New Nstream for mu-so (and hopefully all Naim streamers)
Posted by: Pev on 09 September 2014
5 hours since the announcement was posted and no thread??
It seems that an updated version exists which runs on Android as well as iOS with Spotify support and more services to come - hurrah!
But where is it? Not on Play Store as of 8pm BST... hopefully Naim will post a link soon. It's so frustrating to read a review by someone using it. I do want a mu-so for the kitchen though.
If it's being held back until the Muso is out there, then I find this a little disingenuous to current streamer owners. It would not make any difference to the release or orders already placed for the Muso.
I disagree–this is not disingenuous, it is smart software engineering, especially where the Apple App Store is concerned. If you throw the possibility (not confirmed) of over-the-air (OTA) firmware update capabilities into the mix, then it is the only choice.
Nothing about the app's release-hold prohibits existing users' devices to function utilizing n-Stream (which could subsequently be removed upon the new app's release from the App Store - perhaps another mitigating factor?).
There is nothing to suggest in Andrew Everard's review and subsequent postings here that there is a need to do a firmware upgrade, and only that the new app is not 'dedicated' but in fact, works with the current streamers.
That must also suggest that he has had a pre-iOS 8 or android version to play with.
The new app is not going to be called 'nStream' (I assume), so no reason not to keep the current nStream available alongside the new app when released. Who knows, some might prefer nStream? 
So either the release of the app is being held back (for both android and apple versions), for instance if it is not fully ready yet, or they will not release it before the new Muso owners get their machine. In the latter case, that is disingenuous to current streamer owners, who incidentally, have all shelled out more money on their streamer than any new Muso owner 
But if you disagree, then that's fine.
If there is a licensing component for Spotify, both for the app as well as the Mu-so, for example, delaying release until the Mu-so is ready might save some £ - just a guess. There is no indication, of what I'm aware of, of Spotify push-streaming support in the app itself for any Naim streaming device other than Mu-so:
We are working towards introducing streaming services to our wider range of streaming products.
Likewise - if the n-Stream app uses a proprietary framework (e.g., Qt) for some reason, its removal might be hastened, or necessary (except where support of older iOS devices mandates its continued availability).
Andrew
You are probably under a non-disclosure agreement with Naim, but you have broken cover, so to speak on the forums 
, so perhaps you can tell us what 'new' functionality the new app has over nStream?
I have to add that, if the app is fully functioning, why it has not already been released? I can understand the Apple version may still be in a iOS8 queue awaiting approval, but non such hurdle stands in the way of android versions surely?
If it's being held back until the Muso is out there, then I find this a little disingenuous to current streamer owners. It would not make any difference to the release or orders already placed for the Muso.
Unless, of course, they are still adding features at the eleventh hour?
Allen
No NDA at all, but while I have functioning versions of both Android and iOS versions of the new app, both are still betas and still being developed/finalised/tweaked before release. There are still occasional glitches, and at least a couple of times a week there is a new release to address issues.
As for functionality, for now all I can say with confidence is that the new apps both operate all of mu-so's functions and retain back-compatibility with Uniti and ND- network music players, from which I conclude that any major additions of functionality to the existing products may require firmware upgrades to those products.
That's not me being cagey about any insider information, but merely me surmising what I think will be the case - as I said, no NDAs in place here, and now you know as much as I do.
PS: not sure what the comment about 'That must also suggest that he has had a pre-iOS 8 or android version to play with' means, but yes, I had versions of the new app running on iOS 7 and they continue to run on iOS 8, and of course I have been using versions of the existing n-Stream app on iOS devices for a very long time now.
Or maybe I'm missing the point being made...?
PPS: And yes, I am more than happy to continue using the apps without Spotify, as I have only signed up for a premium account under suffrance in order to be able to test the growing number of products making use of the service, and have no use for it in my day-to-day 'leisure' listening. 
PPS: And yes, I am more than happy to continue using the apps without Spotify, as I have only signed up for a premium account under suffrance in order to be able to test the growing number of products making use of the service, and have no use for it in my day-to-day 'leisure' listening.
You and how many other reviewers / developers...? 
Not at all sure, but for me it's an expense without which I could well do - though at least it's a justifiable business expense, I guess. It's just that I have more than enough music to listen to already, and have to admit that most of the time I am writing, as opposed to listening for reviewing, I tend to favour speech radio rather than music.