Cs Music Pro

Hey Mike; on the song info pane, the play button has the icon twice, how do you screw something like that up?! It's a good question.

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Happy New Year! If you are enjoying the app, please consider leaving a rating or review :)

Updates and improvements to how Pinned Item data is persisted and handled. This includes a new "Reset Pins" option in the Settings tab that can be used to clear pin data in the event there are any issues during the update data migration.

• I missed the party, and did not know that the alphabet section index had been implemented in UICollectionView a while ago. So now this version uses the default functionality, and has 50% less third party dependencies :)

• New play and shuffle controls added to the "All Songs" view.

If you're the sort of user that searches within playlists, you may have noticed that the header could be a bit... janky. It is now much less that.

(Also, if you are one of the 1% who updated to 6.4.7 this update restores affected pinned items.)

• Threading changes to the search logic. Most users with small-medium library should find no noticeable difference. Hopefully this will be the same for users with large libraries – the new code is more stable :)
• Fixed bug that "locked" the Now Playing screen when accessed via URL.

• Menu updates
• I get fairly regular reports from users that changing to alternate app icons does not work. I've double and triple checked, and the app is following Apple's documentation for alternate icons. App Icons are related to system caching, so if you are finding that the app icon is not updating it might be worth trying to restart the device and see if the issue corrects itself. If you are finding that the icon will persistently not update, let me know at cs@mclay.dev. Thanks!

This update includes minor iPad UI improvements, including fixes for issues in Split View.

Fixes crash when creating new playlist through the "Add to Playlist" submenu.

Today's update corrects some small bugs with display and functionality:
• Fixed issue shuffling playlists in collections.
• Fixed display issue displaying all search results.
• Refined updating based on playback in the Activity tab.

Stay tuned for a future update with more substantial improvements. If you have a suggestion for Cs, please email me at cs@mclay.dev (no promises on a response!)

• This update includes changes to the app startup process that fix issues some users reported having with the app freezing or crashing on launch.
• Added a Safe Mode toggle to the Cs pane in Settings.app.
• Fixed bug causing details to not update when iterating through tracks in the Song Info pane.
• Fixed bug with section counts in search results.
• Minor localization improvements.

Introducing the NEW ACTIVITY TAB!
The Activity Tab brings together a several new ways to interact with your music library based on the way you actually use it. Conveniently access all your loved (or top rated) songs in one place. Easily see which playlists have received recent updates. Quickly access your most recently added content, or just check out Recently Played to track down "that one song." It all comes together in the Activity Tab. Remember to scroll to the bottom: you can reconfigure the section order to better match your workflow.

And also introducing SAFE MODE:
So, I've seen a good number of complaints from users who are experiencing freezes, lags, and crashes. The unfortunate truth is that the VAST majority of such issues are not actually even Cs itself, but timeouts resulting from when Cs polls the system player. It's not clear why some users are affected and others not. The worst culprits are processes that request information from the system repeatedly: highlighting the currently playing song in lists and displaying current playback progress. The new Safe Mode option (accessed in the Settings tab), reduces these requests to the absolute minimum to improve stability.

Dirty little secret: sometimes the reason for those "general bug fix and improvement" updates is to make changes to the App Store optimization. This isn't one of those updates, though, because I also made some very minor visual tweaks.

SWIPE CONTROLS
Play, shuffle and queue items with a swipe. Supporting this feature in collection views actually required new APIs in iOS 14. Did I hold this feature back to allow iOS 13 users onto Cs 6 and is that a reasonable alibi? Plausible, right?

VIEW ALL SONGS
Where indicated, tap the song count/duration summary to navigate to the All Songs view. Was this feature always there and just not clearly marked? Would I lie about it? We may never know.

SORT PLAYLIST BY KIND
New sort option for the Playlists tab. Does it move folders to the top? You betcha.

IMPROVED ACCESSIBLITY
The "Hide Artwork" setting is back, and improvements have been made to how the Now Playing view handles the "Reduce Motion" and "Prefers Crossfade Transitions" accessibility settings.

