yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] Zürcher:
MortPlayer Audio Books 0.4

MortPlayer Audio Books 0.4

I could not find that one in my German 1.5 Android HTC Hero

What is technically the difference between Stop and Pause? In MortPlayer Audio Book they are on two separate buttons. I mean can Play not become Pause/Stop when playing and opposite?

After a reboot I listened a Podcast with MortPlayer Audio Book 0.4. Then I wanted to listen to a Playlist via the onboard player within 'Sense' HTC.

Unfortunately, Sense-HTC playback has interruptions every 20-40sec. in this respect a kill of the task after pressing 'back' twice might be helpful, rather than searching for the error.

- because of that I made a check, I could run MortPlayer & Sense-HTC together, hearing the sound mixed - so I guess they use not the same Software or start a new thread

update 19. Feb.:

Today I changed in the Menu / Settings ; Player instead of Popup, altough it worked graphically I put the tick to disable Popup. It seems that I can now use the onboard Player without interruptions :-)

When I hold the HOME-button down for a few seconds an release, I get this little Menu. Inside that Menu, MortPlayer show's up two times. Is this intention?

Br,

Zürcher
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Here's a bigger test version.

The attached ZIP contains all three MortPlayer apps.

Three, because the Widgets were removed from Music and became a separate app that supports Audio Books as well. If both are installed and none is running, you'll get a selection when you tap the widget.

As a side effect, the popups for notifications and the widget now are independent, so the notificiation one doesn't offer widget settings and the "player instead of popup" option only works for that one. I couldn't offer it in the widget preferences because there'd be no way to open the widget preferences again afterwards...

What else:

- Some performance and stability tweaks, esp. for the audio book version (music test version had most of them already)

- Remaining time for audio books as well

- Continue on headphone plug

- Stop concurring MortPlayer (running Music will stop Audio Books and vice versa)
[Android Apps and Games] modidlee:
i've tried almost all of the 3rd party music apps and this is one of the best. liking the mini-popup option. add lastfm scrobble support and it'll be killer :D
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Android's peekMessage doesn't seem to work, so here's a version with a slightly more complicated workaround...

(According to documentation, peekMessage should return a handle to the service if it's running, so this would be a convenient way to check whether Music, AB, or none is running. Sadly, it often returns nothing, even if the service is running, so the Widget couldn't determine where to send events and thus didn't respond.)
[Android Apps and Games] meisterlampe2000:
It would be nice if the player ignored all the "dot" files from mac osx. if i copy music from my mac to the phone, every music file has its own file information for spotlight. example: "artist - song.aac" is also available as ".artist - song.aac" which only consists of some bytes.

i would be glad if you supressed those files ! stock music player does it already ;-)
[Android Apps and Games] guags99:
Is there a way to suppress the notifications? If I stop the playback service it removes the notification, but it just comes back when I open another app. I reported the problem with the stop button previously and that it still an issue... I was hoping pressing Stop would kill the notification.
[Android Apps and Games] cadamus:
Sorry I posted this orginally under the announcement, I am moving it here, where it probably belongs:

This looks really cool, mind a couple of questions before I try it?

First, any chance that MortPlayer and MortPlayer for audiobooks will converge? I would prefer one player for everything, but I can see not wanting the bloat for people who don't care about audiobooks. At the very least, will MortPlayer for Audiobooks do everything the "standard" MortPlayer will?

Something that I really miss from my current player is that if I am using navigation or anything with a voice warning, it will play over the audioplayer. Is there some way to have application based sound notifications pause playback, tell me what they need to tell me, and pick back up?

Also one more vote for at least the option to put a pause/play control on the lock screen. Sometimes I am juggling two phones, and when I need to answer one, it would be nice to be able to easily silence my audioplayer.

Thanks!

Cad
[Android Apps and Games] tivchev:
Best player i've come across to date!

Was just wondering if its possible to disable the pop-up control when you tap the widget? Making that optional would be great!

