Any interest in getting a stable Subsonic extension to Emby's API?

[trifleneurotic 54]

Hello all!

This form post is more to take the temperature of an Emby-related open source project that I haven't been updating very much due to just life getting in the way and an upcoming move, but I've been doing a lot more freelance coding lately, and I'd like to try another push to complete an MVP if there might be even a hint of interest.

In short, my project aims to extend Emby's API with Subsonic-compatible endpoints to allow for various Subsonic-compatible clients to leverage it, thus diversifying the clients that one can use to interface with Emby for audio.

However, for all intents and purposes, Subsonic seems like a dead project. It appears that the last version of the Subsonic server came out over four years ago, and although arguably the Subsonic API has become a de facto standard, it isn't being updated at all either.

Still, even though Subsonic may be "dead", it doesn't mean that the API isn't stable, even it has been neglected :)

I currently use Navidrome for local audio although I'd rather just use Emby for everything. That said, I've been quite pleased using Symfonium (Android platform) with Navidrome - Symfonium even supports Emby native APIs.

But of course that is just me. This post is an attempt to gauge if there may even be a smidge of some interest in having a stable Subsonic extension to Emby's API. So if you have any opinion on the matter, I'd love to hear it.

Many thanks!

[Luke 39783]

Hi, from the core team probably not, but a community member could build a plugin to add new api endpoints.

[trifleneurotic 54]

18 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, from the core team probably not, but a community member could build a plugin to add new api endpoints.

Hi Luke!

Yeah, I started my plugin project a while back (link in original post).

I was just throwing a question out there to gauge interest, wondering if it'd be worth it to continue :)

[Shadowking 3]

@trifleneurotic

Totally interested in. I'm going to use SubMusic on my Garmin SmartWatch to sync my personal music. I could setup a Subsonic or Ampache serve but I'd rather use my Emby server.

[Mrbreil 2]

Oh, I'm very, very interested in that.
Already two years ago. https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/95193-improvements-to-emby-in-android-auto/&do=findComment&comment=1022887

I tried to test your plugin.
I tested it on Windows and Linux. Unfortunately it does not work.

I go to the plugin settings page and enter my settings (Port:8095; Name:Music) and save them. When I load the page again, all fields are empty. After a restart all fields are empty.

The debug log says that the plugin is loaded, but nothing else.

I use Emby version 4.7.14.0.
What am I doing wrong?

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<PluginConfiguration xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <LocalEmbyPort>8096</LocalEmbyPort>
  <MusicLibraryName>EmbyMusik</MusicLibraryName>
</PluginConfiguration>

 

[Tolriq 128]

For the record after a lot of work there's now https://opensubsonic.netlify.app/ that is advancing slowly but vastly improve the Subsonic API and the music eco-system.

 

[trifleneurotic 54]

@MrbreilYou did nothing wrong; I was specifically asked a while back to put a release out, so I honored the request even though I told this user it was in no way ready for any kind of "normal" use, let alone any kind of widespread testing. I'm not surprised it didn't work for you - yet That said, I'm really gonna push hard to get an MVP out.

@TolriqI had no idea about work on the OpenSubsonic API project! Thank you for your work on that, and thank you for letting me know. If work is still continuing there, I'll hold off on implementing its extensions/additions until, at the very least, I can get 1.16.1 implemented in EmbySonic, then I can pivot to OpenSubsonic.

Lastly, thanks everyone for feedback! I'll continue to work on it starting today.

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by trifleneurotic
Grammar fixes

[jiggity 35]

I run Navidrome alongside Emby as well, but I would also much rather just run Emby.

I am tentatively interested in this idea.
 

[Tolriq 128]

@trifleneuroticOpenSubsonic additions are backward compatible that's the goal for now. And since Emby already support all the data from the current added stuff (multiple artists, multiple genres, ....) if you directly add support for those you'd motivate even more clients to embrace the new fields, some clients waits for more servers to implement them.

[trifleneurotic 54]

1 hour ago, Tolriq said:

@trifleneuroticOpenSubsonic additions are backward compatible that's the goal for now. And since Emby already support all the data from the current added stuff (multiple artists, multiple genres, ....) if you directly add support for those you'd motivate even more clients to embrace the new fields, some clients waits for more servers to implement them.

@TolriqGot it! OK I can shift an eye towards supporting the new additions/fields in the next release. Thank you!

[Mrbreil 2]

Hello, I just wanted to ask if there is any news about the plugin?

[trifleneurotic 54]

6 hours ago, Mrbreil said:

Hello, I just wanted to ask if there is any news about the plugin?

Hi Mrbriel!

No news at the moment; life & kids have just gotten in the way (in addition to my horrible time management skills lol). That said I have not abandoned the development of the plugin by any means, and I hope to have a release candidate ready sometime in the second half of February.

[Clackdor 87]

Just wanted to chime in as well. I think a plugin for the subsonic API would be amazing! Definitely post back when you have something workable as I'm willing to test it out!

The biggest reason why I have kept my sonic server going is caching music on my phone via dsub and easily browsing by folders. That's about the only thing keeping me from moving my music into emby. Offline playback is a must for me when I'm in spotty reception areas, and manual downloads are too much of a hassle to manage with a large music library.

