That browsing feature of the iPod does not bear any relation to the issue raised in this thread. The request being made of Roon is to provide a way for users specifically to see the file and folder structure their music files reside in on disk, via the Roon UI. The iPod does not do that, it shows a structure based on metadata, not the file system. Just as Roon does.
I think the relevance is that some are asking for EITHER (1) folder browsing or (2) list view for artists and albums for faster scrolling and scanning. They are saying that #2 is a reasonable substitute for #1.
Thereâs no arguing that ipods allowed scrolling through list view.
That browsing was based entirely on the file metadata (artist, album, genre, etc), not its physical location.
in fact I donât think âkeep library organizedâ was an option when the iPod came out, and when the files were transferred to the iPod disk, they were not in an easy order. My iPod OS has been updated so I canât mount that disk and prove that anymore.
That was exactly my point - the issue of âfolder browsingâ has nothing to do with unduly entering the innards of how Roon data is structured; it has to do with accessibility and ease of use. The fact that list view, which in and of itself is LESS graphically demanding, is not even an option is terrible, IMHO.
Youâre right, but it is not the same: behind the roon interface, I sometime need to navigate the folder structure (again I can do that other ways and I do not care if it is or not implemented in roon). The same, be sure that at the developer level any now an then you need to work with a folder structure (ebay, amazon radio or whatever). For now, the folder structure is there to stay (not necessarily a bad thing), hence why I believe that such a request (to be able to navigate your music folder structure from within roon) makes sense for some people.
And i hope Google knows better your language than me 
Sie haben Recht, aber es ist nicht dasselbe: Hinter der Roon-Oberfläche muss ich manchmal in der Ordnerstruktur navigieren (wieder kann ich das auf andere Weise tun, und es ist mir egal, ob es in Roon implementiert ist oder nicht). Stellen Sie auĂerdem sicher, dass Sie auf Entwicklerebene ab und zu mit einer Ordnerstruktur (ebay, amazon radio oder was auch immer) arbeiten mĂźssen. Im Moment ist die Ordnerstruktur da, um zu bleiben (nicht unbedingt eine schlechte Sache), daher glaube ich, dass eine solche Anfrage (um in der Lage zu sein, in Ihrer Musikordnerstruktur von Roon aus zu navigieren) fĂźr einige Leute Sinn macht.
Not sure if this is the best analogy. Google search is working only with data form a data base, and roon is running over my folder structure (for the personal library). Hence why occasionally having access to that structure comes in handy for some. Again, I do not care about, but I really understand the need for.
Using Apple as an example of catering to customer requests is hilarious. Apple has always done what Apple thinks is best for the user. Apple routinely ignores customer feature requests if those requests donât fit in with Appleâs vision for the product.
I know because I worked there for a decadeâŚ
Roon has a vision for their product. They arenât going to become the mess JRiver is just to satisfy users requests. Browsing by folder in antithetical to what they are trying to do and have laid that out quite clearly.
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The spell of the visionâŚ
Whatever that is supposed to mean⌠
It means that a lot of people here are still under the spell of the roonâs vision. The problem is that if you go past that (and you do after using the product for some time), there are a lot of things in need of fixing / implementing, from both customers and software best practices and good sense points of view.
Now, some requests are making more sense than others, no doubt about, either way this constant stubbornness in believing that it is all part of a vision is unhealthy. Now, the real question here is who gives a s⌠of what.
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It means certain people want the product to be different than it is. Thatâs perfectly alright but it doesnât mean you should automatically get what you want.
I am perfectly happy without a folder browsing option. Since I have starting using Roon, I have never needed or even wanted to browse folders within Roon. I do keep my library organized on disk in a simple but traditional âartist/album/tracksâ structure. But I only use that for adding and removing albums.
If Roon could add folder browsing without messing anything else in the UI up, and not take away from time working on things I care about, I would be perfectly fine with it. I donât see that happening though so I would prefer that folder browsing not be added and instead work on other aspects of Roon and make Roon better for me! Or is it not okay for me to want things my way?
Correct!
Same here!
How will you feel if others will came and tell you that you donât need the things in your way? This is exactly the attitude here (generally speaking, not necessarily yours) a lot of people telling others that what they want is not what they want.