Thanx!
[Android Apps and Games] cdma:
I really don't think that is the case. I have be running into battery problems so by chance I first looked into Advance task manager. No Mort. than I decided to look into services and both Audio and the Player were running. What is weird is that I have not launched it in a few days. I know that I have booted my phone in the last two days. I do not have the widget running on any of my screens.

My battery consumption on my Droid has been really bad and the only serive that I see running that should not be is Mort. I will deinstall it today to see if things get better.

Don't get me wrong I have been using Mort for years and in my opinion is one of if not the best player out there. But the Droid already has battery problems and I can't afford for anything else to drain it. but
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
No. It just complicated things in the "one for all" WM player. Besides, I think it's better to simply start an audio book (player) instead of starting a player, switch to audio book mode, and when you want music some time later, having to switch back to music mode (and the last track would be lost...).

Most of it, but except for some experimental new features like layout and theme support, that's already the case. What's left out is usually not required. Who wants chapters read in random order, or have a book read twice in a row?

In theory yes. The app would just need to simulate a headset button, which is done in three lines of code. But otherwise, I don't know of any way to get notified what other apps do, and in most cases, those short interrupts would be rather annoying than helpful.

You can vote as much as you want. There's no way to modify Android's lock screen. Maybe better write Google to add an API for that, so in a year, when you get the update or a new phone, a "lock screen widget" would be supported...

Maybe... It's not as easy as back when there was just one supported player, but I'll try...

Yes, Android sometimes just restarts a service, even if it was deliberately stopped. And if the memory isn't required, the activity ("main app") remains suspended in memory as well. But unless anything's played, there's nothing to be executed. In the current versions, there even aren't any additional threads which could cause strange effects. I've no idea how anything could consume battery in this case unless there's some severe bug in Android 2.1 (can't check, European users still have to wait some months for the update...). I don't even get the service enlisted in the system's battery consumption list unless it's playing.

Well, OK, the player's notified if you press the headset button and when a call starts or ends, but the few checks in those cases (e.g. pause and continue on phone calls when playing) shouldn't have noteable influence to the battery consumption.
[Android Apps and Games] guags99:
Installed 0.5.3 today and all seems good. My issue with using the stop button seems to be cleared up now. Thanks for the great player...hopefully you'll be working on more Android projects in place of (or addition to) your Winmo projects.
[Android Apps and Games] immaculate:
Mort, firstly many thanks for such a quality app! Now some kind feature requests:

1. QVGA support for Tattoo, X10 mini etc.

If you are not using AbsoluteLayout & hardcoded pixels, it's as simple as android:smallScreens="true".

More info: developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html

2. Unique per-folder bookmarks, so it remembers the last track & position within a folder (a'la Rockbox etc).

As it's usually one book per folder, and it consists of several files, it makes sense to remember the last one.

It would also be great if there was a prompt-less bookmarking option.

3. Configurable default action on select track (Play, Play Next, Select, Choice Popup).

4. If you provide a way to customize the layout & strings for audiobooks, all my people would pray Ktulhu for your health for two weeks in a row.

5. A dummy Donation apk.

6. Alternative distribution channel, such as Slideme.org and/or your site.

These are, like I said, kind requests. I think we all realize what it takes to write a good code, and will still be grateful even if you won't implement some of it, except for #5.
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
If I'd drop 1.5 support, it would be. But sadly there are quite a few Heros with 1.5 around.

Google recommends to compile with a higher SDK and claim it's 1.5 compatible, but this way there'd be no check whether I or some SDK code uses incompatible functions.

Right, totally forgot to remember the last file per folder. WM version did that already. Will add it.

Hm, but how? Two "add bookmark" buttons would be confusing and take up screen estate. Long press would be a "hidden feature" for most people (who reads help texts anyway? ;) ). And a general "add bookmark without dialog" option would bloat the settings.

Similar problem - I don't like to add unnecessary options. And it'd be really cumbersome if one likes to use a rarely used option with a different default action.

A layout and theme selection like in the Music player sure will come. Real "skins" aren't easily possible (different screen sizes, compatibility, ...).

Don't know which "strings" you mean?

