ubuntu-sdk-bugs team mailing list archive

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Public bug reported:

1. Play a game that just plays occasional sound effects, not music.
2. Try to change the volume of the sound effects.

What should happen: You can.
What actually happens: You can't unless you time it exactly right, pressing the volume controls while the sound effect is playing.

For brief sounds (less than a second or so), like sound effects in a
game or a messaging app, you probably won't be fast enough to change
their volume while they're playing. So, you need to be able to change
their volume even when they aren't playing.

If you want to be able to do this with the hardware volume buttons, that
means that by default (when no sound is playing), the hardware volume
buttons should control the role that sound effects use.

So, the current design is that this default role for volume controls
should be "alert", and that sound effects should use "alert".
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sound#primary-output>

Unfortunately, this doesn't work at the moment because the Qt
SoundEffect API <http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qml-multimedia.html#soundeffect>
produces sounds that use do not use the "alert" role, but rather
"multimedia". Because this is not the default role, the hardware volume
buttons control the volume of sound effects only during the brief
moments when the sound effects are actually playing.

I see three ways to resolve this bug:
A. Decide that you should not, in fact, be able to change the volume of sound effects using the hardware buttons when sound effects aren't playing.
B. Combine the "alert" and "multimedia" roles. That would have the drawback that you couldn't change sound effect volume independent of music that was playing in the background (but maybe that's not a big deal).
C. Change the SoundEffect API implementation so that it uses the "alert" role by default.

(This is a followup to bug 1478506.)

** Affects: canonical-devices-system-image
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Affects: qtubuntu-media (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Description changed:

  1. Play a game that just plays occasional sound effects, not music.
  2. Try to change the volume of the sound effects.
  
  What should happen: You can.
- What actuall happens: You can't unless you time it exactly right.
+ What actually happens: You can't unless you time it exactly right, pressing the volume controls while the sound effect is playing.
  
  For brief sounds (less than a second or so), like sound effects in a
  game or a messaging app, you probably won't be fast enough to change
  their volume while they're playing. So, you need to be able to change
  their volume even when they aren't playing.
  
  If you want to be able to do this with the hardware volume buttons, that
  means that by default (when no sound is playing), the hardware volume
  buttons should control the role that sound effects use.
  
  So, the current design is that this default role for volume controls
  should be "alert", and that sound effects should use "alert".
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sound#primary-output>
  
  Unfortunately, this doesn't work at the moment because the Qt
  SoundEffect API <http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qml-multimedia.html#soundeffect>
  produces sounds that use do not use the "alert" role, but rather
  "multimedia". Because this is not the default role, the hardware volume
  buttons control the volume of sound effects only during the brief
  moments when the sound effects are actually playing.
  
  I see three ways to resolve this bug:
  A. Decide that you should not, in fact, be able to change the volume of sound effects using the hardware buttons when sound effects aren't playing.
  B. Combine the "alert" and "multimedia" roles. That would have the drawback that you couldn't change sound effect volume independent of music that was playing in the background (but maybe that's not a big deal).
  C. Change the SoundEffect API implementation so that it uses the "alert" role by default.
  
- (This is the sequel to bug 1478506.)
+ (This is a followup to bug 1478506.)

** Also affects: qtubuntu-media (Ubuntu)
   Importance: Undecided
       Status: New

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
SDK bug tracking, which is subscribed to qtubuntu-media in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1498466

Title:
  Default audio role for volume controls isn't the role that sound
  effects use

Status in Canonical System Image:
  New
Status in qtubuntu-media package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  1. Play a game that just plays occasional sound effects, not music.
  2. Try to change the volume of the sound effects.

  What should happen: You can.
  What actually happens: You can't unless you time it exactly right, pressing the volume controls while the sound effect is playing.

  For brief sounds (less than a second or so), like sound effects in a
  game or a messaging app, you probably won't be fast enough to change
  their volume while they're playing. So, you need to be able to change
  their volume even when they aren't playing.

  If you want to be able to do this with the hardware volume buttons,
  that means that by default (when no sound is playing), the hardware
  volume buttons should control the role that sound effects use.

  So, the current design is that this default role for volume controls
  should be "alert", and that sound effects should use "alert".
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Sound#primary-output>

  Unfortunately, this doesn't work at the moment because the Qt
  SoundEffect API <http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qml-
  multimedia.html#soundeffect> produces sounds that use do not use the
  "alert" role, but rather "multimedia". Because this is not the default
  role, the hardware volume buttons control the volume of sound effects
  only during the brief moments when the sound effects are actually
  playing.

  I see three ways to resolve this bug:
  A. Decide that you should not, in fact, be able to change the volume of sound effects using the hardware buttons when sound effects aren't playing.
  B. Combine the "alert" and "multimedia" roles. That would have the drawback that you couldn't change sound effect volume independent of music that was playing in the background (but maybe that's not a big deal).
  C. Change the SoundEffect API implementation so that it uses the "alert" role by default.

  (This is a followup to bug 1478506.)

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/canonical-devices-system-image/+bug/1498466/+subscriptions