So I got my Google Music beta invite and I'm trying to decide whether I should trust my music to the cloud with Google or Amazon.
Normally I embrace everything Google.
So far the only feature I have seen in Amazom MP3 that I like better is I can download a song from the cloud to my EVO from within the app, I haven't seen that feature yet in Google Music app. Does anyone know if it is something that can be done? Future build maybe?
Another thing that would steer me towards Amazon is the pricing, with Google Music still being in beta, there is no telling what the pricing will be once this service is officially launched. I know that if I buy the minimum storage capacity for $20 per year on Amazon I can upload unlimited music files.
Yet another question in my mind is will Google abandon Music? Not all of their products make it out of beta and remain supported.
So what is everyone else's take on the two services and the Android apps associated with them?
Has anyone else chosen one service over the other and why?
Just like to get a little feedback before I spend a couple days uploading my music collection to one service or the other
I've been trying both. I like Google Music a lot, but there's one big problem I have -- if you're not on a solid connection, it downsamples it instead of buffering until it can play it. To me audio quality is worth waiting for, so I need an option to not have it do that. Even worse, it caches that downsampled file, and won't try to re-download a high quality version unless you go manually delete it. And since it doesn't cache the files with descriptive file names, that's a problem too. Other than that, I like Google Music a lot. It does have an option to cache songs for offline play. Though not perfect, I like the app's UI pretty well.
I haven't used Amazon as much, in part because they initially rolled it out with limited storage. As you've said, they are now offering unlimited music storage for $20, though that is "for a limited time." I don't know what exactly that means, and I haven't started uploading my full collection there yet. I have a huge music collection (17,000 songs), and almost all are legitimately ripped from my CD collection. I don't buy a lot of MP3s, but when I do it tends to be from Amazon. Before introducing the unlimited storage option, the fact that songs you bought from Amazon didn't count against your space was a really smart move. I do plan to upload my full collection now that it's unlimited music uploads too. I haven't formed an opinion of their app's UI yet.
My solution before these came on the scene was Subsonic, and for the most part it still is. That has the advantage (and disadvantage) of streaming directly from my home computer. The advantage is that it's free (I can't imagine either Google or Amazon will give unlimited storage forever, though who knows). It has the disadvantage of going away if my home computer crashes or my home internet goes down, though neither of those happen often for me. The UI for Subsonic is passable, but not great (it's improved in the last few releases though). If Google fixes the audio quality problem, or if Amazon works out well, I could see myself shifting to either of those. But if in the future they decide to charge for tiers of storage (I need > 100GB), I'd imagine I'd head back to subsonic.
jackslim said:
So far the only feature I have seen in Amazom MP3 that I like better is I can download a song from the cloud to my EVO from within the app, I haven't seen that feature yet in Google Music app. Does anyone know if it is something that can be done? Future build maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when in the high level view, if you press the menu button you can choose items to 'make available offline' I think this is similar to what amazon does.
The main plus to amazon is the store front and instant availability to add new music.
I got an invite to spotify. For 9.99/month you get unlimited access and mobile app usage. They have a ton of music on there. I figure I probably spend about $10 a month on music, so why not put that towards spotify and get access to anything I want. The downside to this is that if I quite spotify, I get no take home. Kind of like renting vs owning a home.
I had my google music account for a couple months. To me, it's a complete disappointment. It's slow. real slow. a week to upload 2k songs. Plus the loss of quality over bad connections (which is all sprint has).
I finally said screw it and closed the account. I use AudioGalaxy on my server to stream music. It blows Google music out of the water.
SilverStone641 said:
I had my google music account for a couple months. To me, it's a complete disappointment. It's slow. real slow. a week to upload 2k songs. Plus the loss of quality over bad connections (which is all sprint has).
I finally said screw it and closed the account. I use AudioGalaxy on my server to stream music. It blows Google music out of the water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
**** took longer than that for me, I actually had to stop it a few times due to the bandwidth is was hogging in my house to upload. If you have a decent connection its great, i haven't tried it on 3g as of yet since I have wifi at work.
Jfree3000 said:
**** took longer than that for me, I actually had to stop it a few times due to the bandwidth is was hogging in my house to upload. If you have a decent connection its great, i haven't tried it on 3g as of yet since I have wifi at work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! And i have a great connection, 24mpbs on Uverse and STILL it sucked up all my bandwidth. It just wasn't logical anymore.
SilverStone641 said:
I had my google music account for a couple months. To me, it's a complete disappointment. It's slow. real slow. a week to upload 2k songs. Plus the loss of quality over bad connections (which is all sprint has).
I finally said screw it and closed the account. I use AudioGalaxy on my server to stream music. It blows Google music out of the water.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an Asus RT-N16 router with Tomato, do you still have to have a PC on to use Audiogalaxy? I am assuming yes after doing a quick search.
Nick N said:
I have an Asus RT-N16 router with Tomato, do you still have to have a PC on to use Audiogalaxy? I am assuming yes after doing a quick search.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats correct. There's a small agent you have to install on the host computer. You point the agent towards your music directories and voila. it shares.
i've used both.
Google music is infinitely better.
