So let me preface this by saying that I think Volumio is a great platform for beginners and people who want a relatively easy set up and usage scenario.
That being said, after using Volumio since version 1 and subscribing to Premium for several years I am finally done. I was already experimenting with “roll your own” players that were beating out Volumio in terms of SQ (high bar), boot times, and stability (low bars), but Tidal Connect support was the one feature keeping me beholden to Volumio. That issue has now been solved and I have duplicated the functionality I was paying $80 a year for in Volumio for free.
Like I said, in some ways Volumio is still the best option for many users. The $80/year just for the privilege of using Tidal Connect always felt a little greedy. It was definitely motivation to find an alternative. There are definitely alternatives.
Tidal Connect relies on a closed, licensed SDK that’s only available to approved manufacturers and partners under agreement. So presenting it like it’s freely usable on a DIY setup is simply misleading.
If the main argument is “pay Volumio to get it,” then that argument doesn’t really hold, because you’re not paying Volumio for Tidal Connect, you’re paying for access to something they are legally licensed to distribute.
And let’s be clear: promoting or pointing people toward unofficial, reverse-engineered binaries isn’t okay. Those are legally questionable at best, unstable in practice, and not something that should be advertised here.
Raspberry Pi OS and several hours spent working with ChatGPT. Boots in 30 seconds on my RP3 and has not given my any issues…yet. Not as pretty or user friendly as Volumio for local files, but gets the job done. The Tidal Connect experience from my phone is virtually identical.