It would be great if we could have the option to rate songs from 1-5 stars like most databases support.
I’m not too fussed on how this would be implemented. It could be:
You push the rating button, five stars pop up, and you click the rating you want to give the song.
The icon is just a star with a number over it, denoting how many stars the song has. Clicking on it, cycles through them.
Or even something else.
I’d imagine option 2 would be easiest on dev time and would also be safer considering this might be used while driving.
Again, not fussed on how it works, I’d just love the granularity of using the whole 5 star rating system.
For example, I use 1 star to mark the song for deletion. With the current rating system (3 tiers) that just leaves me with either good/bad song, which isn’t really enough to categorize music.
Problem solved:
Removes the current issue of limited granularity of the rating system on Android auto, compared to what the back-end offers (3 ratings, vs 5).
Brought benefits:
Increased diversity of ratings in the music library so the user can better organise their music.
Other application solutions:
Additional description and context:
The attached image is a very quickly done mock-up in MSpaint to show what I envision option 2 looking like.
MediaMonkey does it like the mockup above, so it is possible. Unfortunately, MediaMonkey wants to be a whole “ecosystem” of its own and doesn’t play nicely with people who don’t want to be part of it.
Tapping a button 5 times is not inherently dangerous. It would be no different than changing the volume level or temperature setting by tapping multiple times.
The current implementation may be the “best”, in your opinion, but it is inadequate for what users like me and the OP want. I discovered your app because of people posting about how it supports star ratings on places like Reddit. After finding that your app doesn’t actually do what I want, I have stopped using it. My total usage time: ~ 10 minutes. I’m assuming people giving up on your app after 10 minutes isn’t your goal…
Thanks for you very valuable input. I’m sure you’ll find another app that does that, or maybe not, and the reason only one app may have decided to dot that have a reason …
Now read the Google recommendations about security, see the difference between a 6 state rating and controlling volume / temperature.
You know like the fact that there’s a + and a - button …
So that you can click + a couple of time without looking at the screen and if you press too much can press - one time.
With a 6 states button you need to look at the screen constantly to reach the rating you want …
Seems like a person could look at the button, see the number, the tap the button the required number of times to set their desired rating. Many drivers are capable of counting to 5 without having to check their work continuously. Some vehicles emit a ‘beep’ when a button is pressed - an observant driver could count the beeps as they attempt to press the button and cross-reference the number of successful presses with the number of presses that are required (and adjust as needed).
The volume controls could be regarded as, say, 30-state buttons. And there’s two of them, as you have pointed out.
Don’t get me started on the radio station dial! Oh man, the number of times I have veered off the road as I’ve stared at the frequency indicator! I’d tell you how many times I’ve done it, but I lost count at 6.
I wonder why Android Auto have no touch volume buttons And why all those are usually physical button, knob so that you don’t have to look where you click …
I can do all your other stuff closed eyes on my car and most cars, yet I can’t do AA stuff without looking
Anyway I’ll stop answering, you can use the only app that does that or build an app to do that it’s not that hard.
You’re right, cars do typically have a knob to control the volume, but that is largely out of customer dissatisfaction with non-knob control schemes that have been attempted a few times. (In fact, I believe there are cars being sold right now that do not have volume knobs; the Volvo EX30 is a potential example.)
If your point is that there could be a better way to control setting the rating of a song than to use a single button, I’m in full agreement. Yes, you got me. I AM advocating for something that is different than what virtually every music app offers. I admit that if the feature was already implemented in many apps, I probably wouldn’t be here asking for it.
“It’s not something that everybody does” IS something that can constitute the basis for making a decision - slow clap for you!
I’m pointing out the fact that drivers CAN count and the fact that cars DO have buttons that need to be pressed multiple times to show that the reason you’ve given for not implementing the requested feature, that it’s requires too much attention and is therefor inherently unsafe, is silly. But it’s clear you want to adhere to your irrational opinion… Oh well, I tried. I will also give-up.
It seems like you’ve made a very good music playing app! Although I don’t think I’ll be using it personally, it looks like it serves some niche quite well. Kudos! Perhaps even I will fall into whatever that niche is at some point and rediscover your app again in the future…
And why all those are usually physical button, knob so that you don’t have to look where you click …