My reasoning:
1. Currently letting you upload 20,000 songs for FREE
2. Integrates with the stock 3.0 android music player. so it blends your online and offline music perfectly.
3. Stock 3.0 music player is actually very well done. Amazon music player is ugly and not to intuitive
4. Since it runs off of google music app, you can scrobble what you listen to to last.fm.
5. The organization of the online interface is much cleaner than amazon.
6. You can sync folders on your computer or NAS to automatically update you're google music with no effort.
I honestly can't think of any reasons amazon is better.
I also usually embrace all things Google, but Google music, i've found, is running constantly in the background. I don't like that. I realize the program wants to keep synced with the server/home computer, but it could refresh upon opening instead of constantly running. The audio is questionable, and for some reason it seems to consume more than average power on my phone.
Amazon is okay, but as already stated, it is not very appealing or intuitive.
For streaming I tend to use Audiogalaxy. No storage charges because it streams from your computer. Works extremely well. The downside to something like Audiogalaxy is if for some reason your computer is down, no streaming music.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
I use both. If you buy one album off Amazon they upgrade you to unlimited storage for music.
I only have about 10,000 songs anyway.
I use subsonic primarily and Amazon if my PC or home internet goes down. Then as a last resort Google music beta.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
After trying both I can say that Google music is superior to AG in many ways. I don't mind keeping my 1000 watt rig off when I'm out or working. Took me four full days of uptime to upload 13k of songs on a 16mbps connection. when I add a new album the update is quick and painless. The only problem like someone said isGoogle music down sampling to the point of mono audio. In which case I got used to clearing the music cache and download Que on the app.
Sent from my non-rooted bloated 2.3.3 OG Evo using XDA App
Well one good thing about Google Music is you don't need to have your desktop/server running to play music. As mentioned before, my only gripe was the amount of time and bandwidth it took to upload my music.
bkrodgers said:
My solution before these came on the scene was Subsonic, and for the most part it still is. That has the advantage (and disadvantage) of streaming directly from my home computer. The advantage is that it's free (I can't imagine either Google or Amazon will give unlimited storage forever, though who knows). It has the disadvantage of going away if my home computer crashes or my home internet goes down, though neither of those happen often for me. The UI for Subsonic is passable, but not great (it's improved in the last few releases though). If Google fixes the audio quality problem, or if Amazon works out well, I could see myself shifting to either of those. But if in the future they decide to charge for tiers of storage (I need > 100GB), I'd imagine I'd head back to subsonic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked at optons like this before, but I don't have a home pc to leave running all the time. I do everything on my laptop, which I either close when I'm done with or at times is out and about with me. This is why a cloud service seemed appealing.
pandamaja said:
when in the high level view, if you press the menu button you can choose items to 'make available offline' I think this is similar to what amazon does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to check this out, this sounds like what I was looking for, if for instance I create a playlist while I'm out that I want to download and make always available on my EVO.
I ended up going with Google Music mostly because I have a soft spot in my heart for their services. So far the upload hasn't been too painfull. I'm currently about halfway through my collection of ~10,000 songs
google music
google music due to the instant playlist feature and also because its free for now
SilverStone641 said:
It's slow. real slow. a week to upload 2k songs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if this is an indication that the service isn't scaling very well. I got in on the Beta during week 3 and was able to upload 45GB of music in less than a week... let's call it 4 days to be safe, but felt more like 3.
jackslim said:
Another thing that would steer me towards Amazon is the pricing, with Google Music still being in beta, there is no telling what the pricing will be once this service is officially launched. I know that if I buy the minimum storage capacity for $20 per year on Amazon I can upload unlimited music files.
Just like to get a little feedback before I spend a couple days uploading my music collection to one service or the other
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does Beta net you free or reduced storage rates? Should have read more before I agreed...
Wow I actually got an education reading this thread! I had no clue about Google music...love the last.cm scribble! --- it's invite only? Anyone like to hook me up, please? PM me? ;D. I'd also never heard of subsonic. I'be been using Winamp remote, which is less than perfect. . Thanks dudes!
Related
Just thought I'd make a quick post as I haven't seen much dicussion on Subsonic. I have Subsonic installed on my server with about 100+ Gigs of music.
I installed Subsonic for android on my 4G today and connected it to my server. Setup was easy. Works great. 100Gigs of music in my pocket anywhere I get a cell connection! Connect to the aux in the car for 34 days of commercial free music.
What's not to like!!
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this. Subsonic is simply amazing.
Install software on your desktop PC to set up web access to your music. You get a very nice web interface. And an Android app.
www.subsonic.org
I'm also using Subsonic and really enjoy it. I had a little trouble initially with the server side setup, but once I figured it out and got a connection to my EVO, it's worked great for the most part. I do have an occasional pause in the playback, but I think that's more related to signal strength than anything else, because it always starts back up where it paused.
We also had Subsonic set up to stream movies a while back. A soon as I get some time I'm gonna try and see if I can use it to stream video to the EVO.
GaryJ51 said:
Just thought I'd make a quick post as I haven't seen much dicussion on Subsonic. I have Subsonic installed on my server with about 100+ Gigs of music.
I installed Subsonic for android on my 4G today and connected it to my server. Setup was easy. Works great. 100Gigs of music in my pocket anywhere I get a cell connection! Connect to the aux in the car for 34 days of commercial free music.
What's not to like!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks for this. I never heard of this... works perfectly!!! Much appreciated!
