AmigaAMP update improves streaming, M4A playback and AmiSSL support

AmigaAMP 3.35 is now available for both AmigaOS 3.x and AmigaOS 4.x, bringing a useful set of fixes to the long-running audio player. This isn’t a huge redesign. You won’t find a new interface or a pile of headline features. Instead, version 3.35 focuses on the things that matter when you actually use the player: internet radio, M4A files, secure connections and a few annoying file-handling problems. It’s a maintenance release, basically. But it fixes several issues that could easily get in the way of everyday listening.

Internet radio gets better stream handling

Streaming is one of the main areas covered by AmigaAMP The player already supports internet radio services using Shoutcast and Icecast, but streaming audio can be messy. Servers don’t all behave the same way, headers can vary, and metadata isn’t always presented consistently.

Version 3.35 fixes a problem where some internet radio streams could be detected as the wrong type. That might sound minor, but if the player misunderstands the incoming stream, playback can fail before you hear anything. That’s now been corrected.

AmigaAMP also handles unusually large HTTP stream headers more reliably. Some streaming servers send a fair amount of information before the audio data starts, and the player can now deal with those situations more cleanly. There’s another useful addition here. AmigaAMP can now show metadata URLs supplied by compatible streams.

That means a station can pass extra information alongside the audio, and AmigaAMP can make that data visible when it’s available. It’s a small feature, but it fits naturally with how modern internet radio streams work.

AmiSSL 5 brings updated secure networking

The new release of AmigaAMP also adds support for AmiSSL 5. That matters because AmiSSL handles SSL and TLS connections on Amiga systems. In simpler terms, it’s the part that lets compatible software connect to encrypted HTTPS services.

The fifth version of AmiSSL moves to the newer OpenSSL 3 architecture, so applications have to be updated specifically to use it. They can’t simply rely on compatibility with older AmiSSL versions. AmigaAMP has now made that move.

For an audio player with internet radio support, this makes sense. More servers use encrypted connections than they did in the past, and redirects or related online resources can also rely on HTTPS. Without current SSL support, streaming software can run into problems even if the audio format itself hasn’t changed.

M4A file support gets a compatibility fix

Local audio playback hasn’t been ignored either. AmigaAMP can now open certain M4A files that use the base media isom identifier. Previously, those files could fail to open even though their audio content was otherwise compatible with the player. That issue is now fixed.

AmigaAMP already handles a broad set of formats, including MP2, MP3, OGG, AAC, FLAC, AIFF and WAV. It also supports tracker formats such as MOD, S3M, XM and IT. The AmigaOS 4 version includes built-in decoding for a wide range of formats, while AmigaAMP can also work with additional decoders and TuneNet plugins. So this M4A fix isn’t about adding an entirely new format. It’s about making existing support behave properly with more real-world files.

Drag and drop gets cleaned up

Another fix affects AppWindow drag-and-drop handling. AmigaAMP works as a Workbench application, so dragging audio files onto its window is part of normal use. Version 3.35 corrects the way some of those messages are handled. Again, it’s not glamorous. But these are exactly the kinds of problems you notice when they don’t work properly.

File requesters cope better with missing drives

The update also improves what happens when removable media disappears while the file requester is still looking at it. Previously, that could leave the requester pointing at a device that was no longer available. AmigaAMP now falls back to its default path instead.

That should make working with removable drives, cards and other temporary storage a little less awkward. Audio CD handling also gets a small adjustment. Track#? has been added to the default file pattern, which helps the requester recognise numbered CD tracks more reliably.

Separate builds for AmigaOS 3 and AmigaOS 4

The AmigaAMP update continues to support two different AmigaOS generations. There’s a PowerPC version for AmigaOS 4.x and a separate 68k version for AmigaOS 3.x. The AmigaOS 4 package is around 2 MB, while the 68k download is a little over 400 KB. There’s no big feature that defines this release. That’s really the point.

AmigaAMP update tightens up streaming support, updates secure networking, fixes M4A compatibility and smooths out several parts of file handling. For users on either AmigaOS 3 or AmigaOS 4, it’s a practical update that makes the player behave better in the situations where small compatibility problems tend to show up.

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