[anil.smp]

"Any suggestions welcome on this. I look forward to some interesting ideas."
Take a look at Ipeng, its a squeezebox controller (squeezebox software is free, but the app is about 6 quid). I use this and its a really nice way to browse and control music, especially in a multi room setup, its specifically for squeezebox hardware and their 'virtual player' software. I don't use XBMC for my music, but some implementations / ideas could be borrowed. With Ipeng you can stream to the Iphone, this may be of value to some users if it can be made to happen.
I use XBMC Commander and Constellation for my video and pictures..Both are very, very, good.

Some thoughts, purely personal opinions

D-pad is better than gestures.
A means of launching the XBMC program is missing from both, not a biggie to me, but requested elsewhere.
Picture viewing is basic on both and could be improved.
I'd like some means of showing more than just ratings, I'd really like duration and cert'n flags.
Commander handles box sets in Dharma 10.1, Constellation requires a nightly build for this to happen, not exactly sure why......
WOL button on Commander is pretty obvious, on Commander you have to look for it.

Overall, I prefer the feel of the Constallation app, but Commander has better functional implementation at the moment. I really like both, it has to be said.

Okay, nothing major here, more like some itches to scratch. FWIW if you make a nice app, I'd probably buy it, I've bought Commander and Constellation to show my support, I use them both on phones and a pad.

Good luck Anil, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Thanks for the feedback. I will see what I can do. Regarding the nightly builds requirement, I guess my app will only work with nightly builds at the moment. The problem is the implementing the older HTTP API and the new JSON API is a little PTA and a waste of time at the moment as the HTTP API is going to be deprecated. Also the JSON API is much easier and cleaner to implement. However, once the app is stable and released on the App store, I will definitely investigate if it is possible to make XBMC 10.1 work too. But thats definitely not the priority at the moment. As I implement more features, the primary area where I want to improve things are in the look and feel, UI design for ease of use, and the amount of customization possible by end users.

[anil.smp]

As promised, I have added a fully user customizable remote. Have a look at the screenshot in the below link. All buttons can be resized, added as many times as required. The remote also supports multiple pages. Multiple buttons can be added in one go by just clicking on the button names in the pop up. Also, the button icons and titles(if no icons are available) have been configured in a plist. I plan to make this customizable by end users in future versions. It should not be hard to do. Again, comments are welcome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anil_smp/61...hotostream

[Glave]

I can't wait to give it a shot. Are you adding buttons for 'Context' and '..' as well?

[anil.smp]

I can't wait to give it a shot. Are you adding buttons for 'Context' and '..' as well?

Yeah. I will add as many buttons as possible - limited only by the JSON API. Will try and add as many as possible in first version itself.

[waltermalter]

Hi there,

will you spread any beta versions?
Even so I am happy with XBMC remote it's always worth trying new apps and see how they perform ...

Cheers,
Walter

[Glave]

I don't think beta versions are possible on iphone except to other developers, since the only approved method of delivery is iTunes.

[waltermalter]

I don't think beta versions are possible on iphone except to other developers, since the only approved method of delivery is iTunes.

@Glave: To participate in the beta test of an iOS app you have to send the developer your device ID. The developer has to register your device ID into the application. He then can send you the IPA file.
Once you've got the IPA file, a simple double click adds the app to your itunes and installes it to your device at your next synchronisation.

Cheers,
Walter

[Glave]

@Glave: To participate in the beta test of an iOS app you have to send the developer your device ID. The developer has to register your device ID into the application. He then can send you the IPA file.
Once you've got the IPA file, a simple double click adds the app to your itunes and installes it to your device at your next synchronisation.

Cheers,
Walter

Well I stand corrected then. I always wondered how that was achieved! Now I'm interested in testing as well, lol.

[anil.smp]

Well I stand corrected then. I always wondered how that was achieved! Now I'm interested in testing as well, lol.