First time hearing of this. I am downloading now.
/edit
I downloaded it..but i don't get how to set it up? I have the desktop client downloaded..
sent from your stolen evo
Thank you this is what i have been looking for ever since I got my EVO.
I was a frustrated HP Media Smart Home Server user who finally gave up on the HP crapware, and went the DIY WHS route. That's what led me to Subsonic as a substitute for the HP software.
A way better choice. This program actually works without tying up the server doing indexes and hogging CPU cycles like the HP Twonky Media software did.
Access to your entire music library, and it doesn't even store anything on the SD card!
My next project will be to get it working with MP4's so I cantake movies with us on the road.
I'm setting up a server just to use this. How is the UI on the app? Is it usable as a primary music app?
It is really just designed for streaming from your server. There may be a way to use it as a music app but I haven't looked into that yet.
I just checked, you just select Offline for the server. Works fine.
GaryJ51 said:
It is really just designed for streaming from your server. There may be a way to use it as a music app but I haven't looked into that yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, so how does that work...I'm going to check their website to see if I can reformulate this post with an actual question lol.
EDIT: OK, I think I phrased the initial question wrong. Would the experience of picking a song be similar to using any other music app as if music was stored locally? I'm not going to have anything on the phone, everything will be streamed.
EDIT2: Ignore what I said up there, here are some screen shots and video of the UI: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/screenshots.jsp
Does the app work in landscape mode?
Ok guys, you can download the Subsonic app from the Market and connect to their "test" server to see how the app works.
It works in the landscape mode. Has no widget, unfortunately. But song/file browsing, and playback is VERY functional.
If you need help installing this on the desktop side, read this: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/installation.jsp
You should note that while the desktop app is 100% free, the use of mobile apps is limited to 30 days at which point you have to "donate". The donation can be any amount, and you will be provided with the unlock key which you use inside the web interface of your server.
Well I installed the desktop client but can't seem to open the webpage no matter what.
Comrade P said:
Well I installed the desktop client but can't seem to open the webpage no matter what.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you trying to open it from the desktop or the phone?
Am I the only one using subsonic for video too? The music/app are great, but having streaming flash access to my video library anywhere is the best. Has to be done through the browser for now though.
Instructions here:
http://www.hackourlives.com/cross-platform-music-and-video-streaming-with-subsonic/
I'm trying to work out a way to encode/stream my live TV signal through my tuner card kinda like a slingbox. I'll post if I have some success, but I don't have much time to work on it these days.
Thanks for the link!
We had video streaming set up to our laptops, but hadn't tried setting it up on the cell phones yet.
I turn over all the details to my 15 yr old who is much faster than I am at doing all the setup. We'll get started once he gets a break at school.
We did have it set up to open whatever Media Player we wanted to use. If my son remembers what he did I'll try to get him to post the instructions.
Should be no need to play it in an external player on the evo - just switch to landscape and it will go to full screen. If you really want play it in an external player, FLV player (from the market) might work. Or if you want to download the video before playing (so you don't get any skipping while you're on 3G), you can download the file from either the app or the web interface, and play it with FLV Player.
Subsonic wants you to make a donation of 10 Euros to continue using the subdomain they have you sign up for during setup. But if you like rolling your own, sign up for a free subdomain an use a DNS updater (built in to some routers or available for any platform) to make sure the reference to your IP stays up-to-date.
For DNS updaters and more free subdomains than you can shake an iPhone at:
http://freedns.afraid.org/
this is great ! thanks for suggesting it. I was looking for something similar, tired of having to carry around the ipod just to hook up in the car. I'm going to test it out for a few days, but I think I'm going to donate for sure!
hungry ghandi said:
Subsonic wants you to make a donation of 10 Euros to continue using the subdomain they have you sign up for during setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong. The denominations under donation menu are merely suggestions. You are welcome to donate ANY amount you CAN ($2 worked for me) to get your license. Just manually send a payment through PayPal to his email (you can get the email from the forums somewhere, do a search for donation).
I just got my Google music beta invite and i have to say im impressed very much so!! Its very easy to install and the ui looks smooth on my phone and on my pc. Works very nicely as a music player on pc and phone and streams everything flawless on 3g or wifi on my phone which im really excited about. I have been using Audio galaxy ever since it came out for android and i love that app as its probably my most used app as it streams all my music perfect over 3g and wifi but i think Audio galaxy has some stiff competition with google music beta!
The only downside i can see so far to google music beta is the limit, it can only stream 20,000 songs and i have over 60, 000 songs. While Audio Galaxy can stream any limit its endless. So far the google music is beautiful and i will be using this for the next week and see if any more probs show up but so far none that i can see. Anything that lets me play music free from my phone streaming perfect is great in my eyes. I guess i have 2 great music players now for my car and everywhere else.
Thanks for the comparison. I've been an avid user of Audiogalaxy for a while now, so I was wondering if Google Music would be better. So far it looks like it has a slicker UI and maybe better playback? Haven't seen the PC UI though, so I'm interested in that.
Audiogalaxy updated their UI and its ugly. I decided to stay on the old version. That aside, I like AG more than google music.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
What's audio galaxy and google music beta? How do I install so I can try them out?
heres is the audio galaxy link from market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.audiogalaxy&feature=search_result
beautiful music streaming app
google music beta u have to sign up for beta then eventually ur invite will arrive as mine arrive today.
