iPod touch Support
There have been some questions about whether or not Signal will support the newly-announced iPod touch. Since the new iPod includes Mobile Safari just like the iPhone it’s very likely that the iPhone version of Signal will run identically on the iPod Touch. Of course we can’t make any promises until the device is released – as soon as it’s available we’ll grab one and post back here with our findings.
Update: It works! A couple of tweaks were needed to redirect to the iPhone/iPod interface properly and to support some minor changes that have been made in the newer version of Mobile Safari. These were included in the 1.0.2 update, which is now available.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Woot! I just might have to get myself an iPod Touch and a license for Signal! Please keep us posted on your findings.
… and don’t forget to continue Windows Mobile development. I have several spare PDA’s lying around that would make great media remotes.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
What about Apple TV support?
September 14th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Matt: I agree that Apple TV support would be a great addition (as would full support for Windows Media Center). Unfortunately Apple has no real developer story for the Apple TV – it’s a closed system with no API to interface with. Some creative hackers have figured out how to open it up and we could certainly take advantage of this, but I’m reluctant to use such solutions for a couple reasons:
1) Apple could easily release a software update locking out such apps and leaving customers in the cold.
2) Installation and setup becomes complicated. Instead of “Start app. App works” it becomes “Do a bunch of crazy stuff to your Apple TV. Start app. Pray”. Not good.
September 20th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Have you considered using your seemingly excellent UI for controlling Slimserver instead of iTunes?
It is an open source streaming server designed to work with a device called the Squeezebox, which is sort of like the AirTunes functionality in an Airport Express but offers a couple advantages (for example higher sound quality and digital volume control, enabling direct connection to active speakers).
This solution is very competent, but (in my opinion) currently lacks a decent remote control. Your product could fit a niche in this market with (what I would guess) marginal adjustments.
http://www.slimdevices.com
September 24th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Nils: Slimserver support could be interesting, and in fact I’ve actually done this before (I used to have a SliMP3). However, if there’s one rule that holds true in software development is that it’s always more work than you think.
Adding support for a new media player is a fairly significant effort beyond the initial implementation, as each player has its own quirks and special features and as development goes forward you have to be sure that compatibility isn’t broken and that the player is able to handle new features added.
What may be worth looking into here is adding an extensibility framework to Signal to allow plug-ins for players and devices that may not make it into the core product. I’lll put some thought into that.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:43 am
WAHOO! This is exactly (I THINK) what I’ve been looking for. I built my new house with speakers everywhere and a central music server. I was planning to use iTunes on a mac mini with Airport Expresses in each room I need to control sound.
So the big question for me. Is can I manage the remote speaker control for my central itunes server? This way I can walk around the house and select which rooms I want to hear itunes playing on
October 4th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Patrick: Thanks! To answer your question, right now Signal can control what iTunes is playing, but cannot change the speaker configuration. This is a feature that I would really, really like to see in the app, but unfortunately Apple’s programming interface offers no way to do this.
However, there are some hacks being explored that may support this. If a work-around can be found that is reasonably reliable it will go in as an option for users to enable.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Thanks Matt. This will work for now. Its the best thing there is out there that I’ve seen so far. I will be waiting patiently for your updates. But Ill have to get a copy now (as soon as my Touch arrives)
October 12th, 2007 at 12:24 am
More interesting than Squeezbox would be a remote control for the SONUS boxes. I really like the Sonus solution; however, I find their remote clunky compared to the sleekness of an iPod touch. We have 3 iPod touches in the house, and I’d really like to use them to control the Sonus boxes …
Amar
October 12th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Amar: Interesting that you mention Sonos support, I have a system here and actually wrote up a rough prototype to allow Signal to drive it, as I also preferred the iPhone/iPod as a remote. This one also falls under the category of devices that don’t cover quite as broad an audience, but could be very compelling for the app to support through a plug-in or add-on.
November 21st, 2007 at 3:20 am
What about support for j-river media centre? It would solve some of the multi-zone issues raised above, as j-river does zones – a mate has 3 zones working with a 7.1 sound card into a multi-channel amp in a hub, wired up to speakers around the house. COntrol is the problem, and I’m not convinced a PDA wifi solution (eg netremote) would be as usable as Signal on an ipod touch. This set up would cream Sonos for price with a better remote.
Any other ideas for multi-zoning from a PC?
November 21st, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Support for J. River is another one of those things that probably won’t go into the core application, but could be supported through an extensibility framework. Of course, if there is a lot of demand for a certain player this could change.
Right now the target for multi-zone support will be iTunes + a hack to get Airport Express speaker selection working. In the past I had experimented with multi-zone support through multiple Winamp instances, but this was another one of those features that while interesting, just wasn’t used that often and somewhat difficult to set up.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:56 am
Thanks Matt.
I just think j-river plus this would really be a great set up, as you can set up remote control of j-river that works (on a PDA), but it not nearly as cute as your solution.
I’m still undecided, but as I only really need one zone, and I can hardwire under the house from PC to amp, I might go itunes/signal/ipod touch.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Hey, my iPod touch is not connecting to the signal server. I set the firewall to allow it to connect. I entered the URL into my safari page. It has that stupid error message that says, “Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding.” Help?
January 30th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Hi Peter,
You can try connecting using the computer’s Bonjour name instead of the IP address. To do that, open System Preferences on your Mac and click Sharing. Near the top of the screen is a message along the lines of “Other computers can access your computer at X.local”. You can use this “X.local” name in place of the IP address. For example:
http://matts-macbook-pro.local:3569
Just let me know if that doesn’t help and we’ll investigate further.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I would definitely throw my support towards J. River media center. It is the best player out there, period.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Hey, my iPod touch is not connecting to the signal server. I set the firewall to allow it to connect. I entered the URL into my safari page. It has that stupid error message that says, “Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding.” Help? I’m not on a Mac.
June 9th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
LJ: Responded to you via email
June 10th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
i’m on a mac (most recent version of leopard, 10.5.3 i think) and i set my firewall to allow signal but whenever i enter the url in safari, i get the message that safari can’t open the page because it can’t find the server. when i try to go to the url on my macbook’s safari, it works just fine. i also tried the windows version and everything works great and i can open the url on my ipod touch. i tried the bonjour name and that didn’t connect either
June 10th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
ryan: Responded to you via email.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hi, im having the same problem as LJ. When i use Safari on my Ipod touch it says “Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding.” Can anyone help me? I use a PC by the way.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
You can check out this thread from the group for some tips. Most likely the issue is a software firewall that is blocking the connection.