iPeng, your iPhone Squeezebox Remote, gets even better with version 2.0!

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  • pippin
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2007
    • 14809

    iPeng, your iPhone Squeezebox Remote, gets even better with version 2.0!

    It's done. iPeng 2.0, the long anticipated (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...-Teaser-Thread) update to iPeng for iPhone, has now been released on the App Store



    The iPhone 5 brought a new form factor to the iPhone/iPod world and we have used the opportunity to give iPeng a complete UI refresh. It’s been two years since the last UI change and during that time, App user experiences have changed a lot so we felt it was time for some fresh air.

    So what’s new?

    1. Design


    First, iPeng’s graphics are now much cleaner drawn, use more contrast and we tried to give it a more reduced, less playful look, taking away a lot of gradients, semi-transparent elements and colors. This improves readability, makes iPeng’s screens look less crowded and in some places it freed up some space to make elements bigger and more readable, like the title information on NowPlaying. The NowPlaying screen also is now optimized for iPhone 5 but also looks cleaner and more readable on the older Apple devices.

    We also played some additional attention to icons, so now the main menu icons are all available in retina format and the player icons now again use real images of the devices they represent, similar to the ones used in iPeng for iPad.



    2. Usability

    iPeng 2.0 now has a new player-tab at the top of the screen that always shows you which player you are controlling and also gives you quick access to the list of players and Music Sources (MultiPlayer control) from everywhere in the App.

    It also contains shortcuts to control the current player without having to switch to NowPlaying.

    We believe that this will significantly improve the accessibility of often-used features in iPeng and therefore make your iPeng user experience even better.

    3. Features

    The space freed up on the left-hand side of the NowPlaying screen is now filled by the same Lyrics screen saver that’s also featured in iPeng for iPad.

    The Changes in Detail

    If you want to learn more about the changes and the new design, have a look at



    Have fun!
    ---
    learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox and
    Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
    at penguinlovesmusic.com
    New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
  • ftlight
    Senior Member
    • May 2006
    • 321

    #2
    I just downloaded the new version - looks very good! I like the clean appearance, and most of the changed screen functions seem quite intuitive.

    Comment

    • ftlight
      Senior Member
      • May 2006
      • 321

      #3
      So that was on my iPhone 4/iOS6; I've now loaded it on my 3GS, also running iOS6, and so far everything looks good there too.

      Comment

      • snoogly
        Senior Member
        • Dec 2006
        • 232

        #4
        iPad version on the way?

        Comment

        • 05mattjax
          Senior Member
          • Aug 2010
          • 165

          #5
          Looking good.

          Comment

          • 05mattjax
            Senior Member
            • Aug 2010
            • 165

            #6
            The volume control seems to change the track! Well in iPeng playback anyway, not tried other players. Maybe is because I haven't upgraded to ios6.

            And whats the lyrics screen about it just seems to hangs searching........

            Nice user interface though, well done.

            Comment

            • pippin
              Senior Member
              • Oct 2007
              • 14809

              #7
              The skip happens when you change the volume fast, yes. That's a bug. Will get fixed in 2.0.1 which is already on the way (but will probably still take more than a week, due to Apple's current review times).

              Lyrics: are you using SqueezeCenter 7.3.x? Otherwise iPeng should present you a help screen instead of waiting forever.... You need to install the SongInfo/SongLyrics plugins to get Lyrics, iPeng can't get them itself. There's a longer explanation on this on http://penguinlovesmusic.com
              ---
              learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox and
              Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
              at penguinlovesmusic.com
              New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

              Comment

              • chill
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2007
                • 2233

                #8
                Pippin

                This is a nice update. I'm using an iPhone 4, still on iOS 5.1.1, and so far I haven't seen any problems. I particularly like the lyrics page - something I've missed on the iPhone version since seeing it on an iPad. I'm sure I'll eventually train my brain not to try and swipe to the other screens in landscape mode

                And the drop down tab to get to the multiplayer control is much more convenient. For some reason I often struggled to swipe sideways off the old version of this screen, but now it's a simple tap to get rid of it, and it's available all the time.

                Great to see this app going from strength to strength.

                Comment

                • chill
                  Senior Member
                  • Mar 2007
                  • 2233

                  #9
                  Usage question/feature request:

                  Is there a way to get one of the apps in 'My Apps' to show on the menu bar? I can get the whole 'My Apps' menu item to show, but I'd like to put Triode's Spotify app there.