Heard the upload from PC to Google's cloud is too slow for Music beta?
movieaddict said:
heres is the audio galaxy link from market:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.audiogalaxy&feature=search_result
beautiful music streaming app
google music beta u have to sign up for beta then eventually ur invite will arrive as mine arrive today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for your recommendation. Since I am from outside US , I can't use Google music right now so I will try audio galaxy.
yah it does do the sync first time very slow i have to admit that. But i have alot of music but after first sync it should be fine.
rakeshchn said:
Heard the upload from PC to Google's cloud is too slow for Music beta?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it took me like 3-4 days to upload 7600 songs. but my upload on my cable connection is only 1Mbps. so yeah, it took a long time, but now that's done and i'm really liking it.
Thanks guys. Now waiting for my invite.
Don't mean to hijack the thread but just a quick note to those that will be uploading music to Google Music Beta.
Make sure you have all your tracks organized and cleaned up, as in no duplicates etc... What you upload is what you get. If you have duplicates there is no easy way that I found to clean it up once it is in the cloud. If anyone knows a way to do this I would love to know
Other than that I like the experience so far, streaming has worked well.
yes there is a way to clean it up. Go to albums,songs or artists and u will see a little triangle by it. Click that and u will get lots of options as to edit names, delete artist and more all in that little triangle. Its alot easier to see in artist and albums just click the album and look by the cd cover. I hope this helps u!
Thinking of trying out ag, but how does the client on my phone find my server? I don't have a static ip address and am to lazy to setup something dyndns. Does ag have a server that acts as a node between our own server and the client?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I don't get it.
We're Android users.
We can stream from our own AV system, no limits.
What is the point of this?
ericgill said:
I don't get it.
We're Android users.
We can stream from our own AV system, no limits.
What is the point of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gotta admit. i got google music and it's pretty f'n awesome. I'm not sure what AudioGalaxy is but i've been using subsonic which uses ur computer as a server to push songs to you wherever you are but the downside to that is keeping ur computer on. Is that the same for audiogalaxy?
Anyway, it's all about the cloud. access your music anywhere, anytime. no strings attached.
And damn, the upload is so f'n slow. spent the whole day uploading and it's only got 2.5k songs done. still got another 11k to go. :/
dandab said:
I gotta admit. i got google music and it's pretty f'n awesome. I'm not sure what AudioGalaxy is but i've been using subsonic which uses ur computer as a server to push songs to you wherever you are but the downside to that is keeping ur computer on. Is that the same for audiogalaxy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I remember, yes. But you don't need anything but your router's IP address to get to your own network, then you can use any player you like.
dandab said:
Anyway, it's all about the cloud. access your music anywhere, anytime. no strings attached.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aside from size limitations, privacy problems, DRM and the major labels and Google being able to yank your music at any time?
dandab said:
And damn, the upload is so f'n slow. spent the whole day uploading and it's only got 2.5k songs done. still got another 11k to go. :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously - why bother?
^Wholeheartedly agree...sorry for the late bump...but just got my invite and already I'm not stoked.
Interface is great, app is great, it's google-slick.
Problems (dealbreakers vs. Audiogalaxy):
Can't stream DRM content...some of my favorite music is DRM'ed (thanks to freaking Itunes...but I was not ahem...enlightened back then). I'm somewhat of an audiophile and most options for stripping DRM involve recompressing and already highly degraded compressed file.
Upload is slow...but I can deal
Pretty much every thing ericgill pointed out I agree with. My home server is on all the time...AG is superior...at least for now.
Not a current Vibrant user...but I thought I'd chime in...
cant stream to multiple accounts
The one major blocked on using Google music is that I can not stream simultaneously to multiple accounts. I can do this with AG. My wife and I can enjoy together.
I, like most people, have a large music collection which goes beyond the onboard memory of a nexus 4.
It's clear that google is trying to push people into using their cloud services which is fine, as long as it works. Now I live in the UK and in my experience 3G coverage is good, and i'm lucky to be on the unlimited Three network which offers very generous data speeds.
Does anyone here rely on the play music service and does it do a good job? Do songs load up fast? Is it going to turn listening to music into a very battery intensive experience?
cheers guys
Nick
After you upload your music to the cloud, streaming is relatively painless. I'm on T-Mobile HSPA+ and its pretty much instantaneous. I'd still prefer a UI like Winamp, but I can deal with Google Music's. Also regarding battery life, of course it would take a hit as you're streaming mobile data, it seems to drain the same amount of battery as when i use Spotify on my S3. As for the N4, who knows
I'm curious about this. Wouldn't you need unlimited data for Google music?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
I'm in the UK too and I use Spotify for all my needs. You can combine your music collection with theirs, and easily change which albums are synced from your desktop/laptop to the pc for offline use. All of the Spotify music collection is also available for streaming use.
kefloxin said:
I'm curious about this. Wouldn't you need unlimited data for Google music?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlimited data would be great for it but not entirely necessary. I had high quality streaming on for about 2 weeks and used up just over 3 gb of data, and I'd say I did a fair bit of listening, probably at least an hour a day if not more. I'm trying turning off the high quality streaming now as I only have 6 gb of data, so far it seems to use a little less. Streaming is seamless though, even when I have only 1 or 2 bars of signal. it may take about 5 seconds or so for the song to start playing if you skip a couple songs (if you let it play the next planned song it usually does'nt take time to load as it already starts buffering before the previous song is finished).
