I think it would be very useful (… actually, mandatory…) from roon staff to create a reference page for supported hardware.
being more specific, a list of tablets (or… other stuff…) divided in:
-roon tested
-reported as working (roon version x.y)
-reported as working with problems (roon version x.y)
-reported as NOT working (roon version x.y)
-reported as NOT supported anymore for some reason (for example, the new GPL requirements by roon).
i understand that this kind of test is not to be expected by roon… it should be done by the users community. but this forum is not the right place… we (I) cannot spend hours looking in tons of posts where someone says accidentally that he/she uses a stravovarius megatablet.
a compatibily list is, more or less, what any hardware producer creates for its customers. we (I) need it.
in my case, as my abitual remote does not work anymore after 1.7 update, i simply don’t know where i can find infos about tablets working in the new 1.7 version. expecially because the GPL 3.0 requirement is completely absent in the description of ANY tablet in the internet.
and the actual KB page https://kb.roonlabs.com/FAQ:_What_Android_devices_can_I_use_Roon_with%3F
is …useless.
it could also be an automatically generated list: i mean, users could add in their profile what tablet/phone they use. and the list could just show this info. if i see 2567 persons use (currently) a certain tablet, it should work. but, as i said, the users should be able to specify that thay have tested a specific tablet and that it does not work.
yes, something like that first list. but for tablets/remotes. actually, i was talking about remotes (=topic title).
…even though not really like that. i was thinking about a users experience based list. also because the market on tablet devices is not limited to main brands…
the point is that it has been asked, or said, many times. but the infos are no more updated (or incomplete, as they don’t report every single time the current roon version). that’s basically the reason why a list of 2000 post is not the proper solution.
This has to be done by us. With the (quite literally) tens of thousands of different tablets out there it would be impossible for Roon to produce an extensive list. In my view the easiest option is an exception list. Devices we know do not work.
Usually a simple search on the internet with the device name, model number and the term OpenGL brings up result sites with more in-depth specifications than the ones that are shown to users on OEM pages like Samsung or Amazon.
As far as I was able to dig up informations about it, the SM-T280 is the only device out of the Galaxy Tab A range of products from Samsung that doesn’t meet the current OpenGL ES 3.0 requirement.
PS: Further down on the linked page about the GPU, there is also a list of devices that use this GPU and therefore it’s safe to say that all these devices aren’t compatible with Roon 1.7 also.
it can be done buy users… but the there should be a web page inside roon system to show the list…
any registered user could then, inside that page, share his/her experience.
Trust me to buy the only one, my wife got one first as a phone , tablet, book reader all in one, I simply followed with the same device I had no idea about Open G L until it didn’t work
I have had it 6 months for my birthday … Ironically my cheap and cheerful J1 phone works roll on may I may get a newer one
Funnily enough it also fails on JRiver for Android as it’s only 5.1 not 7
As with the Galaxy Tab A (2016, 7.0", WiFi) also with the J1 there exist different Versions based on different SoCs.
The SM-T280N also from 2016 does support OpenGL ES 3.0 (ARM Mali-T720 GPU) and with the J1 it seems you had more luck as there exist versions with the same non-working GPU as with the tablet (SM-J120 vs. SM-J120x) also.
So just because a user writes something like “The Samsung Tab A works for Roon.” in such a hypothetical user driven list doesn’t mean anything. A Tab A (or J1 or …) might or might not work depending on the exact hardware version used. The OS requirement (currently Android 5.0 or higher) can be overcome by installing alternative OS ROMs instead of the official ones (should it be needed).
If a user isn’t aware of such details, such a list might be worthless and for any other user it’s easily possible to search such information on the internet himself (might not take longer than to search it up in such a hypothetical list).
I can understand the frustration of users where their remote device stopped working with the update to Roon 1.7. But no list, should one have existed (actually there was and is one, not explicit but implicit by the requirements given), would have changed anything about this situation. Even if users should now start to provide such a list with working devices, it will only cover the current state and any of the devices on such a list might no longer work should the requirements change again at some point in the future.
If I were on the look for a new Roon Remote device and just wanted the cheapest that a I can get then I’m fully aware that it might be crap and need to be replaced (for various possible reasons) in less than a year. If it’s cheap enough, I would go for it and just don’t care if something (the device itself, compatibility with software or other reasons) brakes it.
If I were looking for a device I would wish to keep for a while and/or is usable for other task also, I would go for a recent device of the higher midrange or lower high-end range of products were I would prefer a more recent (I’m talking about the used hardware, not the date the device got announced or available in stores) device over a better equipped one if in doubt.
But that said, there’s still no guarantee about how long it would be usable for a given task or that it won’t break otherwise.
i’m not interested in a tablet. i want it just as a remote. buying a sort of super tablet is, for me, meaningless. besides, consider that my personal (and it’s not only mine) opinion on roon android app … is that it’s really crappy. i don’t want to complain about this now, but you can understand that invest money in something i don’t need, for a poor app… is meaningless. besides, as you have pointed out, even more pricey tablets could not work (and in some other thread i’ve read that it’s because of the high game-like demanding requirements of roon app… and i’m still wondering if it related to the three pulsing bars near the playing track…). yes, i want to go cheap, but that’s my problem.
even though i’m not really a dummy, i did not find very easily infos about the tablet specs. even for brand ones. i simply think that sharing infos could be useful. and the blog is not the right place… as most of the times, even the simplest observation translates in dozens of posts. it’s the 2.0 malediction.
So we’re talking about the portrait UI, for which I wouldn’t buy a device at all and just use my phone. It’s fine IMHO to control playback for a pre setup (on a control with landscape UI) queue. When talking about tablets, I usually assume one wants the landscape UI. But this is only my opinion.
But you also have to realize that any advice depends on a users needs (cheap Roon only, general purpose need, landscape or portrait UI, …) and the time and place given (not all products are available in any markets for infinity). So I think it’s still the best practice that users who are unable to make the decision on their own start a new thread in the forum clearly stating their needs. Much better if they would ask about the compatibility of a given device so helpers don’t have to guess about what a user might want or might have available in stores. Just a simple question that can get a simple answer.
Most of the overly long discussions results from the inability of the thread starters to properly share their needs (in the start post). Others because of users abusing other users threads with “Me too” posts (mostly lacking from the same deficiencies as the original start post).
If a user has made it’s decision, on it’s own or with the help of the forum, he’s no longer interested in the thematic and therefore doesn’t have to read through (probably lengthy) threads.
In the two days this discussion has been running, someone could have created a thread asking what devices work and what devices don’t work. By now, there would have probably been enough responses to help someone choose a Roon control device. I don’t know a better place to find such information as searching a Roon user forum.
The basis for your ask doesn’t match Roon’s software release method. In the vintage way of releasing software you’d be able to match hardware to software release and run whatever software release worked on your device. Roon, by design, doesn’t allow you to run earlier versions; you can only run “latest”. So, knowing which releases “did” work is pointless. It also requires that, at every release, the list may drop devices and at every new device release someone needs to make a determination on if that device should be added to the list.
Anyway, the info is out there. Maybe it’s time for Roon to brand a tablet? I just can’t imagine anyone buying an $800 Roon Remote when a ~$100 (on sale) Fire 10 works great.
If it helps and if you want a suggestion for a good cheap tablet purely for use as a remote I’m using a Huawei MediaPad M3 Lite and it works very well.
OK it only runs Android 7 with no sign of an update but for a pure remote it’s cost effective for sure.
