RS130 User Interface - Simplify & Make UIF More Intuitive

ROSE Products RS130
#3

I wish the Rose team would do this:

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To me when I navigate my local files it’s too easy to hit that icon circled in Yellow, thinking I’m going back one level. I think it has to do with being too used to how Microsoft arranges their icons.

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#4

The best addition to the ROSE 130 is a roon server, so that you can use the RS130 as a roon ednpoint which is about the only thing it does well. :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

what does the “<” icon do when selected?

BTW, Do you use the RoseConnect app on android, ios or windows?

#6

This is a good idea for Roon users. I’m uncertain if the RS130 CPU & Operating System’s storage are powerful/large enough to efficiently process a Roon Server. HiFi Rose to decide.

However, this topic was created in hope to improve the RoseConnect app’s User Interface. Thus, my preference is to recommend RoseConnect UIF improvements before developing a Roon Server ← exception would be if the Roon Server can easily be developed (assuming the RS130 owner/user has the appropriate subscription license).

#7

+1 I agree with that… UIF first :slightly_smiling_face:

#8

It kicks back up to the main “Folder” screen. I think its location is in the wrong place. Frankly, I think the whole “Music” interface is non-intuitive and clumsy.

RoseConnect on iOS.

#9

I meant you can add your own roon server for about 1/10th the cost of the ROSE and it will be the best “enhancement” to your User Experience UX.

#10

@ROSEHAN

Please consider the following to help the User Interface experience and to especially help newcomers.

After the Remote Control icon (in the top right corner), place a question mark icon followed by the wheel icon (i.e. the setting icon) ← remove the “Setting” function in the screens’ left panel. When user selects the question mark icon (i.e., the “Help” icon), show a popup menu. To start, consider including the following in the help popup menu:

  1. Icon: What does each Icon do?
  2. Symbol: What is the symbol?
  3. Remote Control: Long-Press Button & Multi-Button Combination Commands
  4. Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ)

For #1 above, list every unique icon; for each icon, explain what the icon does (e.g., for me, the most unintuitive icon is the folder icon that has a + sign inside the folder).

For #2 above, list every unique symbol; for each symbol, explain what the symbol is and where does the symbol typically appear (e.g., list the symbols on an Album Cover Art’s left top corner)

For #3, list commands that can be activated via long-pressing a remote-button & by multi-remote-button combinations like “Activate the VU Meter panel display” (see RS130 User Interface - #132 by joyofmvid)

For #4 above, walk through this community’s FAQ Topic & RS130 User Interface topic. Copy some of the key questions’ answer that are User Interface related, like:

  • How to login
  • How to change a public playlist to a private playlist
  • How to play an Album
  • How to use RoseConnect offsite (e.g., at a friend’s place)
  • How to power off a Rose device (like the RS130)
  • How to setup/run Spotify
  • How to view music videos on the TV
  • See “how to” tutorial videos
  • Step-by-step instructions to activate Spotify, see About Spotify Connect
  • Understanding “HDMI Passthrough”
#11

@ROSEHAN, please for your consideration:

#12

To improve user experience, permit user to turn on the "Currently Playing” view for the Front Panel. In essence, this view to:

  • have no selectable icons (like the bottom line’s play, pause, next,… icons)
  • show only:
    • playlist/album cover
    • the currently playing Artist, Song Title, dynamic metadata (ie, on top/bottom line) & song’s remaining time/total time
    • when applicable, show “(‘playlist name’ Playlist, n of x)” where n is the current song’s position within the playlist and x is the total #of songs in the playlist.
    • when applicable, “(‘album name’ Album, n of x)” where n is the current song’s position within the album and x is the total #of songs in the album.

Use icon sizes, font sizes & font brightness that’s easily viewable from 12 feet.

#13

To improve user experience , permit user to

As tracks are added to a playlist, always add to the bottom of the playlist ← I agree with the request posted at Inverse Playlist and sorting - #10 by Querner

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#14

@ROSEHAN

(Note: HiFi Rose developers to use their standard icons. The icons shown below are just for descriptive purposes.)

Enhance user experience by dedicating the following two lines at the bottom of every screen. These lines shows what’s currently playing and adds functions applicable to the currently playing media type & to the currently playing track.

