Is there a better tablet for Roon remote control app than iPad?

Hi - I was just idling by and wondered, I get really fed up with my Roon app having to reload itself whenever I am so naughty as to switch to another app on my iPad - is there another cheap tablet that can deal properly with multiple apps in memory out there? :blush:

1 Like

Tim I have read people saying that they keep Amazon tabletā€™s as a dedicated remote, but into tried one myself.vthr Samsung A series can be fairly cheap as well.

I used to use it on my Pixel C and that worked well.

Mike

1 Like

All of my Android devices, a Huawei tablet, a ZTE mini and a Google phone donā€™t have to reload; I expect that to be true of any Android device. The mini, of course, has the same limitations as the phone for editing and such, but is handy for use as a simple remote (it works great as an e-reader since it has kindle, kobo and libby apps and I have to carry only one device to use all the e-book sources).

1 Like

@Tim_Woodward wait until Wednesday, as no one yet knows if any improvements have been made in the ios app. Otherwise, an amazon hd 10 is a popular cheap ipad alternative for Roon. Iā€™ve no experience with it though.

2 Likes

Itā€™s does this on Android to dependant on how the device memory manages and power manages. I have tried everything people say to stop it, makes no difference on some my phone. Samsung Tablet not so much.

1 Like

Well I do have experience with Amazon Fire HD tablets - both an 8th generation HD 8 and a 10th generation HD 10 - used as Roon remotes. They both work great but neither one is has fast as an iPad, however the Roon Remote app does not need to reload when switching between apps.

I also have the latest iPad Air and the Roon Remote app does not need to reload when switching between apps but the iPad Air costs about 4 times as much as the Fire HD 10 and 5 times as much as the Fire HD 8.

By the way I use the Fire HD 8 mostly as a display sitting on my stereo rack so that I can easily see exactly what is playing.


And yes, Buddha dog does indeed blow a pretty mean sax. :sunglasses:

2 Likes

Thatā€™s a great idea, and at 99 euro for an HD8, cheaper than a raspberry pi/ropieee with 7ā€ display.

Hard to beat the HD10 at the price. I have one and its very good.

IMO, this is the best advice youā€™ll get right now. Besides the possible changes in iOS operation, we may find that the GUI changes make certain screen form factors much better than others. Landscape mode was about all you could get before, but portrait mode could become more favored by some users. The aspect ratio could also be a factor. The iPad uses 1.33:1 while a Surface is 3:2, giving a bit more width in portrait mode.

1 Like

I donā€™t see that changing. Thatā€™s the nature of iOS.

However the raspberry pi is also a Roon endpoint. Although the Fire HD 8/10 is also a Roon endpoint, it will only play through its own tinny speakers or via Bluetooth (which sounds much better). I do wish that these tablets would allow digital audio output via the microUSB port, but alas this is not the case. On the other hand, the Fire HD 8 does also work as a Roon controller so thereā€™s that.

I picked up the Fire HD 8 with a show dock for $50 on closeout since the tablet is the previous generation. The latest Fire HD 8 does not have a show dock available however it does still run Roon Remote.

1 Like

Ten replies and not one Apple fanboy. What is the world coming to? :rofl:

3 Likes

Thatā€™s funny my iPad works great and never missed a beat in the almost 4 yrs Iā€™ve been a Rooney. Do you have the latest software updates on your iPad?

Hey Ralphā€¦you posted one post too early!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

My iPad Mini 4 works perfectly, but I much prefer my Dell XPS 15 laptop with touchpad keyboard and touchscreen.

1 Like

Iā€™m an Apple fanboy, for 40 years. I canā€™t imagine using anything else, but I agree with @Tim_Woodward, itā€™s annoying when you grab your $1000 iPad Pro, wake it, authenticate, find Roon, click, watch it flash and redraw the screen, just in order to tab the volume up/down or track next/previous button. I hope v1.8 will improve the experience, but Iā€™m not counting on itā€¦ therefore, exploring options is good!

3 Likes

Hi Tim, Iā€™d also like to know what is the best 12" tablet to use as a remote. My vision is crap, and I donā€™t want to have to put reading glasses on to look at the screen. Iā€™m using a Samsung 10" Tab of some sort and itā€™s ok. But is there something faster to load and larger? :nerd_face:

Yeah I do find it a bit basic, also when I go look at my playlists the little icons take a few seconds to fill in down the screen, not very high tech! Why arenā€™t they cached on the device?

I have the Lumin app and it doesnā€™t refresh the entire interface when you switch back to it, just the bit that shows whatā€™s playing and where you are in the track. Probably my iPad showing itā€™s age, but maybe 1.8 might alter things who knows?

Hi Mike,

I also use my iPad to choose the music, but for the ā€œsmall thingsā€ I use an Apple IR remote or an Amazon Bluetooth remote control together with an app remapping the keys to roon. So I can do the previous, next, volume, pause, mute functions with these remotes. I donā€™t want to miss this feature. If you use a Mac as server, I would give this a tryā€¦

1 Like

That is one of the good things about the Fire HD 8 sitting in the show dock that I use as a simple display - by enabling the ā€œkeep screen awakeā€ setting and the fact the show dock is also a charging dock, the Fire HD 8 is always available to do those little things like stop/pause or track next/previous.

You do bring up one of pet peeves with respect to smart phones and tablets, which is while they all can run multiple apps at once, they really donā€™t multitask like a laptop or desktop computer does. And if Roon would finally allow for a mini control window to run on the desktop, well then

Donā€™t get me wrong - the iPad and iPhone both work great as Roon remotes and also as Roon players but the Fire HD tablets work just as good and are just a bit less expensive.

Jim, I couldnā€™t agree more. To control Roon I use either my desktop, when listening in my computer room, or my ThinkPad laptop, when listening in my music room. However when Iā€™m listening in the bedroom I use my iPad to control Roon.

Interesting, very interesting. And Iā€™m very jealous!

They are, you can increase the cache size, or flush it: settings > setup > memory for artwork / clear cache