Ampache
Ampache is a free software web-based audio file manager and media server. The name is a play on the two words "Amplifier" and "Apache". It was originally written to take advantage of Apache's Mod_mp3 but has since been adapted to use its own streaming method.[1] Ampache's Mascot is a squirrel called Fraz, originally drawn by Kirsten Petersen, later digitized by Ben Shields, and redesigned by Agnès Champavier in 2008.[2]
 For the Love of Music | |
| Original author(s) | Karl Vollmer |
|---|---|
| Initial release | Apr 29, 2001 |
| Stable release | 4.2.3
/ Oct 6, 2020 |
| Preview release | develop
|
| Repository | github |
| Written in | PHP |
| Operating system | [OS Independent] |
| Type | streaming media / file manager |
| License | AGPLv3 |
| Website | ampache |
History
Ampache was released in 2001. Its original author, Scott Kveton went on to create the OSUOSL at Oregon State University and passed the developmental lead to Karl Vollmer who was responsible for it from early 2003 to early 2011. Since then, lead development of Ampache has changed hands several times. To date, Ampache has support from over 100 different contributors.[3]
Development goals
Ampache's goal is to allow access to one's music from anywhere in the world. It is written specifically for private and small group implementations, but does allow an admin to enable public registration. Ampache's primary objective is to maintain a simple, secure and fast web front end that will run on almost any hardware and any platform that supports PHP. It is also written to accommodate large music collections.
Extensions and APIs
Ampache also provides an application programming interface (API) for extracting meta data in the form of XML documents. Ampache data can be accessed via the many methods supported in the API, originally created for use with Amarok2, but which can also be used to create other front-ends to Ampache. Access to the API is controlled by internal Access Control Lists; for performance reasons, all requests currently have a 5000 result limit. The following applications are known to have plug-ins that use Ampache's XML API:
- Amarok (2.x)
- Coherence (UPNP A/V MediaServer)
- Rhythmbox Plugin
- Terratec Noxon iRadio
- Ampache Mobile (WebOS Client)
- AmpachPre (WebOS Client)
- AmpacheX (iPod Touch/iPhone Application)
- iAmpache (iPod Touch/iPhone application)
- Ampacheberry (Ampache client for the BlackBerry)
- Ampache HTML5 Player (Google Chrome App)
Since version 3.7.0, Ampache is compatible with Subsonic clients and Plex clients.
Ampache and education
Ampache's features make it a powerful instructional and assistive technology for students with language-based learning differences. At the Chelsea School, a group of advanced technology students recognized Ampache's potential for providing important accommodations and modifications that serve their learning styles; they built and configured an Ampache server that was put to work to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.[4]
By adding audio recordings of instructional-level texts and assignments to an Ampache catalog, the instructor empowers students to individually and independently listen to a streaming text while reading a print version of the material; used in that way, Ampache allows students to avail themselves of curriculum material and instruction-level texts they may not otherwise have access to. Ampache thus serves as a compromise between three common accommodations: text-to-speech software, a human reader, and audiobooks.[5]
Ampache's video-streaming features have also been used to enhance teaching and learning at the Chelsea School. Rather than having students watch instructional videos as a group, the assigned material was streamed to their individual workstations. Independent viewing reduces distractions, and allows students to progress at their own pace, pausing to take notes or repeating segments for clarification.[6]
Publications
Ampache has been featured in numerous online blogs and technical articles. The O'Reilly book Spidering Hacks details security testing of online applications. Ampache was found to be immune to standard spidering hacks, and by focusing on security during its development, has continued to be. The code philosophy listed on Ampache's wiki specifies security as one of the most important considerations during application development.
