My son mentioned this one to me, and I can see why. Go ahead and see if it works for you, it's free! And you get what you pay for. I put MB in here as an example of just how terrible most of these apps are. I had to force quit the app, then I deleted it. Pause didn't work, closing the app does what it should and continues playing and clicking "Done" put the video away just to have it pop back into view. Why? The very first video I played wouldn't stop playing. While handy, MB wanted me to sign in with Facebook (I chose to "sign in later"), then presented a dialog with OK as the only option, which took me to the app store to "buy" a "free today only" version of the app I had already downloaded on my iPad - apparently v.2 of this very same app! While the DJ button should let friends who use the app (and who sign up via Facebook) to create playlists for you, I didn't bother. This app offers some "collections" based on popular artists at the time (Rhianna, Eminem, Katy Perry, etc.). Then again, I'm the only "friend" using Musi. but services like Spotify do this so well already, bombarding my Facebook timeline night and day, that I don't find the utility worth the hassle. Those sharing features allow you to connect with friends, etc. The biggest missing feature is a cache, so you'll need a network to play anything. But Musi is the best-looking app of all the ones I tested, and the most reliable overall. If you loved 8-tracks or early CD players, you'll love this feature. Unfortunately Musi is not without bugs, as one of the songs I tried to play gave up about a minute in, and the app skipped happily to the next one in my queue. The developer of Musi tells me that he pulls the lowest quality video from YouTube while pulling the best audio from it in the background. It works great with the lock screen player controls. There's not even a skip when you exit the app, unlike most other similar apps I tested. You can make playlists, repeat, shuffle, most everything you can do with any music player. That said, once I set up an account my previous songs were still in Musi! The design in Musi is top notch, providing a simple, straightforward approach. It also prompts twice for my phone number, which I was not fond of, but is used to power "social" stuff (pardon me while I go punch a wall). That's a bummer, because Musi, aside from mandatory sign up on first launch, is really a great example of how to make an app like this. Since I last looked at Musi, it has added a requirement to sign up for an account (just for the app, not for YouTube). Oh, and of course there are plenty more apps in the store that let you do this, but these are the ones I tested. Using Safari, you can play media in the background using this tip. One last thing: You can play YouTube in the background, but you can't do it from the app. You can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu. It's possible for us to sift through these in another post, although most of the ones I tried initially were just terrible, both in design and functionality. These are mostly just a media playback app with a web app that allows you to download files into the app for playback. There's also a category of apps that let you "download" "free" music on the web and play it back. If you've got the time, however, these apps are a cheap way to listen to the songs you want without monthly fees. Then again, I also found some rare stuff I didn't have on my Marley boxed set from the 1990's, so there's that. Some, like Bob Marley, has been covered so often (and so badly) that it won't make for a great experience unless you are dedicated to curating your music list. Some is great, and from the original artist. No, the real problem you'll find with apps like this has more to do with the availability of certain music on YouTube. Then again, it's not like any artists are getting rich off streaming media playback to begin with. Ultimately there are a few problems with apps like this, not the least of which involves a lack of payment to the artist*. Through the magic of YouTube, however, I found a couple of solutions that won't cost you anything (except maybe your soul), and allow you to make playlists. ![]() Everyone is trying to make money in the music game, so to get the most out of these services you'll wind up needing a subscription. I've also been a big fan of Slacker (the comedy channels are awesome), Stitcher (for news) and TuneIn (for local radio stations). I previously subscribed to Spotify, Rdio and Pandora. Engadget has a good writeup of the Beats Music experience here. Today Beats launched its own music service, which I'm trying out for the 7-day trial period.
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