you're working outside and just pulling out your phone for a vote or riding the subway.

Awesome! Glad to know that's helpful. I'm also adding triple-tap to Rate in the upcoming version. I figure vote/rate are the two most used features.

Not in the next update, but the following, I'm looking to have auto-vote working and was hoping for some feedback on my idea. My goal was to have a priorty system on voting as follows, items higher in the list will be prioritized.

1. Requests made by yourself
2. Favorited song
3. Favorited album
4. Rated by yourself (higher 4.0 or higher)
5. If none of the other 4 match, there will be no auto-vote

Any other criteria that you may think would help make this feature helpful?

[droobah]

I fibbed. Auto-vote was easier to implement than I thought. New release up for testing. Main changes are:

- Listener/user info menu completed (hamburger menu)
- Triple tap to rate
- Vote counters and live voting pop ups
- Auto-vote enabled. You can’t turn it off in this build, so let me know if you don’t like it. The row will be purple if it’s an automatic vote (or matches what the auto vote would’ve been)

[LionheartHobbes]

My auto-voting structure is (IRL because I'm a robot) and would be

1. Requests (Mine or others)
2. Unrated songs (if two or more, choose the album with the most unrated songs percentagewise)
3. Highest rated song (if two tied, go for the album with highest average rating (although I've never done that IRL))

Ideally, being able to structure the Autovote yourself would be good. I would settle for having unrated songs chosen somewhere in the criteria whether it be 5 or higher up.

[droobah]

My auto-voting structure is (IRL because I'm a robot) and would be

1. Requests (Mine or others)
2. Unrated songs (if two or more, choose the album with the most unrated songs percentagewise)
3. Highest rated song (if two tied, go for the album with highest average rating (although I've never done that IRL))

Ideally, being able to structure the Autovote yourself would be good. I would settle for having unrated songs chosen somewhere in the criteria whether it be 5 or higher up.

Cool, I'll work on making it customizable. I already had an idea in my head to let you move rankings around and add/remove them. Thanks for the feedback.

And by unrated, I'm assuming you mean unrated by you, correct?

[LionheartHobbes]

Correct, unrated by me!

Edited: Wanted to reiterate the double tap addition for voting is a significant game changer for me in its usability. Good call on adding that.

[droobah]

Correct, unrated by me!

Edited: Wanted to reiterate the double tap addition for voting is a significant game changer for me in its usability. Good call on adding that.

New build 30 coming up. Has a settings button under the user menu that allows you to setup the Auto Vote configuration. Rules can be enabled/disabled and re-ordered.

[LionheartHobbes]

Found a "bug". Technically not a bug, but not what you intended.

Another user's requested song with no average rating got overlooked in the auto voting algorithm because it didn't meet the condition set for it (Average rating 2.0 or higher). Not sure what value a song with no rating has, but might need to factor that in somehow into the algorithm.

[MrEmperor]

Just wanted to say that I have been enjoying the app. Very useful for me still. I’ve not tested the auto vote feature as I almost never used them before, but I’ll give it an attempt.

[LionheartHobbes]

Hi Droobah, Hope you're doing well. I'm still very much interested in the app if you're interested in publishing or updating another build. I used it regularly before the TestFlight link expired. Happy to help however I can.

[fluxay]

I'll also happily test if needed!