SHOUTcast & iPhone

[Rayburn]

Has anyone tried streaming SHOUTcast audio with the iPhone yet? Since you can embed a SHOUTcast stream into a webpage with QuickTime, and since other QuickTime files embedded in webpages have been shown to be compatible with the iPhone, I would think that SHOUTcast too is supported.

Can/has anyone confirm that SHOUTcast works with the iPhone? I have a webpage with an embedded .pls stream already, so if someone were willing to test it for me on their iPhone that would be great too.

[fc*uk]

Somehow I do not think that too many people around here are going to have an iPhone... I mean, its only $500-$600 and most of us are already locked into contracts with our current carrier.

Our european friends don't even have the option to buy one yet, though an agreement between France, Germany, and the UK is indeed in the works with apple.

... I believe that O2 in the UK has signed a deal. However, France and Germany have yet to do so. And, yes, only three countries in europe will initially carry the iPhone.

So with this small amount of the market share for iPhones, you must ask yourself: Is it really worth it to support the iPhone users?

[Rayburn]

Well it's worth a shot to ask

And it's not so much as I'm trying to support iPhone users, but rather seeing if my current setup is compatible with iPhones. At this point, there aren't many things I could do if it didn't work, so I'm just curious if what I have now works with the iPhone.

[fc*uk]

Agreed.

There is a thread in Winamp's GD (http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=273720) about who has purchased an iPhone. I have not really read it for a while since I posted in it. At that time, no one had bought one.

However, you might get lucky. Maybe someone has and you could ask them to kindly test your stream with it.

[Rayburn]

alright. Maybe I'll head over to an iPhone-specific forum and see if any willing candidates yield themselves.

But still, if anyone here has any info on iPhones and SHOUTcast, then I'd still be interested in hearing it.

[Rayburn]

I found on some other forums that at this point the iPhone does not support SHOUTcast (or any other type of streaming) at this point.

However, there is a hack in development in order to allow SHOUTcast listening on the iPhone, but it will require a program which is currently OS X-only.

[Greg_E]

What a bunch of scum at Apple... Glad to see that nothing changes. Somehow I knew they would not support the 3GP standard on their phone.

If you can find someone running an RTSP server you might get Quicktime to stream the content.

So much for their slogan the whole web on your phone. Apple really is a sleazy company sometimes.

[Greg_E]

Originally posted by fc*uk
Our european friends don't even have the option to buy one yet,
Thank your favorite higher power for small miracles. May they never be cursed with this device.

[idobi]

Originally posted by Rayburn
I found on some other forums that at this point the iPhone does not support SHOUTcast (or any other type of streaming) at this point.

However, there is a hack in development in order to allow SHOUTcast listening on the iPhone, but it will require a program which is currently OS X-only.

I've actually been looking into this. The iPhone will stream an MP3 files. The problem with http streaming is that it wants a file length before it starts playing. I've had some success in faking the http response, but it effectively limits listener time to whatever you set the length to.

[Greg_E]

Doesn't the iphone run a full version of itunes? iTunes has no problem with MP3 Shoutcast streams, that's one of the reasons I had to put up an MP3 stream

[CraigF]

no, the iphone has the ipod software on it afaik.

[Greg_E]

Well that was kind of stupid of them.

[Rocker]

nokia n95 streams fine. (over hsdpa and wifi)

three is kinda expensive for data though.

[Greg_E]

Yes, I'm sure the Nokia does work fine... Since they helped to define the 3GP standard (and other mobile "standards") that Apple completely ignored.

[fc*uk]

+1 apple :down: :down: :down:

[idobi]

Originally posted by Greg_E
Yes, I'm sure the Nokia does work fine... Since they helped to define the 3GP standard (and other mobile "standards") that Apple completely ignored.

Well, 3GP is designed for 3G phones - which the iPhone is, uh, not. Not implementing a feature isn't ignoring a standard - that's like saying my razr ignores mobile standards because it doesn't support 3gp streaming.

