Feed URL's Changing, Admin input please

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mule1075

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Thank you!
I had an older version. I just updated to 5.666 and am now able to play my feed.

FYI, the VLC player is still not working. I'm using V2.2.6 of VLC.

I should probably put a mention in my feed notes about my player problems and which players/versions that I've been able to use to view alpha tags. It's only been a few months since I upgraded the scanner to one that supports alpha tags. If listeners can't view the tags this was just wasted money :(

Does anyone know if any phone or tablet apps support alpha tags? I should put that in the notes.

I'm old fashioned and prefer to listen with a desktop PC. My listener stats show that nearly all of my listeners are using Android or IOS. Without an app with alpha tags, it's likely that I'm the only one seeing them.
Yes Gordon's Scanner Radio app supports tags. Both the free and paid version.
 

rcool101

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Not to mention, it isn't free.
Scanner Live Demo is free. Then one time payment of 19.99. No alpha tags but I use it every day regardless. I listen to my feed, Brooke Co. and Ohio Co. I always wondered where rdale went
Update: Alpha Tags are working now...Working for Brooke Co. also
 
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rcool101

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ScannerLive was updated last year...I was running 1.6. New 1.8.2.5 version. For 20 bucks its worth it. The cost of a case of beer..lol..
 

NYRHKY94

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Brunswick County, NC
I regularly use ScannerLive and love it. It works well and is a great way to listen to multiple feeds through one simple interface. Well worth the initial fee I paid when it was released. Priority feed feature & alpha tags as well. Just my 2-cents :)
 

lukemester

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The latest version of VLC is 3.0.2 - you may wish to update it.

Another update complete. VLC is now playing my feed.

FYI, I'd used the "Check for updates" option in VLC. It said "You have the latest version".

Went to the VLC site and downloaded the new version. Looks like the VLC update check was not working on my machine.

If you're using VLC you may want to manually check and verify that you have the latest version.
 

cengleman

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Kingwood, Texas
Another nail in the coffin for RadioLog... first the owner abandoned it... now cant get it to connect to streams.

Will just have to use it for locally supplied audio and the ATC one.

Chris
 

blinkthing

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This isn't an an issue with any specific audio player. It's just that Broadcastify now wants you to listen only via the official mobile apps or web site. To force this, they've made it nearly impossible to use in external players, because now feed URLs change every hour or so (as opposed to never). This also makes it hard to instantly and conveniently launch a feed in-browser, since now you have open the feed page, press "play", and wait for the popup to load. For the many users that only listened via external players (because it's faster, consumes less resources, has audio effects, and less is annoying than a million browser popups) or via the native browser players, this is an unwelcome change. I thought technology was supposed to get better with time, not deliberately sabotaged after ~15 years of working well.

As someone that has been using both paid and free Broadcastify for a long time, it's very disappointing to see this happening. The fact that it's resorting to such anti-user behavior makes me worry about its future. This isn't going to make the site more profitable, it's just going cause users to eventually leave. In the 3 months since this change, I've gone from using it every day to using it once a month. No point in renewing my subscription if the service is going to be so tedious to use.
 

flythunderbird

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This isn't an an issue with any specific audio player. It's just that Broadcastify now wants you to listen only via the official mobile apps or web site. To force this, they've made it nearly impossible to use in external players, because now feed URLs change every hour or so (as opposed to never).

Can you clarify what you mean? I have no problem using external players, provided that they are selected and launched from the feed page (including both Windows Media Player and Winamp). Launching from a saved file on a desktop will not work, as Lindsay has explained. What problems are you having?

This also makes it hard to instantly and conveniently launch a feed in-browser, since now you have open the feed page, press "play", and wait for the popup to load. For the many users that only listened via external players (because it's faster, consumes less resources, has audio effects, and less is annoying than a million browser popups) or via the native browser players, this is an unwelcome change. I thought technology was supposed to get better with time, not deliberately sabotaged after ~15 years of working well.

I'm confused here as well. An extra mouse click is a showstopper?

