A preview of what's coming in v1.6.0: the first major update in a long time, and the one that brings MusicBee Remote back to the Play Store.

Why this update matters ​

It's been a while. The app was off the Play Store, and the codebase had fallen behind. Over the past year I've been quietly rebuilding things, and v1.6.0 is the result. It's not just a maintenance update. Pretty much every screen was rewritten.

The app looks different now ​

The whole UI was rebuilt with Material 3 and Jetpack Compose, replacing the old XML layouts. If you used the old version, you'll notice immediately. The app feels snappier, the animations are smoother, and it supports both dark and light themes that follow your system setting. Tablets also get a better layout now.

Library browsing is actually useful ​

This was one of the areas that bothered me the most. You can now sort your library by name or artist across genres, artists, albums, and tracks. There's an album grid view if you prefer browsing visually. You can drill down from genre to artist to album, and jump to an album or artist directly from the player or queue. Playlists now support folder navigation too.

Ratings got some love ​

Half-star ratings are in, and you can love or ban tracks on Last.fm directly from the player screen. There's also a new track details view if you want to see the full metadata.

Connection handling actually works ​

This was probably the biggest pain point. The app now auto-reconnects when the connection drops, shows a progress indicator while connecting, and stops cleanly when you disconnect on purpose. The offline state is much clearer visually.

Widget and notifications ​

The home screen widget was rebuilt and should be more reliable. Notifications are better. Library sync now happens in the background with progress updates so you know it's working.

Technical bits ​

For anyone who cares: the app targets Android 16 (SDK 36), migrated from XML layouts to Compose, and replaced a bunch of legacy libraries with modern alternatives. Startup is faster thanks to baseline profiles, and test coverage is significantly better than before.

Long-standing requests finally addressed ​

Some of these have been open for years. Thanks to everyone who reported them and waited patiently:

  • Go to Album / Go to Artist from the player and queue (#155, open since 2018)
  • Playlist folder navigation (#181, open since 2019)
  • Non-album tracks grouped properly (#184, open since 2019)
  • Browse albums by genre (#226, open since 2021)
  • Bomb ratings for Last.fm (#229, open since 2021)
  • Album cover reset fix (#139, open since 2017)

When can I try it? ​

The plan is to have a beta available on the Play Store's open testing channel first. You'll also be able to download the APK directly from GitHub Releases if you prefer. No plugin update needed; the new app works with your existing MusicBee plugin.

Once the beta period confirms things are solid, the app moves to the production channel and MusicBee Remote is officially back on the Play Store.

What's next after v1.6.0 ​

Looking further ahead, v1.7.0 will focus on a protocol update between the app and the MusicBee plugin (v5). This opens the door to a number of features that aren't possible with the current protocol:

  • Sort by year, date added, and rating (#279)
  • Synchronized lyrics (#163)
  • Playlist editing from the app (#225)
  • Queue duration display (#151)
  • Stop after current track (#150)
  • Clear queue button (#131)
  • Artist images in the library (#166)
  • Shutdown timer support (#50)

If you find issues, open a report on GitHub or come chat on Discord. Thanks for sticking around.