Klangbild – a modern Roon remote & now-playing display for Apple TV (public beta)

[Piero_Ballistreri]

Hi everyone,

I wanted a modern, good-looking way to control Roon from the couch, so I built Klangbild – a native Apple TV app that connects directly to your Roon Core. It’s now in public beta on TestFlight and I’d really appreciate your feedback.

What it does
• Now Playing: large cover art, a background that adapts to the album, progress, transport controls, shuffle, repeat, Roon Radio and volume. Play/pause also works with the Siri Remote.
• Browse everything: library, playlists (folders are shown with cover mosaics), Live Radio, tags and search.
• Sort long playlists (newest first, title, artist).
• Zones: switch zones, per-output volume, transfer playback.
• Switch Roon profiles right from the top bar.
• A customizable top bar: hide tabs or pin any Roon folder, e.g. your favourite radio stations.
• Appearance options: light/dark, dimming, accent color, text and cover size.

How to join

1. Install TestFlight on your Apple TV (free in the App Store).
2. Open this link on your iPhone or Mac and accept the invite: Join the Klangbild beta - TestFlight - Apple
3. Open Klangbild on the Apple TV, then enable it in Roon under Settings → Extensions.

The beta is limited to 100 testers for now – I’ll open more spots soon.

Requirements: Apple TV with tvOS 17 or later and a Roon Core on the same network.

Klangbild is a remote and display – audio still goes to your Roon endpoints (or to the Apple TV via AirPlay) as usual.

Feedback, bug reports and ideas are very welcome, here or via “Send Feedback” in TestFlight. A photo of the screen and your Roon version help a lot. If something doesn’t work as expected, Settings → Event Log shows what happened.

This is an independent project and not affiliated with Roon Labs.

Thanks for trying it out!

[Glimmer]

Thank you, I have just installed, I will explore and experiment and come back to you later.

[wizardofoz (Mr Fix It aka The Wiz)]

Will check it out too

[Piero_Ballistreri]

@Glimmer @wizardofoz Thanks a lot for giving it a try – really appreciate it!

Any feedback is welcome, big or small. If something looks off or doesn’t work, a photo of the screen and your Roon version help me a lot. Settings → Event Log also shows what happened, if you run into something odd.

[thumb5 (Ian)]

Thanks - installed and working as I write this.

[Piero_Ballistreri]

Build 7 is now available in TestFlight. It fixes a crash some of you may have run into when selecting items in Tags, Live Radio or pinned folders. Thanks for testing – keep the feedback coming!

[wizardofoz (Mr Fix It aka The Wiz)]

Installed but had 3 entries in the extensions to enable…didn’t note the version so will recheck it tomorrow

[Mark_Valentine]

Thanks, looks pretty good so far. I’ll have a play with it and report back any issues.

[Piero_Ballistreri]

@wizardofoz Thanks a lot for spotting this and for the screenshots – really helpful!

Build 8 is now available in TestFlight:
• Klangbild now registers only once with Roon – no more duplicate entries under Settings › Extensions.
• The extension now shows proper contact details and a link to this thread.

For everyone: after updating, please enable “Klangbild” (publisher: Piero Ballistreri) once more in Roon › Settings › Extensions, and remove the old “com.example.klangbild” entries.

Thanks for testing!

[Piero_Ballistreri]

Build 10 is now available in TestFlight

What’s new:
• Fixed a crash that could happen when the connection to the Roon Core dropped, for example when the Apple TV went to sleep. Thanks to everyone who kept the app running – the crash reports helped find it.
• The top bar now adapts when you have many tabs: icons, text and spacing get a bit smaller so every tab stays visible.
• Klangbild now has a website: https://klangbild.app – with a FAQ and setup help.
• New support address: support@klangbild.app

TestFlight should offer the update automatically. If not, open TestFlight on your Apple TV and tap Update. If you are still on build 6 or 7, please update – those builds had a crash that has since been fixed.

New testers are welcome: Join the Klangbild beta - TestFlight - Apple

Feedback, ideas and bug reports are very welcome here, via TestFlight or by email. A photo of Settings › Event Log taken right after a problem helps a lot.