Any other music app, really.
It’s far from stunning from a UX perspective. It’s a a smart move for developers to be able to publish apps to all platforms with ease, but the penalty for users is very noticeable.
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Hey, look, I design and build software for a living and have always worked from a user-centric perspective. Trust me when I say that you would be even more disappointed if you got a mobile App that appeared superficially more polished but had 1/3 the functionality. Plus, you’re comparing apples to oranges. The other Apps out there that are decent at all are intended to be used with one very specific family of devices from say, Simaudio. Plus, the graphics in Roon Remote are vibrant. If you want an App that looks and works like a 1985 IBM AT with a green 25 by 80 character screen, write one yourself. Oh, wait, you can’t do that? Then I have no interest in your opinion at all.
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So you had a bad flight? Then fly the plane yourself!
No need to get this upset. It’s just software, and you’re commenting in my thread about my opinion on it.
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That’s an interesting analogy. If Roon is a plane, then—when you fly it—the UI—it sucks. When I fly it, it’s nearly flawless. Why are you blaming the flight controls for your having so very little apptitude as a pilot?
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With respect, and after reading this thread, an iPhone is hardly the best thing to use as a Roon remote.
If you’re serious about Roon, use your tablet. IMO the larger iPad Pro is perfect for the job.
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It’s not your thread. You may have started the thread, but it is the community’s thread. You don’t own it nor do you get to control who posts in it or what they say. Anyone here can comment on your opinion. They can agree with it or disagree with it. They can tell you why they think you are right and why they think you are wrong.
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Not at all what I meant. He said he doesn’t care about my opinion, which is a silly thing to say in a thread about my opinion.
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Personally I think the phone apps (ios and android) should be pared right back to the minimum need to control zones and playback. Trying to do DSP, full settings and tag management etc on a phone screen is asking for trouble from a UI design perspective. The comparison with Spotify and Tidal apps misses the fact that they are trying to do a lot less than the Roon app is currently.
Off topic, but re Windows Phone; the original Windows Phone UI (7 I think?) was a thing of beauty and worked brilliantly exactly as it was designed. It didnt catch on, and was ultimately broken when they tried to ‘Androidify’ it with hamburger menus and the like in the later versions. But it was the best phone UI by a mile when it was unadulterated.
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I agree. I usually use my laptop, but I do think there should be a great mobile experience. I used mobile as an example because it’s the worst offender of the Roon apps.
Well, it’s not like I can’t use Roon as well as any other. It does work—I just think there’s room for improvement in the UI.
I don’t understand your rationale for posting then?
If you usually use your laptop, why complain about a mobile app that, by your own admission, you never use?
I have also used the Roon app on an iPhone, and don’t like it. It’s too cramped, and I completely agree with Tim when he says:
As I say, a tablet is the best Roon remote IMO.
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Didn’t say that. I do use the mobile app, although I use it more on the desktop. That might have been different had the mobile experience been better.
Also: we’re focused on the mobile app now but some of my complaints ring true of the desktop app as well.
I really like the tablet / desktop look and functionality of Roon but I am finding that I use my iPhone most times. I may be the exception but I primarily use Roon in multi-room mode, sending music to the kitchen, bedroom and living room at the same time. I work from home a lot and when no-one is around I have music playing in multiple locations so it follows me when I move around. The iPhone is therefore the main control for me. The Roon mobile app does lack functionality for my needs. I cannot manage playlists, cannot focus to re-order songs based on play-count. Bookmarks help to an extent but I have to preset them on my desktop and even then the focus is quite limited for what I need to do. I have about 9000 tracks in my library and 40% is unidentified so I cannot rely on Roon’s discovery / genres etc. I would certainly welcome more functions in the mobile app UI. Cheers
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I control Roon from a number of platforms: iPad, Windows 10 (Touchscreen) laptop and Windows 10 Desktop.
I find the Roon UI on each of these platforms to be a better experience than that of any other music streaming facility or platform that I have encountered.
I would never choose to use an iPhone of any type as a Roon control point. However, I understand that some do. I have absolutely no qualms about any of these users asking for enhancements in order to mitigate the natural disadvantages of using such a small scale format as a mobile phone as a control point. However, I would implore Roon not to make compromises to the larger and more commonly used control interfaces that most people use on laptops and iPads in order to facilitate mobile phone features.
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Vertical scrolling would fix a lot of the UI inconsistencies, improve the overall experience, and it’s on the roadmap. Stuff like font spacing is probably device dependent, and almost impossible to totally unify.
I think the GUI looks great and performs extremely well on my old iPhone 6. And my iPad. And my Windows PCs.
And I’m an IT professional, well versed in UX.
Anything really. Even notepad. When I dig a bit deeper I think a big part of it is the UI is so unfamiliar. Completely different to anything from windows, mac or android. That’s an issue for a lot of people I find when I ocassionaly show roon to visitors.
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I understand Roon has a different target audience than Sonos, for example—an older, more forgiving and tech-savvy audience that prefer the desktop. But I do use my phone as a remote around the house just for the simple stuff like transport and managing the queue, and I think Roon would be an easier sell to the rest of the family too if its mobile app was better.
Absolutely agree.
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There is a trade-off to be recognized. If Roon had to develop separately for each platform, some would be unsupported. Pick your poison.
It may not adhere to any one platforms UI norms in particular, but it is patently not incomprehensible either.
I’m not saying there are no improvements that could be made, but I think you are over-egging it.