Not for me. For some reason I ALWAYS get the wrong album art. It's always the same album cover for almost every mp3. It drives me nuts. After checking Google's bug pages, it's been a known problem for months, but no ones looked at it. Annoying.
Itunes Match has been absolutely perfect for me since day 1.
amdhunter said:
Not for me. For some reason I ALWAYS get the wrong album art. It's always the same album cover for almost every mp3. It drives me nuts. After checking Google's bug pages, it's been a known problem for months, but no ones looked at it. Annoying.
Itunes Match has been absolutely perfect for me since day 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have unlimited data so I'm a heavy Google Music user, I haven't had any issues with album art. Also if I know I'm gonna be in an area where service is terrible I just cache a playlist.
amdhunter said:
Not for me. For some reason I ALWAYS get the wrong album art. It's always the same album cover for almost every mp3. It drives me nuts. After checking Google's bug pages, it's been a known problem for months, but no ones looked at it. Annoying.
Itunes Match has been absolutely perfect for me since day 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Delete your app data. That usually clears up the album art issue.
3G ain't fast enough in the UK to stream music. And that's before we even get onto the data caps...
I might have to up my data and finally do this.
If your data plan allows it (as in, you have unlimited) then Google Music is a great replacement for onboard storage. Even without an unlimited plan it makes it much easier to swap out albums on-the-fly when you're connected to WiFi.
My brother and I use Play Music more and more. On AT&T LTE I can stream music in high quality without any trouble. I got the 8GB Nexus so I am going to try to use it more and more.
amdhunter said:
Not for me. For some reason I ALWAYS get the wrong album art. It's always the same album cover for almost every mp3. It drives me nuts. After checking Google's bug pages, it's been a known problem for months, but no ones looked at it. Annoying.
Itunes Match has been absolutely perfect for me since day 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you can correct that using the website right?
Google Music has been painless for me with the exception of the missing artwork and some tags not transferring.
Spent about 20 minutes on the website fixing it all and now all 18,000 songs are at my disposal regardless of device or local storage space.
Now if Google could do this with personal videos (no not broadcast to the world like YouTube.)
I just uploaded like 200+ songs to my Google Music storage. If anything, it is really convenient Although the 200+ songs I uploaded were .flac, and if I read right, all .flac audio higher then 320kbps, will be re-encoded to that. Can't say I hear a difference in sound quality at all though...
Songs will store on your device's storage as "cache" as you play them (depending on cache settings anyway). If you don't have unlimited data, you could possibly just let songs cache to your device via WiFi.
espionage724 said:
I just uploaded like 200+ songs to my Google Music storage. If anything, it is really convenient Although the 200+ songs I uploaded were .flac, and if I read right, all .flac audio higher then 320kbps, will be re-encoded to that. Can't say I hear a difference in sound quality at all though...
Songs will store on your device's storage as "cache" as you play them (depending on cache settings anyway). If you don't have unlimited data, you could possibly just let songs cache to your device via WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I've been doing since I got the Galaxy Nexus. I had a bunch of music on an sdcard prior to getting the nexus so instead of dragging and dropping everything from my SDCard to my Galaxy Nexus every time I would flash another rom or get a new phone, I'd cache the music from Google Music. This is what I plan on doing with the Nexus 4. Haven't had a problem since using it full time a year ago.
Google Music works really well. It caches the most played songs and tends to cycle songs as you play them. I my current cache is 2 GB and I have uploaded hundreds of songs. I don't think it hits battery that much as Web browsing tends to be more of a drain due to the screen and processing the page. Here we are just retrieving a music file to play. I have the 2.0GB on tmobile and on the first month I got close to the cap but every month after that I was fine. You should cache some albums or artists over wifi if you are sure you will listen to them.
You could essentially have your entire collection on hand without the need for actual space. It's not like you will listen to everything that you will need it on your device but that you will eventually listen to it and that's where Google Music shines.
Also you will be able to log in on any computer and have your music collection ready to play.
Sent from my GT-P3113
Definite yes. The music manager on the PC seemlessly monitors your music folder and will upload any new files when added to the folder. Source of these files doesn't matter, legal or otherwise. The App experience on the phone itself gets the job done. You aren't going to find as many options for sound processing as you would from say Poweramp, but the convenience of cloud based music outweighs the features you give up. The play music app will mature with time as well, it gets better every update.
dcarpenter85 said:
Definite yes. The music manager on the PC seemlessly monitors your music folder and will upload any new files when added to the folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. If you are planning on uploading music though, I might suggest properly tagging it with correct Artist, Album, and Naming, just so it looks good (and I think Google can grab song art based on those values)
I like it. It's worked perfectly for me. If you know you have a few tracks you like to hear often.. Click make available offline for the times you don't have reception. Seem less for me
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
I hate the Google Music app. The uploader also sucks, very very slow and you have to use a crappy website to manage things.
I could deal with the crappy uploader if we could use the library with other apps but for some reason Google wont make it open source. The Google Music app just sucks, unpolished hard to use UI and makes a mess of ID3 tags. Its one of those half assed Google projects that they started but wont finish.
