Question Universal Music Widgets

[dishe2]

For those of us who want to run a more standard Android launcher (Nova, oem launchers, etc), what are you guys doing re: music player controls?

I've noticed that car launchers like Agama and Vivid have pretty cool music controls integrated in- whether it is my Bluetooth connection to a phone, Spotify, Amazon Music, YT Music, etc., it displays whatever track information it has (sometimes art too) and universal play/pause/next/prev buttons. I like that.

My Atoto S8 Ultra (uis7862 based unit) comes with a pretty standard launcher. There is a music widget that seems to control just the built in local music player, which I don't like and therefore don't use. It got me thinking, are there any universal widgets that can work the same way the Vivid/Agama/etc launchers handle it?

I found and tried the following so far:
Music Widgets for Car Devices
This seemed promising on paper. I can't get it to switch between sources however, it gets stuck on the last one used even if I clear all open apps. For example, if I had Spotify open, and the next time I drive I want to listen to Amazon Music, it still shows Spotify controls and track information. I have to go into settings for the widget and press OK, only then will it update.
Also, I think I had the Bluetooth track control the very first time I installed it (I was playing music over BT to test it), but ever since I used it with anything else (Spotify, Amazon, etc) it refuses to ever go back to BT control.

Material Music Widget
I like the aesthetics of this one, seems much nicer than the first one. BUT, the trial version only allows you to connect it to a single app player so I can't confirm if it does what I want correctly. I also can't seem to get it to recognize the BT player, I'd imagine if it wasn't designed to be a car player widget it wouldn't be aware of that as an option.

What else should I try? What do you guys use?

 

[mastrv]

I use Poweramp without any widget. The interface allows you to swipe left, right, up and down on the album cover. Very easy and intuitive. I like keeping it open to see the album cover. I have navigation, Waze on the left 2/3 of the screen and Poweramp on the right 1/3. I think it's 2/3 and 1/3 or it could be 3/4 and 1/4...not sure. I usually use the steering wheel controls to switch to the next song and play/pause. I have another button to change source, but I usually don't. I usually listen to the music on my USB stick using Poweramp.

 

[dishe2]

I use Poweramp without any widget. The interface allows you to swipe left, right, up and down on the album cover. Very easy and intuitive. I like keeping it open to see the album cover. I have navigation, Waze on the left 2/3 of the screen and Poweramp on the right 1/3. I think it's 2/3 and 1/3 or it could be 3/4 and 1/4...not sure. I usually use the steering wheel controls to switch to the next song and play/pause. I have another button to change source, but I usually don't. I usually listen to the music on my USB stick using Poweramp.

That doesn't help me though.
I have multiple drivers of my car between my wife and daughter, we use a mix of sources between Spotify, Amazon Music, AA/Bluetooth (because my daughter has her own spotify account she wants to use), etc.
It's annoying to have so many interfaces, I feel like there could/should be one set of "now playing" info on the display, with one universal set of controls for pause/play/next etc.

Agama and other launchers do this correctly, but their UI is too busy and too far from stock for me. I like the stock Android UI better, with the recognizable and colorful icons, but finding a widget like this seems harder than expected.

I am finding the folks at 4PDA made something called Music Proxy which sort of takes over the FYT standard audio player and uses that widget. However, Atoto's built in player widget is kind of ugly, huge, and doesn't even support album art (unlike other launchers that have this built in), I was hoping for a better option.

Suggesting a totally different app (Poweramp) isn't a solution for me personally, although I appreciate the reply.

 

[ardonhs]

Still searching for music widget that can go forward and rewind the tracks

 

[surfer63]

Ubiquity ?

 

[dishe2]

Ubiquity ?

Does that work on our modern Android OS?

 

[surfer63]

Does that work on our modern Android OS?

No idea. I know they used it on the FYT Android 6 Sofia's. I never used it. I had to dig down deep in my memory and then search Google Play Store to find it back.
I guess you simply have to try.

 

[dishe2]

No idea. I know they used it on the FYT Android 6 Sofia's. I never used it. I had to dig down deep in my memory and then search Google Play Store to find it back.
I guess you simply have to try.

I wanted to as soon you wrote it, but it says not compatible with my version of Android.
I could try forcing it via side load but I feel like it might just not work since it says designed for KitKat.

Its a shame because we know it's possible for a widget to do what we are asking but no one has done it.

 

[dishe2]

Meanwhile, thanks to suggestions elsewhere here, I found the music widget updater for Teyes and the music proxy app from 4pda that goes along with it.

