Why not develop an Android version

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gurtak
Posts: 1

Post by gurtak »

I'll add a thumbs up for an Android version.
wisam
Posts: 1

Post by wisam »

I currently upgraded to Nexus 10 and I have an Older Samsung Galaxy Tab sitting around. Would love to use it for Synthesia. I don't even mind using my Nexus 10 to learn how to play piano. Synthesia would be awesome on the Nexus 10. I can put it on the sheet music stand.
Please develop a version for Android. There are so many people nowadays who own an Android tablet.

I will be more than happy to pay you my money.
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stephenhazel
Posts: 223

Post by stephenhazel »

So tell me how you like that Nexus 10 !
I've been drooling over that thing and am thinking about getting it.

It's got 2560 x 1600 pixels, right?
I bet you could see a HUGE bunch of sheet music on that.

How many lines of text do you get with a regular small fixed width font?
How long does the battery last with doing something tame like, oh, text editing?

Do you think they'll make a dock for connecting more usb lines to it?

(I should quit bugging you and just buy one:)
JunoNH
Posts: 3

Post by JunoNH »

please for the love of god i just spent $600 on a asus tf700t tablet, please make this app so I can learn piano and justify my ridiculous spending!!
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

I'm still looking into it, but so far I don't expect to add any new platforms during 2013. There are a few quirky solutions for getting MIDI I/O working (and even fewer for a MIDI synth). I feel like I just finished solving those problems on the iPad and I'm not looking forward to doing it again.

Desktop users have been waiting a full year now for cool new features. I want to give them some good stuff before I go off in a new direction again.

March-2014 EDIT: We are now planning an Android version to be released sometime during 2014.
JunoNH
Posts: 3

Post by JunoNH »

okey dokey, can you recommend any emulators I could use to enable the ipad version on android

cheers!
JunoNH
Posts: 3

Post by JunoNH »

nevermind! i'm using splashtop to stream it from my server to my tablet. problem solved!
anb
Posts: 7

Post by anb »

Aside latency issues being fixed in latest android versions, there is other reason to actually make a port. For the last year android tablets skyrocketed in popularity and continue to chop away Ipad market share like never before - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21288852
more people are buying android tablets and actually spending money in Play Market, it would be unreasonable to ignore them.
Image

Personally myself, i don't see an urge to buy a tablet generally, however i would gladly do so just for Synthesia alone, as it is very handy to place it on top of the piano instead of using PC. The bad thing is even used old ipad cost at least 300$ (in my country) while same tasks could be done by new cheap 150$ android tablet. I'd rather spend money on my favourite app and it's developer who deserves it, instead of paying for overpriced gadget.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

anb wrote:... it would be unreasonable to ignore them.
That certainly isn't my intent.

The more I investigate the platform though, the more it looks like it simply doesn't have the tools available to bring Synthesia there. Older versions of Android had minimal support for MIDI... and then they removed it.

It is very possible that I missed something, but as far as I can tell there isn't a MIDI synth available and there isn't a standard way to talk to external MIDI devices. If those are true, that kind of leaves Synthesia dead in the water on Android. (For what it's worth, the exact same appears to be true of WinRT, too.)

March-2014 EDIT: We are now planning an Android version to be released sometime during 2014.
anb
Posts: 7

Post by anb »

I am not aware of details how it is implemented, but it is definitely possible one way or another. To prove my point i grabbed some random piano app("Grand Piano") from android market, installed it on my Galaxy S2 (4.1) and hooked it up to a Casio PX-150 via USB cable.. This is what i got:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIHq1UR3CBw

Also, maybe this page can help you https://github.com/kshoji/USB-MIDI-Driver ;)
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stephenhazel
Posts: 223

Post by stephenhazel »

So there was latency goin on there, right?
It was hard to tell.

Specifically, I mean when the real keyboard was hit, the sound came a few ms later.
Or was it instantaneous?

I'm hoping that was due to android audio latency and if it was midi from keyboard to
android back to keyboard, there'd be none? Hopefully?
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

anb wrote:Also, maybe this page can help you https://github.com/kshoji/USB-MIDI-Driver ;)
That page creeps me out. :lol:

I wonder how often "The android Linux kernel must support USB MIDI devices" isn't true these days. Does that vary by tablet manufacturer? By major version? Who can say? hehe.

Homebrew, unofficial drivers with scary sounding requirements are a long way off from support built into the OS. That's the kind of thing where I'd have to shrug and say "Welp, sorry it doesn't work on your device... nothing I can do", which is almost the worst thing I can imagine. To contrast: I know that 100% of every single iPad ever made is guaranteed to work with Synthesia. Pushing a product out the door that might work sometimes is one thing. Providing long-term support for that same product is another.

Supporting every MIDI-capable device made in the last 30 years is already trouble enough. :D

March-2014 EDIT: We are now planning an Android version to be released sometime during 2014.
anb
Posts: 7

Post by anb »

Specifically, I mean when the real keyboard was hit, the sound came a few ms later.
a bit, yes, but it's comparable to windows version via USB
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stephenhazel
Posts: 223

Post by stephenhazel »

Can that app read midi in and send midi out? My main question is if THAT can happen with (almost zero) latency?

If you're only doing midi, I imagine that could happen with close to zero latency.
That app must be handling things as a usb host or something.

Well, once FIRST Robotics Competition season is over, I'm gettin' me a Nexus 10.
The thing may not be able to do midi the way I want it to.
But I'll at least find out for sure.
searchtear
Posts: 2

Post by searchtear »

So late, but better than never
PHIDIAS
Posts: 136

Post by PHIDIAS »

THE APP THAT NICHOLAS SHOULD SEE
VERY SIMILAR TI WHAT SYNTHESIA WORK
BUT MAIN POINT IS THE SOUND
Spoiler:
Screenshot_2014-04-17-21-13-17.png
Screenshot_2014-04-17-21-13-17.png (432.65 KiB) Viewed 12594 times
Screenshot_2014-04-17-21-13-44.png
Screenshot_2014-04-17-21-13-44.png (145.6 KiB) Viewed 12594 times
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Yep, that was the app that proved to me that Synthesia for Android was possible.

When you mention the sound, are you talking about the chorus/reverb effect that it uses?
PHIDIAS
Posts: 136

Post by PHIDIAS »

Nicholas wrote:Yep, that was the app that proved to me that Synthesia for Android was possible.

When you mention the sound, are you talking about the chorus/reverb effect that it uses?
I MEAN WHEN I PLAY THE ACOUSTIC PIANO
The sound was not very nice to me :cry:
I AM TRYING TO RECORD THIS TO YOU.
PHIDIAS
Posts: 136

Post by PHIDIAS »

https://www.dropbox.com/s/df433i3rpyltf ... 5%2018.mp4
THE VIDEO
YOU CAN SEW THE SOUND WAS DIFFERENT
FIRST PART:THE APP
SECOND PART:THE VIDEO I RECORD IN SYNTHESIA IN PC
I PLAY THE SONG IN MOVIE
USING SONY EXTRA FEATURE (XLOUD ,SOUND.... )
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Yeah, the sound is a little bit different between the two. Actually, Synthesia for Android will probably sound a lot more similar (exactly the same?) as the MIDI Karaoke app, assuming they're using the MIDI synth hidden inside the Android OS.

The Synthesia video you have on your phone was recorded using the Microsoft Windows synth, which is a slightly different set of sounds. So it just depends what Synthesia was sending its output to. (It will sound even more different if you have it connected to a keyboard and use that keyboard's sound for output, too.)
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