namidaco
Playlists and a few other requests
I've been using the playlist features quite a bit and ran into a few things that feel a bit confusing or could be streamlined. Hope this feedback helps!
What's Confusing Me:
The Different Playlist Sections: So, it looks like there are three main places playlists show up:
The ones in my main library (like in Pic 1). These only have songs I've actually downloaded, which makes sense – my true offline playlists.
The playlists listed under the "YouTube" tab that seem to be directly from my YouTube account (Pic 2). These show if they're Public/Private and list songs whether they're downloaded or not.
Then there's another list of playlists, also in the YouTube section somewhere (Pic 3 seems to show this). These pop up if I use the "Add as local playlist" option on a YouTube playlist (from #2). But they don't seem really local – the songs don't have to be downloaded, and they don't show up with my offline playlists from #1. This "Add as local playlist" name feels misleading here, as it doesn't create a playlist in the offline section.
What I'd Love to Be Able to Do:
Easily Create Real Offline Playlists from YouTube: Right now, if I want to take my "Liked Videos" or some other YouTube playlist (like in Pic 2) and listen to it completely offline, it's a bit of a process. I can download all the songs within that YouTube playlist view, which is great. But then, I have to manually go back to my main library (Pic 1 area), create a new offline playlist, and then find and add all those songs I just downloaded.
My Suggestion: Could we get a simple button on the YouTube playlists (the Pic 2 type) that says something like "Download & Create Offline Playlist"? Tapping this would automatically download all the songs and create a brand new playlist with those downloaded songs over in the main library/offline section (Pic 1). That would save a ton of steps!
Add Songs to Playlists No Matter the View: This one trips me up sometimes.
If I'm looking at a song using the "YouTube view" (where it looks like the YouTube interface), I can't seem to add it to one of my real offline playlists (the Pic 1 type), even if I've already downloaded that exact song!
Similarly, if I'm looking at a song in my regular library view (even if it originally came from YouTube and has the link saved), I can't add it directly to one of my YouTube account playlists (the Pic 2 type).
My Suggestion: It would be awesome if we could add songs to any relevant playlist, regardless of which view we're currently in. If the song is downloaded, let me add it to an offline playlist from anywhere. If the song has a YouTube link, let me add it to a YouTube playlist from anywhere.
Then a few small things:
- There's an option for music with an embedded YouTube link to open in YouTube-View, but I can't find an option to change the view back.
- A feature I am really missing is, that you simply can't clear the queue.
- In the playlists tab you can see how long the play list is (timewise). But it would be nice to also see this when you are in a playlist and also that you can see how long the queue is and how much time in the queue is remaining.
- For every song you can see how often you listened to it, but it'd be cool if you could see how long you listened to it (in minutes/hours).
- And lastly, I know this will probably not be done soon, but something like Spotify wrapped but always accessible would be a good feature. Basically a bunch of statistics you can view at all times.
Woah, that was a lot. Thanks for reading all that!
first u need to know that local section & youtube section are completely separated. reasons vary but mainly bcz each has different set of actions u can perform, and a different playback (one requires network and other doesnt so it would make confusion). and with selection feature, it will even get more complicated
now we have
- local playlist
- youtube playlists, which contains:
- yt local playlists
- yt online/hosted playlists
u can completely ignore the last one, as its main purpose is to quickly access ur hosted playlists directly, and maybe save them to "yt local playlists" so that videos don't get randomly removed (as the usual of yt)
Then there's another list of playlists, also in the YouTube section somewhere (Pic 3 seems to show this). These pop up if I use the "Add as local playlist" option on a YouTube playlist (from https://github.com/namidaco/namida/issues/2). But they don't seem really local – the songs don't have to be downloaded, and they don't show up with my offline playlists from https://github.com/namidaco/namida/issues/1. This "Add as local playlist" name feels misleading here, as it doesn't create a playlist in the offline section.
i agree that the name is a lil confusing, u think of any better? it doesn't create a playlist in the offline section, but it does in "yt local playlists", which is what we refer to
Easily Create Real Offline Playlists from YouTube: Right now, if I want to take my "Liked Videos" or some other YouTube playlist (like in Pic 2) and listen to it completely offline, it's a bit of a process. I can download all the songs within that YouTube playlist view, which is great. But then, I have to manually go back to my main library (Pic 1 area), create a new offline playlist, and then find and add all those songs I just downloaded.