As for "sabotage," perhaps the blame should be placed on those unscrupulous people who have developed unauthorized, unlicensed apps for Broadcastify - they are the troublemakers, basically stealing from the platform. They are the ones who "sabotaged" things ...
 

smfeather

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Las Vegas, NV
I used to load a local scanner feed on my garage machine every evening and listen for hours while working on cars. Now, I have to constantly be checking the feed because I don't know it's just a quiet night shift for local public safety or if the feed URL has changed and it's time to download it again. I spend $15 on a set of amplified speakers and I'll just listen to my scanner directly. I will never renew my premium subscription again. I understand not wanting to lose some money due to a few unauthorized apps, but there had to be a better way to do this without punishing loyal subscribers. The worst of it all is that there was no notification, no communication, and nobody seems to want to fix it or provide it's loyal/premium subscribers any solution.
 

mule1075

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I used to load a local scanner feed on my garage machine every evening and listen for hours while working on cars. Now, I have to constantly be checking the feed because I don't know it's just a quiet night shift for local public safety or if the feed URL has changed and it's time to download it again. I spend $15 on a set of amplified speakers and I'll just listen to my scanner directly. I will never renew my premium subscription again. I understand not wanting to lose some money due to a few unauthorized apps, but there had to be a better way to do this without punishing loyal subscribers. The worst of it all is that there was no notification, no communication, and nobody seems to want to fix it or provide it's loyal/premium subscribers any solution.
You know you don't have to be a premium subscriber to listen to the feeds?Anyway I Have been listening to my feed in Winamp for the last 24 hours and it has not disconnected yet.
 

blinkthing

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Can you clarify what you mean? I have no problem using external players, provided that they are selected and launched from the feed page (including both Windows Media Player and Winamp). Launching from a saved file on a desktop will not work, as Lindsay has explained. What problems are you having?

I'm confused here as well. An extra mouse click is a showstopper?

You've completely missed the point. Your own reply answers your question: "Launching from a saved file on a desktop will not work". That is the complaint this thread (and others) is about. And it's not even technically a problem like a bug or network issue; it's straight up sabotage by Broadcastify.

As for "sabotage," perhaps the blame should be placed on those unscrupulous people who have developed unauthorized, unlicensed apps for Broadcastify - they are the troublemakers, basically stealing from the platform. They are the ones who "sabotaged" things ...

So a core feature that thousands of frequent and dedicated users (including feed providers) have been using for nearly 15 years deserves to get yanked because a handful (a dozen?) of random small-time devs made unofficial players? There are so many ways that this minor borderline non-issue could have been dealt with that didn't involve hobbling the service, such as IP- or user-based auth. But no, let's just nuke the whole thing and essentially say "deal with it" when people inevitably and immediately complain, right?


You know you don't have to be a premium subscriber to listen to the feeds?

No one is saying that. I'm not sure what's confusing about paid users deciding to no longer pay for a service that has been purposefully worsened. It's about the principle.

Anyway I Have been listening to my feed in Winamp for the last 24 hours and it has not disconnected yet.

It's good that you have perfect 100% uptime internet, or never close Winamp, or never sleep your listening computer, or Broadcastify somehow has perfect 100% uptime/stability for you. But many (perhaps most) users aren't like this.

Worse is that even the official browser player is affected by this change. Try opening a direct link to the site player and see how it refuses to play unless you re-auth by opening the feed page. Or even just close the connection for X minutes.

Like we've said, this isn't worth the hassle. It shouldn't be surprising when a site decides to pull things like this and starts to lose paid and free users.
 

blantonl

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You've completely missed the point. Your own reply answers your question: "Launching from a saved file on a desktop will not work". That is the complaint this thread (and others) is about. And it's not even technically a problem like a bug or network issue; it's straight up sabotage by Broadcastify.

So, protecting our business from theft is straight up sabotage by us? You're actually saying we're cutting our nose off to spite our face? 🆗 :roll:

So a core feature that thousands of frequent and dedicated users (including feed providers) have been using for nearly 15 years deserves to get yanked because a handful (a dozen?) of random small-time devs made unofficial players? There are so many ways that this minor borderline non-issue could have been dealt with that didn't involve hobbling the service, such as IP- or user-based auth. But no, let's just nuke the whole thing and essentially say "deal with it" when people inevitably and immediately complain, right?

