With all the power of Google, why have they not designed a good alternative Music organizer?

[spARTacus]

That's what I heard. Seems like they could come up with a decent music player natively. My Pixel 6 comes with a Camera app, why not Music?

It probably wants you to use one of the Google Services, like YouTube Music or something. Just find a good/decent trusted 3rd Party Player instead.

 

[spARTacus]

Decisions, decisions . VLC, or Poweramp...

Try both of them, and a couple others.

 

[gomezz]

I mainly use Smart Audiobook Player for playing local music but that is because most of my listening is done while working as a multi-drop delivery driver with frequent Play/Pauses and SABP is best for auto-skip back for when I resume playback. But I also use VLC for playlists which SABP does not support. I rarely stream from Spotify but can be handy for an /in memoriam/ listening session for any artist who has recently departed for The Great Gig in the Sky and for whom I have little of their stuff in my local library.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Decisions, decisions . VLC, or Poweramp...

Too many to quote here, so I'm picking the latest and trying to address everything I have read. Strap yourselves in, boys!

I have used VLC and PowerAmp. VLC on PC PowerAmp on Android. The 4.99 I paid for PowerAmp was among the best app purchases I have ever done. Toss up between that and Nova Launcher Prime/Pro. VLC...never really cared for their UI. But I will wholeheartedly admit, who cares if it looks ugly as long as it works. And it works well.

As for music organization and playing...I have a dedicated folder for music (and subfolders for artists, then albums) on one of my HDDs, and I actually use Windows Media Player (the newer one; looks like something they stole from PowerAmp), and link my HDD folder to that. Since everything is a standard format, I have had no problems playing.

As for Android, I just drop the artist folders I want into a Music folder on my phone and link PowerAmp to that folder. Boom, I am playing music with one of the best apps for an equalizer I have ever used. (actually, to keep things simple, I have a Pixel folder of music on my desktop. Essentially a copy of what is in my main folder. This way I can easily trash it and start a new playlist over)

PowerAmp works quite well with Android Auto that is preinstalled on my factory head unit (2016 Ford Fiesta). The interface is nice, large buttons if you choose to use the on screen display for input.


I'm not sure what to suggest about the library on iTunes. If they are all mp3s, you may not need to do anything.

 

[Aflaaaak]

Too many to quote here, so I'm picking the latest and trying to address everything I have read. Strap yourselves in, boys!

I have used VLC and PowerAmp. VLC on PC PowerAmp on Android. The 4.99 I paid for PowerAmp was among the best app purchases I have ever done. Toss up between that and Nova Launcher Prime/Pro. VLC...never really cared for their UI. But I will wholeheartedly admit, who cares if it looks ugly as long as it works. And it works well.

As for music organization and playing...I have a dedicated folder for music (and subfolders for artists, then albums) on one of my HDDs, and I actually use Windows Media Player (the newer one; looks like something they stole from PowerAmp), and link my HDD folder to that. Since everything is a standard format, I have had no problems playing.

As for Android, I just drop the artist folders I want into a Music folder on my phone and link PowerAmp to that folder. Boom, I am playing music with one of the best apps for an equalizer I have ever used. (actually, to keep things simple, I have a Pixel folder of music on my desktop. Essentially a copy of what is in my main folder. This way I can easily trash it and start a new playlist over)

PowerAmp works quite well with Android Auto that is preinstalled on my factory head unit (2016 Ford Fiesta). The interface is nice, large buttons if you choose to use the on screen display for input.


I'm not sure what to suggest about the library on iTunes. If they are all mp3s, you may not need to do anything.

I think that's the plan, PowerAmp and load my existing iTunes Music Artist folders to a Music folder on my Pixel 6 (mostly M4A files).

I jumped from a 1984 Dodge pickup to a 2022 4Runner and thought Toyota might have had time to develop a decent head unit by now. I was sorely mistaken. It feels more like something out of 2002, not 2022! I have only used Android Auto once before, so assuming it will be better at navigating my phone than the head unit's stock Windows Millennium grade software is at navigating my iPod .

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think that's the plan, PowerAmp and load my existing iTunes Music Artist folders to a Music folder on my Pixel 6 (mostly M4A files).