do note that playlists downloads are automatically saved to respective folder, so u can easily access it from folder section, from there u can manually add the folder to a playlist. i understand that its a bit complicated, but a better solution is maybe just caching the videos (currently by downloading with "keep cached" option enabled, should introduce cache button)
My Suggestion: Could we get a simple button on the YouTube playlists (the Pic 2 type) that says something like "Download & Create Offline Playlist"? Tapping this would automatically download all the songs and create a brand new playlist with those downloaded songs over in the main library/offline section (Pic 1). That would save a ton of steps!
this already happens but as folders not playlists, maybe we can add option to auto add them to local playlist, but as said that would be more confusing ig? idk
If I'm looking at a song using the "YouTube view" (where it looks like the YouTube interface), I can't seem to add it to one of my real offline playlists (the Pic 1 type), even if I've already downloaded that exact song!
Similarly, if I'm looking at a song in my regular library view (even if it originally came from YouTube and has the link saved), I can't add it directly to one of my YouTube account playlists (the Pic 2 type).
thats bcz both sections are separated, but i think it would be helpful to allow this when both conditions are met. but one issue is u cant add a local version of a yt video, thats bcz multiple local versions can exist alltogether
- There's an option for music with an embedded YouTube link to open in YouTube-View, but I can't find an option to change the view back.
haghaghaga right, that should be there (not really, check previous point)
- A feature I am really missing is, that you simply can't clear the queue.
u can, just make sure "dismissible queue" is enabled and just swipe down
- in the playlists tab you can see how long the play list is (timewise). But it would be nice to also see this when you are in a playlist and also that you can see how long the queue is and how much time in the queue is remaining.
and where to put these?
- For every song you can see how often you listened to it, but it'd be cool if you could see how long you listened to it (in minutes/hours).
we dont save that sadly :( a listen is counted only after n seconds or n%, but actual listened seconds are not saved for each track but rather for the whole library (check settings -> about to see stats)
- And lastly, I know this will probably not be done soon, but something like Spotify wrapped but always accessible would be a good feature. Basically a bunch of statistics you can view at all times.
i dont think i will do that (at least any soon), its requested here tho #385. what u can check is ur most played playlist (u can specifiy any time range) and ur home page (which has stuff like "top recents", "recent artists", "top recent albums", "memories" etc)
lemme know ur thoughts!
Okay thanks for the comprehensive response.
- Regarding the playlists: I understand now what these sections do. Maybe I'm just stupid but I really can't figure out what purpose the 'local' YouTube playlist section serves. Thanks also bringing up folders to this confusion.. I can think of two ways how the two types of local playlists could work: a local list with name and destination of the file and so on or 2. That there's a folder for playlists and each playlist has its own folder.
do note that playlists downloads are automatically saved to respective folder, so u can easily access it from folder section, from there u can manually add the folder to a playlist.
Then I'm not sure where the difference between these created folders and the local playlists are.
we can add option to auto add them to local playlist, but as said that would be more confusing ig? idk
Atm, yeah. Maybe we could make the "add as local playlist" option just also do this.
thats bcz both sections are separated, but i think it would be helpful to allow this when both conditions are met. but one issue is u cant add a local version of a yt video, thats bcz multiple local versions can exist alltogether
Hm I don't really see the problem there. A YouTube playlist (under your account) just has to contain a YouTube link. So for a local song with embedded link you could just add that link to the YouTube playlist, right? For the other way: can't you just search for local files with the link of the YouTube video you want to add and then add that file (when found) to the local playlist?
haghaghaga right, that should be there (not really, check previous point)
I thought this would work for the previous reason, but even if not, you could cache the file before switching to YouTube view and then have a option to switch back.
u can, just make sure "dismissible queue" is enabled and just swipe down
I can't find this anywhere
and where to put these?
Maybe there in the (almost) full screen mode
we dont save that sadly :( a listen is counted only after n seconds or n%, but actual listened seconds are not saved for each track but rather for the whole library (check settings -> about to see stats)
That's sad, but you could do a rough calculation of the times this was played times the duration of the song. It's not exact but better than nothing
i dont think i will do that (at least any soon), its requested here tho #385
Yeah I thought so.
