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 rel...

0.6.24

This Finamp release adds more labels for screen readers within the app.
This has been back-ported from the beta version, which you should check out for an even better experience!

This release also contains updated translations:

• Chinese (Traditional Han script) - @boan51204, hugoalh
• Chinese (Traditional Han script, Hong Kong) - @SuperDumbTM
• Finnish - @5kat3R
• German - @Maxr1998, Retch
• Japanese - musenq, @motty-mio2
• Korean - @jomunim
• Portuguese - @pedro-32
• Russian - Yolkis, Егор Ермаков, Dan
• Thai - @SpeedxPz

If you're not already using it, you should be using the redesign beta! It fixes many technical issues in Finamp, especially around downloads, has much better queue management, and much more.

How to Join the Beta (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!

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.11

Hi there!

I was hoping to make the next release in less than two months, but this is not what I had in mind...
This release is a hotfix release that addresses a bug introduced in 0.9.10. We advise everyone to update to it, especially if you're using the fast scroller / alphabet list feature.

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

How to Join the Beta (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

• Fixed a white overlay preventing further interaction which appeared whenever selecting a letter on the fast scroller / alphabet list
  • Thanks @foss- for reporting this!

Other Changes

• Disabled the new swipe gesture for opening the drawer / side menu on iOS, since it doesn't fit the gesture system

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:

• 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
• More accessibility improvements
• More design updates

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

---

Thank you for using Finamp!

- Chaphasilor

---

Download Links

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

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.10

Hi everyone!

It's been almost two months since the last update again, and I wish we'd have a proportional amount of improvements for you.
But we haven't been completely idle, and are happy to release some much-needed and frequently requested bug fixes, customizations, and features!
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!

What's New

Accessibility Improvements

We know there are some of you out there that rely on tools like screen readers to use Finamp. We also know that this experience isn't great at the moment.
With this update, some much-needed labels have been added to the app, especially on the player screen. This should hopefully make it clearer what each button does, and reduce the verbosity of the interface a bit.
Sorry that it took us so long to do this, and we are aware that there still are things to improve! Specifically, the bug preventing Explore by Touch on iOS is still present.

It would be awesome if you could help us out here. If you find a button somewhere in the app that is missing a label or confuses you otherwise, you should take a screenshot or screen recording and send it to us. You can either create a GitHub Issue for that, or join the Discord server by clicking this link to talk to us directly. This seems to be the most efficient way to pinpoint the issue, so that we can fix it right away.
We'll try to address any missing labels with the next update following the report.

Keep Screen On (contributed by @Sp4rky001)

Finamp can now prevent the screen from turning off in some situations, like when viewing lyrics.
This only works while Finamp is open and in the foreground.
Check the "New Settings" section below for more infos.

The feature was requested several times, and we're happy that @Sp4rky001 decided to help out!

More Lyrics Screen Customizations

Finamp 0.9.8 introduced a few new settings that let you control how lyrics where shown (hiding timestamps and choosing text alignment).
Additionally, you can now choose the font size for your lyrics, and control if the album cover should be placed on top of the lyrics, scrolling away as the lyrics progress.
If you feel like there are still some options missing with regards to lyrics, feel free to let us know!

New Settings

• Added two more lyrics customization settings (font size & album cover above lyrics)
  • Settings > "Layout & Theme" > "Lyrics View"
  • Default is medium font size and cover shown (unchanged)
• Added settings for keeping the screen on, either always, while lyrics are shown, and/or while music is playing (contributed by @Sp4rky001)
  • Settings > "Interactions" > "Keep Screen On" & "Keep Screen On only while plugged in"
  • Default is to keep the screen on while music is playing, lyrics are shown, and the device is plugged in / charging (changed)

