Contact Albums Support

Perhaps it was asking too much, but I had envisioned an app that would scan my library and present me with the ability to select from among, and play, only those albums that were actually complete on the phone. Instead the app presents me with “albums” that are partial or, indeed, contain only a single song. If you want whole albums only, you still need to scroll through the “album” category in Music in iOS and pick.

This app is like I’m back in the record store thumbing through the albums, looking at the covers, reading liner notes and then, back at home, I’m listening to the *entire* record . . . not a playlist, not some algorithm telling me what I want to hear next or off an album in my Library. I haven’t had as much fun with an app in ages — and I’ve already subscribed to support the developer. The UI is a tad rough and a bit clunky in parts — the reason for 4 and not 5 stars. Some actions are just not readily evident — long taps some places, not others, that sort of thing. Maybe when I get used to them my rating becomes 5 stars. What I really love: the collection of album covers, so I can visually browse albums and choose what I want to play ... just like I did at the record store or at home. There’s some smart intelligence built in, too, like how many times I’ve listened to an album, tags so I can organize beyond A-Z and Z-A, old favorites, new discoveries (added last 10 days, 30 days ...), anniversaries (of an album’s release). Data is provided by Discogs and MusicBrainz. All that’s missing are links to Wikipedia pages (for the ultimate in today’s “liner notes”). I’ve tried many replacement apps for Apple’s music player and none have stuck. This one just might. Big high five to developer Adam.

I really like the abundance of information of music library. I know the focus is albums but it would be nice if it had a setting to toggle stats based on individual plays or albums, and synchronization with your music app instead of separate players. Definitely like the concept though.