PlayStatus - Media & Controller Battery Overlay news & patch notes

Hi all! It has been a while, but don't worry I've been hard at work making PlayStatus more efficient, and easier to use than ever! v5.0.0 is almost complete, and while I am waiting on some approvals in relation to application certificates, I wanted to let you all take a look at what's coming. This version of PlayStatus will completely rework the user interface, moving from a OpenGL implementation to a more modern web-application approach. It'll be hard to miss, and will result in much more performant and better looking user interfaces. Along with this major change, a new crosshair overlay has been added so if a game doesn't have one, or hides it at certain times, you can show and customize a crosshair in PlayStatus. Additionally, almost all features in PlayStatus have been refined over the past few months and should result in far fewer issues. You can view the upcoming changes on our website here.

-Massively improved font rendering. -Implemented Gaussian blur with text and rectangle shader. -PlayStatus will no longer focus unless attempting to type in a text box. -Finished backend refactor. -Improved overall look and style of controls. -Fixed issues with average color calculations on Music Player page. -Improved overall performance. -Other bug fixes.

-Engine has been completely refactored. -Notifications can now be optionally displayed on the bottom of the screen. -Fixed multiple crashes when HIDHide or ViGemBus fail to initialize. -Fixed issues where music thumbnails may not load. -Significantly decreased memory utilization when loading thumbnail cache. -Updated design of the music player page. -Fixed multiple deadlocks in the music player. -Fixed issues with UI opacity not being correctly applied to certain Controls. -Window scaling is now using integer-based resolutions. -Font rendering now uses integer-based positioning. -Improved the look of the average color function for music notifications. -Improved stability.

- Added offline capability(No Steam/Internet).* - Categories added to configuration menu, making it much easier to navigate. - Control hovering works much more consistently. - Panel z-ordering works much more consistently. - Significantly improved accuracy of spectrum visualizer. - Fixed Windows SDK issue, stopping application from launching. - Decreased size of Crash reporter (28mb->2mb). - Added MSIX resources to load UWP api & enhance Windows integration. - Music player now forwards music details to SMTC. - Rewrote NowPlayingSessionManager with fully custom implementation using UWP enhancements. - Improved reliability of loading & saving settings. - Rewrote logic for stacking & displaying notifications. - Fixed multiple issues related to control opacity. - Fixed multiple crashes. *You must launch the game through Steam at least once every 2 weeks to use this feature.

-Fixed multiple crashes when HIDHide or ViGEmBus were not installed. -Added the ability to install HIDHide & ViGEmBus from the overlay if not installed. -Game mapping page is hidden if HIDHide or ViGEmBus are not installed. -Added the ability to hide/disable all music features (music symbol in bottom left of overlay). -Removed HIDHide & ViGEmBus from autoinstall, instead will rely on in-app installation. -Fixed crashes related to finding locale. -Game mapping screen and UI in general now use a gamepad font to represent buttons. -FIxed an issue where button mappings did not work when HIDHide or ViGEmBus were not installed.

-Fixed rare crash when discord game list fails to load in time. -Improved reliability of crash handler. -Added more information for new users when completing the tutorial. -Updated translations. -Other bug fixes.

- Added a crash handler, which will provide necessary details for fixing future issues. - Reduced file size, windows app runtime is installed instead of being compiled with the application. - Fixed bugs related to loading game lists. - Modified first time setup to notify that a restart is necessary for full compatibility. - Fixed issues with Steam verification.

- If a game is not detected, controller emulation will no longer be enabled by default. - Reduced file size by ~65% - Updated HID installer to latest version - Bug fixes

- Added the ability to lower the battery button delay to 0 seconds (instant). - Fixed an issue where controllers would not work correctly after disconnectin & reconnecting. - Fixed issues where the PlayStation LED may not update. - Improved performance regarding reading inputs from controllers.

-Added the ability to set a custom button mapping for showing the battery status widget. -Added the ability to set how long the mapping needs to be held for in order to show the widget. -Added the ability to hide/show Game launch/exit notifications. -Fixed UI issues with dropdown boxes. -Improved backend controller input management.

