Problem with OoTunes

I've noticed that the OoTunes dev hasn't seen fit to update their app in quite some time, October 14 2011 according to the version history. A lot of apps suffer compatibility issues with new iOS versions. As a result, I think this could be what's happening to you.

At some point, I noticed that OoTunes would no longer respond to an Apple compatible remote's play/pause button. Heck, it doesn't even respond to the lock screen's play/pause button. I know it's just OoTunes because I have more specialized radio streaming apps to make premium streaming of di.fm and radiotunes.com easier, since OoTunes has never supported HTTP authentication, and both the specialized apps respond as expected (within the app's capabilities) to the play/pause command.

I'd be interested to know if anyone can recommend a well maintained app with similar functionality to OoTunes. In particular, the ability to pause a live stream and seek through it, a station directory including the streams for standard AM/FM stations from around the world, and the ability to enter a stream URL that isn't in the directory.

Someone suggested Tunein Radio as an alternative to me. It may be worth trying if you want an internet radio app that has been recently updated. They have free and paid versions.

Recently I wrote to Steve, AKA the Oo tunes nerd as he calls himself. He has indicated that Oo tunes is kind of in limbo at the moment. A lot has happened since the last update so he has to play all kinds of catchup, so if an update is coming it's not likely to be for a while yet. he did say that the possibility still does exist though, so I told him that I would be glad to help him beta test, and I told him that there is a whole huge audience of blind users who are ready, willing and able to send comments and suggestions too. So hopefully, he'll update the app sometime soon. I do agree with the previous poster, TuneIn radio is frequently updated, and it has the kind of functionality people are wanting as far as skipping back and forth. So that might be worth getting. The database of stations isn't as big as oo tunes is, but it is being updated. So if you want a stream to be officially supported in Ootunes, write to Steve and let him know. I had a stream added and working in about half an hour's time.

Its great news that OOTunes might be getting updated. I have noticed that the app developer failed to update it and the fact that he is so far behind is partly his fault. I would imagine if the app was regularly updated, then it wouldn't be as bad. Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I've been pretty frustrated with this app developer and not keeping the app more up to date.

I understand the frustration too, but remember, at the end of the day, this app isn't his main source of income. He's a family man, and sometimes, regular life gets in the way of updating things. He's one of these guys who wants to put out an update when it's up to his standards. I mean, think of it...if he puts out an update and it's buggy and crashes all the time, he'll have the entire userbase of Oo tunes yelling at him to fix things. So he wants to wait until he can get some time to do it right, and so far, the opportunity hasn't presented itself. But once he does, I'm willing to help, and I'll bet you others on here are willing as well.

On my iPad Air, ooTunes works just fine under iOS 8.1.1. It is true that the controls within Control Center don't work, but I don't think they ever did. The controls within the app itself work as expected, and I can jump back and forward 30 seconds just fine, as well as pause and unpause. The media keys on the Apple Wireless Keyboard also work to control ooTunes. This was tested with live radio streams.

Having said all that, I agree that the app is in sore need of an update, and I really hope it gets one, because it is the best app I've found for streaming internet radio stations. I've tried TuneIn before, and though the app worked well enough, there were too many stations I was interested in that were not available from TuneIn, either because they weren't in the database or they were marked as protected and therefore couldn't be supported. By contrast, ooTunes had access to nearly every station I wanted, and the developer added the two missing stations the day after I wrote in to tell him about them.

I believe ooTunes has a setting that controls what happens when skipping forward or backward, so if the buttons aren't doing what you expect, you might check the app settings and see how that is configured. Perhaps changing the setting to something else might resolve the issue, for those who are having issues.

The Control Centre functions work fine in iOS 6, which I'm forced to use on my 3GS. Happiness.