                  Thanks
                  Chris

                  Comment

                  • pippin
                    Senior Member
                    • Oct 2007
                    • 14809

                    #10
                    You can't put a submenu on the tab bar because the higher-level menu needs to be opened to access it.
                    Logitech's "Apps" can be added to the home menu on MySB, but not Triode's plugin. Sorry.
                    ---
                    learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox and
                    Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
                    at penguinlovesmusic.com
                    New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

                    Comment

                    • bhaagensen
                      Senior Member
                      • Sep 2006
                      • 1361

                      #11
                      Thank you!!!

                      Hi,

                      been playing a bit with 2.0 and its really good!

                      I really, really, really appreciate the new integrated lyrics feature!

                      Also the way playback controls are now integrated in the browser part of iPeng is brilliant - very functional indeed. The design is also improved IMO - making the improvements worth a 2.0 major upgrade.

                      Some parts are still a bit irky, but we'll get to that later.

                      Thanks for the upgrade - long live the Squeezebox!!!

                      Comment

                      • HeadBanger
                        Senior Member
                        • May 2010
                        • 511

                        #12
                        Really nice like it! Thanks Pippin.
                        1 x Duet, 3 x Yamaha Restio, 3 x Radio, 2 x Touch with iPeng 9 served by Synology DS2419+, Docker and LMS 8.2.0

                        Comment

                        • epoch1970
                          Senior Member
                          • Apr 2008
                          • 2280

                          #13
                          Great new design

                          (iPhone 4/iOS5, here)
                          Same screen size, more features, greater usability: Coolio deserves an extra sardine today.

                          Lyrics in screensaver: great addition (I can expect a new iPad exclusive feature, right? )
                          Perhaps it's not new, but I've just seen the "Popup notifications" preference. Off, thank you very much.

                          I also tried again the "Proximity sensor". It cuts the screen often when I approach my finger to hit a button on the screen. I've set it off again.

                          I've seen one pixel defect:
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                          I didn't use much landscape mode on iPhone. I like very much the new next/prev gesture. If the image would bounce or animate a bit it in response, that would be awesome.

                          Menu browsing in landscape mode: why not.

                          I've seen one defect on the players drawer in landscape mode, perhaps you can reproduce:
                          a. sit the iPhone on a table, upright on one of its longer sides: iPeng turns to landscape mode (ok)
                          b. pull the players drawer handle: it slides to the bottom of the screen (ok)
                          c. now push the iPhone so that it lies flat on the table instead of vertical: the drawer extends beyond the screen, and I can't get the handle back (bad)
                          You can also go from a. to c. and then extend the drawer. It will overflow the same.
                          (BTW, I *love* the stop you've added to the slider to show only play controls in landscape mode. It is redundant when in screensaver in portrait mode, but I am glad you kept the large combo.)

                          What a great app. Thanks again, Pippin.

                          UPDATE: Alert, baby blue on approach! Editing the bottom shortcut buttons brings a metallic light blue top bar… Could you make it plain white instead ?
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                          Last edited by epoch1970; 2012-10-13, 13:16.
                          2 SB 3 • 1 PCP 7 • Libratone Loop, Zipp, Zipp Mini • iPeng (iPhone + iPad) • LMS 8.1 (docker) with plugins: CD Player, WaveInput by bpa • Material Skin by Craig Drummond • IRBlaster by Gwendesign (Felix) • Smart Mix, Music Walk With Me, What Was That Tune? by Michael Herger • PowerSave by Jason Holtzapple • Song Info, Song Lyrics by Erland Isaksson • BBC Sounds by Stuart McLean • AirPlay Bridge by philippe_44 • Auto Dim Display, SaverSwitcher, ContextMenu by Peter Watkins.

