Announcing UncleStreamus (Public Beta) — a dedicated app for listening to the 24/7 Zappateers internet radio stream hosted by Norbert.de
Hi everyone, I'm writing to announce the Public Beta release of 'UncleStreamus', a piece of software that I have orchestrated the creation of (using Claude Code, more on that below) over the last few months, previously titled ZappaStream.
As the title suggests, it's a native macOS and iOS app for streaming the 24/7 Zappateers internet radio hosted by norbert.de
TestFlight link to join the beta: https://testflight.apple.com/join/KdhXVGyY
The latest version is available here for both iOS 16.5+ and macOS 14+. If you've never joined an Apple beta before, just follow the instructions in that link to download TestFlight and UncleStreamus should automatically show up in that afterwards.
I haven't yet submitted for approval to the main App Store, and so I can't say for sure that full approval will be granted, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Here's a link to the public repo on Github: https://github.com/UncleStreamus/UncleStreamus
The macOS version is also available here on Github as pre-built and notarised .app compiled for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (macOS 14 minimum), and the project is available for anyone to download and look at themselves. If there's enough interest in it from the Zappa community, I'd also love to also make Android and Windows/Linux versions.
Before I go any further I'd like to address this question: Is this AI slop?
I am in no way an advocate of what is currently known as 'AI' — and I'm very conscious that these sorts of 'vibe-coded' apps have infected a lot of online communities over the last year or so. But while this technology is currently available and affordable for a non-developer like myself, I've taken the opportunity to produce something that first and foremost is for me, and secondly might have some genuine value for other people to utilise if they like it. If you'd prefer to boycott the app on principle I completely understand and support that action.
As I say, I'm not a software dev but a very tech-savvy audio-video person by trade. I know enough to have managed the development, testing and debugging, and generally overseen Claude's writing of the app. Although I'm very sure that there's nothing nefarious within the codebase, since the source code is publicly available on Github anyone with dev skills can make their own assessment. Also, if you're currently playing a part of the anti-AI or big-tech movement I fully respect that and please feel free to not engage with the app at all, or make your positions known in the comments etc. — There will be absolutely no stifling of that sentiment from me I assure you and I welcome the discussion.
Why I've made this app:
Most people here are likely aware of what the Zappateers archive is. However, I'm not too sure how many younger or newer FZ fans are familiar with Norbert's live streams unless they've taken part in the scheduled listening sessions. For me, these streams have been the source of countless discovery moments and in my early Zappa days were what helped direct me to find some of the better live shows from the various Zappa periods. I've been listening to the streams on and off for about 15 years and used various internet radio streaming apps to do so, but the experience is rarely great. It's generally hard to find apps that support all 4 stream codecs and rarely is the metadata (title and track info) properly dealt with. So after years of putting up with a substandard experience I decided to make my own and fill it with extra features that enrich the experience. See the Github for descriptions and screenshots of the feature set so far.
The app will always be available for free, but I have added a donation link to the Github page for anyone that would like to contribute to the project that way, which I in turn can put towards the Apple Dev fee and any further time and money costs of more development, maintenance and generally continued support. A lot of the core functionality is in place already, but I do have some other ideas for new features down the line. I'd love to chat through with anyone about this, and of course please feel free to join the Beta if you have an Apple device.
Also: currently it does not have an official icon or logo. So I'd be looking to the community for help with that again, if there's interest.
Thanks everyone for your time!