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Author Topic: Live feeds on the iPhone  (Read 152814 times)

Offline romeoyankee

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Live feeds on the iPhone
« on: May 06, 2008, 02:02:32 PM »
Hey guys,

I know dave talked about this a while back but it has been a few months now and new apps for a jailbroken iPhone are coming out every day.  Anybody figure out how to stream the live atc on an iPhone??
« Last Edit: September 02, 2008, 09:36:17 AM by dave »



Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2008, 07:29:59 AM »
Hey guys,

I know dave talked about this a while back but it has been a few months now and new apps for a jailbroken iPhone are coming out every day.  Anybody figure out how to stream the live atc on an iPhone??

Apps for a hacked iPhone are not nearly as interesting as those that will be available for unhacked iPhones.  I don't have exact figures but I believe most users do not hack their iPhones.

We continue to keep an eye out for streaming media players to emerge.

If none emerge when apps become widely available, we'll likely write one or have it written for LiveATC.  No guarantees.  :-)

Dave


Offline tyketto

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2008, 01:56:47 PM »
The biggest thing I can say about this is that you'd have at least a month to wait. If there isn't a media program yet, the means to make one will be out by next month (June). It is already known that Steve Jobs is rolling out the iPhone SDK in June, while rumours abound about 3G iPhones. my getting an iPhone  or waiting is based on the announcement he's making at the huge convention going on the 1st week of June. So there is definitely something coming out, let alone the means for us to write one ourselves. So the only unfortunate thing I can say is to be patient...

BL.

Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2008, 10:01:27 PM »
I'm tied in pretty tightly with the Mac community (I'm a long-time Mac user) and have a copy of the iPhone SDK.  The real issue is Apple beginning iPhone app distribution via the App store - which should happen in the next few months.  But they have vowed to not have "...porn, privacy-breaching tools, bandwidth-hogging apps, and anything illegal as an example of the restrictions."  So not sure if they would view this as bandwidth-hogging (16kb/s isn't even close) but there is a gate that apps will have to go through to get out there.  And there could be lengthy delays in getting out via the App Store.

So we'll see - gotta believe there will be some streaming media apps.

Dave


Offline spikerjack

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2008, 11:56:06 AM »
Hey guys,

I know dave talked about this a while back but it has been a few months now and new apps for a jailbroken iPhone are coming out every day.  Anybody figure out how to stream the live atc on an iPhone??

I have been able to stream LiveATC to my iPhone.....here is how I do it:

1)   Use Orb 2.0 (www.orb.com - free!)

2)  Configure a "favorite channel" under the Internet Radio option by clicking "Add Custom"

3)  Enter the name you want for the specific ATC Feed....(e.g. "SFO Tower")

4)  Enter the .M3U URL for the Path field  (e.g.  http://d.live.atc.net/ksfo_twr.m3u)

5)  Save

6)  Log into your org setup...select the favorite....boom, you are on. 

Unfortunately would have to create favorites for every feed you like...but at least it works.  This is nothing compared to what will come I am sure when native iPhone apps can tap live audio themselves.

BTW...many iPhone users leverage Orb to access things like live stream from Satellite radio accounts.

Hope this works for you,

--Scott

Offline JALTO

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2008, 01:57:18 PM »
One additional piece of information I found out (the hard way).....Orb will need to be running on a machine at all times in order for this to work.  The Orb client on your machine is the medium needed to connect to the stream. 

-Jalto

Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2008, 12:33:44 PM »
Nice work JALTO...I can't imagine it will be too long before the iPhone can do native streams directly from the source.  There will be a flood of new apps very soon.

Dave

Offline zla_scan

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2008, 02:40:26 AM »
Seems like a lot of work to get it to work.

I think I'll wait a while and see what Friday brings with the new OS release.

Offline kero

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2008, 03:37:43 PM »
There is also a program (which I purchased recently) from the App Store on the iPhone, called "Tuner". It's a streaming radio program, with about 500 pre-selected streams, and the ability to add any others that you want. The problem I found, though, is that there is no stream information (like the title), so when I bookmark an ATC stream, it is listed in my bookmarks as "Untitled Station." I've tried about 5 feeds, and they all work (although sometimes you have to try to reconnect before it works.) However, in my Bookmarks section, there's 5 streams that are all titled "Untitled Station."  :-(

That's really my only complaint about the program. Of course, the fact it's not free, might turn some people off (it's $4.99.)

The program's page on the iTunes store can be seen at:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=284205617&mt=8

Offline sunburn

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2008, 09:46:49 PM »
i was wondering about the tuner application when i saw it on the apps store on my iphone, if it would work with liveatc. but i didn't want to part cash to find out :)

but now that you've confirmed that it works i think i may just give it a go, even if it means having to live with 'untitled station' as the feed name.

anybody out there know of an developer that can create an app for liveatc?  :wink:

Offline kero

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2008, 11:56:51 PM »
Sunburn:

The thing is, there should be a way for the people who are creating/hosting the streams, to add a name to it.