                          Comment

                          • pippin
                            Senior Member
                            • Oct 2007
                            • 14809

                            #14
                            Originally posted by epoch1970
                            (iPhone 4/iOS5, here)
                            Same screen size, more features, greater usability: Coolio deserves an extra sardine today.
                            granted, granted
                            Lyrics in screensaver: great addition (I can expect a new iPad exclusive feature, right? )
                            Let me think one up There are still a few, though...
                            Perhaps it's not new, but I've just seen the "Popup notifications" preference. Off, thank you very much.
                            No, it's not new. And you only need it to turn them ON, because they will be turned off automatically if you hit that red "x" once
                            I also tried again the "Proximity sensor". It cuts the screen often when I approach my finger to hit a button on the screen. I've set it off again.
                            Yes, that's one of those features where I keep wondering whether I should remove it. The idea was to allow iPeng to run in the foreground so that it's quickly accessible but save some power by turning off the screen if you put it face-down on the table.
                            Now that we've got lock-screen access that might no longer be required.
                            I've seen one pixel defect:
                            Oh, indeed, didn't catch that one. This looks like a retina screen, is this an iPhone 4S or so on iOS 5? Seems like it gets wrongly positioned in iOS 5, can see it on my iToucg 3G, too, but that's non-retina.
                            Just want to be sure it's not a retina vs. non-retina thing.
                            Menu browsing in landscape mode: why not.
                            Because it's way to few rows, at least for me. I deeply regret ever having done the landscape mode but now it's there and some people even build installations with devices fixed in landscape orientation so I'll keep supporting it.
                            I've seen one defect on the players drawer in landscape mode, perhaps you can reproduce:
                            a. sit the iPhone on a table, upright on one of its longer sides: iPeng turns to landscape mode (ok)
                            b. pull the players drawer handle: it slides to the bottom of the screen (ok)
                            c. now push the iPhone so that it lies flat on the table instead of vertical: the drawer extends beyond the screen, and I can't get the handle back (bad)
                            Argh. Looks like I don't process the additional device orientations correctly.
                            See: THAT'S why I so deeply regret having done landscape mode...

                            Thanks for the pointer
                            (BTW, I *love* the stop you've added to the slider to show only play controls in landscape mode. It is redundant when in screensaver in portrait mode, but I am glad you kept the large combo.)
                            You can use that in portrait mode in the library as well. You can then fully navigate the App with left- and right swipes even though the top bar is hidden and have permanent access to your player controls.
                            UPDATE: Alert, baby blue on approach! Editing the bottom shortcut buttons brings a metallic light blue top bar… Could you make it plain white instead ?
                            No. Some of the icons are barely visible, too. I have zero control over that view, though. It always uses the default iPhone header scheme (this is NOT iPeng's blue, but iPhone's grey) and picks whatever text color it thinks was the last one used.
                            Same with the mail composer view.
                            Apple needs to allow more customizations here.

                            And I even discovered some I believe almost nobody has ever done before, or did you ever see a customized "More" button on any other App? Google-wisdom said you can't do that...
                            Last edited by pippin; 2012-10-13, 13:57.
                            ---
                            learn more about iPeng, the iPhone and iPad remote for the Squeezebox and
                            Logitech UE Smart Radio as well as iPeng Party, the free Party-App,
                            at penguinlovesmusic.com
                            New: iPeng 9, the Universal App for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

                            Comment

                            • epoch1970
                              Senior Member
                              • Apr 2008
                              • 2280

                              #15
                              Originally posted by pippin
                              This looks like a retina screen, is this an iPhone 4S or so on iOS 5? Seems like it gets wrongly positioned in iOS 5, can see it on my iToucg 3G, too, but that's non-retina.
                              Just want to be sure it's not a retina vs. non-retina thing.
                              This is an early version iPhone 4, model MC603NF, running iOS 5.1.1 (9B206) --and it will stay this way until I can get a mapping app with street view under iOS6.

                              You can use that in portrait mode in the library as well.
                              I've seen this. Excellent, really.

                              (Sorry for the false alarm on baby blue. Trauma-induced overreaction, but reading your response I feel better )
                              Last edited by epoch1970; 2012-10-13, 14:19.
                              2 SB 3 • 1 PCP 7 • Libratone Loop, Zipp, Zipp Mini • iPeng (iPhone + iPad) • LMS 8.1 (docker) with plugins: CD Player, WaveInput by bpa • Material Skin by Craig Drummond • IRBlaster by Gwendesign (Felix) • Smart Mix, Music Walk With Me, What Was That Tune? by Michael Herger • PowerSave by Jason Holtzapple • Song Info, Song Lyrics by Erland Isaksson • BBC Sounds by Stuart McLean • AirPlay Bridge by philippe_44 • Auto Dim Display, SaverSwitcher, ContextMenu by Peter Watkins.

                              Comment

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