Squidget 1.1.3 is on Android Market!

Hi there,

Squidget 1.1.3 Packs:
Player Icons now represent different player models
Players menu now supports quick power toggling
Squidget logo is non-click-able
Squidget version added to most layouts
Favorites now support structured hierarchy
New 2x2 Squidget
Fixed more connectivity issues
Several stability fixes

Known issues:
Squidget still does not present radio stations images.
Favorites drill down has no back option. I decided not to add back item on the list to avoid confusion. Let me know if you think this is necessary.

Coming soon no necessarily in that order:
Each widget represent a different player
Artists Browse
Manipulating playlist song order by dragging and dropping of songs
Move current playlist to another player
Players sync

Enjoy it,
Avi

Squidget resource usage

I got several questions in e-mails and PMs regarding resource usage by Squidget. So I thought It is best to clarify it here:

Squidget goes into sleep mode (not processing anything or communicating with the server) in the following cases:

1. When your current player is off or paused (That will change a bit soon, when I add player per widget functionality).
2. When you turn the device screen off.

In fact it remains idle until you:

1. power / play a player
2. rotate the phone (if your home screen supports it, then sleeps again - I'm not sure if it actually wakes up - It may depend on the implementation of the Home Launcher)
3. change WiFi state
4. turn the screen on

If in these cases it fails to reconnect it will try again 3 times every 3 seconds, then 3 times every 1 minutes, then once an hour. If network bandwidth is an issue - note that the reconnect attempt uses just a few bytes. If you are abroad and roaming to a different network it's probably best to remove Squidget from the home screen. I'm about to add a setting to the configuration to toggle it to connect only over WiFi.

There should be no issue of using resources (CPU or battery).
You can check it at Menu -> Settings ->About phone->Battery->Battery use. 
I believe you won't see Squidget in the list there. 
I see 2% after a full day of coding and debugging.
When I tested battery usage I also tried keeping screen on permanently when playing music. Then I reached 5% battery for Squidget 4-5% WiFi (and also 60% display). I guess however that no one uses a phone like that.

This issue is of MAJOR importance to me as it makes the difference between being a usable widget people use daily on their home screen to something people stop using.

Squidget 1.1.2 is on Android Market

Connectivity issues solved
Added alphabetical sorting for player names
Fixed many trackstat rating issues
Player names now presented properly even with weird characters
Application logo was repositioned to reduced accidental pressing
Many layout improvements
Fixed a crash occurring on servers with no players

Squidget 1.1.1 is on Android Market

All FC and connectivity issues reported are solved.
Modified 4x4 behavior so that rating is much easier.
Many layout improvements on all widgets.
Added semi automatic server discovery - still needs improvement, yet it really reduces the time to set up Squidget.
Added current player name display on all widgets.
Added progress bar to 3x4 & 3x3 widgets similar to 4x4.
As usual all widgets can be displayed in landscape & portrait (If you have such a home screen - just make sure to add them when in portrait mode, and then rotate).

Squidget 1.1.0 is available on Android Market

Hi there,

Time for a new update. Here goes:

Bug Fixes:
Fixed a sync and rating issues related to internet radio stations.
Fixed Power state button when playlist is empty.

New features:
New layout – 4x4.

Progress bar in 3x4 & 4x4 layouts.
Rating is available on the large layouts inline (no pop up dialog).
Alternate volume mechanism – between the +/- there is an icon that pops up a volume slider.
Added automatic refresh every 5 seconds .
Screen off + pause + power off turns off automatic refresh.
Layout polishing.
Player button was enlarged on all layouts.

Known issues:
Sony Experia – problems displaying the widget on those small displays
Player names containing accented characters may display improperly.

Automatic update is an awesome feature, however the way android implemented Widgets before 2.3 imposes heavy resource usage on every update. The outcome is that every update (every 5 sec) there is a resource consuming operation (memory spike of around 1MB for a few milliseconds). Notice it may impact the performance of your device. Please let me know if you feel any impact. The devices I used for testing showed no impact but these are relatively new devices. Weaker / older devices may behave differently and I may need to tune Squidget for these.

Enjoy it,
Avi

Squidget 1.0.6 released with a new widget 3x3

Squidget 1.0.4 is available

This release support Tablets and devices working with landscape layouts.
It also improves the search mechanism by enabling search items to play after the currently playing song.

Here are some landscape images:

Barcode link to Squidget on android market

For those lazy people :)

Squidget Resources

You can get Squidget from Android Market here.
Expect new Social Features at Facebook Squidget page here.
Announcement page on Logitech forum here.

Squidget Main Features

Squidget as the name suggests is a SqueezeBox android widget.

Squidget main feature is availability:
Whenever you turn on the screen on your android device to view your home screen, its there waiting for you to play some music.

Squidget enables standard playback control like play, pause, forward, volume control, power etc.

You can switch players

You can search music by song titles, artists or album names.
Users can pick a favorite playlist or view the current playlist and navigate or zap songs within the current playlist.

If you are using TrackStat (by Erland) you can also rate your music on the go
And you can also share what you are listening to with friends on your Facebook wall.

Squidget is available in 3 different layout to allow you to choose whether to save space on your home screen or to harness the full functionality of a large widget.

Enjoy it,
Avi

I'm happy to announce that Squidget is available on Android Market

Squidget is available on android market here.

I started developing Squidget as I wanted something that is instant to control my music. Something that is in front of me the moment I turn the phone on. I needed a widget to replace my IR remote for squeezebox - nothing fancy, but something that is always available (and the first version was based on the mini remote). As time passed, I thought presenting what’s playing would be really nice. Then it evolved and friends and family began using it requesting more functionality.

When I started developing it, it was not intended to be a market product but I think it has reached a level of maturity that others can benefit from it as well. Hence I decided to upload it to the market today.

Take a look at it here. It is now available for limited time for 0.99 just for the first 20 users.
I'm very interested in making it a full product to control players, and intend to put considerable effort supporting additional functionality. If you like it, write a review. If not, or if you encounter a problem or have a feature suggestion, let me know at: Squidget.help@gmail.com

Regards,

Avi Stone