FIXED SCRUBBING
Fixes scrubbing issue in the Now Playing view for users with smaller-screen devices.

DID YOU KNOW?
The volume and rating controls in the Now Playing pane do not require an extra tap! Simply touch and drag your finger.

Well... it took over a year, 100 builds, and somewhere in the middle it became a totally separate app. But Cs 6 is finally here.

This update includes a totally rebuilt UI, which addresses commonly reported user issues and includes some long overdue new features. I think it's definitely the update Cs deserved to have. I hope it was worth the wait.

UPDATED DESIGN
And it doesn't just look nice; the new designs now include Grid Mode and fully support iPad.

DYNAMIC PLAYER
The totally rebuilt player now automatically colors itself to become a seamless extension of the album artwork.

IMPROVED MINIPLAYER
Despite its streamlined design, the miniplayer has actually gained two new core functions: swipe to skip and long-press to call up the currently playing song details.

EXPANDED SORTING
Not only are there more sort options now, but they are (almost) universally available.

SEARCH WITHIN PLAYLISTS
It's hard to believe I'm not super late to the party on this feature, and yet here we are.

UNIVERSAL SEARCH
Take that tab bar spot back! Now search can be accessed almost everywhere in the top right corner.

WIDGET... CHANGED?
Is it a new iOS 14 widget? No. But hear me out. WidgetKit does not support true "Now Playing" functionality, and I know that is pretty important to many users. So, we are sticking with ye olde-style widget for now, but it does have more buttons.

Few things to address with this update:

1) This is a quick update with general Crashlytics fixes. Ironically, the #1 issue looks like it was embedded in the Crashlytics framework itself, and those have been updated as well. I've seen a few reports from users experiencing repeated crashes on iOS 14. I hope that is addressed, but I've had trouble reproducing the issue myself. If you experience crashes on launch on iOS 14.0.1 or later, please email cs@mclay.dev and let me know.

2) I have much bigger plans for updates! Once PlayTally is released, I plan to look at give Cs some love, including grid layouts and proper iPad support. Stay tuned!

3) Speaking of PlayTally, it's now free to preorder. If you think you might be interested in being able to quickly access your Apple Music listening stats and trends, check out http://playtally.mclay.dev!

• Fixed bug preventing users from viewing track detail when within a track details navigation stack.

Did you notice that most of the shuffle commands stopped working? iOS 13.4 decided to become very picky about where and when the shuffle mode is set, so those issues are now resolved.

Stay safe everyone!

• Manual Dark Mode is back! Toggle between always on, always off, or the iOS system setting.
• The iOS 13.4 beta introduced some instability (hopefully just beta stuff), but this includes some adjustments to help account for it.

This version completes the migration from Fabric Crashlytics (which was purchased by Google) to the new Firebase Crashlytics program. Cs has actually been migrated to Firebase for over a year, this just finishes the process because I was starting to see compatibility issues. This will allow me to continue to get the insight needed to fix crashes and improve performance.

This is also the last time that I'll mention my new app SongOwl, because it happens to be out today! (Weird, right?) SongOwl began as a reimagination of Cs – it's different because it approaches navigation non-linearly. This makes it super flexible and customizable; you can do some really cool stuff. It's definitely not for every Cs user, but I think some of you may love it.
https://apps.apple.com/app/songowl/id1492630850

• Fixes layout issue for Now Playing pane on iPad.
• Minor bug fixes.

Did you know that, before 5.1 there was a previously planned Cs 6? In some ways, it was a substantial departure from Cs as we know and love it, but it was still pretty cool! And now it's been completed and will see the light of day as a separate app called SongOwl. Some features include super-flexible non-linear navigation, a favourites tab, and track previews. I'd love for you to check it out.

https://apps.apple.com/app/songowl/id1492630850

There's always a few bugs and issues that surface after a major update hits the full user base. This should fix some!
• Improves widget handling when no currently playing item.
• Fixes issues with star ratings in the detail pane not persisting.
• Minor translation improvements (if you find more, let me know!)
• General bug fixes. The little things Crashlytics caught for 1-2 users, etc.