Other changes

• Finamp will now let you know if you don't have permissions to edit a playlist (e.g. because it was created by another user or from a playlist file in your library)
• You can now swipe to the right on the left-most tab (albums by default) to open the side drawer/menu (contributed by @Komodo5197)
• Fixed multiple issues with non-square album covers (contributed by @Komodo5197 and @Maxr1998)
• On iOS (and macOS), the player screen will now show the remaining duration of the current track instead of the total duration
  • This was made to stay consistent with native apps and the OS itself, which all show the remaining duration
• The offline playback history (used when the playback events can't be sent to the server) will now only record when a track finishes playing
• The big floating box showing which letter to scroll to when using the fast scroller / alphabet list should now disappear more reliably
  • If it doesn't disappear automatically, tapping it will now dismiss it
• Made some button labels friendlier (contributed by @Maxr1998)
• Fixed a stray "null" on the downloads screen (contributed by @Maxr1998)
• Fixed the offline mode toggle being completely black in dark mode (contributed by @Maxr1998)

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:

• 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
• More accessibility improvements
• More design updates

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

---

For the past few months we didn't have a lot of time to work on the app, sorry. I've been busy with uni and moving places.
Things seem to be picking up some steam again though, so hopefully we'll have some more noticeable updates for you soon!
Also, there are some rather specific bugs in Finamp that are a chore to fix; if one of them affects you, why not look into fixing it yourself? That's probably the best way to get started with contributing to Finamp, and you can always ask us for guidance if you need help!

Thank you for using Finamp!

- Chaphasilor

---

Download Links

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

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.9

Just a quick bug fix release :)

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!

Bug Fixes

• Improve Android Auto search logic (@Chaphasilor)
• Fix refresh on music screen (@Komodo5197)
• Fix artist top song settings item not showing (@Tiefseetauchner)
• Fix Chinese font rendering on Windows (@lifegpc)
• Fix invisible text in about dialog (@Chaphasilor)
• Disable Impeller on Android (@Chaphasilor)
  • This caused graphical glitches on some Android phones
• Fix Android Auto album art when the server uses a custom port (@puff)

---

Thanks for using Finamp! It's been a while since I've pushed a release on my own, forgot how much there is to do :)

- @jmshrv

---

Download Links

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

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.8 - Drive Safe and Sound with Android Auto

Hi everyone!
No, this isn't yet another Jellyfin server hotfix, this is actually a new Finamp beta version! :P
We packed a couple of nice features into this release, an of course some bug fixes like always.
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 all of the text in the beta hasn't 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

0.9.7 introduces a few bugs that affected downloading your favorites, playlists and latest albums. For some of you, downloading might not have been possible at all any more.
There were also issues when trying to download playlists that contained some other media (e.g. movies or show episodes).
These bugs should now be fixed, and you should be able to download your music like you're used to.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this, and thanks to @Komodo5197 for fixing these!

What's New

Android Auto Support (contributed by @puff and @Chaphasilor)

Please Note: Android Auto support only works if you installed Finamp via the Google Play Store!
It is possible to get it working for alternative installation methods as well, but that requires enabling developer options, which you should only do if you know what you're doing!

That's right, Finamp finally works with your car! If your car and phone support Android Auto, using Finamp in your car should be a much nicer experience now.

Aside from being able to control the currently playing track and browsing most of the tabs from the regular app, you also get some other useful features like voice search, support for offline mode, and a global search.
Please drive safely and keep your eyes on the road. Finamp might be a bit slower in your car, and you shouldn't keep staring at the screen until something happend. Try relying on the voice commands, and let us know what we should improve!