If you dont care much about the player or dont know what youre missing since you havent used better then its a good option, but if you need a really simple and easy to use player because you only use it while doing other things and dont have time to deal with bad UI design then its not an option.
I'm looking to hear what people have done to get around the 8 or 16GB storage limitation. How have you managed large MP3 libraries, ROM backups, pictures/videos, etc.?
I'd like to hear your creative ideas! ie The Cloud, Separate iPod/MP3 player, keep a laptop close by, etc.
CaptainStrange said:
I'm looking to hear what people have done to get around the 8 or 16GB storage limitation. How have you managed large MP3 libraries, ROM backups, pictures/videos, etc.?
I'd like to hear your creative ideas! ie The Cloud, Separate iPod/MP3 player, keep a laptop close by, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a Nexus 4 yet, but I can tell you how I do it with my 16GB Nexus S. We had the same discussion everyone is having now two years ago.
I would make use of the cloud, but unfortunately there aren't any unlimited data plans in the Netherlands, and if there are, they're freaking expensive. So I'm stuck with 1GB a month. Which is perfectly fine for me, but not if I want to make use of the cloud.
I do have a larger MP3 library than 16GB. Probably around 30GB. What I did is I sorted all my songs. On genre, in playlists, with ratings. This makes it really easy to just copy small parts of my library onto my Nexus S. I change my mobile library like once in two weeks. I don't listen to all of the 30GB anyway. I want to have as many different genres as possible on my device, so I mainly sort the songs on rating. With this system, I don't even make 8GB, which gives me plenty of space for other things. I'm happy with it and I doubt that even with unlimited data I would use that cloud. Copying a new library to my phone twice a month doesn't cost me a lot of time at all. I would definitely use a service like Spotify, even though I don't have unlimited data. Streaming wouldn't be possible (1GB data cap), but for the times I don't have wi-fi I can use the offline modus. But I think Spotify Premium is too expensive, and what I hate about it is that when you stop after two years of loyal service, you have nothing to show for.
The rest of my storage I let fill up automatically. With apps and the like. I store pictures on my google drive. I don't really use ROM backups (I'm not that attached to a certain setup, because I like the tweaking more than actually using my phone), but when I do, I just copy them on my computer.
Would I use 32GB if I had it? Of course. But I'm totally fine with 16GB. What I don't really understand is why there's no sd card slot. There isn't really a logical reason not to implement one. It can't cost THAT much, right? Anyway, only once a year I'm annoyed by the lack of storage: when I'm going on vacation. I watch a lot of TV series/movies on vacation. I would use USB OTG, but... I can live with it. I bring my computer anyway so I can always copy new episodes on my phone.
It really isn't such a big deal to empty your SD card every so often. That's just my two cents.
I bought the 16gb version specifically to have enough room to transfer the pictures of my previous phone to it, only to find out that transfering a large amount of files is erratic and good luck if you plan to have the files sorted by timestamp.
I think you are pretty much forced to use the cloud, if you are okay with it; I wasn't, so I simply gave up and transferred nothing to the phone.
My apps take up most of my space unfortunately. I have over 50 gb of music in my computer and I'm only left with approx ~3gb on my phone. Which kinda sucks:\ not that I plan in putting all my music, but extra space would be nice. I also download a lot of stuff too. My apps are mostly heavy games though(battle bears, gta3 & VC, NFS most wanted, etc...) So the games make up for lack of music.
)
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I bought a 16 GB but its not enough for my full mp3 library, but nothing is as its over 80 GB anyways. Right now I have about 12 GB stored locally in 3 playlists, this is the music that I just absolutely can't live without. The rest is in the cloud on Google Music but I hate streaming it, playback quality sucks and I don't have the data plan to do it. Everything else, documents, pictures, files, etc are stored in dropbox and I can easily access them from anywhere and download what is needed. I also have a 50GB box account for storage so I never have a problem with access to files I need.
Just use a computer if you need more storage. People use the phone way to much if you need to use all that storage and internet data. How about exercising or going out on a date. Plus everything is going to the cloud.
yoyoz808 said:
Just use a computer if you need more storage. People use the phone way to much if you need to use all that storage and internet data. How about exercising or going out on a date. Plus everything is going to the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty my last phone had 2gb internal and 8gb card and I didn't come anywhere close to filling it. So I said Ill get the 8gb. Really theres only around 5 gb usable when you get it. I installed just apps and 1 large game (gta vice city) I have close to 2 gb usable. After a few videos and a bunch of images it goes quick. Really just makes it so you have to manage your file system more.
i put all my video/mp3/pics on my NAS at home which is linked by CIFS. unfortunately you need a custom kernel with cifs support.
from office i connect via wlan and vpn to my NAS.
i dont know if there is a custom kernel to use a USB stick via OTG host cable?
yoyoz808 said:
Plus everything is going to the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, and someday we'll all have unlimited fast data for $5/month. Until then, I want to be able to carry my music/videos around with me wherever I go. There are ways to do that (SD cards, portable hard drives, etc), but Google/LG decided to prevent us from using those methods with this device.