Thought about that myself, but a simple "thank you" app would be a bit stupid imho. Also not sure about the amount.

Also thought about other ways, like (optionally) adding AdSense to the selection lists, but nothing decided so far...

Hm, will see... I don't really like SlideMe, I think it's about as chaotic as Android's Market and even more ugly. Having to update only one place is a really nice thing, too.
[Android Apps and Games] KromaXamorK:
Hi Mort, Great apps, I'm totally fan.

However in the last version available on the Market.

In options when you choose "Invert Swipe Left/Right" it inverts Up/Down swipe too.

For example Volume slow down is an up gesture. :D
[Android Apps and Games] KromaXamorK:
In the last version, "invert gesture" is ok now, thanks for that. ^^

One question : Is it possible to have a MortPlayer Widget 4*4 in the near future with a gesture control like the main player???
[Android Apps and Games] Ayryyn:
Love Mort Player. I have converted my music tracks that want to listen to in the OGG format to save some space on my SD card. However, I am not seeing any album art. I have used Album Art Grabber and it has found all the album art, but it still is not showing the album art. Any ideas why?
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
4*4 would be possible in theory, but I don't really see any advantage. Why swipe to a home screen page if you could start the more powerful and faster main app with a tap on an icon?

Swipe gestures in Home screen widgets aren't possible, they're handled by the home screen itself. And even with derivates which would use other ways of screen switching there'd be no defined interface.

If the album art is in the tags, it's simple - I don't read Ogg tags so far.

If it's saved as file, it's either the wrong file name (supported: AlbumArt.jpg/png, cover.jpg/png, folder.jpg) or too big for the remaining memory.

Or it simply needs an "reload folder data".
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Translations

Is here anybody who'd like to do a translation of MortPlayer to another language?

It's quite easy, you just need to edit the values in some XML files (UTF-8 encoded). I've included the German translation as well.

You don't need to translate the changelog. I think it's better to omit that, so the english one is displayed, as it's almost impossible to keep this translation up to date. You could include some explanation in the "please read" message, so english "latest changes" would be OK (or, if you think German is more common in your country, please note it...). Of course you're also free to add a "translation by ..." note in the about dialog.

Please do not translate the item values in arrays.xml (array names with "Values" or those where there's another one with "Names" - sorry for the different naming schemes...) and the program name (app_name). If in doubt: If it's not in the German translation (values-de), don't translate it...

Pease send the translation and the country code (fr, jp, ru, ...) to my mail address (shown in Market) or attach them in this thread.

TIA
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Anybody here still has the problem the player doesn't play in background? If so, which Android version is on your device? Does it stop immediately when the player is left or when the next track should be played?
[Android Apps and Games] Kiro04:
Hi Mort! I register only to congratulate yourself on the grand application that you created! it's is my default player for 1 month and counting! :D ...

I have a suggestion: can you add playlist suport? If you add this, he will be the most complete player for Android!

I'm gonna translate to spanish, bah, i'm gonna try ;)

Regards!!!

P.S.; sory for my English...
[Android Apps and Games] m_natee:
best music player for me. THANKS
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Not in the existing players. It caused too much confusion in the WM player. (When to save, when to leave after playlist's played, etc.)

Maybe I'll add a separate playlist player, but first I like to get stable versions of the current ones.

(http://www.sto-helit.de/index.php?module=faq&action=view&entry=91 ;-) )

Thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] Zürcher:
MortPlayer Audio Books 0.6.1

Hi Mort

Once upon a time I wrote that.

Now you have added the wipe (wischen), which adds another 4 inputs. So in total (incl. time change, click on the name, time slider) 20 buttons. Correct me if I am wrong.

I searched for the study made by NOVELL? about user interface in OpenSource. I just found that.. sorry, german

Das Ergebnis ihrer Bemühungen sind Produkte, deren Funktionalität von den Benutzern nicht ausgenützt wird, weil sie entweder für diese Benutzer irrelevant oder in der Handhabung so komplex sind, dass Sie von den späteren Kunden nicht verstanden werden.

http://www.atypon-link.com/OLD/doi/abs/10.1524/itit.2002.44.1.014

What I want to say... your work is great but it is getting bloated. Not getting it is.