Here are some voice commands you can try out (you should try them in your own language):

• To play an album, say "play <album name> by <artist name>" or "play album <album name> by <artist name>"
  • The first version only works if there's no track with that title by that artist
• To play an artist, say "play songs by <artist name>"
  • Just saying "play <artist name>" might result in Google Assistant choosing a single random track from that artist instead
• To play a track, say "play <song name>", "play <song name> by <artist name>" or "play song <song name> by <artist name>"
  • Google Assistant will try to recognize tracks and provide Finamp with additional information, but it doesn't always get it right. If something different then what you wanted ends up getting played, saying "play song <song name>" does help in most cases. In extreme cases, "play the song called <song name>" might solve the problem
• The same applies to playlist, "play <playlist name>" might work, otherwise try "play playlist <playlist name>", otherwise "play the playlist that's called <playlist name>"

After performing a voice search, you can also tap the "Search Results" button on the player screen to start a search for other media that matches your search term (given that Google Assistant recognized your command correctly).

The view type (Settings > "Layout & Theme" > "View Type") also affects Android Auto, so if it's set to grid in Finamp, it will also use a grid instead of a list in Android Auto. If you change this setting, you'll have to fully restart Finamp for the changes to be applied to Android Auto!

Caveats:

• If the wrong app (e.g. YouTube Music) is used when you try to perform a voice search, you can try changing/removing the default app in Google Assitant
  • To do that, on your phone start up Google Assistant (e.g. by saying "Hey Google" or tapping the Assistant icon), then say or type "open Assistant settings".
  • In the assistant settings, scroll down to "Music" and tap on it, then under "Your music services" select "No default provider"
• For each tab, only the first 100 items are loaded at the moment. If you want to help improve that, feel free to create a pull request!
• You can only toggle offline mode from within the regular app, not through your car
• The favorite/like button isn't shown in your car yet
• Search might be a bit slow
• Android Automotive support is almost ready, but needs some additional setup and testing from our side

Favorite/Like Button in Media Notification (Android Only)

In the Android media notification, you will now find a heart button that you can use to toggle the favorite state of the current track. This was a much-requested feature, and I hope you enjoy it!
The stop button which was shown in previous versions is now disabled by default (see below).

New Settings

• Added some lyrics customization settings (hide timestamps & text alignment)
  • Settings > "Layout & Theme" > Lyrics
  • Default is timestamps shown and lyrics aligned to start of line (unchanged)
• You can now prevent the progress bar in the media notification from being seekable
  • Settings > "Layout & Theme" > "Customizations" > "Show seek controls on media notification"
  • By default, the progress bar is seekable (unchanged)
• Renamed "Show track progress on now playing bar" to "Show track progress on in-app miniplayer" in "Layout & Theme"
  • Hopefully that's less confusing!
• Renamed "Hide queue button" to "Hide bottom actions" in "Layout & Theme" > "Customizations"
  • The setting will also hide the lyrics button. You can still use swipe gestures if the buttons are hidden.
• Android only: You can now choose if the stop button is shown in the media notification
  • Settings > "Layout & Theme" > "Customizations" > "Show stop button on media notification"
  • By default, the stop button is not shown (changed from previous versions!)

Other changes

• Fixed adaptive/monochrome launcher icon on Android
• Fixed error / blank space on player and album screens when loading artist images failed
• Fixed queue source being empty when adding a track to an empty queue
• Fixed wrong track playing when search with favorite-only filter active
• Enable Impeller rendering engine on Android for testing

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:

• 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
• Accessibility improvements
• Scrolling marquee text for handling long track titles

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

---

Sorry for delaying this update so much, I hope the download issues didn't cause too much frustration! I'll try to do better next time.
If you want to help out with the redesign, there's still a lot to do! We're currently mostly in need of people who contribute code and design, any help in that regard would be appreciated and should speed up the pace of these updates!
Also, there are some rather specific bugs in Finamp that are chore to fix; if one of them affects you, why not look into fixing it yourself? That's probably the best way to get started with contributing to Finamp, and you can always ask us for guidance if you need help!

Thank you for using Finamp!

- Chaphasilor

---

Download Links

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

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.7

Hi everyone!