IP or user-based authentication would cause an enormous support problem - far greater than requiring a set of power users to now take a small insignificant workflow change to listen to the feeds.

Furthermore, those "random small-time devs" have been making hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue off of the streams without ever sharing that revenue back to Broadcastify, like the rest of the licensed application developer community does. It's not pocket change - it is a significant theft of lost revenue and resources from our business.

Trust me, I've been doing this for a while, and we don't make changes lightly without significant thought into how we approach things.

Like we've said, this isn't worth the hassle. It shouldn't be surprising when a site decides to pull things like this and starts to lose paid and free users.

Sorry, but business has never been better, and the platform for 99.9% of everyone involved has been a great success and is only getting better.

I realize you are upset, but you are just going to have to go with our workflow if you want to participate here. I'm not trying to come across as a jerk, but when you accuse us of sabotaging our own platform, then sometimes I just have to step in and tell you to sit back, go with the new flow and the way things are now, or vote with your feet.

PS: The changes are working exactly as intended. And while we've had some complaints that folks can no longer directly link to feeds directly from their own players indefinitely, the vast majority understand our perspective and update their listening workflow accordingly when we explain the reasoning.

You on the other hand.... well... :roll:
 

Fubarscanner

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I noticed that after my Winamp scanner feed stopped working, the same feeds on the TuneIn radio (and Amazon Echo integration) stopped working as well. I downloaded a new M3U Winamp file from the Broadcastify site and it worked fine. I viewed the file info and noticed that now there is about a 50 character "key string" in the URL. I figured that this must be a key for this "session" only. The listening window (session) seems to be about 24 hours. Then, a new M3U file needs to be downloaded.

My question is, will TuneIn radio (and Amazon Echo) ever be allowed to stream the feeds originating from Broadcastify again?

The reason I ask is because myself and a lot of people I know use their Amazon Echo device to stream the feeds because it has TuneIn built in.

I listened to my scanner feeds (3) different ways:
At work, I had Winamp auto launch at startup and play a scanner feed.
At home, I listened to the feeds on my Echo Dot from the built in TuneIn.
On the road, I listen from my "Scanner Radio Pro" app on my phone.
So, 2 out of 3 of my preferred methods do not work. I am not complaining, just stating that my "work flow" has changed.
I will just use the Scanner Radio app for now. (I will try the Broadcastify app soon)

I can offer a suggestion for people that might make a suitable work-around:
My suggestion is to take an old (un-activated) phone or tablet and make it a "dedicated police scanner".
Myself, I have a few older cell phones and tablets laying around. I think that most people do these days.
Simply set it up on you wifi connection at home or work, then install an app such as the Broadcastify or Scanner Radio app.
Plug it into a wall wort to keep it always running if you prefer.

Note: If you don't have an old phone laying around, a nice cheap one can be found at Kroger or Dollar General etc, for $30. If you wait for a sale, you can get them for as low as $10. Kroger usually has a Tracfone or Net Zero for $30 or less.
You don't need to activate the phones, just set up the wifi.Apps can be loaded through the Play Store if you add you google account.

Side note: I bought about 20 LG34's a year ago for $10 each and me and the guys at work use them for Pandora and Zello (Nextel style walkie talkie app). Now, my co-workers from US, Canada and Mexico offices can all talk on our own Zello channel.
 

fredva

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My question is, will TuneIn radio (and Amazon Echo) ever be allowed to stream the feeds originating from Broadcastify again?

I think your question needs to be redirected to TuneIn. I believe TuneIn's non-payment of fees to Broadcastify is why the feeds no longer exist on TuneIn.
 

blantonl

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Tunein is no longer licensed to use our content.

We are in development of an Alexa skill for Broadcastify for Alexa devices and Google Home devices. Stay tuned this summer.
 

Fubarscanner

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Tunein is no longer licensed to use our content.

We are in development of an Alexa skill for Broadcastify for Alexa devices and Google Home devices. Stay tuned this summer.

Thanks for the information. I am looking forward to the Broadcastify skill.
 

JoeNick

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New Hartford, NY
I have a Barix Exstreamer 120 | Barix part # 2010.9101 and have been using it for almost 2 years and now with constant changes it is useless. 01
 
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