Hey man, iOS 13 came out, like, 2 months ago! Where's the update? What's taking so long?!

Funny thing, is Cs has actually been rebuilt from scratch – TWICE – to get here. The first rebuild is awesome, and brings some pretty substantial innovation to the UI/UX. And so when it went into beta the response was basically "Thanks for the work, Mike. Kinda wish you hadn't done this, though. Cs was pretty perfect as is." Hard to argue with that. So I rebuilt it again, from the ground up, to take full advantage of the new features of iOS 13, and to be much more future-proof moving forward. All while staying true to the existing version that is so well loved.

Here's what's up:
- Playlist groupings and Search results now feature full navigation stacks!
- New contextual menus, similar to collection control swipe controls, but...
- they also include an Add to Playlist option!
- Search has been completely rebuilt. Previous weirdness finally appears to be gone.
- It looks like Classical Mode is gone. DON'T FREAK OUT. The Genre collection menu has finally been able to move to the logical place for it, and I've been able to add Composers as a collection option. So now you don't really need Classical Mode, because you can toggle on its benefits at any time in the Genres tab.
- Significantly improved the Now Playing dismiss gesture. Much more responsive tracking and can be flicked.
- Haptic feedback has been added throughout the app where applicable. Non-system haptics can be disabled in Settings.
- Now fully compatible with system Dark Mode.
- A fresh look and color. Fun fact: the original Cs teal was chosen because it was the polar opposite on the color wheel of iTunes pink. The new violet-tinged blue is inspired by Cs' chemical flame color!
- Some visual tuneups throughout.
- Adopted SF Symbols. I expect this to be controversial for some, but it is much more future-proof, will keep Cs feeling current and native as iOS evolves, and makes the app significantly more lightweight.
- Now third party lib-free! Meaning Cs should be much more resilient to future iOS updates.
- Cleaned up and standardized localizations.

Moving forward the focus will be on keeping Cs feeling current, stable and fresh, but there are currently no future plans for feature development. If you interested in that, have no fear! The original Cs 6 rebuild will be completed and released as a separate app, where I look forward to exploring new ways to navigate your music :) Keep an eye on @CsMusicPlayer on twitter for updates.

If you enjoy the new update, please consider leaving a positive review. Their importance really can't be understated. If you really-really enjoy the new update, think about dropping by the tip jar. Thank you for all the support over the years!

• Fixes iOS 13 bug: swipe to dismiss NP
• Fixes iOS 13 bug: missing today extension
• Fixes iOS 13 bug: crash switching between dark and light modes.

If you are interested in a new Cs experience built specifically for iOS 13, check out csmusicplayer.com/blog/beta!

• Improved playlist image handling, including custom set images.
• minor bug fixes.

Did you know why things have been quiet lately? Because I've been working on a new app! Miximum is a new music app focused specifically on playlist management, including smart playlist creation. If you are an Apple Music or heavy playlist user, I think you are going to love it.

You can join the Miximum beta at miximum.io

• Searching for the search bar? This update should fix some issues some users were having with no search bar appearing in the Search tab.

My apologies for the delay between updates, which was longer than I'd generally prefer. If you'd like to see more frequent and timely updates, please consider sharing Cs with family and friends and visiting the tip jar! I'd love to be able to do this full time :)

• Fixes phantom miniplayer controls.

• EXPANDED display name to "Cs Music"
• IMPROVED search bar reliability. Please contact me if you continue to experience issues with search stability, as there is a more "nuclear option."
• Misc. bug fixes, visual tweaks and translation improvements.

Cesium is now Cs Music Player!

• Name change throughout.
• URL Scheme has also changed to csmusic://
• Minor bug fixes
• Stay tuned for another update soon that addresses search bugginess some users are experiencing, and AirPlay 2!

