Music Assistant 2.7.0 BETA 0 Release Notes 🎵

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Beta Release Notice ⚠️

This marks the beginning of a new beta cycle for Music Assistant 2.7.0, featuring significant architectural changes, refactoring, and new functionality. Please ensure you have a complete backup of your Music Assistant data before updating.

Due to the extensive changes in this release, we strongly recommend testing in a non-production environment first or at least have a backup ready of your previous version before updating (so you can easily restore to a working situation if something may break for your situation). If you encounter any issues, please report them on our GitHub Issues or join the discussion on Discord.

🎵 New Providers and Features

New Providers

• Radio Paradise - High-quality commercial-free radio with excellent curation by @OzGav in #2295
• Genius Lyrics - Enhanced lyrics metadata provider by @robert-alfaro in #2337
• Podcast Index - Access to the comprehensive Podcast Index directory by @OzGav in #2350
• ARD Audiothek - German public radio's podcast and audio content by @jfeil in #2229
• Resonate - Initial support for the Resonate (working title) streaming protocol by @maximmaxim345 in #2348
• Internet Archive - Access to audio content from the Internet Archive by @OzGav in #2411
• Media Assistant (Roku) - Support for Roku devices via Media Assistant by @MedievalApple in #2332

Major New Features

• DSP Presets - Save and apply custom DSP configurations by @math625f in #2309
• Smart Fades - Initial implementation of the Smart Fades feature: Intelligent crossfading between tracks by @MarvinSchenkel in #2407 with improvements by @marcelveldt in #2433
• Enhanced Spotify Support - Added podcast and audiobook support by @OzGav in #2349 and #2410
• Customizable Announcement Chimes - Configure custom chime URLs for announcements by @marcelveldt in #2403
• Library Sync Controls - New config options to control how library items are synced by @marcelveldt in #2405

Frontend changes

This update brings the first step in the overhaul of the UI !
In next iterations we will go ahead and improve more of the UI, making it easier to use and setup.
Amazing work @Algram @stvncode and @trisweb

• #1074 - DSP Presets (@math625f)
• #1064 - Added 'Now Playing' styling to currently playing album/artist/track in all view modes (@uptimeZERO)
• #1061 - Add interactive breadcrumb navigation to Browse section (@stvncode)
• #1082 - fix: DSP editing bugs with multiple players (@maximmaxim345)
• #1073 - Fix: Prevent player cards from collapsing in slider (@FabionRabushja)
• #1099 - Podcast multi select menu played / unplayed (@OzGav)
• #1105 - Replace mods components (@stvncode)
• #1080 - Refactor button component and remove mods (@stvncode)
• #1107 - feat(home): ui refresh (@Algram)
• #1122 - Improve Multi select favourite (@OzGav)
• #1146 - Some small optimizations to config entries (@marcelveldt)
• #1138 - Add album types (@OzGav)
• #1139 - Hiding the select button in case there's no reason to select items (@robsonke)
• #1123 - Fix groups after the player model refactor (@maximmaxim345)
• #1151 - Fix mobile toolbar and fonts + players features (@stvncode)
• #1137 - Fix lyrics showing timestamps (@OzGav)
• #1150 - First iteration of reworking the settings pages: the providers view (@stvncode)

🐛 Bug Fixes and Enhancements

• Spotify CDN Fixes - Resolved CDN issues affecting playback by @marcelveldt in #2317
• Spotify Refactor - Major refactoring and improvements by @OzGav in #2329
• YTMusic Auto-updates - Automatic dependency updates for stability by @MarvinSchenkel in #2311
• SnapCast State Updates - Fixed broken state updates by @maximmaxim345 in #2305
• Audiobook Chapter Sorting - Sort based on disk number by @jamiethecat in #2302
• Album Info Preservation - Fixed album info being lost for non-library items by @OzGav in #2330
• Podcast Episode Status Sync - Added played status sync for Spotify podcasts by @OzGav in #2408
• Album Type Support - Added live and soundtrack album types by @OzGav in #2406
• Podcast Image Handling - Better handling of missing/broken podcast images by @OzGav in #2435 and #2455
• SoundCloud Recommendations - Added recommendation support by @robsonke in #2275
• Bluesound Native Grouping - Native grouping and external source control by @JoProbst in #2359
• Bluesound multi-zone device Support - Multi-zone device support via MDNS by @Cyanogenbot in #2358
• Audiobookshelf JWT Auth - Modern JWT authorization support by @fmunkes in #2379
• Audiobookshelf Multi-file Seeking - Efficient seeking across multi-file audiobooks by @tsipinakis in #2342
• Improved Lyrics Availability - Better lyrics discovery and caching by @OzGav in #2357
• Album Type Inference - Automatic album type detection for streaming providers by @OzGav in #2420
• Alexa Language Configuration - Configurable language settings by @ChrisBkt in #2432
• Track Grouping Field - Expose grouping metadata for tracks by @cr7pt0gr4ph7 in #2373

Core System Improvements

• Major Player Controller Refactor - Complete overhaul of player management architecture by @marcelveldt in #2249
• Library Query Improvements - Fixed random order and improved maintainability by @maximmaxim345 in #2270
• Cache Refactoring - Major caching system improvements by @marcelveldt in #2430
• Package Installation Fixes - Better handling of dynamic package installation by @marcelveldt in #2318 and pip fallback by @marcelveldt in #2316
• "This Device" Firefox Fix - Attempt to fix disappearing/reappearing issues by @maximmaxim345 in #2271
• Web Player iOS Support - Fixed playback issues on iOS devices by @maximmaxim345 in #2319
• Invalid Replaygain Handling - Better handling of invalid replaygain tag values by @OzGav in #2282
• Queue Handling - Fixed missing file breaks queue by @OzGav in #2341
• Player Settings - Fixed saving of settings on powered off players by @maximmaxim345 in #2383
• Provider Disabling - Fixed issues when disabling player providers by @maximmaxim345 in #2388
• Audiobook Controller Fixes - Various audiobook-related bug fixes by @OzGav in #2412

🏗️ Technical Changes and Maintenance

👥 New Contributors

We're thrilled to welcome these amazing new contributors to the Music Assistant community! 🎉

First-time contributors:
• @jamiethecat - XDG directory support and audiobook improvements
• @math625f - DSP Presets feature
• @jeblair - Home Assistant player fixes
• @tsipinakis - Audiobookshelf multi-file seeking
• @JoProbst - Bluesound native grouping
• @robert-alfaro - Genius Lyrics provider
• @Crooked-Krokr - Setup script modernization
• @jfeil - ARD Audiothek provider
• @tavva - Development documentation
• @cr7pt0gr4ph7 - Track grouping field support
• @MedievalApple - Media Assistant (Roku) provider
• @ChrisBkt - Alexa language configuration

Continuing contributors:
@marcelveldt, @maximmaxim345, @OzGav, @MarvinSchenkel, @fmunkes, @robsonke, @Cyanogenbot, @music-assistant-machine

A huge thank you to all our contributors for their dedication, creativity, and hard work! Your contributions make Music Assistant better for everyone. 💝

Full Changelog: 2.6.0b21...2.7.0b0

We're excited for you to try these new features and improvements!
Remember to backup your data before updating and report any issues you encounter. Happy listening! 🎵