MilkRemote

Android companion app for MilkDrop DX12 (MDropDX12) — control your music visualizer from your phone over Wi-Fi.

What It Does

MilkRemote connects to a MDropDX12 instance on your LAN and lets you:

• Volume & Mute — adjust the Windows audio device volume
• Presets — cycle through visualizer presets (prev / next)
• Display Modes — switch between Fullscreen, Mirror, Watermark, Capture, Borderless
• Wave Controls — mode, alpha, scale, zoom, warp, rotation, decay, plus toggles (brighten, darken, solarize, invert, additive, thick)
• Color — hue, saturation, brightness, auto-hue
• Variables — time, intensity, quality
• Audio — amplification (L/R), FFT attack/decay
• Displays — opacity, click-through, move to monitor
• Custom Buttons — user-defined actions (signals, keys, scripts, presets)
• Messages — send text overlay messages to the visualizer
• Raw Commands — send arbitrary protocol commands

The app auto-discovers servers via mDNS and UDP beacons, reconnects automatically, and persists your layout and preferences.

Requirements

• Android 8.0+ (API 26)
• MDropDX12 running on the same LAN with TCP remote enabled (default port 9270)
• Android Studio Ladybug or newer (to build)

Build

git clone https://github.com/shanevbg/MDR_Android_dev.git
cd MDR_Android_dev

Open in Android Studio, or build from the command line:

# Debug build
./gradlew assembleDebug

# The APK is at:
# app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Install

Via ADB (USB debugging enabled)

adb install app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Via Android Studio

Run > Run 'app' with your device selected.

Connect

1. Start MDropDX12 on your PC with TCP remote enabled.
2. Launch MilkRemote on your phone.
3. Go to Settings and either:
   • Tap Scan for Servers — the app finds your PC automatically via mDNS/UDP beacon.
   • Enter the IP and port manually under Manual Connection.
4. If a PIN is configured on the server, enter it in the PIN field.
5. Tap Connect. The header shows connection status and the current preset name.

The app saves your last connection and reconnects automatically on launch. If the server moves to a new IP, the app re-discovers it after a few failed reconnect attempts.

Use

Remote Tab

The main control surface. From top to bottom:

• Volume slider + mute toggle — controls the Windows audio output device volume
• Prev / Next — cycle visualizer presets
• Mode grid — tap to switch display modes
• Collapsible sections — Wave Controls, Color, Variables, Audio, Message, Raw Command. Each section expands/collapses and the state is remembered.

Sections can be reordered and one can be pinned below the preset buttons — configure this in Settings > Section Layout.

Displays Tab

Control monitor layout, global opacity, and click-through behavior for the visualizer window.

Buttons Tab

Create custom buttons with different action types:

Action Type	What It Does
Signal	Send a named signal (e.g. FULLSCREEN)
SendKey	Send a virtual keypress
ScriptCommand	Execute a script command
LoadPreset	Load a preset by name
Message	Display a text message
RunScript	Upload and run a GLSL/shader script

Long-press a button to edit it. Import/export your button layouts as JSON.

Settings Tab

• Connection — auto-discovery, saved servers, manual connection
• Audio Device — choose which Windows audio output device to control
• Section Layout — reorder sections, pin one below transport controls
• Device — set device name and view device ID
• Navigation — switch between bottom tabs and drawer

Architecture

MVVM with Jetpack Compose and Kotlin coroutines.

UI (Compose)  →  ViewModel  →  ConnectionManager  →  TcpClient  →  MDropDX12
                     ↑                                    |
               MessageParser  ←────────────────────────────

• Protocol: Length-prefixed UTF-8 frames over TCP (port 9270)
• Discovery: mDNS (_milkwave._tcp) + UDP beacon (port 9271)
• Persistence: DataStore (preferences), Room (buttons, saved servers)

License

CC-BY-NC 4.0 — free to share and adapt for non-commercial use with attribution. See LICENSE for details.