I disagree. I suspect most Roon customers just want the updates to happen.
Well I more wanted to state that it should be my decision - of course I will have to live with the consequences as e.g. security issues (not so relevant for Roon since all local / at least in pre-ARC times) and missing features (which might be acceptable) in case I opt for not updating.
Very valid point you have about the dependencies - which might unfortunately force one to update at some point. Esp. considering OS as a dependency and Apples pace of releasing new OSses. TBH this is another point where Roon does not perform too well IMHO. Not only once I updated Roon and found out that I will now obviously have to buy a new iPhone/iPad/MacBook just to be able to still control my whole Roon setup.
I totally see that its not possible to support each and every 20 year old OS. However: a couple of years should definitely be possible! After all what Roon Remotes do is not particularly rocket science which would require most decent hardware (nor most fancy new OS capabilities). Even a 10yo iPad still has more than enough hardware power to select a song from my library - it’s a pity that I have to throw it away just because software dependency limitations!
Of course it’s now debatable how long to ensure backward compatibility, but I noticed other apps do considerably better here (e.g. Spotify & Tidal, just to name some from a comparable category - and they are even more cloud-based than Roon!)
PS: probably worth mentioning: my 9yo iPad mini 2 (iOS 12) can still control my Roon stack (all latest 2.0) at the moment, which is great! Maybe my complaining in other threads was finally heard ;-). On the other hand side: a 4.5yo Mojave can somehow not anymore run latest Roon…
Yeah but Apple supports OS updates on older hardware for a long time, and Catalina (the minimum requirement of Roon) officially runs on all standard configuration Macs that supported Mojave. Only the 2010–2012 Mac Pros, which could run Mojave only with a GPU upgrade, are no longer supported by Catalina. So this means that Catalina and hence Roon runs on these:
- iMac (Late 2012 or later)
- iMac Pro
- MacBook (Early 2015 or later)
- MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or later)
- MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or later)
- Mac Mini (Late 2012 or later)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later)
And on iOS, Roon supports iOS 11+. iOS 11 supports Apple devices back to iPhone 5s (2013) and iPad Mini 2 (2013)
Supporting 10+ years old configurations is not bad. (From my personal experience in a software company, you never give up lightly on older platforms because everyone is acutely aware that it means unhappy customers, but there comes a time when it is just not technically feasible. The hardware may have enough grunt, but the software might lack some feature or have a bug that you just can’t work around)
They also do 5% of what Roon locally does (personal database stuff). I have no idea how long they work if you never update the client (not that I know why anyone wouldn’t)
“Even more cloud based” by the way makes it easier to keep a local client compatible. If it is 100% cloud based and runs in a browser, the user never has to “update” because this happens entirely automatically when the browser loads the page. Roon’s challenge is that it does a lot locally (the personal database) AND has a lot of integration with the cloud.
Yes - please QUIT forced updates! I’m Roon user since 7 years and not happy since 2 years any more.
There are two situations where I hate these moments of a new version:
- before a party: will it be free of bugs after update?
- my wife likes it when the software looks and is handled always in the same manner, it is for a hifi system, not for a computer.
Roon has been reliable, but this has gone since the upgrades are more frequently. It is more important to have reliability than upgrades. I would really like to switch them off. No windows that opens every time I run the software, asking an annoying question “Hey, you must be very happy now, because there is a new version available for you…”
Currently I like the possibility to stay with 1.8. Unfortunately there is a memory leakage in Roon software also, that causes a crash on a 8GB Windows Surface sometimes. I don’t need the new features, I like to run 1.8.
Also, I don’t want the required continious Internet connection, as the latest version of roon requires. When the internet would not reliable, Roon wouldn’d reliable too. How do I play my own library then?
In old 1.7 there hasn’t been a pause when switching between playlist und album view; and no crashes. I would like to freeze the version that fits my needs best.
Hi @Uwe_Kaehler, just in case you didn’t spot this at the top of this topic …
Note this does not switch upgrades off, as you commented on, but does give you control when the update is installed.
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Yes - Roon seems to be following the IT industry trend that their product is more like a phone and not an appliance. I want to listen to music and enjoy the experience not fiddle with technology. I consider my very high end expensive system a ‘toaster’ - just add music and off I go. So what I need are security updates and piece of mind, with perhaps some features in major releases about every 18 months. Right now it feels like I get updates every time I turn something on and its annoying.
Roon can’t win , a few years back it was “updates ‘ bug fixes are too slow being released “ now “we get too many”
Roon changed their philosophy based on comments then get shot at for it
You can’t have it both ways …
Currently just ignore ARC and your base system isn’t changing.
Even hardware manufacturers release firmware updates so you can’t escape
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The user distribution regarding preferences for this is most likely roughly Gaussian from “no updates” to “daily rolling updates” with a median somewhere, so whatever they do there will be someone who is unhappy.
I have found that a statistical view on the matter is the least aggravating in all instances where large numbers of humans are involved 
I’ve noticed that almost every time I open Roon there appears to be another new update. Normally I would applaud this, but it seems to me to be too frequent.
Each time the core is updated, I have to go and restart Roon before I can use the app to control my endpoints. Has anyone else noticed this?
I think I’d appreciate fewer, more significant updates to the current strategy.
Hi Peter, i am sure that there is some useful psychological research here, i am one of those people who appreciates frequent and incremental updates.
I understand the frustration in having to wait to play music, but from my perspective it reassures me that the software is being reviewed and refreshed on a regular basis.
It probably says something about our characters that we have diametrically opposed views and comment upon them in this forum.
I hope that you still enjoy your music despite the frustrations.
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Regardless of whether one feels that an update a month on average is too often or not, this doesn’t seem right. How often do you open Roon?
For me if feels there are too many updates. Updating to 1.8 was a struggle, to 2.0 also, seeing the update box make the feel like: oh no, not again…
Between 1.8 and 2.0 I’ve had to click away the message every time but Roon worked flawless which gave some peaceful moments in not being a administrator.
Automatically install? No, what if that update fails and Roon stops working?
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@moderators maybe this thread could be combined with the other and then the whole bunch moved into Feedback?
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@Suedkiez, I’ve merged the topic.
@Ruben, much of what needs to be said already has been … checkout the posts in this topic.
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In deed… checking more closely, the current situation with Roon might not be that bad. While Roon should even be working on iOS 11, Spotify obviously requires iOS 14 atm.
So let me relax my criticism to a more general wish for long support of old hardware!
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Guys, I feel like I have to Update my Nucleus every week. Bit annoying, if you wanna listen to some music NOW and too often, Roon would like you to update sth. Which takes time… what’s your feeling?
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How long does it take to upgrade? It takes around one minute for my core and client combined - both running on Windows.
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There were 2 hotfixes because of issues in recent days. Leaving users (even if just a smallish number) stuck with unavailable libraries just to avoid an update is not a solution either. Otherwise it’s clearly not every week.
Anyway, it takes like 15 seconds on a Nucleus and you don’t have to.
There’s also this existing thread where all views have been voiced already, but you can add your feedback there:
Edit: @moderators - merge?
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My feeling is that just because a problem doesn’t affect me personally doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem.
If the frequency of updates/hotfixes, which apparently aren’t necessary for you, bothers you then just turn them off.
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