Minstrel - asking for early testers

[imush]

iOS multicast entitlement came and is added to the new build. It seems to work on my daughter's iPhone: finds my devices right away.
1.0.2 should be available soon on TestFlight and I submitted it straight through to general review.

Fixes:
- iOS multicast issue
- Volume slider (there is a slight risk Apple won't like it)
- Metadata viewer added
- Remote performance improvements on patchy cellular network
- Launchpad sharing from phones authorized by launchpad.

[Peter StreamMagic]

Is it possible to change the behaviour of the volume slider you added?
It would be great if the volume changed while moving the slider, rather than after the slider is released.

[Stake]

@imush

It works beautiully. Thank you, Isaac.
The search function is of course still outstanding, but the speed that you are working at is incredible. So I am confident.

I could imagine that this app will be a major player in the iOS world. Except for the search function it is better than mConnect already, which has been the go-to for UPnP control points on iOS for ages.

If this app will be what I think it will be you will be confronted with a few decent and a myriad of silly and purely lifestyle oriented change/improvement requests.
Do yourself and all serious users a favour and don’t fall for all of that BS.

[imush]

Updates

Stake: For now there is a simple grep-like search in each tag's list: Artist, Composer etc. Do you see it?
Peter StreamMagic: I just released a new build 1.0.2(12) to app store; it should fix the volume slider and a couple of other issues. Let me know if it is still an issue.
Android users: Unlike Apple, Google is very slow reviewing. Even a trivial fix takes several days, and this is just for closed testing, whereupon it will take 12 testers and at least two weeks to apply for general release on Google Play. I'll let you know when a working test version is out.

I also need some feedback on other features
* launchpad with or without satellite.
* CarPlay / Android auto. If everything works correctly, especially iOS because I am an android user and can only use the simulator. Android seems to work fine in my car so far.

If you want to try the satellite without installing your own in the cloud, I can temporarily launch a shared one for testing purposes. But let me know where you live, the roundtrip to US might be an issue if you are on another continent. I can open one in Europe or Asia on Google cloud temporarily.

The good news for iOS is that volume buttons work with a nonlocal renderer and Apple did not object as I feared.

Next in line:
* Full server side search by several tags.
* Video. This is primarily developed with music and minim in mind. Video files are grayed out for now but in theory nothing prevents this app from sending video from to a DLNA compliant renderer like a TV, at least on local LAN. Launchpad might need more transcoding support though and it may not be feasible if it lives on a router with limited resources. But I'll experiment with this.

[Stake]

@imush
Yes, now I see the search button. But its function is a little awkward.
Being in the Albumartis menu and typing in "A" it will reduce the list to A. I can click on that and all albumartist starting with A will be listetd. From there I have to start a new search in order to find e.g. "ABBA". But If I type in "ABBA" from the start there is no result. I suppose this behaviour is owed to the fact that the current search implementation only works on the level that it is performed on and doesn't dig any deeper.

Regarding launchpad and CarPlay I'm afraid I cannot be of any help. I have no access to my home network from the outside installed. I am hesitant to do so as I have zero experience with this and I'm a little concerned regarding security.

[Peter StreamMagic]

@Peter StreamMagic: I just released a new build 1.0.2(12) to app store; it should fix the volume slider and a couple of other issues. Let me know if it is still an issue.


Slider works perfect now

[imush]

(01-11-2026 08:02)Stake Wrote:  @imush
Yes, now I see the search button. But its function is a little awkward.
Being in the Albumartis menu and typing in "A" it will reduce the list to A. I can click on that and all albumartist starting with A will be listetd. From there I have to start a new search in order to find e.g. "ABBA". But If I type in "ABBA" from the start there is no result. I suppose this behaviour is owed to the fact that the current search implementation only works on the level that it is performed on and doesn't dig any deeper.

Regarding launchpad and CarPlay I'm afraid I cannot be of any help. I have no access to my home network from the outside installed. I am hesitant to do so as I have zero experience with this and I'm a little concerned regarding security.

The main idea here was remote access to your music, not just another control point and to do that better than BubbleUPnP does. And I think the satellite is precisely for people who like you cannot or do not want to punch their firewall: the launchpad and the phone are the two devices that communicate through it with outbound connection for each, using dedicated keys. If you are willing to install the launchpad somewhere on your NAS, I can maybe provide a test satellite for you.

[imush]

Minstrel 1.0.3 with library search and better Android Auto is submitted for testing on Android and iOS. iOS should be available soon, maybe tomorrow and Android is still waiting for the previous review, so it will take a few days and still only for those signed up to closed testing.

The main change is search.

Search the whole library
Servers that support search now have a search button next to their name. It searches the whole server, not just the folder you're in, and shows matching artists, albums and tracks in separate sections. Some details:

- Several words narrow the results, and they can match different tags: "haydn symphony 94" finds the Surprise symphony.
- With MinimServer it also searches composers, so "berg" finds Alban Berg's works even when someone else is the performer.
- Accents are optional: "dvorak" finds Dvořák.
- Small misspellings still match, listed after the exact matches: "haidn" finds Haydn, and "griboedov" finds Griboyedov.
- Search runs when you press Search on the keyboard, not while you type. That keeps it light over a remote connection.

It uses the server's own search, so it's fast even on large libraries. On MinimServer most searches take well under a second here. Other servers should work as long as they support UPnP search, and Minstrel only searches the tags the server says it can search.

Android Auto
- Voice requests use the same search. "Hey Google, play Haydn symphony 94 on Minstrel" finds and plays it or offers you the choice of performers if the server has more than one.
- The car's search screen lists matching artists, then albums, then tracks.
- Fixed: the play and pause buttons on the car screen could stop responding after Minstrel had been in the background for a long time, while the phone's own buttons still worked. The same fault affected the lock screen and headphone buttons. The cause was in the audio library Minstrel uses. I've sent the fix to its maintainer as well.

iOS CarPlay doesn't have voice search yet. That's on the list, but it will need to deal with Siri, voice features are less straightforward in the Apple world.

As always, I'm glad to hear how it works with your setup, especially with servers other than MinimServer.

[Stake]

(01-11-2026 21:28)imush Wrote:  ....If you are willing to install the launchpad somewhere on your NAS, I can maybe provide a test satellite for you.

I'm afraid this is not for me at the moment. I'd probably have to install it in a docker on my QNAP NAS. Even though I have done things like that before I am far from really being familiar with it and I am currently not inclined to dig into it again.

You made it clear from the start that remote access was your primary focus when developing the app. So I can appreciate your need for testers here.

On the other hand, on iOS it is not just "another control point" like it may be on Android. As such it is a game changer on iOS as it is the first real alternative to mConnect, and a better one at that! So thank you for that from my side, even if I will not make use of the launchpad function for the time being.

Are you also recruiting testers on other sites/forums? Maybe you could try on the WiiM forum. It is rather active and you might find a few more volunteers there. The downside will be that you and your app will be torn to shreds by some people who know everything better. Just ignore them.

[imush]

Working Android update is out, you may download and test after signing up. And I do need more testers on that platform.
This one is before full server side search and may have some quirks on the cellular network as above. 1.0.3 is in review now.