Windows Phone users - music app?

[Deeko]

Anyone out there using the new Xbox Music app for Windows Phone? If so - do you hate it?

Now that Microsoft has opened up the API for Xbox Music, I've thought about writing a replacement music app - I gotta say, the new app is just terrible compared to the old, native experience. I was thinking about doing what I could to model it off of the old Zune HD / WP7.5 interface.

Thoughts? I don't want to waste my time if I'm the only one that thinks this is necessary.

 

[zerogear]

Pretty much the general consensus of /r/windowsphone is that XBox Music app sucks. And everyone wants the old Zune interface.

 

[Crono]

Agreed, the old Zune interface was better, both on desktop and on mobile (Zune HD/WP 7).

Zune was the best combo music service/software until they messed up the apps. I've been using Spotify since then, but the album view in Zune was better. I'd still consider switching back to Xbox Music, just wasn't fond of how they split syncing and music downloading between two apps on the desktop, while moving away from desktop Zune. I have no problem with Metro/Modern (for the most part) but their Xbox Music app had/has tons of issues on 8/8.1.

It's too bad Zune was a marketing failure, because to this day Zune HD is the best damn mp3 player ever, and the interface among the cleanest and most usable. iTunes still looks like crap years later.

Zune integration was the main reason I bought a Windows Phone (and original Kin One before that) early on, and as good as Spotify is (and maybe Google Play, though it's not as usable cross-platform) it isn't quite the same. So yes, I would love to see a similar app or a fixed version, even just for locally owned content and not the subscription/DRMed stuff.

 

[Piotrsama]

+1
I would try/use your app.

 

[Deeko]

Alright. I'll see what i can whip up. If I need beta testers I will post.

I should be able to do the basic music playing interface without too much trouble. However, one thing that is not included in the api is any SmartDJ / Radio type feature. Not sure I have the data necessary to build such an algorithm...

 

[Ravynmagi]

I have Xbox Music on my Icon. But after trying it out, I don't understand the app. I seem to have free Xbox Music on my Windows 8 PC, but on my phone it wants me to pay a subscription to listen to anything.

Nokia's MixMusic seems much better (which means Microsoft will probably kill it).

 

[Deeko]

The Nokia music app is being divested I believe, so they will have the choice to live on, expand to other platforms, or shut down.

 

[notposting]

Assuming you could release something worthwhile before they do (and since they have 4 years at this point...) or before another developer, you could probably make some money, either $1 phone version or $3 universal app version.

Xbox Music sucks ass on PC, it sucks on the phone, all we fucking wanted was goddamn gapless playback and they were HAHHHHHHHAHAHA how bout we give you some garbage from 1986 instead AHAHAHA suckers!

I just dropped my $15 Zune Pass for a prepaid $99 annual Pass that came with a free 520, but doubt I will renew afterwards. Just not really sure wtf MS is doing and I doubt they do either.

:/

So, um yeah, do it. Also, if you want to be their CEO and/or lead software architect, I'll vote for that too.

 

[Slick5150]

Onemusic is quite good. It's my goto music app on my Icon.

 

[IamDavid]

After the last update I like the Music App. I've been a paid subscriber for over a year and cant ever see myself dropping it. I'm surprised more people don't use it.

 

[biostud]

I only play whole albums which I've bought and transfered to my phone. Never random order or repeat. So all I need in a music app is the "Artist" list, and that's it. So I would like a lighter version of the current player.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Because I have an XBox Music subscription, I'm probably one of the only people who doesn't mind the app. It's a bit slow, and the search is really limited, but otherwise it serves its purpose. However, there's an enormous frustration with it's current state, particularly with regards to side-loaded mp3 files. As zerogear said, head over to the reddit page and you'll see an enormous number of complaints.

 

[MDE]

Add FLAC playback and I'll gladly beta test. Podcast integration would be nice too. The Podcasts app has some pretty big holes.

 

[biostud]

Add FLAC playback and I'll gladly beta test. Podcast integration would be nice too. The Podcasts app has some pretty big holes.

Podcatcher is a pretty nice podcast app.

 

[Sattern]

I think Spotify was supposed to release their music app for the Windows Phone last Spring, i'm not sure if its released yet or not but you should check it out.

Other than that theres always Xbox Music, which is like Pandora, but you might have to pay like 10 dollars a month or use Bing Rewards Credits if you use Bing.

 

[Imaginer]

My music demands aren't that demanding. So I cannot comment on the different options.

Xbox Music actually improved for me as time went on. For instance, I can get into my playlists a bit faster and for all the time I used it, have no issues for simple track forward and back along with toggling shuffle and repeat and being able to view and play within a collection or playlist, synced up with either the desktop Windows Phone app or modern Windows Phone app or by a simple drag and drop of files to the music folder in File Explorer.

Plus, hitting the volume buttons while music is playing after waking the phone with a power button allows me quick access to track forward, pause and track back along with volume adjustments. I suppose in this area I would like to be able to invoke to see an entire playlist without unlocking, but at the same time would prefer that the phone is locked so that others may possibly not muddle with the playlist - but I would unlock if I needed to anyways to view a full playlist in finding something specific.

Also, most of the items I have are of from ripped media. Album art may not be as applicable, but having the ID3 tag recognized and filename is important, which the default Xbox music app does just fine for me.