Roon telling me âwe wonât do thatâ is acceptable, from my point of view. Others telling me that what I need is not what I need, it is not. The funny thing is that I really donât care about this folder browsing feature, but I care about some others, many of them requested more that 5 years ago, all of them buried under this attitude of hiding behind the vision. Not to speak about some real world (regardless of the users needs/wants) problems that roon has and fails to fix (as of now, you never know)!
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Well, I came into Roon knowing it didnât do folder browsing and that is the feature we are talking about here. I didnât know how adamantly Roon was against folder browsing and how resolute they would be about it. I have no problem with thatâŚ
As to other features being buried under their âvisionâ attitude, what are those? Because I donât recall @danny coming out against any other feature request in the same way as folder browsing.
Well, what can I say, it looks to me that they donât came out hard on any request, they are just ignoring implementing them!
ok, let me see what I respond to from the last burst of posts hereâŚ
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the iPod did not have a folder browser, but it did have a menu browser. We provide a menu browser in the Roon API, we just donât find it compelling UI so we never built it into the core product. @ricgf, I believe you are confusing the two items. This topic is about the ability to browse your music per a filesystem hierarchy set up outside of Roon. It has nothing to do with a hierarchical browsing concept.
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@James_I, we are not chasing away customers, you quoted me out of context⌠My first comment was âwe donât want to build itâ, the second was âwe donât want it in the productâ, the third was âwe believe itâs absolutely wrong in Roonâ. The only reason you build something that has those 3 arguments against it, is if your hands are tied and you must, âor elseâ. Usually the âor elseâ is a business failure, which I was trying to point out is not the case (clearly I failed at getting that across). Anyway, we canât be everything to everyone, nor do we even want to try. Itâs just not interesting. As for flogging the horse, zombie or otherwise, the tone is harsher than it used to be, probably because Iâm sick of responding.
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@Speed_Racer, the only other feature request we hate is UPnP support, but Airplay/Chromecast/RoonReady have basically killed that off. We hear very little about it anymore.
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Based on @James_I comments on our tone about this, I have an idea, and a request:
The idea first: Iâm going to stop responding on folder browsing. Iâve made our position clear. There is little else I can say. It only stokes the fire when I say something. There is a reason executives rarely speak to their markets so candidly. I donât want to lose that, so Iâll just stay out of this topic from now on.
Second, I ask those who feel like they need to defend Roonâs stance against folder browsing, please focus on alternatives and solutions to the need for folder browsing, and not attacking the desire for folder browsing itself. People browse folders because they donât have another solution to their problems, or because they have tradition or investment in that infrastructure. Donât belittle that desire, just help them get past it⌠or just ignore this topic.
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Every single company in the world ignores many things that customers want; this is obvious. The point here is to what extent a company is willing to disregard feedback and/or incorporate it in one way or another.
But as said by Danny above, there seems to be a different understanding of what the OPâs request is - Danny alludes to something that sits OUTSIDE of Roon. To be frank, I do not even understand how this would be an issue, then, since that very request would not impact Roon as such, or its own UI approach. As I see, it would just be some sort of API so that customers can better access or organize their own content if they so wish.
Anyway, I do not think there is a need to extend this argument further, at least as far as I am concerned. I just hope certain requests do not fall on deaf ears and can be constructively taken one way or another (even if, for pride purposes, one may not wish to admit it).
Iâll repeat what Iâve said before: You donât have to be in a monogamous relationship with roon. I also use iTunes (now apple music which is really ambiguous between the application and the service), and in the car, I use whatever VAG thinks I should use when my phone isnât plugged in. I subscribe to Apple Music streaming service because I live in a primarily apple house and itâs great with apple products and siri.
iTunes has a lot going for it and itâs free. It is missing some of the magic that Roon brings to the table (Iâm not talking sound quality, Iâm talking relational stuff). But it does artist view better than roon, and the song view with the browser columns kicks the living crap out of Roonâs list view. Airplay is the 10,000 lb gorilla and every hardware maker supports it. So the hardware you have undoubtably works with it.
So use Roon, or iTunes, or JRiver or Clementine, or Volumio or Plex, or Tidal, or Qobuz apps as the mood strikes you.
In conclusion, itâs OK if you step out on Roon from time to time. Just be discrete about it. 
Sheldon
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This thread is about âfolder browsingâ. Thatâs why we should be allowed to discuss both its pros AND cons. Just because a user provides arguments against folder browsing doesnât mean he or she âfeels the need to defendâ Roonâs standpoint or decisionsâŚ