PlayStatus v3.5.0 - Xbox 360 & DualShock 4 Emulation

Controller Emulation

• Added Controller Emulation using ViGEmBus & HIDHide. Xbox 360 & DualShock 4 emulation capabilities.
• Full rumble support for Xbox 360 controller emulation.
• Added a game mapping page to the overlay, which allows for setting custom controller mappings & settings for controller emulation for a specific game.
• Example use cases: Play with Xbox controllers in games that only support DualShock 4, or use a Nintendo 64 Online controller in Rocket League.

Game Detector

• Added a game detector, which detects when games are launched, and can apply controller mappings based on the game.
• If a game is not detected automatically, you can add a custom defined executable in the menu.
• Games will automatically be searched up on PCGamingWiki to attempt to check the games controller compatibility.
• Controller Emulation feature works for all controllers supported by PlayStatus and is intended to be used as an alternative to Steam Input.

https://i.imgur.com/l3uejqH.png

General Controller Updates

• Added LED options for PlayStation controllers, either a custom color, or a color based on battery level or muusic album art.
• Added an option to hide the controller icons from battery status's.

https://i.imgur.com/MNDzstu.png

General Fixes & Improvements

• Added a check for certain outdated drivers that will cause PlayStatus to crashes.
• Added a search box to the media player scroll box.
• Completley rewrote how settings work, and now utilizes JSON. This improves performance & compatibility.
• Moved controller options to a separate page from interface options.
• Fixed cases where controls might overlap eachother incorrectly.
• Fixed cases where unmanaged memory was never freed.
• Fixed multiple crashes.
• Fixed cases where background threads would not sleep for the proper amount of time.
• Removed troubleshooting page.

Since ViGEmBus & HIDHide are installed, you may need to restart your PC for controller emulation to work properly. Thank you for waiting so long for this update! I didn't mean for it to take this long, but had SO much going on these last few weeks! Since this update is quite large, with TONS of changes being made, I expect that there might be some issues. If issues arise, please let me know through Steam discussions.

PlayStatus v3.0.0 - Skeuomorphism & Stability

Music Player Additions & Changes:

• Spectrum visualizer now smooths data based on previous magnitudes.
• Significant memory management improvements
• Added look ahead buffer, leading to more accurate, and improved visualizations.
• Fixed multiple issues where music playback would stop working.
• Fixed issues where EQ presets were not correctly applied.
• Added the ability to enable & disable EQ profiles.
• Added a EQ screen, allowing for a 10-band EQ.

https://i.imgur.com/4ok8Dr9.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/7TWQr1G.jpeg

Control System Additions & Changes:

• Color Caching is now much more efficient and significantly reduces memory overhead.
• Fixed multiple issues when determining whether a control was being hovered, or clicked.
• Added z-ordering, which allows for other controls to render over others depending on how recently they were interacted.
• Text measurements are now much more efficient for controls like scrollable boxes, labels, and notifications.
• Massively improved accuracy of text measuring for controls like Message boxes, and labels.

General UI Additions & Changes:

• Controls now follow a much closer skeuomorphic style, with interactions providing depth, and reflections.
• Added background materials like linen, fabric, wood, etc.
• A global UI scale factor has been added, allowing for more adjustments in terms of sizing of panels and such.
• A global UI opacity has been added.
• A text inset has been added, adding a sense of depth.

https://i.imgur.com/ZoLQHAa.jpeg

Controller Additions & Changes:

• Improved reliability of controller detection.
• Controller status widgets can now additionally be shown in the center of the top or bottom of the screen.
• Controller updater thread now runs as a below priority process.

https://i.imgur.com/xG7JkLV.jpeg This update took a while to push out, so thanks for baring with me! I hope many of you come to appreciate the skeuomorphic UI that has been implemented, and enjoy the new improvements & additions!

Quick update!

• Added an option to disable Always on Top, allowing for windows to draw over PlayStatus' overlay configuration menu.
• Optimized multiple areas of the audio system, reducing memory allocations and reusing buffers, etc.
• Added a new panel for first time users where they are requested to select the default language for PlayStatus
• Fixed multiple crashes
• Update localization files

Hey there! Recently returned from vacation and started work on improving the music player and fixing many other issues with PlayStatus!