JimG520 said:
Sure, and someday we'll all have unlimited fast data for $5/month. Until then, I want to be able to carry my music/videos around with me wherever I go. There are ways to do that (SD cards, portable hard drives, etc), but Google/LG decided to prevent us from using those methods with this device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you buy this phone? you knew this going in. why would you buy this phone if you needed those things? i guess maybe the USB OTG thing was a screw up on their part though.
to answer OP's question. I only have apps installed that i need. and honestly regular apps take up nearly no space. I usually only have one or two games installed that are really big. I clear my cache every night with a Titanium Backup schedule. I use Google Music or the million other music apps to stream music. I'm not away from a WiFi connection long enough to consume too much data on mobile so it's not an issue for me.
I use Play Music for my library, and Dropbox and Box. Simple enough for me.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
efan3719 said:
did you buy this phone? you knew this going in. why would you buy this phone if you needed those things? i guess maybe the USB OTG thing was a screw up on their part though.
to answer OP's question. I only have apps installed that i need. and honestly regular apps take up nearly no space. I usually only have one or two games installed that are really big. I clear my cache every night with a Titanium Backup schedule. I use Google Music or the million other music apps to stream music. I'm not away from a WiFi connection long enough to consume too much data on mobile so it's not an issue for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am going to buy the Nexus 4, but that doesn't mean his complaints aren't valid. I can get by with 16GB, but I would use the extra storage if I had 32GB or a SD card slot, or even USB OTG support. It's weird that they left it all out. And unlimited data is virtually non-existent here in the Netherlands, unless you want to play like 100 euro per month.
Every phone has something you won't like. You have to weigh the pros and the cons. For me, the Nexus 4s pros easily win.
I bought the 8GB model and I did slightly underestimate how much space that I would need given the prepaid carrier I use. Straight Talk has an undefined data cap.
My biggest usage is music streaming. So, I try to plan out the music that I'm in the mood to listen to that day when I wake up in the morning. Most paid music streaming services will let you cache the music offline. I found that the cached music from Spotify/Sony Music Unlimited/Rdio/etc takes less space on my internal storage than my actual library from Google Play Music. Google Play Music also allows you to cache too.
That's my "creative" way lol.
Google play music works just fine as long as you have a decent data connection. In the settings of the app you can click on only stream high quality. As long as your mp3s are good and you're on a fast network, it'll do 320kbps. I've got about 60gb of music stored, most of which are 320 and they sound really good as long as you know how to eq using dsp or another mixer of choice. If you know you're going to be in a spotty area, pin a few playlists or albums to your phone via Wi-Fi before you leave your pad.
Oh.... and if your speakers/headphones suck, the music quality will too..
For other files use Google drive or Dropbox. If you have a g+, your photos can automatically upload to a private album. Or use one of the other photo services out there.
If you wanna pay a bucks, doubletwist can wirelessly sync to your computer over Wi-Fi... food for thought.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
yoyoz808 said:
Just use a computer if you need more storage. People use the phone way to much if you need to use all that storage and internet data. How about exercising or going out on a date. Plus everything is going to the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I happen to use my phone to assist me when I go long distance running and for getting dates . As a matter of fact, being able to track my running via GPS is an essential function. And also listening to music when I run and work out. If anything, my phone has enabled me to be more active.
joeygbiz said:
Google play music works just fine as long as you have a decent data connection. In the settings of the app you can click on only stream high quality. As long as your mp3s are good and you're on a fast network, it'll do 320kbps. I've got about 60gb of music stored, most of which are 320 and they sound really good as long as you know how to eq using dsp or another mixer of choice. If you know you're going to be in a spotty area, pin a few playlists or albums to your phone via Wi-Fi before you leave your pad.
Oh.... and if your speakers/headphones suck, the music quality will too..
For other files use Google drive or Dropbox. If you have a g+, your photos can automatically upload to a private album. Or use one of the other photo services out there.
If you wanna pay a bucks, doubletwist can wirelessly sync to your computer over Wi-Fi... food for thought.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use G+ for uploading pics. It would be nice if it could automatically delete pictures after a successful upload.
I used to use Subsonic for streaming music from my desktop. But, I felt that I was wasting energy by keeping my PC "on" every day. That's why I like Google Play Music, it technically saves me money.
i just bought a "PQI Air Drive" wireless flash storage device:
http://recombu.com/mobile/news/pqi-...-ios-and-android-devices-photos_M16479-1.html
.. not because i particularly anticipate running out of my 16GB, but as an incurable gadget freak i couldn't resist it.
It should enable me -- and the rest of the family simultaneously -- to stream movies/ music etc. to our various phones and tablets.
cool device.
I have now a Kingston Wi-drive SSD 128GB. No storage problems anymore, but 160 € and only power for 4 hours...
p-d said:
I have now a Kingston Wi-drive SSD 128GB. No storage problems anymore, but 160 € and only power for 4 hours...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now you need a portable battery pack
I have unlimited data so my situation may be different.
I abuse Google + for storing up to 20000 photos and auto sync them then delete from device. I use box.com for anything else I need to store and have dropbox and Google drive for more storage. I stream all my music from Google play as I uploaded my entire library off my PC. It uses a surprisingly small amount of data compared to watching the GSL with the twitch.TV app. So far I've got all my favorite apps, about 12 games, and have over 10gb free.
I'm also thinking about using airdroid for easier file transfer to PC while around house.