For example, I tried manually adding the following music stream to the Tuner app (it's BassDrive, one of the  techno stations under the "Radio" section on iTunes):
http://pri.kts-af.net/redir/index.pls?esid=4badfc8b23ebc134849b21db32ab951a&url_no=1&client_id=7&uid=68efed4d03ec7e45fd3978262c107180&clicksrc=xml

After I finished putting in all that text and pressed Enter, I bookmarked it, and found that in my list of Bookmarks, it says "Bassdrive - Music Beyond..." instead of "Untitled Station."

So, if the people hosting the streams add the appropriate info to the streams, it would probably solve this problem. However, I know that there's probably some reason why this wasn't done (either technical limitations, lack of time to rename all the streams, etc.)


Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2008, 10:43:36 AM »
i was wondering about the tuner application when i saw it on the apps store on my iphone, if it would work with liveatc. but i didn't want to part cash to find out :)

but now that you've confirmed that it works i think i may just give it a go, even if it means having to live with 'untitled station' as the feed name.

anybody out there know of an developer that can create an app for liveatc?  :wink:

I think our strategy right now is to make the site and feed list more iPhone-friendly and depend on external streaming players to play the feeds.  Maintaining an iPhone app is a bit more than we want to bite off right now.  I know several iPhone developers if we decide to go that way.

Dave

Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2008, 10:45:57 AM »
<snip>
After I finished putting in all that text and pressed Enter, I bookmarked it, and found that in my list of Bookmarks, it says "Bassdrive - Music Beyond..." instead of "Untitled Station."

So, if the people hosting the streams add the appropriate info to the streams, it would probably solve this problem. However, I know that there's probably some reason why this wasn't done (either technical limitations, lack of time to rename all the streams, etc.)

All the feeds have the title and description filled in.  Unless the feeder intentionally took them out.  I believe the likely issue is that the player you're testing does not read the title from the ICY stream, but I have to look into it when I have time.

I have the iPhone development environment and simulator, so I should be able to reproduce the issue and see what's going on.

Dave

Offline sunburn

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2008, 11:19:56 PM »
So I finally downloaded the Tuner application and I can confirm that the LiveATC streams work perfectly on the iPhone. Even if you're not in a 3G, EDGE or Wifi area, Standard GPRS will do just fine.

You have to bookmark the streams, but by going to 'Search' and then 'Open', entering the Title of your choosing (for example 'LiveATC.net KJFK Tower') and then entering the .m3u URL:  http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kjfk_twr it'll open and start playing.

Finally, I can listen to streams anywhere, anytime, any place.  :-D

Offline aevins

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #14 on: August 06, 2008, 01:08:11 AM »
Does Tuner work on an iPod Touch?

Offline spikerjack

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #15 on: August 06, 2008, 02:16:37 AM »
Yes, Tuner will work on an iPod Touch....but of course only on Wifi.

I concur about Tuner...it is officially awesome and gives you full access to LiveATC streams.  My complex, Orb-oriented config to get Live ATC on my iPhone is history.  I highly recommend Nullriver's Tuner app.

Only word of caution....you will really need to have an iPhone 3G to access any of the high bandwidth Internet radio stuff.  But as stated before Tuner works great over EDGE for any of the Liveatc.net streams.

Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #16 on: August 06, 2008, 06:04:09 AM »
...
You have to bookmark the streams, but by going to 'Search' and then 'Open', entering the Title of your choosing (for example 'LiveATC.net KJFK Tower') and then entering the .m3u URL:  http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kjfk_twr it'll open and start playing.

You should start using the new URL format:

http://d.liveatc.net/kjfk_twr

Better yet, for mobile clients use: http://alt.liveatc.net/kjfk_twr - it has less latency and is more static since it doesn't go through the load balancer.  So bookmarks will be a little more reliable since you are always hitting one server and not being redirected.

The http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kjfk_twr wil stop working at some point.

Dave
« Last Edit: August 06, 2008, 06:06:07 AM by dave »

Offline fijiwaterboy

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #17 on: August 06, 2008, 07:34:05 AM »
Very nice!
I had heard good things about Tuner. I work right next to Guidance helicopter school at Prescott Love Field in Arizona and wanted a way to hear some friends flying around or just see what's going on during my breaks.

It seems to work very well and the current Metar being displayed on the screen is a nice touch. Thanks everyone for the short how to's.