New Language Support

• Added Russian as a selectable language for PlayStatus. Translation was provided by u/Pokemonultra2 -- thanks again!

Music Player Fixes

• Fixed multiple issues relating to the spectrum audio visualizer.
• Massively improved efficiency of music cache, reducing cache size by upwards of 70-80%.
• Fixed multiple issues relating to loading & saving thumbnails for music.
• Improved reliability of NPSM (Now Playing Session Manager -- related to audio handling for other music applications outside PlayStatus), although still some room for improvement.

Music Player Improvements

• Added a noise gate for the audio visualizer to improve accuracy.
• Added support for more EQ filter types including LOW_PASS, HIGH_PASS, BAND_PASS, and NOTCH.

UI Bug Fixes

• Fixed multiple issues where controls may not receive hover events.
• Fixed panels forcing the application to focus, no matter where the mouse is (i.e., not hovering any window/control).
• Fixed cases where PlayStatus would unintentionally refocus/unfocus the window.

UI Improvements

• UI has been modified to follow a more 'skeuomorphic' design. This design will continue to be improved in future updates.
• Panels can now be dragged by clicking and dragging the 'title' bar (top 15px).
• Added tooltips to controls to improve user experience.

General Performance Improvements

• Improved performance of multiple GPU shaders, including using precomputed weights for Gaussian based blurring algorithms.
• Improved the multithreading ability of multiple parts behind the scenes, including animations for controls, audio processing, and more.

Keep a look-out for more updates soon!

PlayStatus v2.5.0 Update Notes

Hi there! Super excited to announce a major update for PlayStatus! Update 2.5.0 is THE update that many have been waiting for, and even brings a few other MAJOR surprises! Here is what is new in PlayStatus v2.5.0:

🎮 Controller Support Enhancements

• DualShock 4 Support: IT'S FINALLY HERE! DualShock 4 controller support has been added and just like every other controller, you get a custom controller glyph that can be customized to your liking. Support was tested on a 2nd generation DualShock 4 controller, so if you run into issues with battery readings on earlier generations, please report it to me ASAP.
• EXPERIMENTAL DualSense Edge Support: Although I do not have access to the DualSense Edge controller, I have added EXPERIMENTAL support for it. If you own a DualSense Edge and are able to report back on how it works, please do so!
• Xbox One S Controller Support: Another heavily requested controller, the Xbox One S controller, has been added! Please note that for these controllers, you will almost CERTAINLY have to update the firmware of it by using the Xbox Accessories app in the Microsoft Store.
• Multi-Controller Compatibility: With these two new controllers being supported, you can still look forward to being able to still connect up to 4 controllers of ANY kind (as long as it is supported) and get status updates for all of them!

https://i.imgur.com/7a8Vdpp.jpeg

🎵 Major Music Notification Overhaul

• Album Art Color Integration: Music notifications have been redesigned to utilize the average color of the song's album art in more ways along with implementing some gradients, which leads to some absolutely beautiful results.
• Dynamic Appearance: Text accents, background gradients, and more are now based on HSL values related to the song's average color.

https://i.imgur.com/tGJA7nH.png

🎶 Introducing a Full-Featured Music Player

• Supported Formats: Open folders of songs in various formats including MP3, FLAC, WAV, OGG, and M4A. The music playback is done via NAudio, which will provide high-quality and responsive media playback. WASAPI is used as the playback API, meaning super low latency and high quality audio output! Look forward to a future option to swap between normal and exclusive mode, which will later futher allow for even lower latency & higher accuracy.
• User Interface: Navigate through a scrollable box of your loaded music library and control playback with ease from the overlay menu.
• EQ Profiles: Customize your audio experience with EQ profiles. Easily create and load profiles using online Oratory sound profiles or your own settings. (No UI right now, only config files).

