Okay so let me say first that google music beta has made my music life a million times easier, it saves me space on my mem card an things like that. So, my question is, if I turn the "temporarily cache music" choice off in the settings, how much data does google music still use? Because I recently changed my plan to 200mb limited data usage, an I wanted to know whether or not turning off the cache still made the phone use data to stream, thanks so much in advance XDA
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Hi there,
Here is a data usage calculator tool:
"t-mobile.com/Tools/MBCalculator.aspx"
If you stream 30 minutes of music every day in a 30 day billing cycle your total usage would be roughly 900MB. There are 1024MB in every 1GB to put it in perspective. Streaming video and music is not recommended for plans under 2GB. On limited plans, it is a good idea to connect to wifi as much as possible.
Hope that helps!
I really only stream music at home (using wifi) and I have my favorite music on my memory card (for on the go). I can't thank you enough for replying to my post! And yes it helps greatly! I cut the data plan down because I needed a load off on the bill (most economic thing to do), so thank you once again
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App
Glad it helped,
I realize I did not address your question about the caching feature:
Weather or not you enable caching, data is still being used to stream your music from the google server. However, by turning caching on (which is turned on by default on the android app) your phone stores memory of recently played music files. This means that without connecting to a data network you can still play some music.
Better yet, you can choose specific songs to be cached to your phone by opening the google music application and long pressing on a song. From there an option should pop up that says "Available offline" and you can check the box. Just make sure to cache the songs you want while your on wifi because the act of caching does use data.
Once cached you can play those specific songs back anytime w/out using any data!
blastindamusic said:
Glad it helped,
I realize I did not address your question about the caching feature:
Weather or not you enable caching, data is still being used to stream your music from the google server. However, by turning caching on (which is turned on by default on the android app) your phone stores memory of recently played music files. This means that without connecting to a data network you can still play some music.
Better yet, you can choose specific songs to be cached to your phone by opening the google music application and long pressing on a song. From there an option should pop up that says "Available offline" and you can check the box. Just make sure to cache the songs you want while your on wifi because the act of caching does use data.
Once cached you can play those specific songs back anytime w/out using any data!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi I recently downloaded Google music and I transferred my songs to my device, and I made those songs available offline, so if I set my Google music app to offline will I still he charged for using data if I'm only playing the songs I set for offline use?
just turn the setting on that says "Stream over Wi-Fi only" to be on the safe side
Related
I saw a thread somewhere on this but there was no real conclusion at that point and I can't find it again via search.
This is my first Android device. Every phone I've had has installed software for my PC to transfer music over to use on their music app but that isn't the case here. I can only get into file browser. I'm not a fan of copying and pasting files via file browser as I like album images etc.
Any advice?
b33p_ said:
I saw a thread somewhere on this but there was no real conclusion at that point and I can't find it again via search.
This is my first Android device. Every phone I've had has installed software for my PC to transfer music over to use on their music app but that isn't the case here. I can only get into file browser. I'm not a fan of copying and pasting files via file browser as I like album images etc.
Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's up with windows mediaplayer?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
i know this isn't the answer that you're looking for but if you embed album art in the music files themselves then you are no longer tied to using any particular piece of software to copy music. you can use copy and paste or any other software knowing that your music is always complete with album art.
the downside of course is that you have to tag all of your files properly complete with album art. if you want to do this i would take a look at mp3tag.de which is free. i think media monkey can do this automatically too ...
if you don't, have you tried using the provided kies software ? once you actually get it up and running it's not too bad ...
mrdo said:
if you don't, have you tried using the provided kies software ? once you actually get it up and running it's not too bad ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im connecting it to the PC in the two modes the phone allows. Kies says neither are the right mode to connect. I probably look stupid right now but how the hell does this work?!
Just copy and paste a folder of music onto the phone with the album art in the same folder as the music, that seems to work for me !
if you want a nice easy interface try kies air, you will get the interface without having to load any software onto your computer, (it's really cool)
Kies Air doesn't work either. I wonder if this is because I rooted yesterday.
Im not sure if you're aware of this but most popular media player software would have embedded the album art in the mp3 itself when it was tagged. Album art is often also added to the folder outside of the mp3s just so that the folder icon will show the art. It isnt however needed with most modern players as they are capable of using the embedded artwork.
when using kies air, don't just type the ip into your computer browser eg 192.168.43.1 but also the port number so it looks like this
192.168.43.1:8080
and hit enter.