Not even three weeks since the last update!
The upgrade to Jellyfin 10.9 seems to have been relatively smooth for most of you, at least when it comes to Finamp and the new features. If something isn't working correctly, please let us know!
It seems like we're slowly picking up the pace for the beta updates. There have been tons of improvements under the hood in recent weeks and months, so hopefully we can continue with some more visual design updates soon.
If you're a designer or developer and want to help out, please reach out! We need all the help we can get <3

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 all of the text in the beta hasn't 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!

What's New

New Playlist Management Flow (contributed by @Komodo5197 and @Chaphasilor)

We have reworked the playlist and favorite management for tracks in Finamp a bit, to be more versatile and closer to popular music apps (e.g. Spotify, YouTube Music).
The like/favorite/heart button (on the player screen, mini player, and queue panel) now has a new default behavior: it opens a playlist action menu. This menu gives you the ability to quickly add the track to one or even multiple playlists. It also lets you remove the track from the currently playing playlist (if you're listening to one).
Aside from that, it is also possible to add/remove the track to/from your favorites.

If you can still quickly toggle the favorite state of a track, now by long-pressing the heart button.
The button will also still reflect the favorite status by being an outlined or filled-in heart.

I hope that this new behavior is easy and natural for you to pick up, if not definitely let us know!

Additionally, it is now also possible to download information about your playlists for offline mode, without downloading the tracks within the playlists. This means that if you have downloaded a few tracks, and some of them are part of a playlist, you can now listen to that part of your playlist in offline mode.
This also helps with adding tracks to and removing them from your playlists in online mode.
You can download the needed information in Settings > "Download Settings" > "Show all playlists offline".

Caveats:

• Jellyfin doesn't (yet) allow us to easily check which playlists a track is part of. That's why by default, Finamp only shows a dashed icon for the available playlist, since there's no way to tell if the track is already part of that playlist or not. Only after you add the track to a playlist (or change your mind and remove it again) Finamp can tell for sure if it's part of the playlist or not, and will then show a non-dashed icon.
  • Downloading playlist metadata, as described above, allows Finamp to show more concrete info about which playlists a track is already part of, and is recommended

Faster image loading (contributed by @Komodo5197)

Similar to the official Jellyfin web app, we now use so-called blurhashes as an instant preview for all images, instead of showing a blank square. This should make the app look nicer and feel faster, at least that's what we hope!

To make image loading even faster, you can now also cache images for your albums, artists, genres, and playlists! You can find this option in Settings > "Download Settings" > "Show all playlists offline", and this will download these images for the currently active library. If you have multiple libraries, you can simply switch between them and repeat the caching for each one.
Once the images are downloaded (you can check the progress on the downloads screen), they will be used even in online mode to speed up image loading and reduce the overall data usage of Finamp. Rest assured that if you update any images in Jellyfin, Finamp will not use the cached image anymore, but instead fetch your new and shiny image from the server instead.

Keep in mind that if you update any images in Jellyfin for media that you already downloaded in Finamp, you'll need to "repair" your download in Finamp to download the new images. You can start a repair from the downloads screen (middle icon in the top right corner), and that will cause Finamp to first re-download all metadata for your existing downloads, then check for changes, and finally re-download any changed files.

New Settings

• You can now disable the progress animation on the now playing bar / mini player at the bottom
  • Settings > "Layout and Theme" > "Show track progress on now playing bar"
  • The progress animation is enabled by default (unchanged)
• As mentioned above, you can let Finamp synchronize the favorite status of your library for offline mode, meaning that if you mark something as favorite that you already downloaded, it will also be marked as favorite in offline mode.
  • Settings > "Download Settings" > "Sync all favorite statuses"
  • Favorite status sync is enabled by default
• You can choose if you want an instant mix to start when tapping a track from the tracks tab or search results, or instead want to just play that selected track
  • Settings > "Interactions" > "Start Instant Mixes for Individual Tracks"
  • By default, instant mixes are used (unchanged)
  • Disabling this setting will revert the behavior back to how it worked in the stable/non-beta version

