When I switched from Windows to Mac to learn code, I missed using the audio player I had. It was a small app called Billy (https://www.sheepfriends.com/index-page=billy.html), and it was this freeware audio player that honestly didn't do much other than the basics.
Anyway, now that I'm on a Mac I use something called Vox (https://vox.rocks/), but am curious what you all use!
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So there was Billy, which was all I really needed. I liked that it was lightweight and just worked. Never crashed and didn't have a bloated UI -- probably brutalist by today's standards.
Now I use Vox since I refuse to use iTunes. I'm not a huge music person though and I'm just too lazy to upgrade (unless someone suggests a better one 😁).
Oh, and on my Android phone I use Google Play Music, and used to use Poweramp. It was a bit buggy on my phone though so I just went with the stock app.
I'm a big fan of Winamp.
I never got into Winamp; what do you like about it?
It's lightweight (well compared to iTunes at least), I like the variety of themes, and it holds a special place in my heart because it's the first software I ever used for playing music (back in the Napster days when I was in middle school) ... I also quite dig the minimalistic, old school look of it sans theming.
VLC or Quicktime for opening 1-off files.
I use Spotify or a browser-based player (Hype Machine, YouTube, etc) about 99% of the time, though.
Until Google pries it from my hands, I'll continue using Google Play Music - I just love it so much and am not looking forward to the swap to Youtube Music.
They integrated Google Play Music with Maps recently too which is a nice plus!
I use Qobuz for streaming, and Vox for, well, streaming, from Vox Cloud. Spotify for things that either aren't on Qobuz, but this is rare.
I remember using Poweramp back in the Android and mp3 days. Man, it was so weird, it was the only decent player that didn't add any gaps.
Exactly! I think Poweramp has continued development but it doesn't work well on my latest phone (Motorola Moto G), which is a shame.
I think today local file players are a niché, thank to streaming services like Spotify. 10 years back I remember Foobar 2000, Winamp and all these players that could play my collection. Couple of years ago, when I was trying to rekindle my love for some Polish band and listen to their music from a hard drive, I couldn't find a decent player for Mac (Vox is okay, but I found it late).
Also, fun fact: I remember Winamp being the music player. Now it's discontinued for years.
Yes, Winamp was leader of the pack back in the day. I think it is still alive though? winamp.com
I had the old info, Winamp was acquired by some other company and is, in fact, alive. Sorry for misinformation.
I don't have any music/audio files anymore on any of my devices, I started using Spotify (premium) 3-4 years ago and never looked back. I really like that it continues playing in the same genre/style after the playlist or song has finished and the weekly album with suggestions based on what I have listened before.
I generally use VLC (videolan.org/vlc/). In short:
+1
Rythmbox on Ubuntu 😍
Rhythmbox@Linux and Music@macOS using daap to access my music library served with forked-daapd
I use Spotify 90% of the time. VLC really works well for local files though
I'm using Spotify for many years now and it's simply amazing. I need nothing more than this.
videos? mpv, music? mpv, YT videos? mpv!... if it sounds or moves, mpv
I tend to stream Spotify (or less frequently, YouTube) while developing or doing college work now, simply for the recommendations. Any other time I use Google Play Music as I have a huge library on it. The only reason I avoid GPM while working is because I don't like to keep switching tracks and changing up my playlist order to avoid distracting songs. Occasionally I'll use AIMP for anything I'd like to hear in FLAC, but that's often when I'm not doing much else, or if I already have it open.
Spotify and VLC. Both great (bah, Spotify if is not premium is total crap).
Audio player
I use Spotify/Tidal mostly 😄 (And Quicktime to answer the actual question)
I forgot I'm in the minority as someone who doesn't stream music 😅