Using Roon like an interactive TV

I use Roon with a MacMini displayed on a 60" screen. I navigate using a wireless keyboard and magic mouse from my ‘listening chair’ about 12 feet away. When I need to, I zoom into an area to read text that might be too small to read otherwise. For example, to read the Roon editorial content re artists albums.

It’s easy to forget that Roon isn’t a browser when I’m using it. Though it has some browser-like features like page back and page forward. I’ve gotten so used to “swiping” on the Mac that I forget there’s no swipe on the Roon Mac app. The same goes for the zoom double-tap feature of the magic mouse (or trackpad). Since the Tidal UI is also browser-like without being a browser, I have adjusted to this. (But it would be nice…)

However, there are some things that I experience using Roon that could be tweaked:

  • The editorial content is not inside a movable window and this window can block parts of the display that change as the currently playing track changes. To see the name of the current track, I have to close the content window. The Focus window blocks this info also. Maybe I’m missing how to work around this.

  • The error messages that appear next to the currently playing track info are not displayed onscreen long enough for me to read and comprehend them. I’ve been getting “Tidal account error” messages, among others. I am not sure if the duration and disappearance of the messages mean that the error fixed itself (Like theTidal errors) or if I’ve turned into a very slow reader. Corrupt track errors also appear. I can’t be sure which track - the one that just finished playing or the one about to play is the subject of the error. It happens that fast. Even the quotation that appears when opening Roon isn’t onscreen long enough to read, contextualize, and process. They are terrific quotes and I compliment your curator. But on my Mac, they could be up for a few more seconds anyway since all that’s being displayed is the little speaker sound emitter icon.

  • An listing of tracks, where the history is separated from the queue by the track currently playing works great in Tidal. I can go back and replay a track or jump ahead without changing screens. Sometimes if I’m preoccupied, I just want to be able to glance and see the name of the track that played a few minutes ago. To be able to answer the question, “What was that song that just played?” when I get asked. Or turn the whole thing into a single playlist I can save and return to later.

Roon is very app-like, to me. Everything happens in a single screen. Thank goodness for those back and forward buttons. I wouldn’t mind having it open new windows. Editorial in one. Focus in another. History/queue in yet another.

Don’t blame me for whining about desired features. You planted the seed…

Thanks,

T.

I like moving the editorial around.

Roon isn’t designed for a “12 ft display”, but I support the concept and hope they answer (do some searching as they have muttered a few comments about the big screen stuff).

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The editorial content is not inside a movable window and…

There’s been discussion about doing this as not-a-popup and expanding inline instead. There are potential issues with this, and it’s a difficult design problem, especially when reviews/biographies get very long. Not sure where it’s going to land, but rest assured, you’re not the only one who hates the popup.

The error messages that appear next to the currently playing track info are not displayed onscreen long enough for me to read and comprehend them.

I’ve logged a ticket to get this looked at.

I’ve been getting “Tidal account error” messages, among others. I am not sure if the duration and disappearance of the messages mean that the error fixed itself (Like theTidal errors) or if I’ve turned into a very slow reader. Corrupt track errors also appear.

Errors always pertain to the track that was just skipped or interrupted.

The meaning of a corrupt error is “oops, we hit a corrupt track, or a corrupt part of a track, and skipped to the next one”.

An listing of tracks, where the history is separated from the queue by the track currently playing works great in Tidal. I can go back and replay a track or jump ahead without changing screens. Sometimes if I’m preoccupied, I just want to be able to glance and see the name of the track that played a few minutes ago. To be able to answer the question, “What was that song that just played?” when I get asked. Or turn the whole thing into a single playlist I can save and return to later.

You would not believe the battles that go on over here about how the queue should work :smile:. It’s one of the most intensively designed and controversial parts of the app.

I agree that it would be nice to have an easier way to see recent zone-specific history. We obviously have the information (since the back button knows what tracks to walk through). I will make a note to think about this some more.