PlayerPro Music Player – Play It Again, Sam

Summary

We Android aficionados are quite spoilt when it comes to picking a good music player. There are so many to choose from – PowerAMP, WinAMP, TuneWiki & co. – but sometimes being spoilt for choice isn't good thing, as it makes picking a good app too complicated.

That's where AndroidPIT comes into play for a lot of Android users: helping you make an informed decision by thoroughly testing and reviewing applications for you.

Today let's take a closer look at PlayerPro Music Player, a music player that harbours a plethora of useful functions.
 

Test device: Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Android version: 4.0.2
Mods: Root

The first time PlayerPro Music Player is started up it displays all albums, minus their covers. The first neat feature that struck a chord with me: album covers are then downloaded in high quality.
If, by Jove, an album cover should ever not download properly, long click on the cover in question and select 'Manage album cover'. You can then select the source you wish to use to download the cover from, or else do an internet search till you find the cover.

But let's go back to the app's main menu. Select how you want to view your music: lists of albums, artists, genres and other categories are available. Click on something in order to see the title displayed in full.
Another neat feature: the title display backdrop is a black and white version of the cover.

Tap on a track title to commence playback—I think you will agree that PlayerPro comes in a completely restyled look (in comparison to the default player).
There are three other control elements in the bar at the top, the first of which allows you to access the playback list to which the track was assigned to.
The current playback list can also be saved as a new playlist.

There's an audio button that allows you to jack up to volume louder than your device would normally allow—I'm no ruffian, but I was especially stoked about this feature!
The button to the left allows immediate access to an equaliser. If you're looking to turn up the bass sounds simply adjust the bass boost affect—the sound is clean and powerful enough, even when using cheap ear buds. There are also reverb effects for you to play around with if you're so inclined.

The application harbours a lot of settings options; here's a quick overview of some of the more important ones:

• Library
• Lock screen
• Audio
• Headset
• Controls

Select from which folders music is to be displayed in the library settings. Scrobblers are also supported: various clients (last.fm, Scrobble Droid) are supported.
Within the settings you can also determine which tabs are to be displayed in the main menu (album, artist, genre, etc.). Settings options for the way in which said tabs are displayed (whether the cover should get downloaded automatically, for instance) are also available. You can also manage and edit smart playlists ('recently added', etc.).

Skins are available. Redesign the app according to your own whims and fancies; you can even download new skins from the Android Market (Windows Media Player Skins, Sense Skins, etc.).

And the maze of settings options continues: select if you want to receive messages every time a song is played back, or switch notifications off completely, set a lock screen for whenever PlayerPro is playing a track, or change the appearance of said lock screen.

Go to Audio to download a DSP pack that will activate a 10 band graphic for the equaliser. Make all sorts of adjustments to things related to headsets – such as skipping a track by pressing in the headset button multiple times – by selecting the headset option.

Amidst all these useful and fun features I did stumble across something that strikes me as being somewhat superfluous: the Shake It feature, which allows you to skip tracks by shaking your device. That said, some of you might enjoy this feature, it's just not really my cup of tea.

The last feature I want to mention: you can select how much storage space downloaded pics may take up on your device/SD card.

Bottom Line:
Of all the Android music players I've tried out so far, PlayerPro Music Player has the most features and settings features. Highly recommended!
 

PlayerPro Music Player looks just like the default Android music player, at least upon first glance. When you look closer, however, you will notice all sorts of differences, both design-wise and where the functionality is concerned. The app comes with so many functions that it does take a bit of time to familiarise oneself with them all.

Despite the sheer amount of features, the app's controls work very well.

The player's design is also nice and modern looking.
 

PlayerPro Music Player is sturdy, but it isn't super smooth, not even on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. This has to do with the heft of album covers and artist pictures.
The app is definitely usable and functional, but there's room for improvement as far as its fluidity goes.

PlayerPro Music Player provides users with lots of great features, and the design is awesome. 3,30EUR isn't exactly peanuts, but the app is well worth the price tag!