almost 8 years ago from Will Thomas, Designer
Since my Apple Music trial ended I've been wondering what music player to use. I don't want to use a streaming service like Spotify etc. and the default iOS music player has become too focused on it's own streaming service.
I'm currently trying out Cesium — which is actually pretty great! — but I'm wondering if anybody else has felt the same and has tried something else.
Hey Will, why is Cesium pretty great, and why are you not interested in a streaming service? Just curious about the pros/cons with that particular app as well as your interest in avoiding a streaming app.
Hey Chris, I like Cesium because it works with iCloud and iTunes match which I already use. It's very much focused on just being a music player, there isn't much in there in terms of music discovery, which is fine with me as I tend to use youtube/soundcloud/word of mouth to find new music. It's got some nice gesture based stuff too.
With regards to why I don't use streaming service, I don't like the parimutuel royalty system that drives most of these services. I'm a big fan of platforms that let you support artists directly, I think Bandcamp for example are doing great work. Also when I was using Apple music I would just dip into albums for a short while, where as when I buy albums I'm more invested and get more out of it in the long run.
I think it's just the way I enjoy listening to music, I know a lot of people who use Spotify etc. and love it, and that's fine :)
Nice yeah, all makes sense. Thanks for your thoughts here!
I got frustrated with Apple Music halfway through my trial and switched to an app called Ecoute - a simple music player, no streaming, just your own music.
It's not perfect but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone disillusioned with the new iOS Music app and not that interested in a streaming service.
I had a look at Ecoute too, but went with Cesium after looking on reddit and finding the creator who had the same problem as me, he just ended up making his own.
Does Ecoute support iCloud? Cesium lets you play stuff from there (most of the time!) but you can't manage your iCloud music from the app. I may switch back to Apple Music player because of Cesium's spotty iCloud support. But with Apple Music, stuff like not being able to turn off or hide "recently added" really drives me nuts. I'd also like to find a player that lets you edit meta-data in the app.
Not sure about iCloud support but it does support iTunes Match and Last.fm.
Cesium looks pretty good, surprised I never found that one through my searches so I might try that one out too
I've switched around many times, but continually go back to Google Music All-Access. For along time they have offered the ability to upload an insane amount of your own tracks to their cloud (something like 50k files - including high fidelity files). It's not as pretty as Rdio, or as gimmicky as Apple's new thing, but it's consistent and has a huge library.
Also, since Google acquired Songza they've incorporated all of the mood-based playlists. Great stuff.
That's pretty impressive that you get 50,000 tracks, but do you have to listen to ads to hear your own music if you don't go unlimited?
Nope, that was the entire Google Music product before radio/all-access came along. AFAIK, ads are only played on free radio.
Login to Comment
You'll need to log in before you can leave a comment.
LoginRegister Today
New accounts can leave comments immediately, and gain full permissions after one week.
Register now