Well. This is the very first time am developing for iOS. Let me see if I can get you guys a beta version if you are interested in helping me test the app. I guess I need a week at max I hope to reach that stage. I will keep you guys informed about the same. Am working on Wake on LAN and trying to include that too in the first version.

I also had some thoughts for future versions of the app. After making the customizable remote, I feel it should be possible to make the detail view customizable too.. Its a little more trickier to implement it, but should be possible. So like the way all buttons are provided in the remote, provide all possible details for a movie item, the user chooses what he wants and how he wants it displayed in a edit screen. He basically designs the detail view. That would solve the issue of different people having varying priorities for information.

[touser]

As promised, I have added a fully user customizable remote. Have a look at the screenshot in the below link. All buttons can be resized, added as many times as required. The remote also supports multiple pages. Multiple buttons can be added in one go by just clicking on the button names in the pop up. Also, the button icons and titles(if no icons are available) have been configured in a plist. I plan to make this customizable by end users in future versions. It should not be hard to do. Again, comments are welcome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anil_smp/61...hotostream

This is absolutely fantastic news, i can't wait to buy this!

[Glave]

Well. This is the very first time am developing for iOS. Let me see if I can get you guys a beta version if you are interested in helping me test the app. I guess I need a week at max I hope to reach that stage. I will keep you guys informed about the same. Am working on Wake on LAN and trying to include that too in the first version.

I also had some thoughts for future versions of the app. After making the customizable remote, I feel it should be possible to make the detail view customizable too.. Its a little more trickier to implement it, but should be possible. So like the way all buttons are provided in the remote, provide all possible details for a movie item, the user chooses what he wants and how he wants it displayed in a edit screen. He basically designs the detail view. That would solve the issue of different people having varying priorities for information.

Don't know if it's feasible, but I'd make it so that once the app is launched, if it can't connect to your preferred server initially, it automatically sends a WOL packet if it has that feature configured. I've used WOL on my server before and I eventually found it a hassle to fire up the remote, dig through the menu to do a WOL and then wait for it to wake up. Seems much more fluid if the app assumes to send one initially it it can't reach the server.

[anil.smp]

How about giving a button that says 'Try Wake on LAN' on connection failure? In the same screen? Wouldn't that be more user friendly? If the system tries internally without letting the user know, would that be good. Anyway, we will not get any feedback/response for WoL. So, the user will never know whats happening.

Also, I was checking on supporting key presses on the remote [for functions like subtitles enable/disable, info enable/disable , fullscreen and such]. That requires the HTTP API - http://xbox/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=SendKey which will soon be deprecated. I will support it anyway because this is very useful when watching movies and I would hang on to the current nightly build if this feature is not supported in JSON.

If anybody knows a way to do this in JSON, could you please point me towards it. I couldn't see any documentation on it.

[grywnn]

There isn't a way to do generic key events in JSON (yet?)
As far as i know the future proof way to do this is by using XBMCs event server for now.
Theres an C++ example code for this included in the XBMC source code.

[anil.smp]

Thanks grywnn. I guess I am out of time to now move to an event server. I will take it up in version 1.1 I guess. It will be a top priority though. I have put these buttons for the customizable remote now

1)GUI navigation buttons
Up
Right
Down
Left
Select/OK
Back(Up dir)
Home

2)Playback control buttons
Play/Pause
Stop
Previous
Next
Fast Forward
Fast Backward

3)System Controls
Volume Up
Volume Down
Mute ON/OFF

4)Action Buttons
Subtitle ON/OFF
Next Subtitle
OSD
Context Menu
Aspect Ratio
GUI ON/OFF
Codec
Full screen

The Playback controls works for pictures, movies and audios depending on what is active. The support for action buttons is just temporary - until I implement the event server and figure out a way to do them or until they get deprecated .
Let me know if I have missed any major 'must have' button. Again, this is just a first step. My goal is to support every possible action that is out there in future versions.

[Glave]

I don't know if I'd call it an essential button, but a but an 'Update Library' or 'Scan for New Content' would be a fairly nice addition.