API, CLI, RPC, anything over Keyboard shortcuts!

[Xoliul]

I just got Openauto setup in my van. It's nice, it beats other systems with features like Bluetooth streaming and Android Auto.

But I'm really annoyed by the Keyboard shortcuts and it being the absolute only way to control Openauto through script. It's really not a very nice way to work and feels very hacky.
Every other Mediaplayer system I used has better ways to do this:
websocket, rest API and CLI
JSON-RPC

They're all much faster, easier ways to code scripts to interface with the media system, and you don't need root for them (as uinput does).
I'm also quite limited in volume control: I have custom code to interpret encoder movement, with acceleration based on steps over time: this is not possible with simple up or down controls instead of a get and set method for volume. Volume control is just laggy and sloppy compared to how it works in other systems.

Can the devs please look at integrating something like this?

[Daniel_BlueWave]

From our experience, we can say that only minor number of OAP Users will benefit from these kind of solutions.

Nevertheless, thanks for the feedback. We will discuss internally your ideas.

[Xoliul]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Of course you have better insight than me, but i think a relatively large number of people do write scripts for OA? I'm sure they would benefit too, indirectly.
The more you expose in an API, the more power you give to users to create their own scripts for things they are asking for, especially when it comes to getting data out.
For example, many people want screen dimming with screens other than the official one. If you make it possible to get simple data out like idle time, media playing status, if android auto is active, it's much easier for someone to create a script that just dims a simple PWM pin, but is perfectly linked to OA. Saves you time as a developer I'd hope, to focus more on key features.




PS. I am very surprised why my mention and links of other media player builds (and their better control systems) were removed from my post? I checked and there are no rules mentioned anywhere?