With an Android TV and a smartphone, is there anything that comes close to mimicking some core aesthetic of Volumio (in app form)?
For those unaware of Volumio, it's an OS for playing music on whatever box it's installed on (typically a Raspberry PI) and is often controlled through a web interface on a phone or tablet.
I've seen plenty of controllers for Kodi etc. on iPhones but what I've seen looks bloated and a bit kitsch at times, sacrificing functionality and information for something that looks like WinAmp back in the 90s. Album covers are nice but when they fill the whole screen and have buttons with all sorts of bevel and shine effects it can really kill having an efficient way of browsing and playing music through a remote app. I love Volumio's progress bar and time being central and informative to what's playing, as well as the minimal album browsing lists that are quick and fit lots in when there's only small screen real estate. There's thought put into it.
I've seen some web interfaces for Kodi itself but information looks scarce and, judging from the few who've tried it, it doesn't look like a simple HTML and CSS layout project if I was to tackle it. Also, I believe Kodi doesn't play higher bitrate music on the Nvidia Shield (only Apps that use NuPlayer appear do) so ideally I'd like to keep away from it .
Just to emphasise, I've little interest in streaming music to other devices or my phone. There's plenty of apps to take care of that. I've got my Nvidia Shield set up with a nice Amp and Speakers and would like, when I'm not watching movies, to use it as a headless music player that I can browse mp3 and flac files on the Shield from my phone and remotely control them from the same phone. There just appears to be nothing nearly as nice to use as the Volumio web interface.
I haven't seen any I'm sad to say.
Kodi might be your best bet. Though Google Play All Access should be able to do what you want if you use the cast feature from either your phone or computer.