Okay thanks for the comprehensive response.
- Regarding the playlists: I understand now what these sections do. Maybe I'm just stupid but I really can't figure out what purpose the 'local' YouTube playlist section serves. Thanks also bringing up folders to this confusion.. I can think of two ways how the two types of local playlists could work: a local list with name and destination of the file and so on or 2. That there's a folder for playlists and each playlist has its own folder.
do note that playlists downloads are automatically saved to respective folder, so u can easily access it from folder section, from there u can manually add the folder to a playlist.
Then I'm not sure where the difference between these created folders and the local playlists are.
we can add option to auto add them to local playlist, but as said that would be more confusing ig? idk
Atm, yeah. Maybe we could make the "add as local playlist" option just also do this.
thats bcz both sections are separated, but i think it would be helpful to allow this when both conditions are met. but one issue is u cant add a local version of a yt video, thats bcz multiple local versions can exist alltogether
Hm I don't really see the problem there. A YouTube playlist (under your account) just has to contain a YouTube link. So for a local song with embedded link you could just add that link to the YouTube playlist, right? For the other way: can't you just search for local files with the link of the YouTube video you want to add and then add that file (when found) to the local playlist?
haghaghaga right, that should be there (not really, check previous point)
I thought this would work for the previous reason, but even if not, you could cache the file before switching to YouTube view and then have a option to switch back.
u can, just make sure "dismissible queue" is enabled and just swipe down
I can't find this anywhere
and where to put these?
Maybe there in the (almost) full screen mode
we dont save that sadly :( a listen is counted only after n seconds or n%, but actual listened seconds are not saved for each track but rather for the whole library (check settings -> about to see stats)
That's sad, but you could do a rough calculation of the times this was played times the duration of the song. It's not exact but better than nothing
i dont think i will do that (at least any soon), its requested here tho #385
Yeah I thought so.
Btw is it possible to contribute to the project?
Then I'm not sure where the difference between these created folders and the local playlists are
folders are just ur actual filesystem, playlists are something custom u can create and can have duplicates here and there i personally use the folders directly and not playlists (when downloading)
I can't find this anywhere
just use the search in settings? anyways its under playback settings
Hm I don't really see the problem there. A YouTube playlist (under your account) just has to contain a YouTube link. So for a local song with embedded link you could just add that link to the YouTube playlist, right?
yeah thats easy
For the other way: can't you just search for local files with the link of the YouTube video you want to add and then add that file (when found) to the local playlist?
but this, we already have a hashmap of each yt id with their corresponding tracks, they can be more than 1 track, and won't make sense to add all of them to the local playlist
I thought this would work for the previous reason, but even if not, you could cache the file before switching to YouTube view and then have a option to switch back.
trust me not that easy
Maybe there in the (almost) full screen mode
sounds good but idk if would change design now, also this will surely mess up the calculations so i will have to see
That's sad, but you could do a rough calculation of the times this was played times the duration of the song. It's not exact but better than nothing
that would be useless then, bcz longer tracks will gain fake advantage over the shorter ones
Btw is it possible to contribute to the project?
not really currently, check #37
also small note that im the one that most need both sections to be merged, its just logically painful. i also did allow an option for "mixed queue" earlier but it will cause many issues, u can enable it if u want by manually editing the namida_settings.json file
Sorry that I comment on that again but the option "dismissible queue" is not there. I did use search lol so yeah
ops its called "dismissible miniplayer"
But this just makes the player dismissible right. When I scroll down the queue nothing happens. Are we talking about the same thing? Maybe you can send a screenshot of what you mean
Oh lmao. No I thought the song you currently play stays. Yeah technically you're right. I mean an option to empty the queue except of the song, that is currently playing. So if you go to tracks and want to hear a specific queue of songs you don't have to create a playlist but can just clear the queue and add the songs you like to the queue. Ah now I remember another thing, it would be nice to have an option move to the end of the queue, but maybe this already exists idk
in that case, open dialog and press play (instead of pressing the tile directly)
also to move anything to end of queue, open dialog -> play last, then remove the current (yeah this will re-play it, unless u configured resume option in playback "minimum track duration to restore last position")
Oh okay thanks. A setting for automatically doing that when playing a song from "tracks" would be cool then