Other changes

• Added favorites-only filter in offline mode (contributed by @Komodo5197)
  • To make this work reliable enough, Finamp will sync favorite metadata in the background
  • You can disable this feature by turning off "Sync all favorite statuses" in Download Settings
• Show a small indicator for tracks that have lyrics available
• Renamed "song" to "track" throughout the entire app (contributed by @lukaslindnermusic)
• Fixed missing negative sign for iOS base gain input in Volume Normalization settings
• Fixed wrong bitrate shown for downloaded tracks
• Finamp will now also download tracks that don't belong to any album or playlist (contributed by @Komodo5197)
  • Thanks @flloschy for reporting the issue!

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:

• 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
• Android Auto / Automotive Support
  • I'm planning to release this with the next update, it's almost done!

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

---

The resonance we've gotten so far with the beta has been incredible! Many of you have come to the Discord server to say thanks, and that makes me really happy!
I also want to give a big shoutout to @Komodo5197 who has been consistently contributing massive improvements and new features to the beta! Many of the things in the last updates are their work, and I really hope that many more improvements are coming down the road.
But still, we can't do this alone, so if you are able to help out in any way, please do so!

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

Finamp Beta Update 0.9.6 - Lyrics and Jellyfin 10.9!

Hi everyone!
It's been a month since the last release, and we've been busy!
Aside from the usual fixes and improvements, Finamp can now show lyrics for your music! This makes Finamp fully compatible with all new music-related features arriving with Jellyfin 10.9, so you can enjoy the new features right-away!

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 all of the text in the beta hasn't 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!

About Jellyfin 10.9

As you may have heard, the next big Jellyfin update, 10.9.0, is finally right around the corner! It's been almost 2 years since the last release that added new features, so this is a big deal, and there are many new features introduced with 10.9.
The main two features for music are lyrics support and volume normalization. Both of these features are supported by Finamp 0.9.6 (this release right here), so after you upgrade your Jellyfin server, you'll be able to enjoy them right-away!

Important Note: If you downloaded any music to your device before you upgraded to Jellyfin 10.9, the new metadata for lyrics and volume normalization will not automatically be updated for offline mode. After upgrading to 10.9 and confirming that your metadata is available in the web client, you'll have to go to the downloads screen in online mode and click the repair button (middle button at the top right, crossed hammer and screwdriver). This will load any missing metadata from the server for offline use. A message saying "Currently repairing" will be shown in the top section; please be patient and wait until it is hidden again. You'll only have to do this once.
Alternatively, you could delete and re-download everything (remember we have transcoded downloads now ^^).

What's New

Lyrics Support (Jellyfin 10.9+)

As teased in the last release and on Discord, Finamp now supports showing lyrics for your music! Lyrics are automatically extracted from embedded tags and .LRC files, and both synchronized and un-synchronized lyrics are supported. You can open the lyrics screen by tapping the button on the player screen in the bottom right corner.
Since this is a pretty big new addition that didn't exists on the server before, I'd love to hear your feedback about this! Let me know what you like or don't like, and if you need any configuration options. I know this feature isn't perfect yet, but I need your feedback to figure out what exactly needs to be improved.
Lyrics are downloaded along with the tracks themselves and will therefore work just fine in offline mode too. To get offline lyrics for your existing downloads, you'll first have to go to the downloads screen in online mode and click the repair button (middle button at the top right, crossed hammer and screwdriver). This will download any missing lyrics from the server for offline use. A message saying "Currently repairing" will be shown in the top section; please be patient and wait until it is hidden again.

This feature requires at least Jellyfin 10.9.0.