For example:

Album: Michael Jackson - Thriller 1982 (Track 5 of 16) :arrow_forward: :blue_heart: °°°
Michael Jackson - Beat It (3:24/4:18) :pause_button: :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: :play_or_pause_button: :blue_heart: °°°**

(1st line: ← icons/font to be bigger & dimmer color than the 2d line

Operational Details:

The 1st line indicates the currently playing media type followed by a colon: e.g., Song:, Album:, Playlist:, Folder:, Cassette:, Boxset:, Vinyl Record: (for every media type except “Song:”, show the following after media type: “aaaa - tttt yyyy (Track n of m) :pause_button: :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: :white_square_button: :blue_heart: °°°” ← note: to indicate these icons are being applied to the media type (not to the currently playing track), make these icons larger then the 2d line’s set of icons, and make the °°° icon three vertical dots (not horizontal dots).

  • aaaa is the media type’s artist
    • "aaa - " is optional; if not specified, show “Various Artists”
  • tttt is the title field of the media type
  • yyyy is the original released year ← e.g., Album: Michael Jackson - Thriller 1982
    • for Playlists & Folders, yyyy is the creation year
    • for cassettes & vinyl records: if the user hasn’t specified a release year, set yyyy to the media type’s creation year
  • n is the currently playing track’s position# within the media type ← if the media type is a boxset or vinyl-record/cassette, show Disc x of y, or Side z, before “Track n” (x is the boxset’s currently playing disc number, y is the total #of discs in the boxset & z is A or B indicating the vinyl record’s/cassette’s currently playing side)
  • m is the total number of tracks in the media type / in the boxset’s current disc / on the vinyl record’s/cassette’s current side
  • :pause_button: icon appears only if the media type is in playback mode ← for boxset, vinyl record or cassette, the :pause_button: icon appears only if the media type or media type’s disk/side is in playback mode
    • for album, playlist or folder, the :pause_button: icon pauses media type playback & current track playback then changes the icon to :arrow_forward:. (Note: Both the 1st line’s media type: aaaa - tttt yyyy (Track n of m) and the 2d line’s Artists - Song Title are dimmed when the media type & current track are paused)
    • for boxset, vinyl record or cassette,
      • (Note: if playback was originally set for the entire media type, each disc/side is classified to be in media type mode.)
      • if disc/side is in media type mode, the :pause_button: icon pauses media type playback & current track playback then changes the icon to :arrow_forward:. (Note: The 1st line’s media type: aaaa - tttt yyyy “(Disk x of y, or (Side z,” & Track n of m) are dimmed plus the 2d line’s Artists - Song Title is dimmed)
      • if disc/side is in playback mode, the :pause_button: icon pauses the media type’s disc/side playback & current track playback then changes the icon to :arrow_forward:. (Note: The 1st line’s (Disk x of y, or (Side z," & Track n of m) are dimmed plus the 2d line’s Artists - Song Title is dimmed)
  • for album, playlist or folder, the :arrow_forward: icon appears only if the media type is in pause mode:
    • for album, playlist or folder, the :arrow_forward: icon resumes playback of the media type & of the current playback track
      -for Boxsets, Vinyl Records & Cassettes,
    • if the media type is a boxset, vinyl record or cassette:
      • if the media type’s disc/side is in media type mode, the :arrow_forward: icon resumes playback of the media type & of the current playback track
      • if the media type’s disc/side is currently in pause mode, the :arrow_forward: icon resumes playback of the media type’s disc/side & of the current playback track
  • :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: icon appears only if the media type is in playback mode
    • for Album, Playlist, Folder, the :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: icon sets the media type for continuous playback until the pause, stop or the replay icon is pressed again (Note: media type: aaaa - tttt yyyy background color appears when replay is active)
    • for Boxsets, Vinyl Records & Cassettes, prompt user whether to replay the current disc/side or to replay the entire boxset/vinyl record/cassette;
      • if replaying for the entire media type, background color to appear for media type: aaaa - tttt yyyy
      • if replaying only the current disc or vinyl record/cassette side, backgound color to appear for Disc #x of y, / Side z,
  • :white_square_button: icon appears only if the media type is in playback mode
    • for Album, Playlist, Folder, the :white_square_button: icon stops media type playback, removes all corresponding queued tracks and erases the 1st & 2d lines
    • for boxsets, vinyl records & cassettes the :white_square_button: icon. stops media type’s disk/side playback, removes the disk/side’s queued tracks, and then proceeds to play the next disk/side which, in turn, updates the 1st & 2d line’s info. ← if the last disk/side was stopped, the 1st & 2d lines are erased.
  • :blue_heart: icon toggles the media type’s Like tag field on/off (note: icon is a line-drawn empty heart when the media type’s Like tag is off)
  • °°° icon opens the popup menu:
    • Go to media type artist ← the media type’s Artist is as specified in the media type’s title (e.g., Playlist title is: “Michael Jackson - Party Music”); if the Media Type’s Artist is not specified (i.e, there’s no "xxx - " at the start of the title), assume the Artist is “Various Artists”)
    • Toggle media type privacy ( currently, PUBLIC/PRIVATE)
    • Shuffle media type ← e.g., Shuffle Playlist
    • Toggle Gapless Playback (currently ON/OFF)
    • Cancel menu