I jumped from a 1984 Dodge pickup to a 2022 4Runner and thought Toyota might have had time to develop a decent head unit by now. I was sorely mistaken. It feels more like something out of 2002, not 2022! I have only used Android Auto once before, so assuming it will be better at navigating my phone than the head unit's stock Windows Millennium grade software is at navigating my iPod .

I did a quick double check and saw that PowerAmp supports a lot of audio file types. Herer is the link I found: https://powerampapp.com/

As for the interface, mine isn't that great either. Big buttons, the look/feel isn't great, but I also think that is part of not being intended to be looked at for long periods of time.

I'd be interested to see what yours looks like.

 

[Aflaaaak]

I did a quick double check and saw that PowerAmp supports a lot of audio file types. Herer is the link I found: https://powerampapp.com/

As for the interface, mine isn't that great either. Big buttons, the look/feel isn't great, but I also think that is part of not being intended to be looked at for long periods of time.

I'd be interested to see what yours looks like.

Think you're right, Android Auto can't have a screen cluttered with lots of small buttons, drivers would be driving off the road or mowing down small children from the distraction. I just wish my head unit had more processing power to handle the basics. It's super laggy at navigating basic radio stations or reading text messages. Navigating my iPod was a complete mess. Having the phone's processor handle everything should be a big improvement...just wish Toyota "splurged" on a wireless interface instead of wired (though maybe that would be laggy?)

 

[Golfdriver97]

Think you're right, Android Auto can't have a screen cluttered with lots of small buttons, drivers would be driving off the road or mowing down small children from the distraction. I just wish my head unit had more processing power to handle the basics. It's super laggy at navigating basic radio stations or reading text messages. Navigating my iPod was a complete mess. Having the phone's processor handle everything should be a big improvement...just wish Toyota "splurged" on a wireless interface instead of wired (though maybe that would be laggy?)

Couple things:

1. Lack of computing: probably a cost saving thing. Multiply an extra $10 across millions of vehicles. Adds up really quick. If I had to guess, it may not be an issue with the CPU, but RAM. But that's all a guess, as I can't see the performance of my own head unit.

2. Resources all on the phone: Not really that feasible. Here is why: You would need to be connected to the phone just to interface with the head unit. In all honesty, I only physically connect to my car when I am driving somewhere.

As for Bluetooth: You would be right. That would be horrendous.

The above are just guesses from what I know about computer hardware.

Side note 1: If you just want to listen to music, if you have more than one USB port, you should be able to plug in a jump drive filled with music files, leaving you with at least one for plugging into Android Auto.

 

[Aflaaaak]

Couple things:

1. Lack of computing: probably a cost saving thing. Multiply an extra $10 across millions of vehicles. Adds up really quick. If I had to guess, it may not be an issue with the CPU, but RAM. But that's all a guess, as I can't see the performance of my own head unit.

2. Resources all on the phone: Not really that feasible. Here is why: You would need to be connected to the phone just to interface with the head unit. In all honesty, I only physically connect to my car when I am driving somewhere.

As for Bluetooth: You would be right. That would be horrendous.

The above are just guesses from what I know about computer hardware.

Side note 1: If you just want to listen to music, if you have more than one USB port, you should be able to plug in a jump drive filled with music files, leaving you with at least one for plugging into Android Auto.

probably right, it may be a RAM thing. It gets me by most of the time. Connecting my phone is something I've felt the need to do only a couple times as most of my trips are short. Car manufacturers could upgrade to a good head unit and just pass the costs on. Seriously, my phone costs around $900, and would have gladly paid $500 to Toyota if they would have sunk that into the cost of the new car when we bought it.
I believe cars that have Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play use WiFi, not Bluetooth, but it may still be slower than Wired.
As far as using a thumb Drive, it's not much better. The the Head Unit's drive interface is probably USB 2.0, not 3.0.

 

[o4liberty]

I use YouTube music and love it!

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[Aflaaaak]

I use YouTube music and love it!

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

Does it play music from my phones Music folder?

 

[spARTacus]

...I believe cars that have Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play use WiFi, not Bluetooth, but it may still be slower than Wired...

From what I understand, Android Auto and Apple Car Play are almost like remote desktop into/from the connected device, with then "slim" versions of apps (on the head units) doing some processing, but some processing also still happening on the connected device.

For wireless Android Auto, it uses Bluetooth initially I think and then it sets up a "unique WiFi connection" also directly between the head unit and the connected device. Once that is up, I assume 99% of data exchange between head unit and device is via the special WiFi connection.

