I’m glad I waited to use 1.6 a bit more before commenting. This has allowed me to discover new things that aren’t immediately obvious, etc.
Overall, the feeling of flow while using is improved. Of course, Qobuz (when I can subscribe in the US!). Radio is working so well. I rarely am skipping tracks, so far anyway.
The now playing screen is an improvement except for the lack of album art as so many have expressed. I see the potential to add more screen choices to the top half. It sounds like you already plan to add an album cover view to the choices. There will be more possibilities (see below). The album review and artist bio on the now playing screen is great. I like being able to scroll to read. I always disliked the need to press an arrow to expand and contract. Scrolling leaves the bottom area visible. Lots of things to comment about and most are positive, but I won’t bore everyone going through everything.
More on the now playing screen. It is now, for me, the heart of the views since more can be accessed from here without having to leave the screen. I have complaint about removing the now playing section from the queue page. I would argue for restoring that but, even better, would be to add the queue as one of the top half views in now playing. This would give both the queue view and now playing as before but integrated in the new multifunction now playing screen.
Now playing: add swipe to move between the top half views - most intuitive action when there is touchscreen.
Now playing bottom section color is fine with me (I use light view exclusively). However, as in “Big However,” the progress bar is a step backwards IMO. Too wide. Drop the three icons (queue, etc) down a bit with the progress bar narrower. This would feel more natural and allow the perception of the red line to progress more smoothly. And, I have loved the DR contour, or whatever it is called, on the progress bar. It is now less attractive as a half graphic, is to low on the screen to use easily, is easily touched by mistake, and it is less visible due to poor contrast (this last one about visibility is important to me).
Finally, a minor feature, but major reaction to the round artist pics. I am not histrionic, so when I say my first reaction was shock and disbelief, I am really saying something. It is so inconsistent with the look of the rest of the app and is a functional downgrade. I never realized how much I depended on those graphics when scanning artists (and other things) until it became hard to see what the pics were. Why reduce the visible graphic area and replace it with white space (essentially the four corners). Please, please, reconsider this one.
Thanks if you’ve read all this! Again, more positive than negative in my view, but I have devoted more words to the constructive (I hope) criticism.