Questions & Answers

Please Fix networking with the Universal Control Android app so it works with Chrome OS

+4 votes
asked Nov 6, 2018 in StudioLive Series Feature Requests by jeremymartin (280 points)
recategorized Nov 9, 2018 by jonnydoyle

To put it plainly.  

  • Please fix the ANDROID APP UNIVERSAL CONTROL to work on Chrome OS devices.  
    • I believe it's a fix to the networking TCP/UDP handling that needs to be addressed.  
  • I'm not looking for Presonus to build a CHROME OS app.  I'm looking for Presonus to understand that android as the OS on tablets is dying/dead and that Google is pushing Chrome OS as the foundation for all future tablet devices.  
    • This means that they should fix functionality of their ANDROID APP to work with networking on the CHROME OS device.  
    • This doesn't mean that I'm looking to have Presonus design a CHROME OS app.  That's not needed and not something that even Google wants developers to do.

Submitting this as a functionality request ends up going nowhere as the person responding ignorantly sees this as a feature request and not a fix to the existing app.  Android apps have to be designed to function in both sides of the ecosystem, android and chrome os.  The interface functionality of the app works great but because the networking hasn't been been addressed. 

Here's my conversation with the support request I've had the last few days:  I even provided links that lead to google developer sites that discuss the issue I'm trying to get presonus to address.  

First off, I love your products. I just bought my 2nd board, the 16r. It's been great for small gigs.

Android UC app running on Chrome OS doesn't see any boards. 
What I think is going on: 
I know android apps are sandboxed and generally UDP & TCP traffic is blocked from them. 
"Check for networking requirements 



Given that the android tablet market is being pushed onto Chrome OS, I hope you all are working on actually working the networking issues out on the networking side of the app. I currently have it installed on my Samsung Chromebook Plus (2017 Model) and the demo works great. I can multitouch the thing to death and the faders all respond like butter. BUT, since I cannot connect to either of my boards, I may as well just be playing checkers.

Please fix this issue. As an android user, I was ecstatic to finally get an app for my old tablet, but not being able to use it on current generation hardware is horrible. 
Samsung Chromebook Plus Mod#XE53c24 
Running Chrome OS Version 71.0.3578.27 (Official Build) beta (32-bit) 
Android App version

Jeremy MartinYesterday at 23:23

I didn't really see it as a feature request as more as a "fix the broken app functionality". The android app doesn't network to any presonus soundboard when the android app is ran on a chrome os device. This is a broken functionality issue, not a feature request. There have been mentions of this broken functionality in the feature request forum that go unanswered.

Additionally, even though it's not a feature, your ranking system to improve consideration of what you entertain as a feature request, doesn't improve the odds that something will be given consideration just because there are more individual posts. The instructions in the posts clearly state that. More upvotes on a topic translate to attention which I find a frustrating, passive, and ineffective way of actually recognizing issues.

So why should this functionality be fixed (beyond the fact that the app is broken): 
Given Google's move away from promoting android on android tablets and chrome being the os (which runs android apps) on the majority of new tablet-like hardware, it seems to me that the functionality should be fixed.

I'm not even a person to come to you just saying "fix it"! I even offer a suggestion as to the probable cause to the failure of the app to network properly. That isn't a new feature, it's a fix to how the app handles networking.

I don't ask this without additional reasoning. I'm also pointing this out given the transition of the market you're trying to serve. I would think a company as big as Presonus would actually be aware of the transition happening in the ecosystem.

Go into a store like Bestbuy and look at the availability of android devices. You'll find 2 major areas: Phones and Chrome OS devices. Android tablets are relegated to a hard to find 4 foot section. Most devices available are 2+ years old, not available or on clearance. The only exception is Amazon Fire tablets (which Presonus doesn't offer apps through the Amazon App Store) or Samsung which features a 2+ year old android tablet as their feature device. This device runs Android N (not O or P), and just went down in price 40+% at stores across the country (i.e. the model is going away) . The product category is dead because Google is moving the working OS of new devices to the Chrome OS platform, which runs android apps.

So please, actually get someone to address this issue and don't blow this off as a feature request.

  • Jeremy MartinToday at 12:39

    Thanks for ignoring the issue. For the first time I'm actually disappointed in this company. I'll go scream in the empty room that is your "feature request" area. Then I'll second guess every other purchase in the future...

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2 Answers

+1 vote
answered Nov 9, 2018 by jonnydoyle (166,090 points)
Best answer

Thank you for the feature request. 

If anyone else agrees or disagrees, please VOTE!




Please vote the original question / feature request. 

Please DO NOT Vote on THIS response!

0 votes
answered Nov 24, 2018 by darrenporter1 (620 points)

The "problem" is not on PreSonus's end... it's on the ChromeOS end. ChromeOS locks ALL TCP/UDP traffic down air-tight (it's called sandboxing) for security reasons... it's basically why your Chromebook cannot be hacked remotely and no virus software can gain access to the outside world. So there is literally nothing PreSonus can do to fix this.

Believe me, I have tried opening access to the point of even disabling the firewall in ChromeOS altogether and it still will not allow any traffic over the WiFi. This was all before native Linux support however, so it is on my list of things to try in the near future.

Those of us who want to use the StudioOne Remote app are in the same boat.