While the name change shouldn't affect current users much at all, it could affect future downloads (hopefully not too significantly). Please consider leaving a review as this helps keep Cs up in the App Store algorithm. Your support is truly appreciated!

• Playlist sort preferences are now saved individually.
• Search URL scheme (cesium://search) can now handle queries for direct search, i.e. cesium://search?zeppelin
• Minor graphics improvements.

• IMPROVED playlist sort/collection options. Collect by rating and grouping are back, and all rating/grouping/album options are properly contextual on their respective sorting settings.
• FIXED bug affecting Now Playing view when artwork and status bar are both disabled.

• NEW Widget. You complained, I caved. All new Today Widget is entirely focused on star ratings – and is only available when star ratings are enabled in Now Playing settings.
• NEW Ukrainian localization.
• NEW Russian localization.
• NO Collusion. Of course, that's a joke because there totally was, in this case. *cough* I colluded with a very generous user who offered to translate Cesium themselves. In fact, this is how about half of the available languages got started. If you are interested in translating Cesium – or notice an error in a current translation – please email me at mike@cesium-app.com. You're the collusion!
• General bug sweep.

Did you know...
...that star ratings haven't been removed completely? You can re-enable the rating control in the Now Playing view settings.

• NEW Now Playing option to hide status bar
• IMPROVED localizations
• Moved the rating and tip jar options back to the main settings menu, 'cause I totally want people to find them ;)

• IMPROVED MiniPlayer responsiveness when initiating playback.
• iOS 11 Support
• Minor bug fixes.

In case you missed it:
Cesium 5 has been built API-Safe to be more stable, performant and future-proof than ever. Unfortunately, this means that certain advanced features have been removed (because they depend on unreliable, undocumented aspects of the system API). To learn more about these changes, and whether updating to Cesium 5 is right for you, please visit www.cesium-app.com/cesium5.

Welcome to Cesium 5!

Cesium 5 has been built API-Safe to be more stable, performant and future-proof than ever. Unfortunately, this means that certain advanced features have been removed (because they depend on unreliable, undocumented aspects of the system API). To learn more about these changes, and whether updating to Cesium 5 is right for you, please visit www.cesium-app.com/cesium5.

So what’s new?
• IMPROVED performance and reliability.
• NEW playlist sorting options.
• NEW playlist randomizing. Randomize playlists on the fly, including using the same logic as Shuffle by Album and Shuffle by Grouping.
• NEW "Artwork" MiniPlayer option.

I realize there are substantial changes in this update. I hope that most users will find them refreshing after over a year of struggling with performance and stability. Removing functionality is not something I take lightly. Thank you for all the continuing support, and I hope you enjoy it!

This is update is fairly minor:
• IMPROVED miniplayer performance and reliability.
• FIXED miscellaneous bugs.

But the next update is not minor.
Cesium 5 will be API-safe, meaning better performance and reliability. But it also means significant changes to the feature set, for a variety of reasons. I strongly encourage users to visit cesium-app.com/cesium5 to learn more before deciding if updating to Cs5 will be right for them.

• NEW Siri Shortcuts, so you can talk to Cesium like a friend with a tin can telephone. (Open, Search, Shuffle All)
• NEW URL Scheme, so you can write to Cesium like a pen pal whose father was the deposed king of Nigeria (cesium://, cesium://search, cesium://shuffle)
• NEW True Black mode, so you can quote Spinal Tap to Cesium and laugh and laugh.
• iPhone XS Max and XR screen support
• Bug and translation fixes.

I also want to assure all Cs users that I am aware of reported performance issues and glitches. If you haven't seen something addressed in recent updates it is likely because it is an issue with the API itself – in which case I have reported it and am working with Apple to try and solve the problem as soon as possible, but any fixes will be subject to the iOS release cycle.

• FIXED translation bugs in iOS 12
• FIXED minor bugs

FIXED animation glitches in track details pane for content with lyrics.