Example, a few days ago I was not sure if I went through all my 1h podcasts.

With the timeslider I wanted to jump on different positions. Guess what happend.

The wipe (wischen) gesture, changed the file without my intention. At that moment I was really pissed. For what is this wipe?

I mean, for wipe (wischen) I need to switch on the screen anyway, so why can I not just push the button for next entry?

If I am a new user to MortPlayer Audio Books, I am loaded with a screen of 20buttons at once. Some start to work and I have no clue why.

I was with you from the begining (MortPlayer Audio Books 0.4) but imagine someone just jumps in.

20 buttons on 480x320 pixel.

You are the owner

You wrote it by yourself

The win mob player was overloaded.

Where does your journey lead you this time?

Please let it KISS

* No Skin's

* No more features

* reduce the buttons, gesture amount

* but stable and useful

Regards, some stranger who really appreciate your works.

Listen to about 7hours of podcast a week.

Last but not least, no one likes criticism, neither do I, but I still hope you

take it positive, because I care and like your work.
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
A swipe gesture is not a button. It doesn't take any space, and usually you wouldn't even notice this feature if you don't use it. No idea how it could happen to work on the position slider, I've disabled any gestures that start or end in the position slider area. Maybe Android does a bit strange things due to the big finger tip area, I'll try to find a workaround...

Of course you could use the buttons instead of swipe gestures. But several people prefer the gestures and asked for it, and since it doesn't hurt the old behaviour (except for that strange effect you got somehow), I added it. I guess it's just more easy to swipe anywhere instead of aiming for a button, once you're used to it.

Speaking of buttons, I sometimes really wonder whether it would be a good idea to add two "visible" buttons for the folder and track lists. Seems like almost nobody reads a "Please read!" popup, too many people still ask for a track list or faster folder change... But there the trouble with the screen size does come in...
[Android Apps and Games] Zürcher:
MortPlayer Audio Books 0.6.1

MortPlayer Audio Books

I never use the button with clock in it, I take the timeslider intuitive.

I never use the 'Spiele alles' I just don't understand, so I don't use it.

So you could change one of them to a 'folder' button as example. If too many complain you switch back with the next beta release.

On the other hand, I think there are already two ways to reach the folders, through the name and through the album-cover.

In my humble opinion, you could reduce/erase these two buttons anyway.

If soo many insist on the wipe gesture (also for the MortPlayer Audio Books, really?? not Music version?) could you add the options dialog to do nothing?
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Try to do that with a 10 hour audio book file... ;)

It allows you to play only the current folder or track. I set it to folder, so the next audio book isn't automatically started when one is finished.

Yes, but sadly those ways don't seem to be obvious, and it seems like hints often are just clicked away... I also don't like to add buttons for already easily accessible features, but I also don't have a good idea how to show "tap me, there's an important feature!" ;) in a better way...

Hm, what do other users think about that? I thought those to be pretty handy features...

Oops, thought that's available already. Will be added.
[Android Apps and Games] maestrocool:
very Thx

for adding HTC Tattoo...

works great and simply to use

I have testet and it looks verry god and stylish,

i think the gestures are overkill,

Homscreen-Widget is more fun (no must have).

the only thing i miss is a alarm clock (meine eine Weckerfunktion)

mfg Maestrocool :cool:
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
Seems like opinions differ when it comes to swipe gestures... I was reluctand at first as well, but after a couple of mails I gave in. Seems like it'd be wrong either way...

Anyway, here's a preview of the next update. There are quite a bunch of changes, so even though it's still named "(beta)" in Market, I'd prefer some willingly guinea pigs test it before I get tons of complaints and 1-star-ratings... ;)

What's new:

- Unified handling in folder and menu selection

- List menu optionally only on long press

- Swipe gestures restricted to 1s to avoid accidental use

- Rewind/ffwd. on long press on prev./next track buttons (Music version only)

- In audio book version, prev/next track on BT headsets rewind/ffwd. instead.