{ "Name": "Example EQ Profile", "EqSettings": }

• Real-Time Audio Visualization: Enjoy a 38-band spectrum analyzer (20Hz-22.4kHz) for an immersive audio experience. This provides real-time visualization of your favorite songs, exclusively through PlayStatus' media player.
• Resizable Music Widget: Optionally, there is now a displayable music widget for the built-in media player, when playing music, clicking the radio player icon to the right of the EQ configuration options, a draggable & resizable window will open. This widget includes all of the other features including a song position & volume slider. To close the widget simply right click it.

https://i.imgur.com/U7A5ttu.png

🔧 Important Changes and Improvements

• Steam Controller Settings Update: Users are now advised to disable all Steam Controller settings (Steam -> Settings -> Controller) and enable Steam Input on a per-game basis for optimal compatibility.
• Performance Enhancements: Significant performance improvements have been made thanks to the implementation of asynchronous functions and tasks.

As one person, I've been putting a SIGNIFICANT amount of time into improving both the compatibility and functionality of PlayStatus. The music player is just an example of things that are possible with PlayStatus. I would love to hear feedback for the new features implemented in v2.5.0, so please feel free to discuss anything, whether it is a suggestion for a new feature, or asking for assistance, I am always here to help!

PlayStatus v2.0.0 is Out Now!

Hi there! I've been doing TONS of work behind the scene and today, I finally have a little bit to show of it! In this version, you can look forward to playing with your family, friends, or whoever it may be!

Multi-Controller Support!

In v2.0.0 PlayStatus now supports up to 4 controllers at a time! This means you could have two Xbox controllers, a Dual Sense, and a Switch Pro connected ALL at the same time and PlayStatus will display battery updates for all of them! This can be any sort of combination other than wired Xbox controllers. Take a look at the updated UI to support multiple controllers: https://i.imgur.com/tTAL0QI.jpeg Looks pretty cool! You can also change the controller color on a per-player basis (i.e. Player 1 can have a certain color, Player 2 can have another, etc.) https://i.imgur.com/Xgmd1aN.png

Visual Improvements

A large, but maybe less noticeable improvement under the hood that has been implemented is Gaussian blur for rendering textures! This substantially improves the look of controller icons, and music art when playing media! You'll most likely notice this more if you play on a higher resolution monitor. This all comes at no extra performance cost!

More Configuration Options

You'll also notice some extra new options/toggles added in this update. Controller Status Linger Time is how long the controller status updates will be displayed on the screen when something like the battery level changes, for example. This can be set from 1 second to a maximum of 60 seconds. Right below that, there is a new dropdown box that will allow you to override the language that PlayStatus launches with. If it is set to System Default, PlayStatus will try to determine the best language to use. https://i.imgur.com/3dfwUuG.jpeg

Performance Updates & LOTS of Bug Fixes

Of course, an update brings some bug fixes and performance updates, but this one will be a little more noticeable this time around! There have been several key areas regarding controller managing that have been refactored and in turn, significantly improves performance, even with the 4 player support!

What to Look Forward to

In the near future, you can look forward to two new controllers getting official support for PlayStatus: DualShock 4, and Xbox One S controllers! In the meantime, hopefully this update can hold you all over for some time! If you run into ANY issues regarding v2.0.0 please reach out!

Hi there, I wanted to make a quick post about issues some people have run into with controllers not being able to be picked up by other games when using PlayStatus. I want to make sure that people realize that there is a full page dedicated to troubleshooting issues related to this, and even provides two instructional videos as well, that take you step by step on what you need to do to fix said issues. It seems though that many people don't seem to notice this troubleshooting page, so I thought I'd make a post anyway discussing the fixes. SEE PAGE 3 OF PLAYSTATUS CONFIGURATION TO VIEW THE TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS IN-APP

What to do if other games are not recognizing your Controller

Ensure you have completed all the troubleshooting steps for your particular controller (found below)

Find the game that is having issues with detecting the controller in your Steam Library

Right-click the game, go to Properties

Under Controller, make sure that Steam Input is set to Enabled! PlayStatus MUST be running before you launch ANY game that uses Steam Input!

If PlayStatus is not detecting your Controller

Follow these instructions if PlayStatus is either not detecting your controller, or is recognizing the wrong type of controller.

