Random Roon Album App

Mark_McClusky1 · December 17, 2025, 1:57pm

@Nicolas_Loupia Sorry you were spending that time! I’m trying to keep everything documented in the README, where they were mentioned…

github.com/markmcclusky/roon-random-app

README.md

main

# Roon Random Album

A desktop application for discovering music through intelligent random album selection from your Roon library. Built with Electron and React, this app connects to your Roon Core to provide weighted genre filtering, artist exploration, and smart session tracking.

## Features

### 🎲 Smart Random Album Selection

- **Weighted Genre Selection**: Genres with more albums have proportionally higher chances of being selected
- **Hierarchical Genre Filtering**: Expandable genres reveal subgenres for more precise music discovery
- **Session Tracking**: Avoids repeating albums within the same session until all options are exhausted
- **Multi-Genre Support**: Select multiple genres and subgenres for varied listening experiences

### 🎵 Now Playing Integration

- **Real-time Display**: Shows current track, album, artist, cover art, and track progress
- **Interactive Progress Bar**: Click anywhere on the progress bar to seek to that position in the track
- **Transport Controls**: Play, pause, next, previous with keyboard shortcuts
- **Volume Control**: Integrated volume slider for supported zones with mute function
- **Blurred Background**: Subtle blurred album art backdrop enhances visual appeal

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Nicolas_Loupia · December 17, 2025, 2:14pm

so sorry I did what the majority does : not reading the documentation…
I took the occasion to automate this multi-action on a simple AHK script, and put it into my streamdeck and it does the same : open Roon Random Album, press R, puts me back to the original application
I had to do this because doing the same as you did wouldn’t work somehow

Thank you for your quick help and for the amazing work !

Dirk-Pitt · December 26, 2025, 4:40pm

@Mark_McClusky1

On Linux

Mark_McClusky1 · December 27, 2025, 5:35pm

@Dirk-Pitt Love it!

Mark_McClusky1 · January 20, 2026, 4:02pm

I’m posting randomly to see if anyone who has used the app (Thank you!) has any feature requests or ideas for improvement…

I’d like to keep making it a better tool, at least until Roon integrates a similar feature in to the main app, where it belongs.

PixelPopper · January 20, 2026, 6:50pm

Well, I finally tried to load on Win11 pro but had a “couple” of problems.
The App didn’t appear to be able find Roon Server & it didn’t generate a shortcut in the start menu (App list).

App version was 1.6.5 (Roon.Random.Album-1.6.5.Setup.exe)…

Any help would be welcome

(I tried a reinstall but got the same result)

Dirk-Pitt · January 21, 2026, 6:20am

I’m having the same problem.

I suggested to Mark that we bypass the « Roon discovery » process and allow users to enter the server’s IP address and port.

I think this would be a significant improvement for us.

Mark_McClusky1 · January 21, 2026, 7:43pm

@Dirk-Pitt and @PixelPopper, try this version:

I’ve implemented a way to choose either roon discovery or manually enter IP and port.

I’d love to know if it works for you. To switch, click on the server name at the top.

@PixelPopper, I’ll look into setting up a shortcut automatically on Windows.

PixelPopper · January 21, 2026, 9:49pm

Thanks Mark, I’ll have another go in a couple of days, I’m currently working on this thread :-

Adam_Pekar · January 21, 2026, 11:46pm

I’m having trouble connecting to my roon server. The server is the latest MAC early access version, maybe that’s the case, early access? But in the 1.7.0b version of your app, I can input the servers IP and test connection and it shows as successful. But no server shows up. The app is allowed in the firewall. Running app on windows 11.

EDIT: ah, I didn’t know to enable your app as an extension in Roon, now it works!

Mark_McClusky1 · January 22, 2026, 1:48am

@Adam_Pekar Glad you figured it out; yes, has to be enabled as an extension in Roon. Just posting that here in case others miss it as well.

Thanks for installing it! Let me know what you think of the app!

Dirk-Pitt · January 22, 2026, 6:33am

@Mark_McClusky1

Thank you very much for your work.
Where do I click ?

Mark_McClusky1 · January 22, 2026, 1:04pm

@Dirk-Pitt Did you download the latest version? Can you show me what version number you’re using? The screenshot you posted doesn’t have the same UI as the one I’m looking at…

PixelPopper · January 22, 2026, 8:51pm

Hi @Mark_McClusky1 downloaded & working fine, many thanks

Dirk-Pitt · January 23, 2026, 9:07am

@Mark_McClusky1

Ah yes, sorry, it’s the Git version. 1.7.0b

Mark_McClusky1 · January 23, 2026, 1:43pm

@Dirk-Pitt So is that version working for you? You should be able to click on the Core name for a configuration drop-down.

Dirk-Pitt · January 24, 2026, 7:55am

@Mark_McClusky1

Yes, thank you. I did a quick test with version 1.7.5, and it seems to work. I haven’t had time to test it further, sorry.

Mark_McClusky1 · January 28, 2026, 4:51pm

I’ve continued tinkering with this, and added a new feature that helps with my use cases – you can now filter out specific artists from your random results.

There’s now a filter button in the upper right hand corner, I think it’s pretty self explanatory. I am finding it useful for avoiding artists where I might have a ton of records (such as Grateful Dead) showing up all the time in the random results.

You can of course enter multiple artists, and then clear some or all of them.

All info at GitHub, including updated documentation.

Cliff_Rader · June 12, 2026, 3:35pm

Loving the extension - thanks. One issue is that I can’t get the sub-genres to show up; on my screenshot, you can see that the selection arrow on several are pointing down, but no sub-genres. Any ideas? p.s. I’m using Version 1.8.3

Mark_McClusky1 · June 16, 2026, 2:14pm

@Cliff_Rader Glad you like the app, check out latest version, where the bug should be fixed. Can you confirm after you test?