Sent from my Nexus 4
Here in Austria we don't get official Google Play service, so the device has to be bought from a third-party vendor. Also, there's no movies, books, or music... i.e. no official Google Music app streaming.
I use CloudAround for that though, uploaded around 25GB of music to dropbox, and stream from there directly, though it also works with many other cloud providers. You can also use ZumoCast http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1276410, a great solution if you have a home server running windows.
However I have unlimited data with 8GB/month high speed (even LTE where available), with throttling to 64kbit/s when its reached -> enough for good quality AAC internet radio .
Only 16GB internal (~12GB effectively) is slightly low, 32 would be way better. Even my Samsung Omnia i900 in 2008 had 16GB internal, and I put in a 8gb card for a total of ~22GB effective...
@ the Dutch posters: Its a shame all the providers removed unlimited data. When I studied there in 2010, I got a contract from Hi with unlimited 3.6Mbit 3G. I was still grandfathered in until this year, but nobody wanted to buy it off me so I had to cancel it .
I am coming from an iPhone and boy boy BOY do I miss the seamless syncing between iTunes and my iPhone..
It was nothing short of great.....
Now that I am rocking an S4, I am definitely missing this feature. I am using Winamp right now, but its not very good at deciphering stuff..and Samsung Kies is a joke.
I am looking for a piece of software that would rock at syncing my music with my S4 in a nice fashion. Any suggestions as I am really REALLY missing my iPhone 5 now simply because of a very simple feature...
EpicMango said:
I am coming from an iPhone and boy boy BOY do I miss the seamless syncing between iTunes and my iPhone..
It was nothing short of great.....
Now that I am rocking an S4, I am definitely missing this feature. I am using Winamp right now, but its not very good at deciphering stuff..and Samsung Kies is a joke.
I am looking for a piece of software that would rock at syncing my music with my S4 in a nice fashion. Any suggestions as I am really REALLY missing my iPhone 5 now simply because of a very simple feature...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Songbird for sure! Here's the Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.songbirdnest.mediaplayer&hl=en
and here's for the desktop client http://www.getsongbird.com/
Really? Plug in phone, copy Music folder on PC to phone.
Not sure why you would want to use crappy software like itunes when you can just drag and drop your whole music folder.
I'd recommend isyncr, it works flawlessly for me
Sent from my Nexus 4
MHousos said:
Songbird for sure! Here's the Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.songbirdnest.mediaplayer&hl=en
and here's for the desktop client http://www.getsongbird.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use poweramp. Will it still work seamlessly with it?
EpicMango said:
I use poweramp. Will it still work seamlessly with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it will with the SongBird app, but not sure about PowerAmp...here's a thread on the subject though http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1562816
DoubleTwist works the best for me. Not sure about the other apps. It has a slight (but not very much) iTunes feel.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
iSyncr works great!
I'll also go for doubletwist. It has an integrated podcast manager as well.
geoldr said:
Really? Plug in phone, copy Music folder on PC to phone.
Not sure why you would want to use crappy software like itunes when you can just drag and drop your whole music folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, if you are plugging the phone in, just treat it as a drive and drag and drop. Syncing with iTunes is a big pain and a waste if you don't use song counts or any of that nonsense. If you already have your music organized by artist and album, then copy/paste is a lot faster.
alphadog00 said:
I agree, if you are plugging the phone in, just treat it as a drive and drag and drop. Syncing with iTunes is a big pain and a waste if you don't use song counts or any of that nonsense. If you already have your music organized by artist and album, then copy/paste is a lot faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Especially since Android runs a media scanner whenever you unplug, so all your Music apps like stock or Poweramp will see the changes instantly. And you can sort by folder so this is a great solution.
Reviving the topic, to see if anyone has a suggestion for PC software to sync music with the Galaxy S4.
I would prefer to have a program to handle this, so I don't have to manually build the folder structure (artist\album\file.mp3) and also, so I don't have to remember which new files I've gotten that need to be uploaded. Right now I'm using Windows Media Player, it worked reasonably well with my Xperia Ion, but with the Galaxy I have to stop and restart the sync and then stop it again, since it never reaches 100% even though all the mp3 files were uploaded. Also, it is not really syncing, if I change anything in already uploaded files, like tag or artwork, the changes don't go through, even if I manually delete the old file from my phone card.
I've tried Winamp, it doesn't recognize the SD card and wants to upload the files to the phone internal memory. Both Kies and Songbird never really connect to the device, they stay trying to connect for a long time. And Doubletwist Desktop does not update the music library when some files are added, deleted or changed.
SPOTIFY... 8 bucks a month for an unbelievable amount of music. The offline mode makes tracks accessible without and data and you can share music with your friends. You can also check out what they are jamming to and discover new music. I don't even know what people use iTunes anymore. Spotify also has a desktop interface so you can enjoy your music at the office on the Pc or Mac
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
Thanks for the info. I'm not at all interested in all the "social" stuff, I just need an efficient way to sync my PC music library with my phone. I considered Google Music at some point, since it was offering 20,000 songs (double my library) for free, that you need to upload. Problem is that there is no easy way to tell the program to store it in a specific folder in the SD card. Also, I don't think you can just make the whole library offline, you have to do it track by track, or maybe album by album. How is Spotify in these two issues? Although, quite frankly, for almost $100 a year I'll probably stick with WMP for free.