I switched from Apple Music to Plexamp to have more control over my music library, and thinking that it would be usable offline, like Apple Music is, at least for downloaded tracks.
But no. Plexamp seems to do no local caching of my library metadata at all. This just doesn’t make sense and is a fatal flaw. As soon as I don’t have signal, Plexamp says it’s “unable to access data, this makes me sad”. Well it makes me even sadder.
Please Plex devs, pretty please add some local metadata caching to the app so we can still see at least what’s in the library and playlists, even if we can only play the downloaded stuff…
Are you in the same location / LAN as your server? Then of course it works perfectly. Otherwise, it seems that as soon as Plexamp can’t see the server (like when you lose signal on the road), all playlists and the regular library metadata just evaporate. This makes me sad.
Okay, I should have said “without contact to server” instead of “without internet”.
Downloads are just dumb locally stored tracks and albums. If you lose signal in the wilderness or on the road, you also lose access to vital metadata like playlists. From what I’ve seen, it seems the whole Plexamp content interface dies apart from downloads.
This just doesn’t make sense. As a dev, I know it should be easy for Plexamp to cache that kind of metadata locally so that it can hold it together when lt loses contact with the server periodically for whatever reason. Apple Music, which I’m trying to switch from, does this well, although it has other annoying habits and shortcomings.
If Plexamp is to hold up to its promise to be the ultimate music app (as we all hope it will), it will need to store metadata locally and integrate it with downloaded content intelligently….
I suppose so, but you have to admit that anyone who’s not tethered to their server will also likely be disappointed by the absence of a metadata cache. I am trying to be constructive. There’s nothing I’d like more than just use Plexamp and to ditch the reset. In all other respects, Plexamp is perfect. Please consider adding this essential functionality.
Essential is relative I’ve been using the app for years, gone on lots of plane rides and time in foreign countries without cellular connection, and it’s worked great. Perhaps you haven’t explored the full gamet of things you can download?
Otherwise, perhaps you won’t be satisfied unless 100% of your library is accessible at all times, which is not a design goal for Plexamp.
I guess my question is why do you need to have metadata available at all times? When I don’t have internet connection I could care less about my music player metadata. I only care about listening to music. Sure, the Guest DJ will not work without an internet connection because that is all done on the server. But that is a perk for when I do have a connection, much like all the metadata. What matters are the songs and being able to play them when “offline”.
Surely you’d agree that it would be nice to have? It’s not rocket science and should be easy for any competent dev to. add. Why do you need fine cuisine when you can survive perfectly well on porridge?
Elan I think you may be taking offence where none was intended and if this comment did offend you I’m sorry. Plexamp is a clearly a great and well designed app and if you read my other comments on this thread and in this forum it should be clear that I like it a lot, even though I see the lack of a metadata cache a critical flaw (at least for me or anyone who expects access to playlists when they are away from their servers). I don’t for a minute doubt the abilities of Plexamp devs, who are clearly competent or they wouldn’t have been able to put a product like this together in the first place. There are excellent state management solutions out there for platforms like react native out there as you know, and if there were will in the dev team to implement a metadata cache, it’s not the kind of change I would expect to require a complete rewrite. My comment was more related to the lack of recognition by you that such a caching layer is even desirable, and the corresponding lack of will to add it. I hope you’ll come to see thing differently. Namaste
But you do have media when it’s been downloaded. Let’s compare Apple Music, which I’ve used for years, but want to abandon; it’s also client-server, and like Plexamp it allows downloads for offline use. When you lose signal, you can still see the library and playlists, but you just can’t play music that’s not downloaded. You can download a playlist with a single click. The UI disruption when you’re offline (the equivalent to being away from your Plex server), is minimal and restricted to content that you’ve not downloaded. In these respects, its behaviour is ideal. But it has other deficiencies that are seriously annoying. For example, I recently wanted to play an album I’d ripped and it had greyed out certain tracks as “not available in your territory”. It’s not the only issue but it was the final straw. Anyone wanting to migrate from Apple Music to Plexamp will likely share my views on the Plexamp UI. On balance, I’ll persist with Plexamp and adapt (for now to not having playlists when I’m offline. Besides, I’d rather support Plex than Apple. I know of course that Apple have near infinite dev resources, but you do have agility. And Plexamp is literally so close to being superior in every way…
Please do check out some of the smart playlists you can download, like “tracks I’ve rated highly but haven’t heard in 3 months” which ensues that what you have downloaded is a “sliding window”, while using much less space than it would otherwise and—more importantly—ensuring you always have fresh music to listen to. Definitely can’t do that with Apple Music…
to not having playlists when I’m offline. Besides, I’d rather support Plex than Apple. I know of course that Apple have near infinite dev resources, but you do have agility. And Plexamp is literally so close to being superior in every way…