Media connect server piece drains battery - need an 'off' switch
Fred
via web
I use the media connect for playing media on my device as well
as controlling renderers.
The media server I find quite useless, i.e. hosting a media server
on my phone.
I would like to use the player and controller, but disable the
server alltogether.
I especially noticed that the battery is drained once I've used the
player once after booting the device (iphone 4)
It needs a reboot to turn the server off. That should not be the
case.
Please allow an 'off' switch (config option) for the server
part.
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Support Staff 2 Posted by Persona Software on 25 Jan, 2012 05:11 PM
Hi Fred,
Thank you for the feedback. We will plan to add a configuration setting to turn the server on or off.
Thank you,
Persona Software Support Team
3 Posted by Dr J S on 07 Apr, 2012 10:59 PM
I second this - I bought the application because of the client features. I did not know it contained - and certainly do not want - any server features on my phone and would not have purchased it had I known. I wish to disable the server feature altogether - is this possible?
Support Staff 4 Posted by Persona Software on 07 Apr, 2012 11:24 PM
Hi,
You can not currently disable the server(s), but you can prevent any clients from accessing the server(s). In media:connect, select the "Settings" tab, then "Server"->"Automatically allow new clients to connect"->OFF. Also, turn off all existing known clients by selecting the "Server" tab, and turning OFF all clients in the Client Manager.
Thank you,
Persona Software Support Team
5 Posted by Ben on 08 Apr, 2012 05:09 AM
Hi, do the settings you list above actually turn the software off? My suspicion it's still working (and broadcasting) on the network.
Support Staff 6 Posted by Persona Software on 08 Apr, 2012 01:08 PM
Hi,
No, you can not currently disable the server(s), but you can prevent any clients from accessing the server(s).
Thank you,
Persona Software Support Team
7 Posted by Ben on 08 Apr, 2012 01:13 PM
Thanks for your reply.
I'm concerned that because the server is constantly running it's contributing to poor battery life on my phone. Is there an ETA for a fix?
Support Staff 8 Posted by Persona Software on 08 Apr, 2012 02:10 PM
Hi Ben,
The server(s) are idle unless there are active connections, i.e. only if clients are actively streaming content from the server(s). Otherwise the server(s) are passive and idle, and not using more battery relative to the rest of the application.
Also, once you place media:connect in the background, it is suspended by iOS after approximately 10 minutes, so it is not running at all (not even the server(s)), i.e. no impact on battery.
media:connect does request that iOS make the wireless radio active while it is running -- this is necessary as media:connect is a network application. We do believe there is probably a difference in power consumption based on whether media:connect is actively transmitting and/or receiving data over the wireless radio. Therefore, the most likely main uses of battery while running media:connect in the foreground are the Player and/or the Controller. The Player uses battery when streaming from any server on your network. The Controller uses battery when controlling a renderer. These scenarios actively use the wireless radio, which may drain battery more than nothing using the radio.
If you are not using the Player or the Controller, and not streaming anything from the Server(s), then the only remaining use of the wireless radio is active monitoring of renderers on your network. media:connect monitors the state of renderers to track status such as currently playing items, position of playback, volume, etc. This monitoring occurs regardless of whether you initiated any interaction with the renderer(s). This is one area where we feel there is room for improvement -- we are working on better ways for the Controller to be a passive monitor, i.e. let the renderers tell media:connect their status, rather than media:connect asking for their status -- this may provide some benefit depending on the state of the renderer(s). Please note that if you have no renderers on your network, then there is no monitoring activity on the wireless radio, i.e. this only occurs on renderers discovered via UPnP.
Hope you find this information helpful, and we will continue to focus on media:connect's performance relative to power consumption and battery life.
Thank you,
Persona Software Support Team
9 Posted by Ben on 11 Apr, 2012 10:28 AM
Hi,
Thanks for your reply, I appreciate the level of detail you've provided, as well as your frankness around areas you're working to improve.
I look forward a new release, and in the mean time, there is obviously a workaround for the problem. This is a great app :)
Ben.
Persona Software closed this discussion on 12 Apr, 2012 12:57 PM.