Make sure both devices are sharing the same wifi network, if you are away from home then let the SGS set you up a network by choosing Wifi HOT SPOT mode.
PS when out and about using hot spot mode you will also be able to browse the internet from your laptop, the data will come out of your allowance on your mobile phone contract
Me its always been cut and paste .
jje
Have you tried syncr from the market basically it allows you to transfer playlists in your itunes library, which for me came as an advantage cause been using iphone for the last couple of years so I just transfer new songs into my itunes and use syncr to transfer the playlists to my phone. U can also wirelessly transfer tracks using syncr which means you can be out and about in the house whilst syncr is doing its job.
marvi0 said:
Have you tried syncr from the market basically it allows you to transfer playlists in your itunes library
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use iTunes so I haven't tried it
ice_coffee said:
when using kies air, don't just type the ip into your computer browser eg 192.168.43.1 but also the port number so it looks like this
192.168.43.1:8080
and hit enter.
Make sure both devices are sharing the same wifi network, if you are away from home then let the SGS set you up a network by choosing Wifi HOT SPOT mode.
PS when out and about using hot spot mode you will also be able to browse the internet from your laptop, the data will come out of your allowance on your mobile phone contract
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, Kies air is working today! Thanks for your help. Interface is kind of crappy but I came from a SE Satio so my expectations are low, I'm perfectly happy! I hope the Music app on the phone is good although I know WinAmp is good.
I came from an iPhone so everything was on iTunes. I still use iTunes as I find some things easier to manage e.g. automatic import & the remote controls you can buy work well with it. It is a terrible piece of resource hogging software however.
I moved to MediaMonkey and used that to sync both iPhone and Android. It's very easy, just identify which playlists, albums, artists you want to sync and plug in.
Recently I've been using Winamp to wirelessly sync. It's convenient but without as many features as MediaMonkey.
If you are lucky enough to get an invite into the google music beta (i was lucky enough to get one) you can have it upload everything into the cloud from your iTunes library (or a music folder if your choice) and have access to it over any of your android devices. But before this I just dragged and dropped all my music from my computer over to my phone which worked fine.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
brandenk0 said:
If you are lucky enough to get an invite into the google music beta (i was lucky enough to get one) you can have it upload everything into the cloud from your iTunes library (or a music folder if your choice) and have access to it over any of your android devices. But before this I just dragged and dropped all my music from my computer over to my phone which worked fine.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that USA only?
b33p_ said:
Isn't that USA only?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my bad. Sorry I keep on forgetting the US restriction. :/
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
b33p_ said:
Im connecting it to the PC in the two modes the phone allows. Kies says neither are the right mode to connect. I probably look stupid right now but how the hell does this work?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can't connect to kies via USB, go to you Settings > Applications > USB Debugging and switch it off.
You have to switch it back on if you want to usethe phone as USB mass storage.
I just end up dragging and dropping it into the sd card
I'm using Winamp via WiFi and it works greate, Winamp also can convert all files to a different codec like HE-AAC (MP4). But then my phone doesn't show the embedded album art - it just shows it at MP3-files. (does somebody has a workaround for this? Does it work to put a folder.jpg into the album-folder?).
You could enable usb debugging, doing so gives you access to the sd card when connected to a pc. At least, mine does.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SII with XDA Premium
Mediamonkey
One word: Mediamonkey.
Mediamonkey organizes all your music easily and allows for easy tagging from amazon, embedding of cover art into the file tag etc. I've used it for years now and there is no way around this if you want to manage a lot of tracks and stay sane. And here's why it's good to use with your phone:
It's not a massive resource hog as iTunes.
It lets you specifiy which subdirectory you want your stuff to be placed on the device, and how files and folders are to be named based on tag info.
(Mine usually goes into "\Music\<Album Artist>\<Album>\<Title>".)
It allows you to set up automatic sync of playlists or folders or whatever you set up. This can also be done automatically once the device is connected. I.e. my device will have all tracks in my auto-playlist "higher rating than 2.5 stars" automatically synced once connected. It will only transfer new files rated >2.5 stars to the device, not all the tracks again.
No need to copy only the tracks you want on the phone from your library to a "watched" folder that Kies or HTC Sync or whatever will automatically transfer. Simply pick the tracks you like and select Send To>Phone>Sync. Bam!