Open Steam

Go to your Steam Library

Right click PlayStatus -> Properties

Then under Controller, ensure that Steam Input is set to Use Default Setting

Dual Sense Detection Issues

What to do if PlayStatus is not detecting the Dual Sense controller

If PlayStatus is the application that is NOT recognizing your controller, please follow ALL steps:

Click 'Steam' in the top-right of the window

Select Settings -> Controller

Make sure Dual Sense is set to "Enabled in games w/o Support."

Disable "Enable Steam Input for generic Controllers."

Restart PlayStatus If you have any other issues regarding the Dual Sense controllers, it is vital to ensure that you have also updated the firmware of the controller to the latest version using the Dual Sense Firmware Updater from Sony: https://controller.dl.playstation.net/controller/lang/en/fwupdater.html

Xbox Series not being detected by PlayStatus

Similar to the Dual Sense steps, you'll need to do the following:

Go to Steam -> Settings

Under Controller, make sure that Enable Steam Input for Xbox controllers is toggled OFF! It is VITAL to update your Xbox controller to the latest firmware, as newer firmware added the ability to read the battery from the controller properly. YOU WILL NOT GET CORRECT BATTERY READINGS IF YOU DO NOT UPDATE YOUR CONTROLLER! You can update your Xbox controller by plugging it in and using the "Xbox Accessories" app to update the firmware. Once again, if this leads to issues with your Xbox controller not being picked up, please see the first troubleshooting step at the top of this post.

Nintendo Controllers not being detected by PlayStatus

Go to Steam -> Settings

Under Controller, make sure that Enable Steam Input for Switch Pro controllers is toggled OFF!

Battery info for my controller is incorrect when charging!

This is normal for Nintendo controllers & Xbox controllers, as they do NOT report any actual battery percentage, and instead ONLY report that it is in a 'charging' state. This means there is no feasible way for me to fix this issue regarding the Xbox and Nintendo controllers. This does NOT affect Dual Sense controllers, or any controllers while they are connected wirelessly. If your XBOX controller is not reporting correct battery info, update the firmware using Xbox Accessories app and unpair the controller and then re-pair it.

Hi there! I recently was made aware that for some, PlayStatus is defaulting to English, instead of a different, supported language. I have made some tweaks within PlayStatus that will hopefully resolve this issue, and along with that, have added a Launch Option to explicitly define a language to use. https://i.ibb.co/PT5Gnt0/Screenshot-2024-02-06-212111.png This can simply be done by adding the -lang argument to Launch Options in Steam Library -> PlayStatus -> Properties. For example, to set the language to french, you would use -lang french. This way, you can have a different language for Steam and PlayStatus, if that's what you like! Other than that, there were a few bug fixes and some improvements made behind the scene, and along with that, added a new troubleshooting page to the UI, that includes two videos for walkthroughs, hopefully helping some users that may run into issues with translation, etc. If you have any issues, please either make a post in the Discussions for PlayStatus on Steam, or go here and create a new issue using the provided example format.

PlayStatus 1.2.1 is Out Now!

What's New?

NSO N64 & SNES Controller Support: In this update, two new controllers are now supported, which are the Nintendo Switch Online N64 & SNES controllers! Just like all the other supported controllers, you can now receive battery updates for these controllers and customize the controller icon to your liking. In fact, you can check out some screenshots on the store page. Menu Updates: New menu layout that is much less cluttered and makes a bit more sense. One new color customization option was added, which allows you to set a custom low battery color for controllers when they are less than 30% battery life. Music Improvements: Music notifications got a nice update as well... Album art is now subtly rounded with a nice thin border around it. Along with that, the title of the playing media will be based on the average color of the album art (if any)! This makes for some gorgeous notifications for your music! Along with that, cache info will be generated for music to minimize thumbnail loading in the future.

Feedback

Feedback is always appreciated! Please make sure to report any issues you run into while using PlayStatus, you can do this by making an issue here. I am actively on the lookout for your suggestions, but please note features may take time to implement as I am a single person developer!