System information

Since I started using the Aurender iPad app in 2011, stability has been very good.
Capability without complexity is critical. An app must have most of the features users want but mustn't be
overly complex. What good is a professional digital audio workstation as a home music server? All the
capabilities for playback are there, but the level of complexity very high and the learning curve is way too
steep. The Weiss Engineering MAN301 network player has a long list of capabilities, but the user manual is
197 pages of required reading. I was unable to use the MAN301 without reading the manual. The Aurender
iPad application is very capable and easy to use without instruction. Mastering all the ins and outs of the app
requires a few quick tips from someone in-the-know such as a dealer, but general use of 99% of the
capabilities is easy and intuitive. The Aurender iPad app features several different styles of browsing one's
library such as by Artist, Album, Genre, Song, Composer, Conductor, and even by folder. Users can also
create folders on the Aurender's drives that appear across the top of the iPad app. For example I have all
my DSD content in a DSD folder on HDD2. The iPad app displays a button titledDSD, that when tapped
displays only the content in that folder. The display isn't folder-like at all rather it shows the album covers,
album title and artist name. Since the beginning days of the Aurender iPad app it has featured press and hold
capability. When a user presses a finger on an item such as an album, a popup menu appears with options.
The Aurender press and hold options include Play Now, Play Random, Replace Queue, Add To Next, Add To
End, Show Album Cover, Artist, Album, and Add to a playlist among others. Press and hold capability
decreases complexity greatly. It surprise me every time I use an app without this capability. Selecting an
album or track, then finding how to accomplish the task at hand via a button somewhere (add to next, etc...)
or to find out the capability is missing because of lack of GUI space, is preposterous in 2014. It was almost
preposterous in 2011. Press and hold with the "correct" amount of options is mandatory for apps to be in the
top tier of capability without complexity. The Aurender app is great but it isn't perfect. One complaint I have
with the app is its inability to edit metadata. After ripping or downloading files to the Aurender I often notice
little errors such as artist name misspellings, incorrect capitalization, or a missing album title identifier
(DSD64, 24/96, etc...). I add this identifying information to the titles of my albums to make differentiate
between several versions of the same album much simpler. I would love the metadata editing capability built
into the Aurender iPad app. I could simply edit all this information right from an iPad. Currently I open JRiver
Media Center on my Mac or PC to edit this information on the W20. Editing metadata isn't rocket science. I
wish the Aurender had this capability.
Visual aesthetic that serves the end user by increasing functionality is critical. Technology must serve the user
of said technology. Too often geeks, techies, or companies, without knowledge their end users, create
applications that are beautiful but this beauty serves no function needed by the end user. For example, Apple
used to feature Cover Flow in its iTunes application. In a world with hundreds of millions of iTunes users I'm
sure one or two people actually used this feature for more than a week, but it was worthless. Apple used this
technology for technology's sake. Cover Flow was a solution in search of a problem. It was aesthetically
pleasing for sure, but was also a functional nightmare for browsing more than 100 albums. Aesthetics that
serve functionality can be as simple as a user interface color that is easy to read and doesn't shock one's
pupils when viewed in the dark. The Aurender iPad app is visually very nice and serves the end user well. For
example, the letters of the alphabet along the right edge of the screen are very subtle and are only
highlighted when in use. This helps keep the user's mind on music rather than a cluttered interface
resembling an Excel spreadsheet. The Aurender iPad application features a slide-able window to view album
covers yet still view the queue. When visible this window enables easy selection of music in one's entire
collection or the limited number of tracks in the queue. This same slide-able window covers up lesser used
controls, buttons, and metadata yet these features remain easily accessible with the flick of a finger. This
visually pleasing sliding window serves functionality. One item within the app that appears to serve no
purpose but to delay the users' navigation is the "spinning" of album art and "page peel" when viewed in full
screen mode. For example, when tapping the currently playing album's cover image in the upper left corner
of the app, a full screen image of the cover art appears. On this screen the user can switch to view the queue
in full screen but after tapping the button the entire window either spins around 180 degrees or does the
PowerPoint-like page peel effect on its way to displaying that which the user selected. This is using
technology just because one can. My biggest problem with the Aurender iPad application is its lack of high
resolution thumbnails for all the album art. I mainly browse my entire collection by scrolling through the
album view within the app. The small cover art images in this view are less than good. Much of the text on
album covers is illegible, not because it is too small but because of the amount and type of image quality and
file size reduction used by the Aurender app. A visually appealing cover image in high resolution enables
easier recognition of specific items such as an Analogue Productions logo or Mobile Fidelity stripe identifying
an Original Master Recording on top of the album cover. Plus, looking at pixelated images in 2014 on an iPad
more powerful than many computers ten years ago can really enhance one's experience with an audio system
as a whole. An example of high resolution thumbnails done right can be seen in the JRemote iPad application