Volume Normalization Support (Jellyfin 10.9+)

Finamp's beta has supported Volume Normalization in combination with a Jellyfin 10.9 server from the start, but with 10.9 being almost here, and some recent changes to how the server handles Volume Normalization, I thought it would be good to include this in the release notes again

Jellyfin 10.9 will scan your music library for ReplayGain tags, and if it can't find them, generate "Loudness Units Full Scale" (LUFS) values for each track and album. These values can be used to calculate a gain for normalizing the volume of your music, so all tracks appear more or less equally loud.
Finamp will use these values and apply the normalization by default, as long as the server has generated them.
There are three different modes for Volume Normalization:

• Track-based: Finamp will always normalize each track individually. This will result in the best normalization, but will get rid of some purposeful differences in volume, like between different tracks of the same album
• Albums Only: Finamp will only normalize the volume when playing an album, using the album's normalization gain for all tracks
• Hybrid (default): Finamp will normalize individual tracks using each track's gain, but when playing an entire album (or adding the entire album to the queue / Next Up), the album's gain will be used instead. This will ensure good normalization in all cases, while still preserving artistic differences in volume across tracks of the same album

Some caveats:

• Previous beta versions technically already supported this feature, but the Jellyfin server team made some last-minute adjustments to how this feature works after some internal discussion. This means that only this version (and any future versions) support this feature.
• In order to use Volume Normalization with your existing downloads in offline mode, you'll first have to go to the downloads screen in online mode and click the repair button (middle button at the top right, crossed hammer and screwdriver)
  • This will load any missing info from the server for offline use. A message saying "Currently repairing" will be shown in the top section; please be patient and wait until it is hidden again.
  • Any new downloads will come with all the necessary data from the start
• Volume will be normalized to -18 LUFS by the Jellyfin server, which is the recommended value and also used by the ReplayGain 2 standard. This means music played on Finamp will be quieter than before, but should now be more consistent with other music streaming apps like Spotify
• On iOS, we aren't able to directly change the gain of the audio, so we need to change the actual volume to emulate the normalization. That means the volume will be lower (75% by default), and tracks which are much quieter than -18 LUFS will still not be as loud as the other tracks, since we cannot boost the volume above 100%. Since almost no tracks are this quiet, it shouldn't be a problem, and the listening experience should still be a much better overall.
• This feature requires at least Jellyfin 10.9.0

Playback Speed Control (mainly contributed by @lymnyx)

It's been an "upcoming feature" for a while now, but you can finally control the playback speed of audio in Finamp!
By default, the speed controls in the player screen menu will only be shown for tracks that are considered podcasts or audiobooks. The criteria for this currently are:

• The track is longer than 15 minutes, or
• The track is part of an album that is longer than 3 hours, or
• The track has at least of of these genres assigned: Audiobook, Podcast, Speech

However, you can configure this behavior in Settings > Layout & Theme > Customization > Playback Speed Visibility. There you have the option to keep using the automatic detection, or always show the controls, or hide them completely.

More Audio Metadata

In order to improve the lyrics experience, we've improved the metadata available to Finamp during playback.
This means that Finamp will now show more information about the track that is currently being played:

• Codec
• Bitrate
• Sampling Rate
• Bit depth (not always available)
• Media Size
• Applied normalization gain (only if Volume Normalization is enabled)

Showing this information has been requested by many, and for a long time. I'm really happy that this is finally done!

The metadata has also been redesigned to take up less space and be less "distracting". It will probably be moved to the bottom edge of the player screen in a following update.
Given that there can now be up to 8 pieces of metadata shown at once, I'm looking into ways of customizing which pieces are actually shown.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about the new metadata, especially what is and what isn't useful to you! Please also let me know if any of the shown metadata appears to be incorrect!

Other changes

• Show current position in queue, as well as total length remaining duration (contributed by @Komodo5197)
• Allow adding tracks to the queue even if nothing is playing yet (contributed by @Maxr1998)
• Improved q...

0.6.23

Downgraded Android API level to 33, this fixes issues with background playback

0.6.22

Fixed a bug where the artists screen would show every album in the library instead of only albums from the artist.

Also, check out the redesign beta if you haven't already :D https://github.com/jmshrv/finamp/releases/tag/0.9.5-beta