iRadar: Wireless Music Sync With Winamp Media Player For Android

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wireless Music Sync With Winamp Media Player For Android

Wireless Music Sync With Winamp Media Player For Android: "

winamp for android Ever since 1997, Winamp has been one of the more popular and widely used media players for the Windows operating systems. It’s always been an icon of lightweight excellence.

Recently, Nullsoft, the team behind Winamp, seems to have been exploring other platforms. Winamp for Android was long rumored and hoped for, and now it seems to have become a reality.

We took the Winamp Android Beta for a spin, and listed the most prominent features for you below.

Winamp for Android

Late October, Nullsoft released the first Winamp Beta for the Android mobile platform. Although Winamp is already showing the other application who’s boss, especially feature-wise, this means there’s still room for improvement. Currently, the media player can only be installed on Android 2.1 and above.

winamp for android

Winamp for Android offers a slick, dark interface that’s easy and intuitive to use. Unlike most media players, Winamp makes good use of the available screen real-estate, and doesn’t make it feel too crowded. You can fluently jump to and fro the Now Playing screen by means of a pull-up bar (shown above).

winamp for android phones

You’ll also notice that in every Winamp Android screen, regardless of where you are, the player buttons will be present. In most cases, this means you won’t even have to visit the Now Playing screen. In conclusion, the Android Winamp interface makes you keep a relaxed and complete of your media.

Home & Lock Screen Widgets

Android’s Winamp also comes with two viable media player widgets, so you can keep using your phone as usual without losing sight of your media.

The home screen widget, shown below, sports an album thumbnail, some general information, and the media player controls – all in all, very standard. You’re also able to switch between repeat and shuffle options. On the flip side, a number of people have noted this particular widget as a battery drain, rapidly losing mobile life-juice, even if not actively using the widget.

winamp for android phones

Winamp has succeeded in mimicking the official Android media player application, and also offers a lock screen widget. This allows you to control your media immediately when taking your phone out of standby, without having to open the home screen or Winamp application. The lock screen widget effectively runs on top of the regular lockscreen, so does not integrate as well as the official media player, although it is a really good start.

(Wireless) Desktop Sync

Winamp’s flagship feature on the Android must be the Desktop Sync. This allows you to keep your music on your Android current and synchronized with your desktop Winamp library, even using wireless. Of course, you can also connect over USB, which improves your battery life and transfer speeds.

To use Desktop Sync, you need to have the Winamp Beta installed on your Android phone and the Winamp 5.59 Beta installed on your Windows desktop. This does not currently work on Linux and Mac.

winamp for android phones

On your Android, you can enable wireless sync in the Winamp Settings -> Media Syncing. This does not need to be enabled to transfer files over USB.

android winamp app

If all goes right, you’ll be able to see your device in the Winamp left sidebar on your desktop. Hre you can view, and update your mobile media library (shown above). Options include streaming music from your phone to your desktop, synchronizing and automatically filling up your available phone memory.

Download

Winamp for Android is officially available. Search for ‘Winamp’ on the Android Market to download and install the application. Alternatively, you can point a mobile barcode scanner to the QR code below.

winamp for android