(regarding each of the above popup menu’s action, do the action and save the metadata setting in the corresponding media type’s tag)

The 2d line indicates the currently playing track followed by user selectable action icons. On this line, show Artists - Song Title (hh:mm:ss/HH:MM:SS) :pause_button: :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: :play_or_pause_button: :blue_heart: °°° where hh:mm:ss is the current remaining playback time’s hours, minutes & seconds, HH:MM:SS is the track’s total time in hours:minutes:seconds, followed by the track’s action icons: (Note: Show hh: & HH: only if it’s 1 or greater). (Note: If the “Artists - Song Title” is too long, truncate the song title & put two dots at the end of the truncated song title.)

  • :pause_button: icon pauses the teack’s playback ← note: the Play :arrow_forward: icon appears when audio is paused (Note: Artists - Song Title is dimmed when track playback is paused)
  • :arrow_forward: icon resumes playback of the current track
  • :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: icon replays the current track ← replay is continuous until pause, next track or the replay icon is pressed again; Note: Artists - Song Title background color appears when replay is active
  • :play_or_pause_button: icon triggers Next Track to start playing; if currently on the last track of the media type then the next media type’s item (or the next queued item) is played
  • :blue_heart: icon toggles the tracks’s Like tag field on/off (note: icon is a line-drawn empty heart when the track’s Like tag is off)
  • °°° icon opens the following Popup Menu:
    • Add to playlist
    • Remove from current playlist
    • Adjust track volume ← show the track’s current Replay Gain tag’s field value in a prompt and permit user to increase or decrease the Replay Gain value, then set to output the PCM signal with a volume equal to the device’s current volume knob’s value +/- Replay Gain
    • Play similar music ← this puts similar music at the top of the queue
    • Queue similar music ← this puts similar music at the bottom of the queue
    • Go to Artist ← if song has multiple artists, go to the left-most artist
    • Go to Album
    • Show song lyrics
    • Show song information ← show song’s metadata tags, output audio stream (PCM/Bitstream), audio format (eg, Dolby Digital 2.0, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1,…), bit-depth frequency (e.g., 16-Bit 44.1kHz), tempo (rpm), show track’s current album cover, if song appears in other albums show a list of the other albums"
    • Cancel Menu

(Note: To prevent mistaken user selection, ensure sufficient spacing between the icons.)

Add to playlist:

When selected, a Pop-up Menu appears with “Create new playlist” command at the top, followed by a list of playlists (Each playlist name is shown in the list; the list is ordered by last modified date/time).

  • If user selects “Create new playlist” then prompt for the name of the new playlist
    • If the playlist name already exists then show “Playlist name already exist” and reprompt for the name of the new playlist.
    • If the playlist name doesn’t yet exist, create a new HiFi Rose Playlist with the currently playing track in the playlist and then set the current date/time in the playlist’s Last Modified Date/Time tag’s field. Default Playlist to PRIVATE.
  • If user selects xxx playlist, confirm the track does not already exist in the xxx playlist
    • If not, add the currently playing track to the bottom of the playlist and set the current date/time in the playlist’s Last Modified Date/Time tag’s field.
      *If the currently playing track is already in the playlist, show “Song already in the playlist” then permit user to select a different playlist or to exit the popup menu.

