My name is Daniel Sloof and together with a group of volunteers we have recently been working on a project called Mangler: a Ventrilo compatible client for linux. Mangler is driven by a C library called libventrilo3 and over the past couple of weeks I have been working on making this library compile with the Android-NDK. I am currently succesfully able to build libventrilo3 as a native library that can be used in Android applications. The JNI wrappers are a little lackluster, but they are being worked on.
The main reason for me posting on this forum (amongst others) is because I am looking for skilled Android/Java developers to assist us in working on this open-source project. We're mostly C programmers that have very little Android experience. I expect we could have something functional up within the month, most of the work has already been done: we're pretty much just writing a GUI for an existing backend (and some audio stuff, which is just feeding PCM to one of the native functions).
Thanks for reading! If by this point you're interested in participating or have any specific questions you can just post them here or drop by on IRC. You can find me on freenode #mangler (alias: danslo).
More progress has been made making libventrilo suitable for Android usage. This primarily involves audio stuff, such as upsampling to rates that Android's AudioRecord doesn't support. Buffering in the Android App is still required but this can be done with minimal effort. Of course all of this (and future) progress can be found on our website.
There have also been some android developers peaking around in the IRC channel but no active developer has yet been found, feel free to drop by.
(PS: To moderators: I am cross-posting this on several Android Forums. If this is considered spam, please feel free to take appropriate measures.)
I've just managed to record audio on my android device and send it to our ventrilo test server. Even with just 8khz quality (for testing purposes) the transmission sounds loud and clear on my ventrilo client! There is a small bit of delay but that doesn't seem to be caused by either the connection or the speed of the device (HTC Magic); it can probably be fixed with relative ease.
That being said, looks like we've found an Android developer willing to work on the project, but nothing is for certain so we're still looking for decent Java/Android developers to help out.
Current revision in our repository can now play received audio transmissions! Once that is worked out nicely, all we'll really need is a decent GUI and some minor modifications (process more library events, etc) and we're good to go.
That spot for Android/Java developer is still available
App is pretty usable at this point, things missing:
1) Audio mixing. This means that whenever multiple people are talking at once you will notice stuttering.
2) Ability to join channels with passwords.
3) Leaving the app disconnects from server, this is a temporary workaround.
Other than that it's mostly cosmetics, settings, etc.
It is however already possible to add servers, connect to them, join channels, talk to people, and listen to people (as long as it's one person at a time ).
We always appreciate people helping out so long as they're knowledgeable of Android development. Feel free to drop by on irc.freenode.net #mangler!
Updated alpha apk to latest svn revision. This should fix numerous bugs and add some features, and should make it a bit more stable overall. Still don't try *talking* in GSM 8Khz channels, you WILL get banned.
People that have previously installed it may have to remove their current installation, I didn't mess with version strings so android won't know this is a later version.
That said, latest changes:
- Latency should be a LOT better now. At least I am getting the same talk delays that I'm getting on Windows Ventrilo client. It can't get much better.
- Couple of memory leaks that would cause phone to become unresponsive after a while have been resolved.
- You can join passworded channels.
- GSM 8Khz bug is fixed.
- A lot of other stability fixes.
Have fun! It should be pretty usable at this point.
Just throwing this out there:
There have been requests for BT headset functionality. None of the developers currently working on it have one as far as I know. Either get someone that has one to write some code, or send us one
We now have audio mixing! You can hear multiple people at once without stuttering. From here on it's mostly cosmetic changes.
you guys are awesome. I've been following this for the past month or so.
Just a couple of thoughts:
Is there anyway to do an "always on" talking mode, like in vent for windows, that utilizes sensitivity? Basically a way to not have to click a button every time i want to talk.
How about options about where you want your inbound sound to go. Either using the earpiece, speaker, or as you mentioned a BT device?
Also I was looking for a place to give feedback, and have discussions about this app. I'd like to help in any way that I can but I'm not a big IRC'er and your forums didn't seem to be very active about Android development.
you guys are awesome. I've been following this for the past month or so.
Just a couple of thoughts:
Is there anyway to do an "always on" talking mode, like in vent for windows, that utilizes sensitivity? Basically a way to not have to click a button every time i want to talk.
How about options about where you want your inbound sound to go. Either using the earpiece, speaker, or as you mentioned a BT device?
Also I was looking for a place to give feedback, and have discussions about this app. I'd like to help in any way that I can but I'm not a big IRC'er and your forums didn't seem to be very active about Android development.
Anyways, keep up the good work
Feel free to submit suggestions to our Trac page: Mangler
Here we go, alpha3! Try it and please report bugs to our trac page.
Please be advised that this release will send crash reports to a remote server. We only send a stack trace though! If you feel this is still an issue, wait for a non-alpha release!
set the channels to GSM 22khz and i can now speak but its inaudible, massive amounts of stuttering.. we're talking 2 seconds of silence and 0.2s of sound (repeating)
but i'll wait for the next release and see how that goes
Device(s): HTC Incredible - Leaked OTA
Omnia i910 - Retired Mp3/Extra Camera
Thanks: 85
Thanked 133 Times in 95 Posts
OMG this is amazing thank you so much for making this happen, You guys rock...
works great on my HTC Incredible, very sleek look and clear audio , can talk no problems, and listen no problems, can also change rooms, and join chat no problems, if you need me to test anything for you clearscreen, don't hesitate to ask.
this is so cool
Last edited by contagous; June 20th, 2010 at 04:03 AM.
Found this post and app a few weeks back and have been testing it and updating it on my Nexus One. The servers I connect to use Speex 32 KHz, 16-bit, 10 Qual and sound crystal clear. Seems in the more recent versions the incoming sound quality has improved as well.
In the newer updated version/UI I noticed now you need to push/hold to talk where as before you could tap to enable tap to disable. I would say depending on the situation the holding it to talk can be a pain. Could you have either way as a option of some sort so it can be toggled?
Also another feature I think would be nice is to view who is connected to the server in what channels from the server list before you connect. This is a great feature of the desktop client as well there is a website php where you can view as well. Yes Stalker mode is needed lol.
Was wondering if bluetooth headset support may be supported in the future? I had tried the wired earpeice and it works fine but bluetooth would be pretty pro. A toggle button like when in a phone call would be sweet to enable/disable.
Thanks for this excellent app, it already has great functionality and the UI is already improving.
Ok, so alpha4 is out...
This release should fix transmission issues for several devices (including the Galaxy S), and includes other minor bugfixes / cosmetic changes. Please do not try to change screen orientation while logging in, this is a known issue and is being worked on.
Someone seems to have taken our namespace on the market (org.mangler), so this update will require you to uninstall your previous mangler install manually. We've changed our namespace to org.mangler.android and we can now be found on the market!
Please still be aware that this Alpha release will send crash reports to our server. To clarify this, we have added a EULA starting from Alpha4. If you don't want this behavior, please wait for a stable release
No direct link to apk available this time, just grab it from the market (clickable / scannable):
Ventrilo on Android - Let's make it happen!
There is a small bit of delay but that doesn't seem to be caused by either the connection or the speed of the device (HTC Magic); it can probably be fixed with relative ease.
