Hi guys,
I wanted to start a new thread for the huge update we did for our Bluetooth plugin.
Previously, the Bluetooth plugin was only able to pair Bluetooth speakers with the Raspberry Pi to use them as an additional audio output for an instance of Squeezelite, Shairport or MPD. The automatic repairing and simple interface allowed for just one easy configuration with a one-click search of the BT devices, a click on "Reconnect" and the speaker could be used time and again afterwards without any effort.
Now, the Bluetooth pairing is also possible with smartphones and tablets. In the same vein as the connection with a BT speaker would occur, you can now pair and automatically repair your Raspberry Pi 3 with a Bluetooth-enabled device for input. In order to make this possibility worthwhile, especially for users of the Squeezebox Server, we added two distinct options to channel that Bluetooth input through your RPi3.
One is the simple, direct connection with Squeezelite or Shairport; by selecting the "Pulse" feature in both players. This way, the active player automatically selects your primary sound output device (e.g. dedicated I2S sound card) and feeds it with the playback coming from your smartphone or tablet. This allows you to use apps and sound files you might not have been able to put out through your Raspberry Pi before like the Audible App for Android which does not allow DLnA output or a direct output of your voice to use as a PA.
And therein lies the other, even better option to connect your Bluetooth stream to your RPi3. We made a one-click solution that automatically adds a favorite channel to your Squeezebox Server (installed on your RPi3) which will put out the stream from your Bluetooth device to all selected Squeeze players. This enhances the possibilities of a PA solution with your Squeezebox Server even further. You could now easily make an announcement to all your players in the house with your phone. The great thing about this feature is that we added the possibility for the Bluetooth stream to interject itself into the Squeezebox Server once started to automatically play the output of Bluetooth once active (beta update required).
I urge you to check it out, flysurfer has been putting a lot of work into it and is working on enhancing the experience as I write this. Just to prevent the inevitable criticism, we are aware of the limitations of Pulse Audio output. This solution is not intended to replace HiFi sound systems, or AirPlay, or anything for that matter. It is just a great new feature we thought up that has not been done yet in this capacity and was requested by a lot of our users.
You can find the link for the plugin here. For the beta version of the plugin (which we recommend for full use of the new features), either change the "currentversion" to "beta" or add the plugin normally and make a beta update afterwards.
I wanted to start a new thread for the huge update we did for our Bluetooth plugin.
Previously, the Bluetooth plugin was only able to pair Bluetooth speakers with the Raspberry Pi to use them as an additional audio output for an instance of Squeezelite, Shairport or MPD. The automatic repairing and simple interface allowed for just one easy configuration with a one-click search of the BT devices, a click on "Reconnect" and the speaker could be used time and again afterwards without any effort.
Now, the Bluetooth pairing is also possible with smartphones and tablets. In the same vein as the connection with a BT speaker would occur, you can now pair and automatically repair your Raspberry Pi 3 with a Bluetooth-enabled device for input. In order to make this possibility worthwhile, especially for users of the Squeezebox Server, we added two distinct options to channel that Bluetooth input through your RPi3.
One is the simple, direct connection with Squeezelite or Shairport; by selecting the "Pulse" feature in both players. This way, the active player automatically selects your primary sound output device (e.g. dedicated I2S sound card) and feeds it with the playback coming from your smartphone or tablet. This allows you to use apps and sound files you might not have been able to put out through your Raspberry Pi before like the Audible App for Android which does not allow DLnA output or a direct output of your voice to use as a PA.
And therein lies the other, even better option to connect your Bluetooth stream to your RPi3. We made a one-click solution that automatically adds a favorite channel to your Squeezebox Server (installed on your RPi3) which will put out the stream from your Bluetooth device to all selected Squeeze players. This enhances the possibilities of a PA solution with your Squeezebox Server even further. You could now easily make an announcement to all your players in the house with your phone. The great thing about this feature is that we added the possibility for the Bluetooth stream to interject itself into the Squeezebox Server once started to automatically play the output of Bluetooth once active (beta update required).
I urge you to check it out, flysurfer has been putting a lot of work into it and is working on enhancing the experience as I write this. Just to prevent the inevitable criticism, we are aware of the limitations of Pulse Audio output. This solution is not intended to replace HiFi sound systems, or AirPlay, or anything for that matter. It is just a great new feature we thought up that has not been done yet in this capacity and was requested by a lot of our users.
You can find the link for the plugin here. For the beta version of the plugin (which we recommend for full use of the new features), either change the "currentversion" to "beta" or add the plugin normally and make a beta update afterwards.