One of the big features we’ll be releasing as part of Songbird 0.5 is MTP device support.
MTP, or Media Transfer Protocol, is used by many types of devices these days. It ends up being pretty awesome because it enables device manufacturers to create devices that can all have the same great user experience when interacting with the contents and managing it from Songbird! Sweet.
Initial support for MTP devices includes manually managing the contents of your device, managing playlists and transferring media files to/from your device.
So far we’ve gotten Sansa, Creative, Nokia and HTC devices to work within Songbird. Awesome.
I’d also like to mention the names of all of the engineers that worked on this feature, without their dedication, none of this would’ve been possible. So, without further adieu, here is your MTP device team: Aus, David, Erik, Keisuke, Mark and Steven!
Tell us what you think! 
You can try it out by getting the latest nightly and add-on here.
Aus
P.S. If you are a device manufacturer and you would like Songbird to support your MTP device, do get in touch with us.
21 Comments
SubscribeWhen are Linux users going to see this? Before 0.5? You only mention Windows. Rhythmbox uses libmtp and it works really well now, but I’d like to use the cross-platformy sweetness of Songbird. My new little Creative Zen Stone Plus is dying to be used in Songbird.
i agree they shold uses libmtp or make sure what the use works on windows mac and linux before version .5 comes out
No support for removable devices, Now no support for MTP…? Wats on your mind ?
I know its difficult due to various flavours involved. I would love to have thi on linux …currently there is no good “web Player for linux”
I’m not that it’s sad, but sadly, 0.5 is very near completion and Linux and Mac support for MTP devices is slated in the next release of Songbird.
It will most likely use libmtp but we may end up writing an MTP stack from scratch.
I sense a little bit of resentment in that comment.
Here’s the deal. Writing device support in a portable manner is no joke. And honestly, to get the best integration, you should always use the APIs provided by the OS you are operating under, otherwise, the user experience is most likely going to suck.
Because of this, we will be rolling out MTP support on Linux and Mac only after 0.5. This will give us enough time to do it right instead of just rushing to cram it out the door in a barely working manner.
And, to answer your question directly: I’m thinking we need to support all three platforms, however, we can’t do them all at once. I’m sure you understand that.
Sorry, that’s just not going to happen in that timeframe.
This is exciting news. I can hardly wait for MTP support on Linux (although dismayed to see the whiney nature of the previous comments regarding multi-platform MTP support). Anyway, I’ll have to start looking into libMTP and see if there’s any way I can help out. Any idea if Samsung MTP devices will be supported? (It works in rhythmbox)
Ah, screw these jerks complaining about the Windows support. I’m looking forward to 0.5 regardless of whether it has great device support on Linux—I can get by with using Amarok and my iRiver for a little longer.
I’m just glad to hear MTP is already planned for Linux! Hope libmtp serves you guys well, would hate to see it forked or you guys having to write your own stack.
Well now I can’t wait until the 0.6 release! (well, the 0.6 nightlies with MTP support)
Good to see it in sight for us Linux folks!
Sad thing is, that I dont own a mtp device
Only usb mass storage here. So. To let me test this bugger out, someone please contact me and send me such a device. Clearly for developers purposes, that is.
USB Mass Storage should work fine under the MTP device.
Works quite right with my old Creative Zen.
The building of the library is slow though and memory consumption is an issue (140 MB for songbird is little excessive).
Something else I’ve noticed, the tracks’ titles are not listed if they’ve not been played once (weird !)
That just got fixed. If you get the nightly extension tomorrow, you should see the right data.
is there a list of what devices are supported and on what platforms?
Nice work, thank you guys.
Is there any more news on Linux support for MTP in songbird, I’m hanging in there at the moment but I really want to use my N95 with my music and podcasts. Please don’t make me switch to amorak
Cheers,
Alex
Awesome work on Songbird… Wondering if someone has explored the idea of building a simple media management CAB for windows mobile 6 that could interface with Songbird in a fashion similar to MTP? A Songbird transfer client that runs on the device…
Is there any more news on Linux support for MTP in songbird, I’m hanging in there at the moment but I really want to use my N95 with my music and podcasts. Please don’t make me switch to amorak
i agree they shold uses libmtp or make sure what the use works on windows mac and linux before version .5 comes out
Nice work, thank you guys.
Hi I tried using my Sony Ericsson 910i and it only synched to the phone memory. Is there any way I can point it at the memory card instead?