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Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

radioformac.com

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Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#21

Post by dglancy »

signed0 wrote: post #20

My main issue with Radium is that it does not support the play/pause/fast-forward/rewind keys on my MacBook. Does Radio support these?

It does not at the moment. And not from the want of trying! Unfortunately the App Store sandbox does not yet allow you to detect the media keys being pressed. The old way of doing it uses a very low-level function that is not available for security reasons (its essentially a key logger) within the sandbox..

Its common problem across all App Store apps, for now. Drives me crazy as well!

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#22

Post by kjf »

signed0 wrote: post #20

My main issue with Radium is that it does not support the play/pause/fast-forward/rewind keys on my MacBook. Does Radio support these?

I asked this question of the radium devs. I was told that its an App Store limitation. Apple will not approve third party apps that use the media keys.

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#23

Post by dsl »

dglancy wrote: post #18
cake wrote: post #17

Looks very similar to Radium : http://catpigstudios.com/

It is a bit. Menubar radio players will all seem similar. I was a Radium user myself. It was the "record" function of this app that prompted me to make it. I wanted to record radio shows, budget speeches and a specific Dutch trance music show I listen to and I couldn't find an easy way to do that. There were ways, but nothing one-click and resident on the menu bar.

Can you explain how recording works? Do you parse the song title and cut a new MP3 whenever it changes?

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#24

Post by dglancy »

kjf wrote: post #22
signed0 wrote: post #20

My main issue with Radium is that it does not support the play/pause/fast-forward/rewind keys on my MacBook. Does Radio support these?

I asked this question of the radium devs. I was told that its an App Store limitation. Apple will not approve third party apps that use the media keys.

Not only not approve, it physically won't work. The sandbox enforced partially at a kernel level will prevent the necessary low-level functions from working.

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#25

Post by dglancy »

dsl wrote: post #23
dglancy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a bit. Menubar radio players will all seem similar. I was a Radium user myself. It was the "record" function of this app that prompted me to make it. I wanted to record radio shows, budget speeches and a specific Dutch trance music show I listen to and I couldn't find an easy way to do that. There were ways, but nothing one-click and resident on the menu bar.

Can you explain how recording works? Do you parse the song title and cut a new MP3 whenever it changes?

Right now, we don't do that. Its just a simple MP3 file that lasts for as long as you are recording a station. The problem with parsing the song title is that firstly, not all stations support it, and secondly, a lot of stations will push the station name into the stream at periodic intervals. It would make cutting up a continuous stream into accurate individual songs quiet troublesome.

But for some well behaved stations, its doable, if people wanted it enough.

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#26

Post by signed0 »

dglancy wrote: post #21
signed0 wrote: post #20

My main issue with Radium is that it does not support the play/pause/fast-forward/rewind keys on my MacBook. Does Radio support these?

It does not at the moment. And not from the want of trying! Unfortunately the App Store sandbox does not yet allow you to detect the media keys being pressed. The old way of doing it uses a very low-level function that is not available for security reasons (its essentially a key logger) within the sandbox.. Its common problem across all App Store apps, for now. Drives me crazy as well!

That's a shame. Perhaps someone needs to build a small library that exists outside of the App Store that notifies App Store apps when those keys are pressed. :P

This reason alone is what keeps me using VLC for radio playlists.

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#27

Post by sneak »

dglancy wrote: post #16
ique wrote: post #15

Is it possible for non-apple developers to integrate with AirPlay? Because that would be a really nice feature to have!

It is and its on our list (actually its on a git branch). Just didn't make it across the line for v1. As a stop gap we have this in our FAQ: Radio currently doesn't directly support Airplay. However, if you'd really like to stream Radio via Airplay, here is a trick you can use: Hold the Alt-key and click on the Volume icon in the menu bar, a menu will appear showing any available Airplay device. Select your Airplay d…

In the Appleverse, we call it Option, not Alt.

(I know the key says "alt" too, but it's smaller type for a reason.)

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#28

Post by sneak »

dglancy wrote: post #24
kjf wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I asked this question of the radium devs. I was told that its an App Store limitation. Apple will not approve third party apps that use the media keys.

Not only not approve, it physically won't work. The sandbox enforced partially at a kernel level will prevent the necessary low-level functions from working.

Interesting use of "physically".

Re: Show HN: Radio - My first Mac app

#30

Post by sneak »

Via Little Snitch, I noticed it contacts your radioformac.com webserver on port 80 on launch. I didn't sniff the traffic but presumably this is for a list of stations or something?

Could you please update to use SSL/TLS (https) instead? It's for the server authentication, not so much the transit security.

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