Offline sunburn

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #18 on: August 06, 2008, 08:06:45 AM »
thanks for the tip dave! i'll update my bookmarks.
i was wondering about the alternative URL, but i thought i'd play it safe and go by what's already playing on my itunes :)

EDIT: you don't have to manually input the title name of the feed, just the URL address. Tuner will automatically get the name of the feed. Also, once it's opened and started playing be sure to add it as a bookmark by selecting the bookmark symbol on the top right of the player and hitting save. Or else you'll have to keep on manually inputting the address each time you want to listen to the feed.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2008, 10:33:37 AM by sunburn »

Offline tyketto

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #19 on: August 06, 2008, 01:27:19 PM »
Thanks for mentioning Tuner!

I just got my iPhone and was looking to see what apps I could use for listening to the feeds! Quick question.. How much of a hit does the battery take if you listen to a feed for about 4 - 5 hours?

BL.

Offline sunburn

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #20 on: August 06, 2008, 01:37:48 PM »
Thanks for mentioning Tuner!

I just got my iPhone and was looking to see what apps I could use for listening to the feeds! Quick question.. How much of a hit does the battery take if you listen to a feed for about 4 - 5 hours?

BL.


From a full charge my phone has been on standby for 4hrs 43mins, with 2hrs 21 mins usage.
In that time i've been listening to LiveATC on 3G and Wifi, took a 15 min phone call and sent a number of texts. My battery is currently half full.

One tip: When listening to LiveATC streams on the tuner, turn off the 3G and Location services (if you have it) and listen via Wifi or EDGE/GPRS. This will increase your battery life significantly.

I don't know if there's any differences in battery consumption between listening via EDGE/GPRS and Wifi.

.mark

Offline dave

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2008, 02:24:21 AM »
I can't announce a release date yet, but I am planning an iPhone version of a LiveATC client that will have location-based services.  If your location can be determined you will be presented with a list of feeds close to you.  It's still in the planning stages but I'd love to hear about features you think might be useful to you. 

Dave

Offline spikerjack

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #22 on: August 07, 2008, 03:29:13 AM »
 :?
Just an update on my use of Nullriver's Tuner app for the iPhone...

As per my previous post the setup of liveatc.net streams worked great on my original iPhone (EDGE version).  I was using the URLs Dave recommended (e.g. SFO Tower - http://alt.liveatc.net/ksfo_twr) and all was great when these were saved as bookmarks.

As it turned out my iPhone 3G came in today (ordered at my local AT&T store) and when I moved everything over to that phone Tuner stopped working for liveATC - I get "unrecognized stream type text/html" errors whether I specify the exact URL above or try to reference the M3U stream type.

I am waiting to hear back from Nullriver but not sure if there is a 3G problem or a new version of Tuner problem.  If somebody else has this working on the 3G and can say how they got it to work...I am all ears...

UPDATE 8/7:  Turns out its working for some feeds (KDAY, YPPH) but not others (SFO, JFK).  Don't know why...still researching

UPDATE #2:  Looks like its working....it might have been user error on URLs....anyway...better

--Scott
« Last Edit: August 07, 2008, 03:41:57 PM by spikerjack »

Offline sunburn

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #23 on: August 07, 2008, 07:11:43 PM »
scott:

i had the same problem, but for me it turned out that my iphone had automatically connected to a t-mobile wifi connection that was requiring money... so my iphone was thinking it was connected to the internet, when in fact it would only show the registration page. i just turned off the wifi and connected via 3G and the streams worked great.

you could try restarting your phone. i've found that most of the problems found on my iphone 3G can be fixed by a simple reboot.

also, have you tried re-installing the app? hold down the icon until it starts to wobble, press the x button next to it and confirm delete. you can then go back to the app store download page and re-download it for free with the same user-id you used to purchase the app first time round.

but it sounds like you've got it working anyways. :)

dave:

that's awesome! an dedicated liveatc app would be a pretty handy. one request is possibly to have an visual equalizer when the stream is being played.
why i suggested this is because with all mobile devices the chances of a connection being dropped are fairly high, especially on the move. plus with ATC containing a lot of dead air, it would be easy to determine between dead air and a dropped connection with an visual eq. even with the dead air, there's always a slight sound of constant static which will make the eq wave a little. :)

Offline Scorpio

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Re: Live feeds on the iPhone
« Reply #24 on: August 11, 2008, 07:08:08 AM »
Use the Tuner app on the IPOD Touch with ver 2 software and it works fine with LiveATC.  Use the http://d.liveatc.net/kxxx address format.   Sometimes get a message that it cannot recognize text/HTML but press the play icon and it starts up.  Just wish it would multitask so I can watch my SBS radar (also on the IPOD using Mocha VNC) while listening to LiveATC.

Scorp / Ralph
« Last Edit: August 12, 2008, 07:03:02 AM by Scorpio »