[Custom Integration] Music Play – Music Assistant / Deezer control for Remote 3

General
1

Hi everyone,

I’d like to share my new custom integration for the Unfolded Circle Remote 3:

:musical_note: Music Play

Music Play brings music browsing and playback control to the Remote 3 through a local Music Assistant server.

The project originally started because I wanted a convenient way to control Deezer directly from my Remote 3, including browsing my music instead of only having basic Play/Pause controls.

The current version has grown into a more generic Music Assistant integration, so it is not limited to Deezer. Other music providers configured in Music Assistant can be used as well, depending on their capabilities.

:sparkles: What it can do

The integration currently supports:

  • :musical_note: Now Playing with title, artist and album
  • :framed_picture: Album artwork
  • :play_button: Play / Pause
  • :stop_button: Stop
  • :last_track_button: Previous track
  • :next_track_button: Next track
  • :fast_forward_button: Seeking within the current track
  • :shuffle_tracks_button: Shuffle
  • :repeat_button: Repeat
  • :speaker_high_volume: Volume and mute
  • :clipboard: Browse playlists
  • :optical_disk: Browse albums
  • :bust_in_silhouette: Browse artists
  • :musical_notes: Browse library tracks
  • :magnifying_glass_tilted_right: Search for music
  • :play_button: Start individual tracks directly from playlists or search results
  • :plus: Play Now / Play Next / Add to Queue
  • :page_with_curl: Browse the current playback queue
  • :speaker_low_volume: Select and control Music Assistant playback devices
  • :control_knobs: Physical Remote 3 media/navigation button support
  • :counterclockwise_arrows_button: Dynamic playback status updates
  • :electric_plug: Automatic reconnect to Music Assistant

:house: No Home Assistant required

An important goal of the project was to avoid making Home Assistant a mandatory part of the setup.

The integration communicates directly with Music Assistant.

For example, my own setup is:

Remote 3 → Music Play → Music Assistant → Deezer → Denon AVC-X4800H / HEOS

Music Assistant handles the music provider and the actual playback device, while Music Play provides the Remote 3 interface and controls.

:video_game: Remote 3 interface

The integration uses a native Media Player entity on the Remote 3.

Besides the touchscreen controls, physical media and navigation buttons can also be used for playback control.

The goal is to make the Remote 3 feel like a proper music remote rather than just exposing a few commands.

:magnifying_glass_tilted_right: Search

Music can be searched directly from the Remote.

For more specific searches, Music Assistant also supports queries such as:

Artist - Title

This is useful when several tracks have the same or similar names.

:package: Requirements

You need:

  • Unfolded Circle Remote 3
  • A local Music Assistant server
  • A music provider configured in Music Assistant
  • A compatible playback device configured in Music Assistant
  • A Music Assistant Long-Lived Access Token

I developed and tested the integration primarily with:

  • Deezer
  • Music Assistant
  • Denon AVC-X4800H via HEOS

Other Music Assistant providers and players may work as well, but I haven’t tested every possible combination.

:inbox_tray: Download

The current public release is:

Music Play v0.2.6

GitHub:

Open Releases and download:

uc-intg-music_play-0.2.6-aarch64.tar.gz

:warning: Please do not use GitHub’s automatically generated “Source code” ZIP/TAR files for installation. The Remote 3 requires the packaged AArch64 integration archive from the release assets.

:construction: Current status

This is the first public release.

The integration is already usable, but I still consider it an actively developed community project. There are several areas I’d like to improve further, especially the music browsing/search experience, physical button mappings and the overall Now Playing experience.

Feedback, testing and bug reports are very welcome – particularly if you’re using different Music Assistant providers or playback devices.

If something doesn’t work, please include your Remote 3 integration logs and information about your Music Assistant player/provider where possible.

Enjoy! :musical_note:

2

Are you aware that there already is an existing Music Assistant integration? GitHub - JackJPowell/uc-intg-musicassistant: A Music Assistant Integration for the Unfolded Circle line of remotes · GitHub

3

Thanks for pointing that out! :+1:

Yes, I’m aware of the existing Music Assistant integration, and I’ve actually taken a closer look at it in the meantime.

Music Play is not intended to claim that there was no Music Assistant solution before. It started as my own project because I wanted a music interface on Remote 3 that was more focused on the way I personally use the remote.

The main focus is a more remote-centric music experience, including:

  • Now Playing with cover art, title, artist and progress
  • Play / Pause / Stop / Previous / Next directly on the touchscreen
  • playlist browsing and track selection
  • search with an explicit Search button rather than triggering a new search after every character
  • shuffle modes and playback controls
  • physical Remote 3 button mappings
  • physical STOP button to stop playback completely
  • physical POWER button to stop playback and then power off / put the selected playback device into standby
  • quick access back to the last selected playlist
  • continuous Now Playing/progress updates
  • player selection through Music Assistant
  • support for devices such as my Denon AVC-X4800H
  • automatic reconnect and state handling

I have also reworked the setup process. Music Assistant is discovered automatically on the local network, and the user can then authenticate either with an existing Long-Lived Access Token or with their Music Assistant username/password. In the latter case, Music Play creates and stores a dedicated token, so there is no need to dig through developer tools just to set up the integration.

The project originally started with Deezer as my primary use case, hence the repository history/name, but the actual integration is intentionally called Music Play because the playback backend is Music Assistant. So it is not limited to Deezer and can also be used with other music providers supported by Music Assistant.

After discovering the existing integration, I also compared the approaches and incorporated ideas where they made sense, while keeping Music Play as an independent implementation and respecting the original project’s licensing.

So I see Music Play less as a replacement and more as an alternative UI/control concept for Music Assistant on Remote 3, with a stronger focus on touchscreen music browsing and extensive use of the physical remote buttons.

Feedback and testing are very welcome – especially with different Music Assistant players and music providers. :slightly_smiling_face: