I’ve been looking for a music-streaming experience that feels a little less complicated and gives me more control. Along the way, I came across two open-source apps that caught my attention. Here’s what they are, why I like them, and why they might be worth trying.
I first started listening to music by downloading songs. Then I switched to Spotify because it was convenient: I didn’t need to download anything, my favourite songs were available in one place, and the recommendation system was quite good.
But then came the ads. At first, they were bearable, but gradually they became more frequent. Eventually, I stopped using Spotify because the subscription became more than I was willing to pay.
That’s when I started looking for a better alternative. I tried BlackHole, ViMusic, Gyawun Music, OpenTune and several other apps. They were all good in their own ways. Recently, I came across two more apps that stood out to me: SimpMusic and VIVI.
Both are unofficial, open-source music apps for Android. They use the YouTube and YouTube Music catalogues rather than hosting their own music. They offer features such as ad-free playback, background listening, lyrics, playlists and offline caching.
SimpMusic is available on Android and desktop. It also lets users manually select the available audio-quality setting, including high-quality AAC or Opus streams where supported.
VIVI is more Android-focused. Its Material 3 interface feels modern and is designed specifically for Android, with an emphasis on visual customization, offline playback and local music. If you want a stylish Android music player, VIVI is worth considering.
At the moment, I’m using VIVI because I prefer its user interface. I also recently started downloading the music I want to listen to in high quality from other sources. VIVI has become useful for discovering new music and creating playlists before I download the songs for offline listening.
Neither app is perfect, and both depend on YouTube’s services, so their reliability may change over time. Still, if you want an alternative to Spotify, SimpMusic and VIVI are interesting apps to explore.
Thank you for reading! 😄