SyncLounge v2 - Beta Release

v2

26 May, 2018 | 4 min read

It's been a little over 18 months since the initial release of SyncLounge and we've certainly come a long way.

Today we are announcing the Beta Release of V2 - a near complete rewrite of the entire project.

We'll be running a testing phase of V2 on a seperate domain for a few weeks before putting it live on all our public servers. This release is fairly light in regards to new features, instead we're opting to rework existing features for better reliability.

TLDR:

Better syncing, refactored backend code, a handful of new features and a tidied Web UI.


Goals

When we started creating V2 we had one goal in mind: reliability. V1 of SyncLounge works great once you were familiar with the quirks and oddities of the app. We wanted to remove those odd bits and just make things easier to understand. However, fixing those issues proved to be a challenge as the code-base had transitioned from Electron App to Webapp, which presented its fair share of challenges. Luckily we've got a fantastic Discord Server that gave us a great idea on what exactly needed improving.

New Features

HTTPS

We've enabled HTTPS on the v2 test server. When loading the site via HTTPS you will only be able to use the built-in SyncLounge Player. You will be prompted to reload the site via HTTP if you attempt to connect to an extenal client when in HTTPS mode. Custom Servers not running through a HTTPS-enabled webserver will also not work when you load the site via HTTPS.

Up Next

SyncLounge will search for the next episode when you are 10 seconds away from the end of an episode. Once the episode ends it will start playing. Magic!

Alternate Display Name

You can now hide your Plex username when you join a room in Plex Settings

Rejoin recent room

Allows you to quickly rejoin a previous room. No more searching through your chat history for that invite link!

OAuth Plex Login

Thanks to Tautulli's Swiftpanda16 the login process for SyncLounge is much simpler - hit the Click Me button and you'll be sent off to Plex.tv to login.

Manual Sync button

You can now force SyncLounge to manually sync directly to where the host is even if they are within your configured SYNCFLEXIBILITY setting.

Improvements

Autoplay

SyncLounge now sends more metadata back and forth in the room to try and autoplay the content. You can now disable Autoplay with a toggle within SyncLounge settings.

Syncing distance

SyncLounge is now smarter and more aggresive in it's approach to syncing. For the best user experience please use the in-built, SyncLounge Player.

Routing

The entire Webapp now runs through a proper routing system. You can now press back and it won't boot you out of the room!

User Interface

We've tidied up a lot of the elements within the Web UI which results in a much more streamlined experience. Shoutout to the amazing Vuetifyjs framework. Consequently, the mobile experience has been polished.

SyncLounge Player

Direct Stream/Direct Play options are now available! However, they are turned off by default while we do further testing. You can toggle this within SyncLounge Settings. The built-in player has leveled up it's syncing abilities. It will now directly seek to a point in time if it already has it buffered. If the content is not buffered and is only a few seconds away it will gradually speed-up or slow-down in order to align with the host.

User status

Screen-Shot-2018-05-23-at-3.12.03-pm-1

Each user within the room now has more status indicators. There is a colored ring around the avatar to indicate sync distance. The playing/paused/buffering/stopped icons have been moved to be apparent at a glance. You can now hover over a user to view the type of Plex Client they are using.

Invites

Invite links are now generated by HTTP POST rather than websocket. This completely removes the need for a webroot with the app. No more /slweb or /slserver! We've removed webroot support throughout the app - please get in contact if you need it re-added. Invites are now stored in a .db file using WaterlineJs.

Donations

We now accept crypto donations through BTC/ETH/LTC/BCH. Praise Satoshi!

Special Thanks

  • Starbix - Continued Docker support
  • Brandz - Graphic Design
  • Swiftpanda16 - OAuth login method

We are super excited to get this update in your hands. If you have any feedback or would just like to get in touch jump in to our Discord Server.

Cheers!

SyncLounge Team