Can't Put WMA Files on Galaxy S22+

[Android Central Question]

Long story short:
I have a Galaxy S8 with Samsung Music and a huge music library on my PC as AAC files in iTunes (I used to have an ipod). I would put the music on my S8 by connecting it to the PC, using Windows Media Player and moving my new songs over to the Sync tab on the right sidebar and click the green Sync button. Presto! Songs are added to Galaxy S8 as WMA files and play fine on Samsung Music.

Cut to: Yesterday, I just bought the Galaxy S22+ and it took 13 hours to transfer over my apps, music, etc, however none of the music will play in Samsung Music on the S22+. After Googling all day, I found out that Samsung Music (or is it Android) won't play WMA files on phones made after 2021.

I just want to keep using Samsung Music on the S22+ and don't want to install a third party app (like VLC or Poweramp). So I need to use another audio format like MP3 or AAC but I need to finagle it all quickly and painlessly (I could just move the AACs over but I think they're too big).

Soooo...
Can anyone recommend how to get the songs from my iTunes (AAC files) onto my Android phone without losing too much quality or taking up too much space?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! See this thread: https://forums.androidcentral.com/s...1040767-no-support-wma-files.html#post7047390. Poweramp should support the wma files.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[Laura Knotek]

Welcome to Android Central! See this thread: https://forums.androidcentral.com/s...1040767-no-support-wma-files.html#post7047390. Poweramp should support the wma files.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

Poweramp or Neutron will support .WMA, .flac, .aac, .wav, .ogg or anything else.

 

[Androideka13]

Poweramp should support the wma files.

I've tried a bunch of these third party apps and Muzio was the only one that was DECENT. I've been testing the apps with my S8 as that's all I can use right now since the S22+ isn't activated yet.

VLC, Audify, Rocket, Musicolet, and Poweramp to name a few were all counterintuitive in one way or another. Some wouldn't load the entire library, some didn't have a UI that was maneuverable, and some were just plain garbage.

EDIT: I just got home and downloaded Muzio player and just like I thought, it won't play the WMA files either. Samsung's missing codec strikes again and now I am proper f**ked. I'm stuck.

Someone else recommended getting Musicbee for my PC and transfering the AACs directly to the S22+ with that since (supposedly) the S22+ will play those. However, I just checked and every AAC file I have is nearly twice the size of the WMA file so that 256gb I got in my phone is gonna be gone before 2023. :::facepalm:::

I almost wanna say I'm better off with my 5 year old phone but it's sad because I kinda liked the S22+ for a minute there. Guess it's gotta go back.

 

[VidJunky]

My issue wasn't WMA but I had a file type issue and ended up using iTunes to both convert the files and transfer them to a device. I don't have an Apple but just happened to have iTunes downloaded on my PC, something one of the kids must have done or needed at some point. I just used the program to play the files and then share them to the phone and whatever it did to them allowed them to play when the files wouldn't play when directly uploaded to the phone.

 

[Androideka13]

My issue wasn't WMA but I had a file type issue and ended up using iTunes to both convert the files and transfer them to a device. I don't have an Apple but just happened to have iTunes downloaded on my PC, something one of the kids must have done or needed at some point. I just used the program to play the files and then share them to the phone and whatever it did to them allowed them to play when the files wouldn't play when directly uploaded to the phone.

Huh? I'm not understanding. What did you do in iTunes to share the files to the phone?

 

[VidJunky]

Honestly I don't remember my exact steps but what happened was, my son got a physical CD from a YouTuber. It played fine in a CD player but would not play on the PC and he wanted it on his device, a Samsung. I opened the music with iTunes on the PC and from there I was able to save it to a folder and transfer it to his device from the iTunes program. It was all local without an account, log-in or anything. I picture you putting the music in a folder on the PC, if it isn't there already, Selecting iTunes as the default player so all of the songs show up there and using the iTunes program to either save them again in another folder on the PC or trying to save them directly to the device. Essentially you'd just be converting the file type. This way may be more complicated than just doing a conversion but Samsung will read and play whatever Apple converts it to was all I was saying. I'm really surprised that it can't or won't play WMA because I'm pretty sure it plays WMV....? I've also had success in the past simply changing the file extension. You might be able to just change the extension from WMA to MP3 without doing any real conversion.

 

[Androideka13]

You might be able to just change the extension from WMA to MP3 without doing any real conversion.

Where and how would I do that? I would be changing the extension of the WMAs to Mp3 on the phone, right? Or is there a better way?

 

[VidJunky]

I'm able to do it by opening my file manager app, on Samsung it should be named File, and using the Audio filter in the quick selection area at the top of the app. Once the search is populated selecting one of the files, hold until there is a checkmark next to it, then selecting More, the three dots at the bottom right, and Rename.

If the files don't show up when you use the quick selection button, since you say that it will not play the audio it may not recognize it as audio, you can navigate to the folder that has the files and start there.