Of course, you can also sync individual files to your device from Mediamonkey.
It's simple and straightfoward. I am still wondering why there are so few people around knowing about this much better alternative to itunes in the Windows space...
Sorry if this sounds like a cheap ad... but it is the only one tool you need for organizing and playing music you need.
I was checking my battery status in settings and noticed Media Server has taken 56% of my battery, and has caused my phone to stay awake for over 18 hours and has almost 5 hours of CPU time. I have been getting over a days worth of battery with 4-5 hours of screen on time, I am currently at 22 hours with only 1.5 hours of screen on time. I don't see a way to stop it from running in Application Manager.
Is there a way to stop this process from keeping my phone awake? Is this connected with any particular application, or called something else in Application Manager?
I'm having the same issue as well.
I've seen it take a decent chunk more than once. Only like 15% at max so I'm not doing nearly as bad though. I'm curious about what it is exactly as well.
flaring afro said:
I've seen it take a decent chunk more than once. Only like 15% at max so I'm not doing nearly as bad though. I'm curious about what it is exactly as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have always noticed it on my list, but it was never a huge drain on the battery. Like you said in the 15% range, all of the sudden though it just jumped up to over 50%. I can't think of an application I have used to make it use such a huge chunk of my battery.
So I went back into Application Manager and noticed under the Running tab that there was a "Show cached processes" option in the top right corner. Under that there was a Media application listed that uses the "android.process.media" process. Any chance that this could be related to the Media Server, or am I heading in the wrong direction?
I have recharged and restarted my phone, and Media Server is back down to 6% after discharging for 5 hours. I would just like to know what I possibly did to make my battery drain so quickly. I haven't watched any movies or videos and Pandora is the only time I listen to music on my phone.
According to my research, the media service covers scanning your internal and external sdcards for media files, including music, pictures and videos. If one file is corrupted in some way, it can cause the service to hang. That said, mine was doing the same thing. There's an app on the play store called Media Rescan Root that blocks the service at boot. The stock media player, player pro, and probably others use the media service to find new songs added to the sdcard. I switched over to PowerAmp which does its own search which doesn't hang like that. That's what I reccomend.
Sent from my GN2 using XDA Premium HD app
Do you have Drive installed?
I had the same issue with media server eating up about 60% battery. I have Google Drive installed and have around 1gb data in it. In accounts my sync settings were set to always sync Drive. I unchecked this and the media server issue seemed to have been resolved.See if this helps you.
_paradox said:
I had the same issue with media server eating up about 60% battery. I have Google Drive installed and have around 1gb data in it. In accounts my sync settings were set to always sync Drive. I unchecked this and the media server issue seemed to have been resolved.See if this helps you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unchecked media sync, and put back in my SD card, which has about 12 gb of music on it. Within 10 minutes, the media scanner jumped from .02% to 12%, so this didn't seem to make a difference for me.
TallgeeseIV said:
According to my research, the media service covers scanning your internal and external sdcards for media files, including music, pictures and videos. If one file is corrupted in some way, it can cause the service to hang. That said, mine was doing the same thing. There's an app on the play store called Media Rescan Root that blocks the service at boot. The stock media player, player pro, and probably others use the media service to find new songs added to the sdcard. I switched over to PowerAmp which does its own search which doesn't hang like that. That's what I reccomend.
Sent from my GN2 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing happened to me. Mine turned out to be m4a files that were causing. I removed them and no longer see mediaserver power drain.
I read a forum a few days ago that talked about wifi causing the media service drain. They said to set a static IP address instead of dynamic and that would solve the problem. I spend most of my time on wifi so this makes a little bit of sense to me. I have set a static address and so far today my media service has remained at 3%. I don't have the link to the forum right now but I'll try to find it again and link to it later.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Edit: Apparently that did not last long. My Media Server stayed down at 2% for several hours but then for no aparent reason it spiked up to its current usage of 31% (2hr CPU time and 7hr of Stay Awake). I would really like to know what is causing this.
So I was excited like many others a few months back when Google Play Music was updated to support external (SD) storage. However I don't know if it is actually being used? I'm hoping someone can tell me more or if they see the same behavior.
If you look at app data for play music, it APPEARS to be saving music - I currently show over 700MB of data for the app. However if I open the app and select "On Device" instead of "All Music", I there is never anything listed (In Listen Now, My Library, etc).
