1037460 - [FMRadio] 2.2 FM Radio Visual Refresh

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox OS Graveyard :: Gaia::FMRadio, defect, P1)

Description

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

FM Radio Visual Refresh.

Comment 1

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

Attachment: 2.2_VsD_Gallery_Edit_Spec.pdf

Hi Pavel, 

I've attached the VSD spec for the FM Radio refresh. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Thanks!

Comment 2

[Michael Wu [:mwu]]

Some comments:

- Looks pretty!
- Will the favorites list work ok on stations that don't report a station name? Some phones also lack the ability to receive station information, though we can detect this and handle the UI different in that case.
- Many stations abuse the station name to scroll text and show song name/artist/lyrics/etc. To support this normally, the station name has to be monospaced. (The broadcasters assume a cheap 8 character LCD display.) In theory we could try something clever to undo the scrolling, but I'm not sure how well that would work.
- It's rare to get stations that tell us exactly what the artist name and song name is. Usually we get that information as a string up to 64 characters long that's formatted by the broadcaster (Radiotext). This string contains whatever the broadcaster feels like putting in. It often includes the artist name and song name, but we usually have no way of knowing. Also, since it's 64 characters long, it can be a wider than the app.
- Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get a station that tells you exactly what the artist name and song name is. This can take a while to receive though. Radiotext can also take some time to receive.
- Should the lock screen contain FM information like the music app?

Comment 3

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

(In reply to Michael Wu [:mwu] from comment #2)
> Some comments:
> 
> - Looks pretty!
> - Will the favorites list work ok on stations that don't report a station
> name? Some phones also lack the ability to receive station information,
> though we can detect this and handle the UI different in that case.
> - Many stations abuse the station name to scroll text and show song
> name/artist/lyrics/etc. To support this normally, the station name has to be
> monospaced. (The broadcasters assume a cheap 8 character LCD display.) In
> theory we could try something clever to undo the scrolling, but I'm not sure
> how well that would work.
> - It's rare to get stations that tell us exactly what the artist name and
> song name is. Usually we get that information as a string up to 64
> characters long that's formatted by the broadcaster (Radiotext). This string
> contains whatever the broadcaster feels like putting in. It often includes
> the artist name and song name, but we usually have no way of knowing. Also,
> since it's 64 characters long, it can be a wider than the app.
> - Sometimes, if you're lucky, you get a station that tells you exactly what
> the artist name and song name is. This can take a while to receive though.
> Radiotext can also take some time to receive.
> - Should the lock screen contain FM information like the music app?

Hi Michael,

To answer some of your questions:

1. Will the favorites list work ok on stations that don't report a station name? Some phones also lack the ability to receive station information, though we can detect this and handle the UI different in that case.

Is it possible to have default text if there is no station name? So it could just say "Station"

2. Many stations abuse the station name to scroll text and show song name/artist/lyrics/etc. To support this normally, the station name has to be monospaced. (The broadcasters assume a cheap 8 character LCD display.) In theory we could try something clever to undo the scrolling, but I'm not sure how well that would work.

Does that mean we would have the station name, song, artist all on one line that scrolls? If you undo the scrolling, what happens to the additional info?

- It's rare to get stations that tell us exactly what the artist name and song name is. Usually we get that information as a string up to 64 characters long that's formatted by the broadcaster (Radiotext). This string contains whatever the broadcaster feels like putting in. It often includes the artist name and song name, but we usually have no way of knowing. Also, since it's 64 characters long, it can be a wider than the app.

If we can have this portion as scrolling then it could accommodate long strings. Would that mean we potentially would have two scrollling lines of text? That might be a bit much.

- Should the lock screen contain FM information like the music app?
I think this would be a nice to have since currently lockscreen doesn't display any FM info. I doubt we could add this in for 2.2 due to our limited timelines but let's keep this feature in mind for 2.3 possibly.

Comment 4

[Michael Wu [:mwu]]

(In reply to Amy Lee [:amylee] from comment #3)
> 1. Will the favorites list work ok on stations that don't report a station
> name? Some phones also lack the ability to receive station information,
> though we can detect this and handle the UI different in that case.
> 
> Is it possible to have default text if there is no station name? So it could
> just say "Station"
> 

Definitely doable.

> 2. Many stations abuse the station name to scroll text and show song
> name/artist/lyrics/etc. To support this normally, the station name has to be
> monospaced. (The broadcasters assume a cheap 8 character LCD display.) In
> theory we could try something clever to undo the scrolling, but I'm not sure
> how well that would work.
> 
> Does that mean we would have the station name, song, artist all on one line
> that scrolls?

Yes, on the stations that do this. It's not a html marquee style scroll though. It's a rough character by character scroll. If you imagine a 8 character LCD display, it could look something like:

[       P]
[      Pi]
[     Pin]
[    Ping]
[   Pingu]
[  Pingui]
[ Pinguin]
[Pinguin ]
[inguin R]
[nguin Ra]
[guin Rad]
[uin Radi]
[in Radio]

Since many stations shift in one character at time, we can detect it and "undo" the scrolling. Not guaranteed to work though - I've also seen stations that display one/two words at a time instead of scrolling.

> If you undo the scrolling, what happens to the additional info? 

Not sure what you mean.

> - It's rare to get stations that tell us exactly what the artist name and
> song name is. Usually we get that information as a string up to 64
> characters long that's formatted by the broadcaster (Radiotext). This string
> contains whatever the broadcaster feels like putting in. It often includes
> the artist name and song name, but we usually have no way of knowing. Also,
> since it's 64 characters long, it can be a wider than the app.
> 
> If we can have this portion as scrolling then it could accommodate long
> strings. Would that mean we potentially would have two scrollling lines of
> text? That might be a bit much.
> 

Yeah, it is a bit much. And I have seen stations that actually have long radiotext strings plus scrolling station names. Radiotext strings also sometimes include the station name. FWIW Radiotext lines can specify line breaks, though I'm not sure if that's actually used.

Comment 5

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

Hi Michael, 

I think if we are able to disable the scrolling for the station name and just have the bottom line scroll that would be ideal. Even if we end up having the radio station name appear twice if the station decided to include it in the Radiotext I don't think it would be a huge issue. Going to NI Jacqueline from UX for feedback on radiotext display. 

Thanks

Comment 6

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

Attachment: now_playing.svg

Now playing icon

Comment 7

[Amy Lee [:amylee] UX]

Attachment: Tuner_Needle.svg

Tuner needle

Comment 8

[Jacqueline Savory [:jsavory] UX]

I definitely think that having two scrolling strings will be a bit much. I agree with Amy, that having the title of station be stationary and the second line (which is hopefully the artist or song title) scrolls underneath. I think its better to have a potentially repeated title than too many moving parts.

Comment 9

[Michael Wu [:mwu]]

FWIW we don't get much of a choice with the station name. It is what it is. In some cases we can try to undo the scrolling, but there will be many other cases where we can't - there are stations that don't scroll, but change the entire station name every second or so to new words. This is what you'll have to work with. I think it'll make more sense if you can play with it on your device.

Comment 10

[BMO Automation]

Firefox OS is not being worked on