[needmoretoys]

"Scientific empiricism" .... seriously?! Actually James gave a perfectly good 'empirical' justification ... that it takes a week to test an app and that would just be to find the bugs it causes, much less actually fix them. Testing the stability of 3rd party software on an OS it wasn't designed for is expensive and complex and even with rigorous checking there will be points of failure that were missed. The M6 is a low cost DAP with one of the highest price performance ratios of any player around right now. That means the profit margins are very tight - the business model is low profit, high volume sales. Every request for another app whitelisted is effectively a demand that FiiO spend thousands adding a feature that you want. Sure, we all want stuff, but that's just not how the business model works for this kind of product.

They are trying to squeeze maximum performance out of a relatively cheap chip - so the software approach is a "walled garden" - a stripped down OS and a short list of approved apps. For this kind of product OS stability and "doing what it says on the box" are essential to the kind of sales volume they need to be able to sell it at this price. That stability has to be protected because a crashy OS will kill the product and damage the company rep. So I totally get why they need to be super dooper careful with new apps. Approving an app that causes functionality problems (and a resulting wave of complaints) would do 1000 times more damage to sales than the small number of potential customers who regard the availability of some specific app as a dealbreaker. This is absolutely a mass market product and (despite what a lot of head fi-ers seem to think) the people who post to this kind of forum are not the mass market. This forum right here is what you call a "niche". (Not a criticism - I love a niche, but I am pretty sure their design choices are based on actual market research).

Personally I think this is a brilliant design approach and I hope FiiO continue to extremely careful about what additional apps are allowed over the wall. I am the kind of user who places a high value on product reliability, so the fact that they are prioritising reliability is a big tick in favour of the product. The software limitations of the M6 are what makes the low price point possible. If you really need to run 3rd party apps that were designed for full android then pony up and buy a unit that runs full android.

Exactly. James has indicated this on several posts. Apparently not everyone has the ability to comprehend this.

 

[tronth]

@FiiO I've seen the beta version of the new fiio music app in the fiio X7 mark II, will we see that version with the new interface in devices like the M6?

 

[Daiyama]

I see a value for FiiO and the users if every user, who might want to do so, to express his wishes for new apps which should be whitelisted, once. This gives FiiO the opportunity to priorities which app should be whitelisted next and FiiO have expressed that they want to add new apps as this will increase the user base (sell units). I do not see a value if the same users expresses there wishes repeatedly as this gives neither FiiO nor the community additional information.

 

[greenflash]

Ordered an M6 in Amazon via a US traveller - I'll have it by the end of February, eager is an understatement. Obviously it's nice that there are more whitelisted apps, but I agree with some here to keep the thing stable and the support lean; with the dollar rate I can't afford a higher cost and this DAP looks marvellous. In a way one of the things that make our phones unusable at a time is the multitude of apps and their remnants. I hope the published features are stable. The construction looks solid (I have an X1 and a X1II now, both refurbished). My plan is to use it in the conmute (I keep the X1II around to connect it to my home stereo amp), maybe managed from my Moto G5+ via FiiO Link. I'll mostly use standard FLACs or Spotify (via the phone's Hotspot). If this all works fine, I'm happy!

 

[ddggdd]

they have licence isus


for audiobook, we had tried to contact the them and they told us they can't supports DAP based on Linux and Android DAP which google version is too low. to be honesty every DAP brands are thinking everyday to make some new features so they can win the market, do you think we are refuse to sell more ? or we just don't know quite some people are asking again and again hope we can add this features.

You don't necessarily need rely on third party apps for podcast, podcast is only rss(xml) with mp3/aac, if you can add that function to your own new fiio player, or create a new standalone app, even whitelist an opensource one like antenna-pod, it would be a great advantage over your competitors, and also half the complaints gone

Podcast is insanely popular now in US, and it's really a pity no players have a even minimum support for it, and I think it's a lot to do with different user behavior compared to China, my personal listening time is changing from 100% music to 70% podcast nowadays,

 

[Unknown757890]

I do my friend... I am hoping you do too

That I do, is obvious. That you do, may be questioned:

Are you still trying to wish away the Exynos SoC?

 

[Unknown757890]

Bravo!!!! I invite you a beer, I've said it many times, do you want many app? buy a smartphone, this is a music player Hd

Why are you limiting people’s options? If they would like a high-res music player that has all the good stuff for music - and want more app let them ask.. they have a good point. If this dap can hold Spotify DEEZ and other apps safely, than surely it can hold others by themselves. That logic may not be correct, but the point is valid.

 

[titanquests69]

You don't necessarily need rely on third party apps for podcast, podcast is only rss(xml) with mp3/aac, if you can add that function to your own new fiio player, or create a new standalone app, even whitelist an opensource one like antenna-pod, it would be a great advantage over your competitors, and also half the complaints gone

Podcast is insanely popular now in US, and it's really a pity no players have a even minimum support for it, and I think it's a lot to do with different user behavior compared to China, my personal listening time is changing from 100% music to 70% podcast nowadays,

I agree on this. It doesn't have to be one of the popular third-party apps. This way they can avoid license issues. They would have a significant advantage over similar and higher priced competitors and it will also be a win for us users.

Reposting what I posted a few pages back:

We just need a software update with UI changes that'd support mp3 format podcasts and audiobooks. It needs to have:
-save last position
-x1 / x1.10 / x1.25 / x1.5 playback speeds
-forward and backward by 15 or 30 seconds button

I hope this is possible

 

[FiiO]

Can I connect my phone using LDAC or aptx and listen to my songs on my phone through M6? How do I connect it?

Dear friend,

No, but the LDAC receiver function will be added in M6/M7/M9 in the coming soon.

Best regards

 

[FiiO]

@FiiO I've seen the beta version of the new fiio music app in the fiio X7 mark II, will we see that version with the new interface in devices like the M6?

Dear friend,

No, the FiiO Music APP in X7MKII is different from the M6’s.

Best regards

 

[JamesFiiO]

@FiiO I've seen the beta version of the new fiio music app in the fiio X7 mark II, will we see that version with the new interface in devices like the M6?

sorry not ,the new UI in X7MK2 is for big screen , the screen of M6/M7/M9 is too small.

 

[ArlakTheRecluse]

To anyone who has already bought and used the M6, have you had any issues?
And is there any reason to getting a M7 over this at this point?

 

[eclein]

I had M7 first and sent it back, this M6 sounds much better, more dynamic-the 7 sounded dry and lifeless.
The M7 had bogus firmware in my opinion. This M6 is by far a better unit to me in every category.
Just my 2 cents

No issues with M6

 

[greenflash]

Thanks! I think it's the first real user feedback I heard of about the M6. Ordered it and have to wait until the end of February so this is a soothing!

 

[SteelJaw]

@FiiO I found a small bug in the M6. When listening to bands that have weird letters in their name; they're being replaced by Chinese symbols. F.e. I listened to Kælan Mikla last night. And the weird ae shows up as a Chinese symbol. Not a major bug and it also doesn't bother me that much. But would be nice if it would be fixed in a future firmware update.