So it appears to me that songs are cached but never used for anything, meaning I'm re-streaming every time I listen to something. It definitely appears that way when I re-listen to playlists.
Anyone else notice this?
Digging around the filesystem a little I see a few interesting things to note:
At the root level I see: "sdcard -> legacy"
Looking here: /sdcard/Android/data/com.google.android.music is only 36 bytes in size.
At root I see: "extSdCard -> sdcard1"
Looking here: /extSdCard/Android/data/com.google.android.music" is 234 MB in size.
Also interesting, the remaining data of the app reported ~700 seems to be in local storage as album artwork, as it's almost all in:
/data/data/com.google.android.music/artwork
I'm on CM11 Nightly if it's relevant.
Thoughts?
Play music caches the music while you listen to it that's why you're seeing all that data. There's an option in music to clear the cache and there's an option for downloading music for when your offline.
Hit thanks if I helped you out. Doing a little bit of reading goes a long way. Sent via tapatalk.
hexitnow said:
Play music caches the music while you listen to it that's why you're seeing all that data. There's an option in music to clear the cache and there's an option for downloading music for when your offline.
Hit thanks if I helped you out. Doing a little bit of reading goes a long way. Sent via tapatalk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, but after you have listened to a song and it is cached, it should then appear if you switch from "all music" to "on device". That doesn't happen.
As a different test I just pinned a play list. It took 5 minutes to download everything. If I select something else in the app, then come back to that playlist with "on device" selected, even though it still shows as pinned, it says "0 songs on device".
Just to close the loop on this:
I changed GM back to internal storage,
Renamed /extSdCard/Android/data/com.google.android.music to /extSdCard/Android/data/com.google.android.music_orig.
Tried to change GM back to external, and got a FC
At that point the option to switch was greyed out
I rebooted the phone, was able to switch to external and now it works like it's supposed to again.
So something about the external storage location must have been corrupted. I think it may stem from using the Music2SD Xposed module before GM was updated to support external.
Anyway, all fixed!
5. Update your Apps Over WiFi Only
Many apps in Google play store get unnecessary updates by unnecessary i mean they are meant to fix bugs only, and have you noticed how many times all your apps were auto-updated without your consent, spending all them precious GBs, so wasting your finite date over useless updates is not a great idea. To disable Auto-Update you just need to open the Google Play Store and tap on the side tray button, click on Settings option and then select the “Auto-update apps” and select Auto-update apps over WiFi only.
4. Turn On Data Compression on Google Chrome
Most of us are Android users, coz this process is only for Android Users. And if you are an Android user you are also likely Chrome users. Most of us Don’t know that Chrome supports a feature that can reduce data consumption, Google states this feature should save you about 50% in data, without even feeling any difference. All you need to do is open Chrome and hit the menu button and select Settings, click Data Saver and then toggle the option and it done.
3. Cache Everything You Can
Like Google Maps and Google Play Music allow for storing data locally and many other apps. Make sure to save as many as caches and data you can while you are on a WiFi network. Afterwards you can enjoy your saved data without wasted Precious Mobile Data.
2. Avoid Online Streaming
The most awesome Things over the internet consume more data, this includes streaming videos and music, as well as looking through high quality images or GIF files. Try to avoid this kind of consumption as much as possible if you really want to save your mobile data. And if you need to watch it, make sure you change the settings and set quality at lower rates.
1. Restrict Background Data
Do you know that when your phone is not in use some apps spend your too much data. the feature we about to tell is actually one of the greatest features on Android. Background data allows apps to keep everything updated which leads to a great amount of Data wastage. so here is what you can do, Go into Settings > Data Usage and select Restrict Data for the apps that consume large amount of data and dont worry you can undo this by the same method.
I tried searching, but was unable to find a solution. I have over 60gb of music downloaded to my phone that I do not want to have to re-download after wiping my phone. This is for two reasons, first off, it is time consuming to go through and click download on every album I want to be available offline. Second, my Comcast Internet has a data cap which I already go over every month. The extra $10-20 for the data is not a huge deal, so even if there is a solution to make it easier to re-download the music I already selected to be available offline, that would be the biggest help.
Apologies, this should have been in the Q&A forum. Can't figure out how to delete it, at least not from the Android app.