We’re all adults I the room (Roon;)) I presume, and I find the need for check after check to delete an album from the library probably the biggest (only?) annoyance I’ve found with Roon so far (other than lack of internet radio, a whole ‘nother Topic). I think at 53 I can handle, say, one click hiding and two click deleting - or better yet one for Tidal and two for locally stored. I won’t be reckless. I promise.
I added the Tidal essentials on trial for a quick jolt, but found many duplicates as well as one’s I will never listen to. It would be a quick job of it to have one click delete vs the multi check boxes. Maybe an option in settings? Loving it to death otherwise.
You guys would be shocked at how many people click through all the “Are you sure you want to PERMANENTLY delete?” messages, delete their files or TIDAL libraries, and then come back to us upset that’s there’s no undo.
The check boxes are meant to get your attention, and clearly they are working
I am interested to know what’s the use case for deleting so often? The TIDAL Collections case is probably a one-off I assume, but what are some of the other reasons you need to delete on a regular basis?
I ask because we also hear from people who want us to remove the delete functionality completely so, while I’m open to a change here, the current design seems like a reasonable compromise between all these different ways people use the product.
In any event, the feedback is appreciated guys. Thanks!
Every week (at least), I scour online sources for new music and add interesting-looking stuff to my Tidal collection. I can easily add a dozen or more albums in a session. Then I go through and sample each album, usually discarding about 80% of what I originally added because it doesn’t make the cut.
I’ve been in product development for over a decade, so I get what you’re saying about how many people delete stuff despite obvious warnings. Maybe a quick delete option? Or a “don’t ask me again”? I know, you’ll hit the same problems…
I think the point with Tidal is that you aren’t really deleting anything. You can always go back and add that album to your collection. Maybe on single album deletions you make it simpler, but if someone is removing 2+ at a time…? Or some threshold like that?
Just throwing out ideas…
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James_I
(The truth is out there but not necessarily here)
7
You can “delete” a Tidal album from the Roon library by un-favoriting the album within Tidal. All you have to do is a simple right mouse click. That is a faster method than anything within Roon.
I think Roon and its users struggle with this because Roon is not a media file management product per se - you cannot move or copy media files (except as part of the library importation process) and you cannot edit file embedded metadata. But yet the one FILE level function Roon provides is delete. That’s a little bit like a store that says we won’t carry weapons like guns or knives because they are too dangerous but we sell nukes.
Plus, the duality of “delete” meaning “delete from hard drive” for local libraries and “un-favorite” for Tidal albums is probably confusing to some users, and this probably generates some of the unintended local deletions. The menu choice is the same, the results are drastically different.
Point being, if Roon is going to avoid being in the business of FILE level library management, get out of that business entirely. It confuses users to have one function and not the rest, especially since that one function means two entirely separate results depending on context. Plus there are perfectly good tools outside of Roon to accomplish this. Just get rid of delete, let that happen outside of Roon. Then with Tidal albums, there can be a “remove from Tidal favorites” or “unlink from Roon library” type of command that is more clear. I suppose there would be an analog within the library to remove a file or album from the library without deleting it from the HDD, but that I think is the same as ignore or hide, really.
I’m a pro photographer so perhaps more careful about deleting than most. But it’s not like with music it’s an original that can never be reproduced again. Perhaps levels of safety in the settings. One or two clicks for Tidal, two or three for local, or nine for the challenged and safety first types.
Anyway, even as the system stands, it would be nice to end up back where starting when deleting.
i use Hide instead.
No confirmations, because it is non-destructive.
I think Roon’s Delete should be non-destructive and without confirmations, I.e. it should be Hide. A very quick change, just UI, @mike .
Disk space is free.
If you are concerned with managing your disk space anyway, do it in the OS, where it belongs. If you delete the file, Roon notices and removes it.
My use case is very similar to @jtnt’s. I frequently add Tidal albums I learn about from a range of sources (not least of which is the “What Are You Listening to Now” thread). I listen to these, keep some, ditch the others. The only deletions I do in Roon are Tidal tracks, so while I understand the reasons for and history of the multiple checkboxes and confirmations for deletions, it’d be a help to me if deletion of tracks from streaming services were treated as a separate case and more casually, since those deletions are, for all practical purposes, always undoable.
I think it would be much better if removing a Tidal album was a one click affair, as you are not really deleting anything from your library and as others have said I also add a lot of Tidal albums just to check them out, then I remove them if I’m not a fan.
I don’t mind the system as it stands for deleting actual files from my library as I don’t do it often and I can see that the extra steps are a necessary evil.
Dittos on a comprehensive ergonomic study of the various workflows used in Roon and ways to reduce the time required. I could see tackling bottlenecks with a larger set of keyboard shortcuts or use of right-click contextual menus. I’ve also seen a minority of apps offer an “expert” mode that eliminates much of the “are you sure” clicks.
Agreed I have suggested this before. I see no reason for the same level of confirmation to be required for removing Tidal items from your library as for deleting files on your hard disk.
Currently I am adding a lot of MQA files to my library. Many of these are duplicates of what I already have and I would prefer to delete them rather than continue to have them in my library.
Also when searching on Tidal right now you often get several versions of he same Album. CD resolution and maybe two levels of MQA but you cannot tell which one you want until you play them. If I am in the middle of listening to something else then I add them all to my library until I am ready to play them and then I delete the ones I don’t want once I have found the highest resolution MQA version this means I am using delete quite often at the moment.
I would like to introduce the wastebasket principle. You delete from the library (with one click) into the wastebasket and a separate action is needed to empty the wastebasket (as many clicks as needed to be 100% sure you understand that you permanently delete your data). The latter action is done less frequently then the first action. Voila.