Very happy to see some 5-star reviews coming in describing improved performance and UX on iOS 12! If you haven't upgraded yet, I strongly urge you to consider it. And if you are enjoying Cesium, I urge you even more strongly to consider leaving a 5-star review! They really do make a significant difference.

• FIXED issue with MiniPlayer presenting on launch when it shouldn't.

And if you missed 4.2:
• NEW Advanced Queuing mode. What is Advanced Queuing? All the advanced queue features like reordering or removing items from the queue, advanced shuffling (by album or grouping), Resume Queue, etc. So what's new? The ability to turn it all OFF. See, some users have been experiencing lag and performance issues that are related to Cesium interacting with the iOS system player. Disabling Advanced Queuing will reduce these interactions and the resultant lag. For a more detailed description of the issue and how Advanced Queuing works, please visit cesium-app.com/blog/lag.

• NEW Advanced Queuing mode. What is Advanced Queuing? All the advanced queue features like reordering or removing items from the queue, advanced shuffling (by album or grouping), Resume Queue, etc. So what's new? The ability to turn it all OFF. See, some users have been experiencing lag and performance issues that are related to Cesium interacting with the iOS system player. Disabling Advanced Queuing will reduce these interactions and the resultant lag. For a more detailed description of the issue and how Advanced Queuing works, please visit cesium-app.com/blog/lag.
• NEW black icon option
• IMPROVED translations
• Typical little bug fixes found along the way.

• FIXED bug causing Classical Mode selections to be ignored.

Fixed a number of rare Crashlytics exceptions. I know the new rule is to be more specific in the change logs, but man, these changes were so minor I don't even remember half of them.

• FIXED bug that caused disappearing tracks when sorting individual albums by rating.
• Everyone's favorite miscellaneous bug fixes.

• IMPROVED global search handling of artists and album artists.
• General bug fixes.

• NEW universal search tab. Not only can you search your whole library from this new location but search performance has been improved across all tabs as well.
• NEW queue management system. This new approach a) eliminates playback interruptions for most basic queue actions, b) should be more reliable and c) is faster and more lightweight.
• IMPROVED Night Mode. Spare your retinas with the new dark launch screen and dark menus and alerts.
• IMPROVED shuffle controls. The long presses are back! Tap and hold any shuffle button to access shuffle mode options.
• PLUS MORE, NOW, ALSO: includes misc. bug fixes including one bizarre one affecting the iCloud toggle.

If you are enjoying your Cesium experience, please consider leaving a positive rating or review! They really do make all the difference.

• NEW universal search tab. Not only can you search your whole library from this new location but search performance has been improved across all tabs as well.
• NEW queue management system. This new approach a) eliminates playback interruptions for most basic queue actions, b) should be more reliable and c) is faster and more lightweight.
• IMPROVED Night Mode. Spare your retinas with the new dark launch screen and dark menus and alerts.
• IMPROVED shuffle controls. The long presses are back! Tap and hold any shuffle button to access shuffle mode options.

If you are enjoying your Cesium experience, please consider leaving a positive rating or review! They really do make all the difference.

A classic "performance improvements" update if there ever was one; but the people demand more, and I know my history. Some users have reported that Queue Resume doesn't work well, dropping back 20-30 tracks which also *just so happens* to be about the margin of error built into the algorithm (25 tracks). This build increases that margin to 50 tracks.

• The “Use Grouping” setting used to also enable “Shuffle by Grouping” by default, which was causing a fair bit of confusion. I was answering the same email a lot. So that’s been removed: “Shuffle by Grouping” is now a third option in the “Shuffle Mode” setting and “Use Groupings” only affects library navigation.
• Adds haptic feedback to queue reordering.

My public release brings all the bugs to the yard,
And they're like: "Mike, your new app has flaws and you should feel bad. Perfection is attainable, Mike."

This version fixes some exception cases. Most users never experienced them, but don't worry; you're not missing much.