Copy / Paste rules

In the tools menu (⌘) there are the 2 commands "Save current rules" and "Load saved rules". They act like Copy / Paste to copy the rules from one playlist (say A) to another playlist (say B). (In the next version of SmartPlaylist they will be named "Copy current rules" / "Paste copied rules" to clarify their purpose).

The rules of a playlist are (only) saved when the query is started with "Enter" (⏎), so that you can always see what is actually "inside" the list. So, if you change the rules and switch to another playlist without using  "⏎", then those changes are not saved.

Corrupted AppStore download

There was / is also a problem some users have experienced: After downloading the latest version of SmartPlaylist (v5.9) SmartPlaylist crashes when opened. The same problem exists also with other apps. The reason for this seems to be corrupted files from the AppStore.
I have submitted a small update (v5.9.1) to Apple more than 10 days ago (fixing sorting after fusion / mix), but it has not yet been published by Apple. They seem to be really busy ...

UPDATE: OK, v5.9.1 has just been published in the App Store. I hope everyone gets a good copy this time.

Problem with iOS 5 and shuffle mode

When you switch to shuffle mode in SmartPlaylist with iOS 5 you might experience some funny effects where the playback stutters (goes on and off). So far I have no explanation for this problem. With iOS 4 it works just fine.

UPDATE: OK, I think I have found a way to prevent this problem. Fix will come soon (v5.9.2)

v5.9: New features

Some more options for the list view:

1. Show the row number (#1, #2, #3, ...)
2. Show "Duration / Time to play": For the song now playing it shows how much time is left to play (e.g. 17 seconds in the example below)
3. Make the first line with normal text and the second line with bold text (or both bold, if you wish)
4. The option to show/hide the artwork is now separate from the row height option (S, M, L), meaning you can now also have large rows without artwork
5. The row height and the show/hide artwork can now be changed/toggled both with the pinch/spread gesture, using 2 fingers: "Pinch" reduces the row height (L > M > S) and toggles show/hide artwork at the smalles height (S). "Spread" increases the the row height and again toggles show/hide artwork at the maximum height (L)

To start playing any song in the list or to play/pause the one playing (blue), just press on the row for half a second. Before, you had to tap on the artwork image, but the new method (long press) also works when you don't want to see the artwork.
In the detail view (single song) you can now also press on the artwork for half a second to start playing the selected title or to play/pause it, if it is already the now playing item. (Tap/double tap and pinch/spread still work to enlarge the artwork).
The greatest new feature is the "⇉ Show all titles with same ...", described in the previous post.

Load all titles with same ...

With SmartPlaylist v5.9 you can navigate from a song to all titles with the same ...

• Genre
• Composer
• Groupings
• Artist
• Album

How:

1. Select a title in the detail view (e.g. the song now playing).
2. Tap "⇉". This opens the "⇉ Load all titles with same ..." dialogue.
3. Pick "Genre = GenreOfSelectedTitle" or "Composer = ComposerOfSelectedTitle" or "Groupings = GroupingsOfSelectedTitle" or "Artist = ArtistOfSelectedTitle" or "Album = AlbumOfSelectedTitle"

Tap on"⇉"

Select where you want to go

On the iPad

SmartPlaylist now creates a temporary playlist "T", which works just like the others (A, B, ..., F/G). From here you can jump yet to another temporary playlist using "⇉". To go back to the original (unchanged) playlist:

• In the list view: Tap on the title on top (e.g. "SmartPlaylist T: 39")
• In the rules view: Use "⏎ Search / Generate list" or "↻ Reload last list" or switch to another list (and then back again)

So, this feature allows you to search by example. You can also use it to drill down from a more general result list. I hope you will enjoy the flexibility this approach offers.