Forum Discussion

renojim's avatar
renojim
Community Streaming Expert
16 years ago

Playing audio from within a screensaver

Since other people have asked me if I can add music to my "Time & Weather" screensaver I thought I'd bring it up here. Now that I've read the documentation ;), I see it's not allowed. I can see reasons why it might not be a good idea, but it there any other technical reasons why it's not allowed?

-JT

10 Replies

  • It's an implementation quirk about the way the screensaver interacts with the active application and routing events and messages appropriately. We took some shortcuts here (including disallowing audio in the screenserver) in order to finalize v2.6 quickly and get it in your hands.

    --Kevin
    • jburnes's avatar
      jburnes
      Channel Surfer

      Do you still not allow audio with screensavers?  Because I have found only one screensaver that offers audio with it and it crashes.

      • renojim's avatar
        renojim
        Community Streaming Expert

        jburnes, I don't think anything has changed.  What screensaver offers audio?  It is possible to play short sound effects, but that's about it.

    • jburnes's avatar
      jburnes
      Channel Surfer

      Kevin, I realize your comment was from 2010 and you probably won't get this, but I have to ask.  If it caused an issue and you shortcut it to be able to get version 2.6 out to the public, what is the reasoning behind not making it happen over the next 15 years?  Does Roku not think there would be a demand? 

      To be honest, I hadn't even thought about it until I saw the one screensaver.  Then it dawned on me that since I have to fall asleep to the TV, a screensaver with white noise or rain sounds or whatever would be a godsend to help keep me from waking up in the middle of the night as I often do.  And I would definitely pay money to have it.  If Roku implemented it, they could allow developers to make them while profiting off of the sales.  As an entrepreneur, this is a no-brainer.  Roku could limit the time frame under which they allow development (in case sales weren't high enough and they wanted to shut it off).  Then, advertise it has a limited time feature (like Taco Bell does when they develop something new to eat).  If it takes off and works for the company on a profitability and logistics basis, then run with it.  If it doesn't, kill it. It really should be as simple as that.  I understand it may be a complex technical problem to solve, but the right people should be able to solve it quickly, if you wanted it to happen.

  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert
    Thanks for the quick response! I can see pros and cons to allowing audio from a screensaver, but I guess it would be nice to have the option.

    -JT
  • when do you expect we can see the audio working Kevin? since that was to get 2.6 out. now that were past that. when do you think we can see being able to add audio.
  • I would suggest looking at the audioapp sample application as an example of creating an application screensaver that can continue playing audio when the screensaver comes on.

    We don't currently have plans to enable audio on the system wide screensaver (the underlying channel may already have the audio hw resources)

    --Kevin
    • Dawnsie's avatar
      Dawnsie
      Newbie

      Wouldn't it be awesome to get audio ??

       

      Fish tank is amazing but no bubbles 😞

       

      Fireplace great...but no crackling 🙂

       

      Etc.

      • jburnes's avatar
        jburnes
        Channel Surfer

        Exactly!  They over here like we'll give you peanut butter but no jelly.  Ham but no cheese. Yin but no yang. Pictures but no sound. Lol