There are lots of reports of wireless Android Auto not working well for some combination of devices and head units. There are other threads in here about it. For those where it works, it seems to work well. I assume direct wired USB Android Auto connection might be faster, but wireless Android Auto has worked well for me, without lag (well, sometimes somethings get messed up but that could also be the cellular connection to my device, limitations of processing on my device or head unit, driveby WiFi interference, ....who knows).

 

[spARTacus]

...As far as using a thumb Drive, it's not much better. The the Head Unit's drive interface is probably USB 2.0, not 3.0.

I find most radio or head unit direct USB interface thumb drive approach for playing music, suck. Mainly, because of limitations of the direct/embedded "music player" app/processing for that purpose. Maybe more expensive vehicles or radios have better ones and are acceptable enough. If a vehicle supports Android Auto / Apple Car Play, then it's my opinion that the best music playing experience while in your vehicle will be achieved via an Android Auto / Apple Car Play compatible app on your device and on your head unit.

 

[spARTacus]

As for Bluetooth: You would be right. That would be horrendous....

Some vehicle bluetooth music playing capabilities (and/or bluetooth handsfree) are basically not much different than a bluetooth connected speaker. Those I find work relatively well (as well as can be expected for how well connecting a bluetooth speaker to your phone works).

 

[Aflaaaak]

I find most radio or head unit direct USB interface thumb drive approach for playing music, suck. Mainly, because of limitations of the direct/embedded "music player" app/processing for that purpose. Maybe more expensive vehicles or radios have better ones and are acceptable enough. If a vehicle supports Android Auto / Apple Car Play, then it's my opinion that the best music playing experience while in your vehicle will be achieved via an Android Auto / Apple Car Play compatible app on your device and on your head unit.

I tried a different thumb drive that was USB 3.0 and it did work a lot better, so maybe the Toyota head unit is USB 3.0 afterall. But you're right, the interface is pretty bare bones, like Windows Explorer.
I just copied and pasted my iTunes library onto my phone and will test drive PowerAmp this weekend.

 

[Golfdriver97]

probably right, it may be a RAM thing. It gets me by most of the time. Connecting my phone is something I've felt the need to do only a couple times as most of my trips are short. Car manufacturers could upgrade to a good head unit and just pass the costs on. Seriously, my phone costs around $900, and would have gladly paid $500 to Toyota if they would have sunk that into the cost of the new car when we bought it.
I believe cars that have Wireless Android Auto/Apple Car Play use WiFi, not Bluetooth, but it may still be slower than Wired.
As far as using a thumb Drive, it's not much better. The the Head Unit's drive interface is probably USB 2.0, not 3.0.

I think they are 3.0. If they can charge your phone pretty quickly they would have to be. My car does need some time to compile my jump drive music before it can operate properly (it plays the first song almost right away, but it needs a minute or two before I can start skipping songs), but I am chalking that up to cheap RAM,Cheap CPU, and not allotting any internal storage space for music.

As I finished typing all that, I just remembered that my head unit does prefer 3.0 cables. I bought one from Best Buy and it works really well.

 

[Aflaaaak]

I think you're right. I tried my thumbdrive on the way home last night and it worked pretty well, actually, MUCH better than the old USB 2.0 one I had tried earlier, and miles better than my old iPod. Once the car had "read" everything, it was good to go.
I will try my Pixel 6 with Poweramp installed and see which one I like better. But for just hoping in the car for a short trip where I don't NEED Android Auto connected, it's pretty usable. Besides, I can just leave it plugged in or in my console all the time for when I need it, a lot easier than pulling my phone out of my pocket and dealing with connecting it.

 

[BackNine29]

Poweramp. Done.

 

[Rose4uKY]

I use YouTube music and love it!

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

I loved Google Play Music all my music on my PC would play from my phone in my car and I have a ton of music since back in the Napster days. Than it said it You Tube Music was taking over and I think all my music went there now but I don't really use it I need to look into it again and see if I like it. I mostly use Amazon Music and can play whatever I want anyway.

Is PowerAmp something where you can play music from your pc from your phone in the car?

 

[BackNine29]

I Bluetooth my Poweramp music and podcasts from phone to my Jeep Overland. Love the app.