I have 3 first gen streamers. They come with all the memos.
I have sent information to the Naim software team.
Given the choice I would rather naim made their app look like something that wasn’t from 2007.
A Vision Pro app would be fun
A lot of snarky replies here. Everyone OK?
Seriously, I think it’s actually a fair request. Naim are behind the eight-ball with the app, both in terms of functionality, and platforms. There should be watch apps and PC/Mac apps.
I dont think software or firmware upgrades or enhancements are Naims thing, it’s always been just adequate rather than innovative so an ios watch app is highly unlikely imo, as an Apple Watch user it would be kinda neat though.
I don’t see a use for the whole app being ported to Apple Watch. That won’t be very usable for me.
A minimal app, with things like:
- What’s playing.
- Basic controls (start/stop, skip, volume).
- Maybe: input selection, favorites. (Stretch goals, beyond minimum viable product.)
For me, this would cover most that would be useful to do on the minimal screen.
Basically something like the iOS widget on the phone.
You are separated from your phone!!!
Do you realise the dangers to which you are exposing yourself? Health and Safety will be on you like a ton of bricks! I’d delete this post immediately and hope that nobody screenshots and reports it.
exactly. basic functionality.
A reminder of basic software development 101, for those who seek to rush to enhancements:
- Make it work
- Make it work well
- Add enhancements [return to 2]
The Naim app has still not completed stage 2, for instance there are design issues in the exception handling code. Since these are in exception handling, not everyone will be aware of them.
@Tony, this is likely to be a contributor to the underlying cause of the symptoms you (and others) have observed.
I tend to agree with this and think this is true for other hi-fi manufacturers as well. The app for my Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 is pretty rudimentary, especially when it comes to accessing local files. Developing apps is not their core business and it shows.
Roon is now my software of choice. Btw, there is an extension available that allows you to control Roon endpoints via an Apple Watch.
Development capacity, priorities, and internal roadmaps should not have to prevent users (which are also the customers here) from raising wishes, demands, and highlighting opportunities for enhancements, improvements, additional features.
And not all of us may (or even: should) know about internal improvemnt backlogs, issue tracking, etc. - unless Naim decided to make this public information and a kind of community approach. (I haven’t seen any signs yet, that they do. It’s pretty black box, so far.)
It’s not on the end user to take over product ownership role; otherwise we’ll all be silent and Naim might think, we are content or don’t see opportunities for improvements.
Raising a wish does not directly affect Naim internal priorities… that’s on them.
My 5 cent, when we’re already into roles and perspectives here.
PS: Naim is of course free to prioritize, i.e. if a few percent of users have a specific use case (like an Apple Watch), it may or may not be worth it to spend development effort on it. And users will have to accept it. Acceptance does not remove the wishes or use cases, though.
In general, the Apple Watch platform is not very successfull with regard to having many and powerful apps.
It is equally my prerogative to request that functional issues be sorted before elective enhancements are made (since this makes sorting the issues more difficult).
It is however, appropriate for me to point out that this is accepted best practice in software development.
No opinion either way on the watch platform, I’d guess (hope) though if there’s enough demand for such a thing then Naim would deliver something.
My main point is that the app is an integral part of the ‘system’ and critical to the pleasure and ease of use of music playback.
As has been mentioned, a proportionate amount of resource should be used in developing/enhancing the software.
Any company in any industry who truly aims (purports) to be world class will realise they will never achieve that status.
Continuous improvement takes effort, it takes an acceptance that improvement is always possible.
Back to the context of the app being integral to the ‘product’, it is as important and fundamental as say the volume control being round the back of the amp, as say no volume control on the remote, as say the ‘l’ and ‘r’ connections being back to front.
My penny’s worth.
A Naim app for the Apple Watch would be great. No downside.
Yes, one could use the phone/tablet app (also works on apple laptops) or a remote control, but why not have a simple watch app to switch songs, control volume, select albums.
Odd that people wouldn’t want this.
Because eg Apple Watch is not on my list of things that I would ever buy, so I would prefer that Naim didn’t waste software dev time and money on such an app.
Further to your point, what percentage of Naim owners use an Apple watch? And how does that compare with the percentage who use a smartphone and/or tablet?
My sense is that Naim should focus first on the controllers used by more of their customers.
I have one, but don’t even use it for Apple Music, Siri is easier! But that’s a whole new level of complication - ‘Hey Norma, stop music on the Nova…’
(Feel free to suggest other names for a Naim voice control)
I have an Apple Watch and personally speaking cannot see any substantial value in having the Naim app on the watch. Others may have a different perspective but that’s mine.