Community Remote for Linux, first native Linux GUI (v0.1.0)

[Jan_Koudijs]

@Ronald_Record @Dirk-Pitt The lack of scrolling in the zone dialog will be fixed in the next release.

[Martin_de_Vries]

This is great @Jan_Koudijs. Have been waiting for years; native linux app.

[peter_richardson]

Fully agree. The API is now outdated and could benefit from some attention.

Would definitely vote for this.

Really appreciate all the work you have done and are doing for this community. Thank you.

[Jan_Koudijs]

For all Windows users keeping an eye on this thread; this morning I increased the virtual disk of my Windows VM, as it only had a few MB left, in order to install all the tools needed to build Community Remote. And I can share that the current code base can be built for Windows without problems.

To come up with a Windows release I have the impression that the software building is the easy part. For usability it would be very beneficial if a signed installer can be created, but the whole certificate / signing process feels a bit intimidating. I have to figure out if there is a friendly process for open source software. Time will tell if and when this will materialize.

[Andrew_Johnson1 (Andrew Johnson)]

Nice one Jan - now installed on my 20.04.6 LTS desktop with no issues - very nice interface and very quick to respond. Let’s see how it stands up to long term use, but so far very impressed. First time using Flatpak too!

[thierry_Pradere (thierry)]

Hi there,

Thanks a lot for this remote to linux. This contribution is amazing for those, like me, who only use linux… I had only a few minutes of testing but I found three possibly (maybe I missed them) great additions which would allow a user to definitely get rid of windows :

1. My Linux PC speakers are not appearing in the audio setup and I therefore can’t listen from my PC itself
2. it seems not possible to “throw” a music your are listening in an zone to another one
3. would it be possible to edit a track/album so as to help roon to determine all the data (artist, artwork, date,…)

Thanks a lot to those who worked on this remote

tested on Linux Kubuntu 22.04

[Jan_Koudijs]

@Andrew_Johnson1

First time using Flatpak too!

Same for me, first thing I did with Flatpak was creating the Community Remote package

[Jan_Koudijs]

@thierry_Pradere

My Linux PC speakers are not appearing in the audio setup and I therefore can’t listen from my PC itself

Have you tried installing Roon Bridge? It should turn your audio devices into Roon Zones.

@thierry_Pradere

it seems not possible to “throw” a music your are listening in an zone to another one

True, zone transfer hasn’t been implemented yet. My idea is to add it to the zone dialog. Instead of the now playing icon for the not selected zones there can be the transfer option.

@thierry_Pradere

would it be possible to edit a track/album so as to help roon to determine all the data (artist, artwork, date,…)

The Roon API doesn’t provide a reference to the actual audio file, so editing the metadata of the file is not an option.

[Jan_Koudijs]

@Ronald_Record, @Dirk-Pitt,

Can you test something for me?

Open the zone dialog and, for the currently selected zone, click the 3 dots at the right and select Group… Is the list with zones that can be grouped also not scroll-able?

[Dirk-Pitt]

@Jan_Koudijs No sorry. dp

[Ronald_Record]

Zone grouping is also not scrollable. I can navigate zone selection and zone grouping with the arrow keys but not the mouse scroll wheel.

[Jan_Koudijs]

@Dirk-Pitt

No sorry

No problem, confirms my expectation.

@Ronald_Record

I can navigate zone selection and zone grouping with the arrow keys but not the mouse scroll wheel

Good to know that there is a workaround.


I now have a fix in place for zones, grouping and volume dialog.

[mjw]

Great job, thanks. Running on Ubuntu 24.04.

Some additional information for those using Flatpak for the first time.

Installing from Gnome Software

sudo apt install --yes flatpak gnome-software gnome-software-plugin-flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Installing from the command line

sudo apt install --yes flatpak
flatpak install community_remote

[Joost_Hoogland]

Running fine on Kubuntu 24.04.

Installed flatpak as described on https://flatpak.org/setup/Kubuntu and Community Remote shows up in the Software install app.

Thanks, Jan!

[Jan_Stes]

Jan, thank you for working on this long outstanding request.

Unfortunately, it does not work without a problem for me.
I have been able to install and run the app on my Linux desktop (Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS)
That desktop also runs Roon Bridge, and I am able to play music on it
from my Roon server (Rock on Nuc, Roon server version 2.0 build 1413),
controlled from my Android remote (Roon version 2.0 build 1413).

But when the community remote app comes up on my desktop, it does nothing. In the top blue area it says: Use Roon Remote to Enable extension. I assume that implies that the app has found the Roon server?

But the Android Roon Remote (Settings → Extensions) states: No extensions discovered.

Help? I have no clue where / how to look why the Roon server does not see the “extension request” from the linux app.

Thanks and kind regards,
Jan

[mjw]

@Jan_Stes

In the top blue area it says: Use Roon Remote to Enable extension. I assume that implies that the app has found the Roon server?

This means you need to enable the extension in the Roon app under Settings > Extensions.

[Dirk-Pitt]

@Jan_Stes

But the Android Roon Remote (Settings → Extensions) states: No extensions discovered.

@mjw

[mjw]

Because the Extension Manager isn’t installed? Either way, the extension isn’t enabled.

@Jan_Koudijs

If the app is running then it probably states in the top bar that there is no server paired. The server discovery method, as provided by the Roon API, is used, so it can be that a firewall or network subnets are in the way. One thing you can try is select the button in the lower right corner (having a link icon), it will give you the option to directly enter the IP address and port of your Roon server.

@BigMal

Installed via Flatpak and running on Linux Mint Cinnamon 23.1. Took a couple of restarts for it to be recognised in Extensions.

[Jan_Koudijs]

@mjw

Because the Extension Manager isn’t installed?

Community Remote doesn’t need Extension Manager. The functionality to connect to the Roon Server is part of the flatpak install.

[Jan_Stes]

Apparently my Roon Server does not recognize (or even does not see) the request from the community remote app on linux to be recognized as an extension?

What now?

I read in some of the previous replies something about (multiple) restarts of flatpak being needed? I have stopped and restarted the app plenty of times. But am not aware of restarting flatpak itself.

Any suggestions on how to “restart flatpak” on
Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS ? Consider me a Linux / Ubuntu novice for your answer.

Thanks and kind regards,
Jan Stes