Rhythmbox 3.4 features a new web remote control plugin.
This feature, GNOME say, “Provides a simple interface to control playback, and soon will be able to stream the playing track to the client.”
The plugin lets you quickly (and securely) set up a web interface to control music playback using a browser, such as the one on your smartphone or tablet.
Through a small dialog the plugin will start a local web server on 0.0.0.0:8001 (localhost). An authentication key can be configured in the plugin’s Preferences menu to restrict playback control to yourself or those you trust.
Other notable features and changes in Rhythmbox 3.4:
- Soundcloud plugin lists more search results, allows pausing
- The app no longer uses WebKit
- Improved handling of keyboard shortcuts for playback
Among the bugs fixed in this release:
- Party Mode app menu fix.
- Lyric plugin now fetches lyrics correctly
- Issue with cover art appearing when cover art disabled
- Configuring music sharing no longer throws warnings
- Ability to change MP4 encoder settings
Ubuntu 16.04 ships with Rhythmbox 3.3. To get the latest version you’ll need to manually compile the source code or add/use an untrusted PPA.
Ubuntu 16.10 will ship with Rhythmbox 3.4 (plus a few patches to make it play nice in Unity, including adding support for a traditional menu bar and populating a handy Unity quicklist.