Prefetch network streams

[jharris171185]

We really need a way to prefetch or predownload a podcast, both in Radioboss desktop as well as RB cloud. I am having the issue with MULTIPLE podcasts, both on rb desktop and rb cloud, where a podcast is not fully streamed, and gets cut off. If you are going to offer the ability to use podcast streams, there needs to be a system in place to keep them from getting cut off, as this leaves our broadcasts sounding extremely unprofessional. In the past when I have addressed this issue, it was said that the issue was probably with the podcast host. I now doubt this as it is happening with multiple podcasts. All these hosts can't be faulty.
I will grant you, I don't know exactly how this could be carried out. Having audio fetched right before it is served, like during previous track, might not be long enough, especially when a podcast is played right at the top of the hour. Ideally, both in rb desktop and rb cloud, a command could be scheduled to analyze next hour's playlist and prefetch podcasts, so that if a playlist starts at the top of the hour, this command could be scheduled for each hour at say minute 45, and thus audio could be retrieved well in advance of when it is actually needed, but avoiding the issue of live retrieval and cut offs.
I don't know if you can think of another way to do it, but I know changes need to be made as soon as possible, as current glitches are unacceptable. Over all your products are fantastic, but this is a major weakness.

 

[djsoft]

We really need a way to prefetch or predownload a podcast, both in Radioboss desktop as well as RB cloud.

RadioBOSS does preload the upcoming tracks, including network streams/podcasts and other item types as well. This is to ensure that the item starts immediately when time comes to play it. RadioBOSS Cloud does the same.

a podcast is not fully streamed, and gets cut off.

This is a different issue. A stream plays either until it ends, or until it's disconnected for some reason.
I think you should review the podcast sources, as, most likely, they are the cause for those disconnects. Even if RadioBOSS Cloud handled disconnects, trying to reconnect and resume, it will result in like 5-10 seconds of silence which is also bad.

Handling the podcasts is simple - it reads the XML, finds the most recent episode, reads its URL, form that point it's just a network stream and it plays as usual. RadioBOSS/RB Cloud do not cut/disconnect streams, they are played in full. Some hosts can block RadioBOSS Cloud servers because they see those are datacenter IP addresses, not residential, and datacenter IPs are considered as "bots" by some.

a command could be scheduled to analyze next hour's playlist and prefetch podcasts

Desktop version has an option to download podcast to a file, see the download command here: https://manual.djsoft.net/radioboss/en/scheduler_commands.htm
You can configure an event that will download necessary podcasts in advance, and in the playlist you add those downloaded files.