Sharoon v0.3.0: Share albums and tracks via streaming services links

Tinkering Roon API
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Before We Start

Currently this extension has restricted access as it relies on cloud functionality. I explained the reasoning behind this in the donations thread:

This thread is about the usage of Sharoon and is the place to give feedback, ask questions, request features etc.

What is Sharoon?

Sharoon is an extension that uses the Roon API to collect information about the track you are playing and, on your request, converts that into a shareable link. This shareable link is from one of the supported sharing services and contains individual links to the different streaming services. Sharoon even works if you do not use a streaming service yourself or if your friends are not using Roon.

Currently supported sharing services are Songlink/Odesli and Songwhip, besides these also a direct Spotify link is supported. The link can be forwarded to family and friends and they can select their streaming service to play the shared track. You can of course also share the link with the Roon Community, e.g. in the ā€œWhat We Are Listening Toā€ thread, other community members are then just a few clicks away from playing the track.

Here is an example of a shareable link:

Installation

Sharoon has to be installed via the Extension Manager, you need at least version 1.0. The extension can be found in the Social category.

Setup and Usage

After the extension has been authorized for cloud access, the Monitoring Zone can be selected in the extension Settings. This is the zone that will be monitored for playback. To get a shareable link you click the Sharoon link in the Extensions overview in Roon, a redirect will bring you to the page of the last played track. From there you can select one of the sharing options.

In the Settings you can also select the preferred sharing service.

Limitations

  • Live Radio is not supported because the metadata that is provided by the stations doesnā€™t have any standardization, making it too complex to determine artist and track names
  • Only Songwhip provides links for Qobuz

Sharoon in Action

To finish off, here is a short video that demonstrates Sharoon:

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Turns out that Songwhip released Qobuz support last week!
You have to click ā€œShown moreā€ to get to the link.

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The related Songwhip blog post:

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I think that it could also work nicely in the music sharing threads here in the Roon Community. The usage of links instead of pictures can make these threads more useful for music discovery. As you are a regular poster in these sharing threads Iā€™m curious to know how you see this.

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Jan I might give that a go actually, it does make sense.
It will be interesting to see if I get complaints about the extra real estate my shares take up.
I usually post from my phone as a picture.
I will point them in your direction if they ask nicely :wink:

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There is not much real estate involved, it has been done before.

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Yes I misunderstood how it posted,itā€™s only when you click on the. Done my first post.
And now realize I saw and liked the post :grin:

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Hi @Jan_Koudijs

I dont want to sound like an ungrateful customer, all your work on Roon extensions and the extension manager is really appreciated. However I have problem with the recently installed Sharoon. I gladly supported your work via the buymeacoffee link, and it was all working fine for a couple of days; today though the Sharoon links do not work, it just sends me back to the buymeacoffee page and I cant get a SongWhip link at all.

Can you help? If there is a minimum purchase price for the extension then please let me know and Iā€™ll pay up!

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Hi Tim while waiting For Jan to reply, I have had the same problem a couple of times and I have had to go back into the extension and save the zone a couple of times and then wait a bit and it has worked.

It seems early days (given itā€™s 0.1 designation) but I have also had it sat on the same song an hour later as well, but then I go back in and it is on the current song again.

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Thanks Michael, I think you may be on to something. I was fiddling around with the settings which made no difference, but when I changed song and let it play for a few seconds then the Sharoon link worked. So I think maybe if the zone had been on ā€˜pauseā€™ for a long time maybe the Roon API wasnt returning the correct song details?

It didnt want to open on a track that had been paused for a long time anyway. In fact the track may have been paused overnight meaning the Roon server would have stopped and restarted inbetween time.

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No, any donation will do. Reasoning behind the restricted access is in the linked thread in the first post.

I also noticed issues when switching between zones, Iā€™m looking into this.

The fallback to the Buy Me a Coffee page is a result of the restart caused by the Extension Manager during the auto update, this will be improved in the next Extension Manager release.

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Thanks Jan, appreciate your response. It all seems to be working well now, after that little hiccough earlier. Iā€™m looking forward to seeing where you take this next :slight_smile:

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Iā€™m working on an update where the metadata of all zones is kept to prevent missed Roon API events, this should prevent the ā€œlooking at old songsā€ experience. Another change is that the homepage of the selected service is used as the default redirect after the extension got authorized.

Till now the approach has been to keep on using the latest found track, to still give the opportunity to share that. Now Iā€™m wondering what should happen in case a track is not found, fallback to the service homepage as a feedback mechanism for a not found track, or keep on using the latest found track.

Any opinions on this?

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Happy to try different options Jan and see how it goes. I will update when available and start posting more links

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If a track isnā€™t found on the service I think falling back to the service front page is the right option. That way the user can manually enter track details in case there is a metadata snafu etc.

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Sharoon v0.1.1 is now available

This is a small update that improves on the monitoring of playing tracks. Switching the Service or Zone in the Settings should give an accurate redirect to the playing track when the Sharoon link is used.

The default redirect, after the extension got authorized, is now the homepage of the selected service. A switch back to the service homepage, and thus dropping the latest found track url, is made if:

  • The monitored zone gets offline
  • No url for the playing track is found
  • The used service is changed in the Settings

If you notify unexpected behavior than please share the scenario here.

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Off to update it now :+1:

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Hi Jan I updated to 0.1.1 and then it asked me for my email address again. I entered it and got this

Screenshot_20210911-185910
Screenshot_20210911-1859101059Ɨ1226 139 KB

I canā€™t get to choose my zone or beyond this point

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It looks like the settings were lost during the update. You also had to Enable the extension again, i.e. press the Enable button before the Settings button becomes available?

Instead of entering the email address you can click the link again that you received previously in the registration email.

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Hi Jan, itā€™s no problem if that is needed each time as that re-activated it.
I donā€™t think I re-enabled the extension, it just came back up asking for my email address again and then gave me the message I formatted. All is good again now thanks

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Jan having made a number of posts this morning I can confirm that the latest version seems to be working very well and pretty much 100% updated to be the currently playing track that is picked up.

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