4.4 I believe, last updated July 2019
Indeed. It isn’t without quirks but having used it on multiple devices (mostly Android but also iOS) both ancient and new, I can only conclude most of the issues are network related for others.
I recently switched to other apps for non Naim systems and it was an eye opener. Compared to things like Audirvana, the Naim app is fast, responsive and reliable.
I found that moving wifi to 5Ghz only and switching off the 2.4Ghz band massively increased the responsiveness too.
Then you should update it to 4.7
I’ll give it a go
I mentioned earlier that I haven’t had any problems with my NDS, but possibly it’s partly due to my 1 Gbps download speed, and all-wired Network. I really don’t know.
@Simon-in-Suffolk was saying that speed and bandwidth have no real affect on SQ, but it may help with the connectivity.
The 1 Gbps service cost me $110 cad per month, but I use it for a lot more than just streaming music. All our TV is streamed as well.
Also my NDS firmware is 4.7.
From a similar thread - with similar pain (and frustration)…
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4.7 in particular had a major Tidal fix which was needed because Tidal had made server-end changes which the old streamers couldn’t read. This was introduced ages ago mind, well before Covid anyway.
But you definitely should do the 4.7 firmware update.
Best
David
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Quite apart from.any connectivity issues from app to devices on Android, the UI is full of annoyances and bugs. It’s just not very usable.
The grid view of albums cycles between 2,4 or 6 albums per column. At 2 per column you lose too much screen estate. At 4 per column you see truncated album titles. Why not cycle through showing 3 like most other music apps which allows full album title to be shown?
Naim…
Others…
The app also has a habit of showing artwork for a previously played album, intermittent but repeated. Here you can see I’m listening to Jumbotown but it’s showing artwork for the Silhouettes…
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In its defence, I really like the Naim app. I have very rarely had any issues with it. FWIW I’m also pleased with the n-serve app.
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Well, actually I like the Naim app so much I notice that I use Roon less and less. The app gives me direct access to Internet Radio and TIDAL, which I use most of the time.
Also no issues here with the Naim app on several iOS devices.
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I think this thread is mixing two things. The OP was discussing the UX design, but many are discussing actual problems/bugs.
I suspect Naim, like many companies I should add, don’t employ a UX designer and leave it up to the developers, usually front enders, or graphical designers. Result is often mixed quality and inconsistent behaviour depending on who worked on which bit.
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The iOS Naim app has gradually won me over, partly because it’s free and the fact I have learnt how to use it better, understanding some of it’s quirks.
I certainly didn’t feel this way at the start. You’ve just got to give it time and be patient with its ongoing development.
I tried Roon and I can see why forking out for that might be desired by some, but for me I’m happy to stick with what I’m gradually getting to know.
One thing I really like about the Naim app is that is hasn’t become infected by annoying UI behaviour : popping up to tell me about some great new feature for example.
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I run into the artwork problem too now and then. Solution for me is clear artwork cache and give a reindex on the mediaserver.
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David, thanks for your advice, updated to 4.7, needed anyhow I guess, but problem persists. Frustrating.
I fully agree with the topic starter, the app is simply lagging behind the quality of the Naim gear … my app crashes at least once per day …
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Just as an idea, with Chromecast you don’t need to use the Naim app.
I never use it. Takes to much time to find the phone, then open the app, etc…
With Chromecast you can either stream directly from the Streaming source app (Spotify, Deezer, etc) or you voice control from Google Assistant (“OK Google play Vivaldi on the Nova” or 'OK Google play Radio xxx on the Nova"). I do all by voice command.
This is simply not true. Some issues are network issues, but not all of them by far.
In the OP, none of the issues sounds like network:
- “A long list, showing a preview of 8 for each category (Radio, Artists, Albums, Playlists, Pre-sets). Not particularly task performant or useful. The order seems arbitrary, so finding a favourite is fairly laborious.” Is a UI issue
- “The preview list isn’t particularly helpful, so you end up selecting ‘More’ most of the time.” UI issue
- “The filters UI is very unintuitive and slow (click, scroll, click with some awkward choices on the way).” UI issue
- Etc
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Clearly you’ve not used the Audirvana app then. Compared to that, the Naim app is the Bently of apps.
For whatever reason, I’ve not had the issues mentioned above on multiple devices. I wouldn’t discount the networks ability to trip up the UI but it is true that the app is highly dependent on the UPnP server configuration too. Thinking of images and search functionality here.
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Not sure if this is a reply to me. Whether the Audirvana app is worse is of little consequence to users of the Naim app, and I think we can agree that the Naim app should be good irrespective of how bad the Audirvana app is.
One example from the above, “The preview list isn’t particularly helpful, so you end up selecting ‘More’ most of the time.” This is a consequence of the preview most of the time not showing what you need, so you first need to click More. To get to More, you first need to scroll down. Only after clicking more, you can sort, for example. This is 100% a question of UI design and 0% a network issue.
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