In a previous post (see the RS130 User Interface - Simplify & Make UIF More Intuitive - #12 by joyofmvid post), I recommended a Currently Playing front panel view ← make the Currently Playing view the same as this post’s noted two lines with Metadata centered on a third line. Also, if there’s sufficient room, put the currently playing track’s Album Cover Art on the left side of the front panel.,

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#15

In your drawing below, it would be more intuitive if user can simply select the desired folder name in the folder list ← e.g., user could select AUDIO, or Multi_media, or Network. With this function, the entire “<” icon line is not needed; hence can be removed.

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Something Rose needs to work on
#16

User suggestions:

#17

@ROSEHAN

Folder View User Interface to be similar to a File Manager’s user interface:

Disk: > Folder 1 > Subfolder 1 > Subfolder 2 > files in alphabetical order

  • user can select Disk, Folder n, or Subfolder n ← these are cyberlinks that the user can select to navigate through the disk
  • to go back to the previous display screen, its recommended a special icon be created for user selection (e.g., a circle with a left-arrow inside the circle)
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#18

@ROSEHAN

In the RoseTube image shown at How to enable full screen album art? - #6 by ZABOKS

  • Image shows “flac 16bits 44,1kHz 2ch ≈884kbps”

To improve the readability/user understanding, I recommend this string be changed to have a dot between each audio metadata field & show the audio file format in capital letters, as follows

  • “FLAC · 16-Bit 44.1kHz · 2ch ≈884kbps”

Note: 44,1 and 44.1 represent the same decimal number but follow different regional formatting conventions. Hence, create a user setting: "Numeric decimal values to be shown as 44,1 or 44.1

Also change the postioning, etc of the Album Artists, Album Title & current Song Title (which is currently shown on the left side of the album cover art):

change from:

Magnetic Lies
Convergence
Malia

change to:

  • center the following, between the right-edge of the cover art & the right-most side of the display (which is a little more to the left than currently shown):

CONVERGENCE ← larger font, center this

by: Malia & Boris Blank ← larger font, center this

(Vinyl Record) ← center this (show only if user specified the Album Source tag

then left justify:

Current Song (Side B, Track 3 of 6):
Midnight Lies ← show just above the playback line
nn:mm -------------------------------------------------------------------- xx:yy

where nn:mm is the current play time & xx:yy is the song’s total time

Put a bit extra vertical spacing between the Album Info and the Current Song Info (spacing should make the playback line, one line above the cover art’s bottom edge.

  • Plus, move the “cover art” 5 character spacing to the left and start the current song & playback line, the same spacing to the right of the cover art as that on the left of the cover art

  • Last, use a larger font for the Album Title & Album Artists.

#19

@ROSEHAN

On the currently playing banner at the bottom of the display, enter a vertical ellipsis “⋮” icon on the right-most side of currently playing. This icon is for a pop-up menu applicable to the currently playing song. In this pop-up menu, show the options:

Note: For additional pop-up menu options, see the above post at RS130 User Interface - Simplify & Make UIF More Intuitive - #14 by joyofmvid

#20

FYC to post #14 above:

In the bottom-most banner line, consider instead of

Capialize the album info, put space between “/” on the song line & put thumbnail image to the left-most side of the 2 lines:

[–]ALBUM: MICHAEL JACKSON - THRILLER 1982 (Track 5 of 16) :arrow_forward: :blue_heart: ⋮
[ --]Michael Jackson - Beat It (3:24 / 4:18) :pause_button: :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: :play_or_pause_button: :blue_heart: ⋮

If the album was played (not the individual song) then show:

[ --]ALBUM: MICHAEL JACKSON - THRILLER 1982 (Track 5 of 16) :arrow_forward: :blue_heart: ⋮
[ --]Michael Jackson - Beat It (3:24 / 4:18) :pause_button: :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: :play_or_pause_button: :blue_heart: ⋮

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#21

How about we make another Category of posts called “Interminable Suggestions That Will Never Be Read And Will Definitely Be Ignored By HiFi Rose?”

2 Likes
#22

I know for a fact that HiFi Rose is reading these posts. ROSEHAN has been PM me a few comments. I pre-notified ROSEHAN. In fact, he has been helping me by sending me a few screen shots.

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