[Rayburn]

Originally posted by idobi
I've actually been looking into this. The iPhone will stream an MP3 files. The problem with http streaming is that it wants a file length before it starts playing. I've had some success in faking the http response, but it effectively limits listener time to whatever you set the length to.
You could always just set the length to 24 hours -- I think that'd cover most users

btw, do you plan on releasing your work at any point?

[idobi]

Originally posted by Rayburn
You could always just set the length to 24 hours -- I think that'd cover most users

btw, do you plan on releasing your work at any point?

There are several problems with this method. First is that it's not a direct stream from your server, but a php proxy - so unless you have apache running on the same server as your shoutcast server, it's additional bandwidth you have to pay for. Second, it works on the iPhone by appearing to be a file, so it's stored to the iPhone - this might be a DMCA violation if you're streaming from the US. Also, since it's playing in the video screen for the iPhone, there's no stream information such as artist and title information - and it's not graceful about starting and stopping streams. I'm hoping the next batch of updates for the iPhone will introduce software that solves this problem instead of using a pretty ugly hack to make things work.

TjC

[Rayburn]

Originally posted by idobi
There are several problems with this method. First is that it's not a direct stream from your server, but a php proxy - so unless you have apache running on the same server as your shoutcast server, it's additional bandwidth you have to pay for. Second, it works on the iPhone by appearing to be a file, so it's stored to the iPhone - this might be a DMCA violation if you're streaming from the US. Also, since it's playing in the video screen for the iPhone, there's no stream information such as artist and title information - and it's not graceful about starting and stopping streams. I'm hoping the next batch of updates for the iPhone will introduce software that solves this problem instead of using a pretty ugly hack to make things work.

TjC
Well I would still be very interested in your hack for personal use. I know it's probably an ugly way to get around things, but I'm ready to use whatever is needed to get the thing to work.

I doubt Apple will release a patch that would solve this problem since I suspect this was a concious decision on their part to leave this out. Possibly AT&T complained (or Apple feared them complaining) that they wouldn't want all these iPhones running streams which would quickly clog up the already weak EDGE network.

[idobi]

Originally posted by Rayburn
Well I would still be very interested in your hack for personal use. I know it's probably an ugly way to get around things, but I'm ready to use whatever is needed to get the thing to work.

I doubt Apple will release a patch taht would solve this problem since I suspect this was a concious decision on their part to leave this out. Possibly AT&T complained (or Apple feared them complaining) that they wouldn't want all these iPhones running streams which would quickly clog up the already weak EDGE network.

Drop me a PM w/ your email and I'll send you the files. I don't think this was a deliberate decision by Apple. YouTube streams eat up more bandwidth than any radio stream would. In either case, if you're targeting EDGE users, you'd probably wouldn't want to offer anything higher than a 64kbps stream anyways.

[Rayburn]

Originally posted by idobi
Drop me a PM w/ your email and I'll send you the files. I don't think this was a deliberate decision by Apple. YouTube streams eat up more bandwidth than any radio stream would. In either case, if you're targeting EDGE users, you'd probably wouldn't want to offer anything higher than a 64kbps stream anyways.
I sent you my email

You make a very good point, however maybe AT&T didn't like the idea of continuous streaming audio more than a couple bursts of high-demand streaming that comes with their YouTube system. Only time will tell if Apple was conscious or not in its decision.

[icoco]

Originally posted by idobi
Well, 3GP is designed for 3G phones - which the iPhone is, uh, not. Not implementing a feature isn't ignoring a standard - that's like saying my razr ignores mobile standards because it doesn't support 3gp streaming.

hi, I face the same problem that I want to listen the Shoucast on iphone , but it can not play now , can you help me this ?

thanks

[Slinkyfm]

We have launched our Trance station with a provider who support streaming to the iPhone without using any application. You can give it a go just navigate your iPhone to http://m.slinky.fm/

It was a quick and easy way for us to deliver to the device and the listeners are loving it!