It's VERY CLOSE to what I want. It turns the standard FYT music player into a "now playing" universal widget, supports pretty much any media including Bluetooth, and gives play/pause/prev/next controls to whatever is currently playing.
The only problem is that the Atoto oem widget is ugly and still doesn't support album art the way the ones I found above do.
It also doesn't go forward or back in the track like the other suggestion, but I know that isn't compatible with Bluetooth streaming anyway (avrcp support is weak, even in the Bluetooth player screen).

I wish I had more experience with app development so I could try making it myself.

 

[ardonhs]

Do you have link?

 

[dishe2]

WidgetUpdater for Teyes (Demo) - Apps on Google Play

Display title, artist and cover of the track in Teyes widgets

play.google.com

 

[dishe2]

FYI, thanks to a post in another thread, @surfer63 pointed out that Ubiquity widget DOES work if you just sideload the apk, despite the Play Store saying incompatible. I installed mine from here and it seems to work:

https://m.apkpure.com/ubiquity-music-widget/com.jackthakar.musicwidget

The problem is, it STILL doesn't do what I wanted apparently: Give universal controls for all audio playing, including Bluetooth.

It's pretty much the same as the apps listed in the first post - as in, a good universal widget for apps (Spotify, Amazon Music, Youtube, etc). But it still does not recognize Bluetooth audio streaming. For that source of audio, you need to use the Bluetooth app on the radio to see and control what's playing. This is what I'm trying to avoid having to do.

The launchers like Vivid, Agama, etc, can all seem to integrate this into one player control. Even the WidgetUpdater for Teyes app linked above this post seems to get it, but relies on a very poorly designed stock launcher widget that doesn't look right on Atoto's launcher (text is aligned oddly). It's totally possible to get this working, but I wonder what I'm doing wrong.

Is it possible that Ubiquity works with other FYT units and their Bluetooth controls? I know my Atoto has a funny Bluetooth system compared to other FYT radios.

 

[dishe2]

UPDATE:
Vivid Launcher. If you've tried it before and found it buggy, try it again now. It does it perfectly.

A long time ago and it was terrible re: compatibility with FYT (it was made for a different radio type). Tried to do too much customization and fell short, being buggy and freezing a lot.
I just tried it again because I remember their music widget was pretty spot on, and I have to say it seems like they really fixed it up to be more compatible, and the audio controls are now EVERYTHING I WANTED IT TO BE!

It will even automatically switch to Bluetooth audio as a source if you start playing something off your phone, pausing the head unit's playback elsewhere. Before this, if I was playing Spotify locally, I couldn't hear voice notes on my phone unless I switch over to the BT app. With the new Vivid launcher, it will automatically pause Spotify and switch to BT as a source when it detects something is playing there. I can then hit play on spotify again and continue.
And no matter what audio source is active, their music screen acts as a universal widget with controls and titles and even album art if there is any. I'm just so excited to have found this I had to share.

 

[marjanoos]

UPDATE:
Vivid Launcher. If you've tried it before and found it buggy, try it again now. It does it perfectly.

A long time ago and it was terrible re: compatibility with FYT (it was made for a different radio type). Tried to do too much customization and fell short, being buggy and freezing a lot.
I just tried it again because I remember their music widget was pretty spot on, and I have to say it seems like they really fixed it up to be more compatible, and the audio controls are now EVERYTHING I WANTED IT TO BE!

It will even automatically switch to Bluetooth audio as a source if you start playing something off your phone, pausing the head unit's playback elsewhere. Before this, if I was playing Spotify locally, I couldn't hear voice notes on my phone unless I switch over to the BT app. With the new Vivid launcher, it will automatically pause Spotify and switch to BT as a source when it detects something is playing there. I can then hit play on spotify again and continue.
And no matter what audio source is active, their music screen acts as a universal widget with controls and titles and even album art if there is any. I'm just so excited to have found this I had to share.

What kind of phone do you have and what version of Vivid launcher?
I have special version working well with NavRadio+ and when I use my phone that player sometimes changes into BT playing even if there's no music, but for example sound of typing.

 

[dishe2]

I have a Oneplus 10 Pro, and I dunno - whatever version of Vivid is on the play store about 3 days ago!

I just installed the Vivid launcher on my wife's A6 pf (8581a) and none of the bluetooth or phone functions exist, so I guess they turn on / off features when it recognizes certain hardware?

I noticed that mine lags a couple of seconds before switching to bluetooth, so a notification like turning on my phone or getting a message doesn't switch, but anything that plays for 2+ seconds did. So a voice note would cut off the first couple of seconds, but at least I can replay if I need to and still don't need to change the headunit over.
Maybe your kb has too much constant noise so it clicks over?