- Delete songs

- Send songs

- Support Ogg Vorbis tags

- Selectable sorting

- More informations on errors in service

- Fixed bugs with shuffle over all folders

Btw, this is about the target I had for 1.0. Now it's some time for bugfixing and maybe one or the other minor "background" feature (like the support for the two most common scrobblers) or layout facelift. If all works well, 1.0 might be released in about a month.
[Android Apps and Games] Zürcher:
MortPlayer Audio Books 0.6.1 preview 1

MortPlayer Audio Books 0.6.1 preview 1

Hi I just installed the MortPlayer Audio Books 0.6.1 preview 1

After install, the frist screen with the short explanation of the functions. On the HERO it is quite crowded text.

Can you strech it a bit to make it more comfortable to read it, so maybe the user's at least 'fly' over it.

About the screen with the short explanation:

Instead of 'Verzeichnis auswählen' how about 'Verzeichnis anzeigen' or 'Ordner anzeigen'

Instead of 'Dateiinfos antippen' how about 'Titel antippen' (this word is on the GUI)

Nice, I can switch off the wipe gesture :)

Just a short test with folders and so on, it works on the HERO.

Erase songs in a Player!!! Please don't, pleeeease - It is not windows - the unix way - one application -> one task.

ASTRO is a very nice Filemanager - use something like this instead of a player. Astro filemanager
[Android Apps and Games] Mort:
No, I can't. Well, at least not with reasonable efford.

The dialog layout comes from the Android system. I could use an own "Activity" instead, but that would cause an entirly different process flow.

I think that could be misinterpreted as showing the content of a folder, instead of the list/hierarchy of folders.

IMHO, that sounds like you need to aim at the title or the "title" label instead of the entire area. Maybe "title information" would be a good compromise.

It's neither Windows nor Unix. ;-)

In my experience, the Unix way would be to have dozens of command line tools and a bloated shell script or GUI app to make them (almost) usable for non-nerds. At least until the parameter handling of one of the command line tools is modified in an update. :D

I don't like to offer an entire file manager in a music player. But deleting an already played podcast or a song you get tired of isn't a task which is so uncommon you'd like to do "press Home - launch file manager - navigate to folder - delete file - reopen player - reload folder structure" all the time. IMHO it's almost on a par with the rating systems in many other players. I never really understood why one would like to rate a song "1 star" instead of just deleting that crap piece of music...
[Android Apps and Games] cauli:
LOL - what if you're the one who rated it but you're not the only one who listens to it? Why does Take That come to mind...?

BTW I like your take on 'nix programming philosophy, even if the gui comments were a tad harsh ;)
[Android Apps and Games] z0diac:
FEATURE REQUEST (for both music and audio book player:

When you tap the album icon, then click on a folder, have it GO IN to that folder and display folder contents. So if there's say 10 songs in a folder, I can go right to the song I want, instead of having to search by FF'ing through each one.

And "Auto Play Next Track" would be *great*. Especially for my audio books when I'm on a long road trip. If a book is in say 40 separate files, I can go into the folder, select a file, and have it start there then keep playing the next one once the current one is finished.

Basically have the interface like a Windows Explorer interface, where I can go in and out of directories, select any song, and it will start on that song then continue to play the ones after it.

Great player so far though!
[Android Apps and Games] elecious:
hope someone can help me with this.

How do i add album art to an album myself? rather than getting a program like this to do it for me?

Thanks
[Android Apps and Games] cauli:
It depends on what you prefer & what your player/s support. If you always store each album in its own folder, all you typically need do is include an image in the folder called folder.jpg

Alternatively, many audio formats including mp3 & mp4 allow tagged metadata to be added to each audio file itself. This data can include album art. To add this though you will need some suitable software. Tag&Rename is a nice solution for Windows, but is commercial; although there is a trial version.

Incidentally, I was surprised to discover the default music player in Cupcake doesn't support album art in tags. I'm told Eclair's does, thankfully.