Version history
| Version | Release date | Important changes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.01 | April 29, 2001 | First public release | |
| 1.07 | May 4, 2001 | Improved interface | |
| 1.10 | May 8, 2001 | First PHP only version of Ampache | |
| 1.20 | July 22, 2001 | ID3v1.1 support added along with Genre support | |
| 2.0 | February 5, 2002 | Many feature enhancements per-user statistics added, restarting Apache no longer necessary when new songs are added | |
| 3.0 | April 5, 2002 | Randall Ehren joined development team, XML-RPC functionality added, allowing multiple Ampache instances to be linked, mod_mp3 no longer used | |
| 3.1 | December 23, 2003 | Complete re-write of Ampache code by Karl Vollmer and Robert Hopson, modifications to individual Apache config no longer necessary for Ampache to run | |
| 3.2 | August 11, 2004 | Downsampling, RSS Feeds and Now Playing added, along with numerous improvements to album art and meta-data gathering | |
| 3.3 | May 17, 2005 | Added GetText support, batch downloading, user registration and WMA/M4A/FLAC support, first version with native PHP installer | |
| 3.3.1 | June 21, 2005 | First themable version of Ampache, abandoned non-standard installation method (/docs), implemented URL method for MPD plug-in | |
| 3.3.2 | October 1, 2006 | Optional bandwidth-based bit rates for downsampling, Keyword Quick search on all pages, adopted new authentication system (Vauth) and new IP based ACL system | |
| 3.3.3 | January 26, 2007 | AJAX actions introduced in various places, democratic play, integrated Last-FM player, integrated Flash player and added HttpQ support | |
| 3.4 | May 10, 2008 | Complete re-write in PHP5, AJAX'd interface, active playlist, XML API, dynamic playlists added, vastly-improved browsing system introduced | |
| 3.5 | May 5, 2009 | Added support for Web 2.0 Style object tagging, video streaming, IPv6, additional dynamic playlist options and improved mobile device support[7] | |
| 3.5.1 | June 24, 2009 | Corrected issues with API and ‘tags’, as well as certain endless loops in audio tag reading code | |
| 3.5.2 | November 19, 2009 | Fixed multiple bugs in API, plus tag reading issues, added album "Unknown (Broken)" for any files malformed or damaged by Ampache | |
| 3.5.3 | December 20, 2009 | Security release—highly recommended upgrade | |
| 3.5.4 | February 2, 2010 | Fixed bugs introduced in last release, plus significant improvements and fixes for localplay methods, also corrected size calculation for up to 4TB catalogs, new installations will include additional two default ACLs for API use | |
| 3.6-alpha6 | May 30, 2013 | Completed tagging support, improved dynamic playlists | |
| 3.7.0 | May 26, 2014 | New theme, Subsonic API, Plex API, favorites and wanted features, iframed player (jPlayer), plus many user experience improvements | |
| 3.8.0 | June 12, 2015 | Ajax page loading, UPnP, DAAP, WebDAV | |
| 3.8.1 | December 8, 2015 | AGPL re-licensing, Composer dependency management | |
| 3.8.2 | February 4, 2016 | Added Podcast support, video playlists | |
| 3.8.3 | June 22, 2017 | Sort by disc number, edit song comments, LDAP class rewrite | |
| 3.8.4 | December 17, 2017 | Added seafile catalog module, added IPv6 addresses to user history, | |
| 3.8.5 | January 23, 2018 | Subsonic API improvements, playlist fixes | |
| 3.8.6 | March 1, 2018 | Subsonic remote catalog module version 2, download release packages from update alert | |
| 3.8.7 | May 16, 2018 | Added .ogv encoding for more efficient streaming of MKV files | |
| 3.8.8 | Jun 18, 2018 | Subsonic API improvements, guest accounts can stream songs and playlists | |
| 3.8.9 | September 10, 2018 | Bug fixes, artist info displays properly | |
| 3.9.0 | October 21, 2018 | Bug fixes and minor improvements | |
| 4.0.0 | November 24, 2019 |
| |
| 4.0.1 | November 25, 2019 | Bug fixes and minor improvements | |
| 4.0.2 | November 26, 2019 | Bug fixes and minor improvements | |
| 4.0.3 | November 28, 2019 | Bug fixes relating to the API and Playlists | |
| 4.0.4 | December 2, 2019 |
| |
| 4.1.0 | January 8, 2020 | Minor release that contains a new API build as well as some bug fixes caught along the way. | |
| 4.2.0 | August 6, 2020 | This was a large quality and bug fix release where the biggest change is the official release of a JSON API. | |
| 4.2.1 | August 14, 2020 | Bug fixes from development over the recent release. | |
| 4.2.2 | September 2, 2020 | Bug fixes from development over the recent release. | |
| 4.2.3 | August 14, 2020 | Bug fixes from development over the recent release. |
References
- "Streaming the Ampache Way - PHPSO Magazine Article". Archived from the original on 2007-10-17.
- "New Logo". Archived from the original on 2009-02-22.
- "ampache/ampache". GitHub.
- "Chelsea School Uses Ubuntu to Create VMampache".
- "GNU High School: Teaching Kids by Contributing to Open Source".
- "Open Sound Series: Part 3 - Ampache".
- "3.4 Stable Release". Archived from the original on 2009-02-22.