Hi!
So far I’m quite amazed by Roon, shaping up to be my go to music player. Even though calling it player might be an understatement. However, next step would be bringing the Roon experience to a tablet. My current tablet, an iPad 4 is classified as to “small” for the ride, so a new one it is. The iPad Air 2 and the Sony Xperia Z4 made the shortlist.
Question is, are both apps (iOS and Android) made equal? Concerning functions, responsiveness and over all feel?
Has anyone tried both apps? Maybe even with above mentioned tablets?
Can’t speak to iOS, but Android is just fine. I would like to suggest a 9.7 inch, Galaxy Tab S 2 with 32 GB. The 4:3 screen ratio really benefits the Roon experience and it is a much faster tablet than the Sony.
I much prefer Roon on iPad Mini 2 and Air 2 vs. Roon on Nexus 9. The iOS app just seems easier and slicker to use - swiping, touch targets, etc.
Having owned iPad, iPad 3, iPad Mini 2, iPad Air 2, Samsung Galaxy TabPRO 12.2" (briefly), and Google Nexus 9, I can say, hand on heart, that the Air 2 is lovely and my go-to tablet.
iPad Air 2 and Roon Remote App for iOS is a match made in heaven. While I have no experience with other than Apple vs Android, there is nothing lacking in my experience with my present synergy. Highly recommended in form and function.
The functional difference between the two OSs, is that Android devices can act as their own endpoints. Plug in headphones or connect to a bluetooth speaker and you are good. Not a big point if you are just using the tablet as a control device.
@Rugby The 4:3 aspect ratio actually is a good point speaking for the Samsung S2.
However, the S2 is much faster might be true, but for what I am planning to do with it (Roon, surfing, Netflix) I guess the Sony’s power should suffice.
@VirusKiller@REShaman
That’s what I heard, read and experienced too. iOS seems to have a much better tablet friendly ecosystem for apps.
. @andybob
Plain and simple this means, there is no way (at least in the near future) for an IPad Air 2 to act as an endpoint, meaning no headphones, no Bluetooth speakers, no let’s say Google ChromeCast Audio,…
That’s actually I quite big negative point in my book.
Is it possible to use the iPad as second Roon server, which might be an annoyance to keep to libraries up-to-date? But one could at least could it to other output devices.
To some up:
iPad Air 2:
sleek device (hard- and software wise).
more fitting aspect ratio (4:3) than most android devices, with the exception of the Samsung S2.
not usable as a Roon end point, meaning can only be used as remote.
Brian has indicated he would be disappointed if RoonSpeakers wasn’t released in November. I don’t know if that will include an iPad RoonSpeakers app or not. There is no iPad Core app and I have not heard of any plans for one. You can, of course, run headphones or Bluetooth speakers from the Core or any other endpoint that can run them, but (at the moment) a Remote iPad will only control zones connected to the Core (that will also change with RoonSpeakers). It’s not yet clear whether the ChromeCast Audio could be an endpoint with RoonSpeakers or not, there was some discussion in this thread:
No, I was wondering if this will end up as one or two apps on the iPad; and if two, if RoonSpeakers can run (and be streamed to) whilst using the same iPad as a remote. So iOS limitations, not hardware limitations.
@VirusKiller , I think based on what has been said that your guess is probably right, the iPad would be able to run the Roon Remote Client as usual and run the RoonSpeaker app; but, you would still need a RoonServer somewhere to process the audio and the audio requests.
@VirusKiller My guess is that it would become a completely different product. Just napkin-ing at work while I wait for my coffee to brew, I’d say that such a project would need some of the following: while attached at home the phone would function as a “phone remote” to control a playlist on an endpoint. It would also have Import functionality to import the music from the Roon Core to the phone, transcoding the audio as needed for local phone playback (probably to a selectable MP3, ALAC, FLAC, etc etc). It would also transfer a slimmed down database to only house info related to imported music. There would also need to be a delete/cleanup function to remove such imported music, as well as some type of space reporting to let the user know how much the phone can hold. As much as I hate syncing folders, that could work as a quick and dirty interface.
But, if you mean to stream your collection from your house to your mobile. Most people don’t have the hardware or internet connection to make that feasible in a practical sense. I’ve set up a stream from my NAS to my phone and it was not a pleasant listening experience; and I have a fast connection and hardware.
This Sync functionality is already available in Plex Media Server, if you’re familiar with that
Plex is primarily a “Home Server” solution…with Video Libraries on a NAS etc.
But the Plex mobile app on Phones and Tablets allows for an easy Sync of Movies or TV SHows onto the Mobile device…allowing for mobile use when away from home…e.g. on holiday or on a plane etc., etc
I imagine that a future Roon mobile app will allow similar functionality
“Smart” Playlists within Roonserver itself could help with this greatly…as e.g. a User could set up several Smart Playlists based on certain criteria…and then simply Sync those Playlists to his mobile
An example of a Smart playlist would be all Albums or Tracks added in the last 60 days…which would mean that a User would not have to go to each new album and Sync that to his device
Another example of a Smart playlist might be “User Favourited” Jazz / Rock / Opera / Classical Tracks
Smart playlists like this on Roon would mean that a User would only have to manage e.g. 10 Sync Playlists to his mobile…rather than individually selecting say a thousand albums for Sync