Subsonic servers and clients have been the best option in that regard as you can just set a cache size and let it do it's thing as you stream. Oldest entries in the cache get cleared once it's full unless you pin them.

Anyways, glad to see your response and look forward to seeing what you're able to come up with!

[trifleneurotic 54]

20 minutes ago, Clackdor said:

Just wanted to chime in as well. I think a plugin for the subsonic API would be amazing! Definitely post back when you have something workable as I'm willing to test it out!

The biggest reason why I have kept my sonic server going is caching music on my phone via dsub and easily browsing by folders. That's about the only thing keeping me from moving my music into emby. Offline playback is a must for me when I'm in spotty reception areas, and manual downloads are too much of a hassle to manage with a large music library.

Subsonic servers and clients have been the best option in that regard as you can just set a cache size and let it do it's thing as you stream. Oldest entries in the cache get cleared once it's full unless you pin them.

Anyways, glad to see your response and look forward to seeing what you're able to come up with!

Absolutely! Will try to keep this thread updated in the intervening weeks.

[Shadowking 3]

Any news on this ?

[trifleneurotic 54]

Hello!

I haven't gotten back to it yet, although - truly - my intent is to do so in the next 2-3 weeks. The massive, overarching reason I haven't gotten back to it is that in the intervening months our family was prepping for a move out of the lower 48 of the USA (including selling our home), and realizing a move to Alaska that we had been planning for years.

We made it. It was & is our dream, and we love it here.

EmbySonic has never, ever been off my radar though; I had no intention of abandoning the effort. But that being said, I don't want to keep the community waiting if someone wants to fork it. Again, I have not abandoned the effort; our family is - finally - actually living in the Last Frontier (and I am currently sitting at my dining room table in AK with a gorgeous view). Things are calming down after several weeks of establishing ourselves and everything that that entails.

Still, I feel apologies are in order for setting expectations that I wasn't able to meet. That is on me, and I'm sorry.

So, the news is there is no news except I hope to start work again ASAP (within the next 2-3 weeks). And when that happens, you can bet I will keep this thread updated, unless someone can move at a speedier pace than me  

[NDF1978 6]

Any forward movement on this project?

[trifleneurotic 54]

On 7/5/2024 at 5:07 AM, NDF1978 said:

Any forward movement on this project?

Hello! I'm the original author of EmbySonic and I've only started banging on it again this week. Having still recently completed a family move, and with work (and my son's birthday earlier this week) I just haven't had time to really sit down and code. Then again, in my head I'm probably making it a big production, as in I am wanting to get a release out in one sitting when I just need to work on it a little bit a day :)

I haven't pushed anything yet but feel free to subscribe to updates for the project: https://github.com/trifleneurotic/EmbySonic  

In the meantime, I'd welcome someone to fork it if they had more time and better organizational skills than myself :D

[Jami324 0]

Hi, very interested in this plugin, would love to see a working product at some point, anything to move away from using the music interface in the emby iOS app

[bennysp 1]

+1 Would love to see this for the same point as above. Would like to get a dedicated music player with Emby on iOS. Jellyfin/Plex both have options for this.

[trifleneurotic 54]

11 minutes ago, bennysp said:

+1 Would love to see this for the same point as above. Would like to get a dedicated music player with Emby on iOS. Jellyfin/Plex both have options for this.

Absolutely & hello there!

I am the OP/developer working on this. And it is funny you mention this! I just got notified about activity on this thread, and if you check my GitHub repo for this project, I've started working on it again after a family move to Alaska in May of last year (with all of the headache, time, money & preparation of selling our old house before that).

Things have settled a bit for us going into the new year, so I am having more time to work on it, and you'll notice some new pushes recently. I am really, really wanting to push this over the line to get an MVP.

My first target is the Subsonic 1.16.0 API spec, with OpenSubsonic after that in short order. Android has some great apps that support both Emby's API & Subsonic directly, but with iOS, since Emby doesn't natively have a Subsonic API layer, you're left with apps that only support Emby's API which aren't all that many.

I'm hoping to open the door to more iOS Subsonic apps with this project so iOS users will have more app choice with Subsonic clients, at least when it comes to their music hosted on Emby. And that would include Subsonic clients running on desktop or wherever :)

[Clackdor 87]

@trifleneuroticGlad to see some activity related to this! I've still been using the kagemomiji airsonic-advanced fork for my music along with dsub on Android to have music dynamically cached on demand. Airsonic is also authenticating against my active directory server (as is emby)

I'd be more than willing to set up a test server and try out the plugin once you make more progress and have something closer to a functional alpha/beta.

[trifleneurotic 54]

44 minutes ago, Clackdor said:

@trifleneuroticGlad to see some activity related to this! I've still been using the kagemomiji airsonic-advanced fork for my music along with dsub on Android to have music dynamically cached on demand. Airsonic is also authenticating against my active directory server (as is emby)

I'd be more than willing to set up a test server and try out the plugin once you make more progress and have something closer to a functional alpha/beta.

Oh that would be excellent! Thank you for the kind offer. I will most likely take you up on that offer to see how it works "in the wild" and make adjustments & fixes to EmbySonic as necessary.

[bennysp 1]

@trifleneuroticHello! Thank you for your efforts on this. I did see your updates in github recently!

[basos 1]

Hello, This would be a very nice as it would increase compatibility.