History of electronics. The last iPod died last year, after fifteen years of the last model and twenty-one since the first. A product that has revolutionized the music industry, but also technology. In just nine months, a team led by Tony Fadell has made history. Then would arrive the Classic, Nano, Video, Touch… but nothing as iconic as that click wheel ivory, clean interface and clear ideas.
Since then, I have had dozens of devices, some more ambitious, with their DAC dongle and its ability to play content in HiFi quality, and others that were just simple USB keys with the ability to play up to 512MB of music in very low quality: MP3 at 128kbps, if you wanted to put more 20 songs. Eager to rediscover the sensations of yesteryear, to evoke the experience, and to dive among the many proposals, I came across this crazy thing called Retro Music Player. Thunderbolt. It’s incredible.
First step, download TestFlight
Getting this app on your iPhone is a lot easier and faster than it first appears, but there are a few steps you need to take before you start using it. And I guarantee you it will be worth it. In addition, you can carry more than 20 CDs: the application can manage all the music you have on your iPhone.
The first step is to download TestFlight. This is the official app created to help developers test beta versions of their apps. In fact, you can send them screenshots and video clips if you see something wrong and they will take it into account for future implementations or versions. Once you have downloaded this app, open it and follow these steps:
- Join the beta version of retro music playeras the application is called, by following this link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/1BHkrtFP
- Push the button ‘Open’ and you will be able to access the new audio player
Step two, configure Retro
He retro music player It is much more than its name suggests. Once you open it, you will see how your iPhone screen adapts to an iPod Classic in all its glory, with its ‘Settings’, ‘Playlists’ or ‘Shuffle’ sections, the popular tool for playing random songs. Even your iPhone’s battery icon is replaced with the iPod’s. It’s incredible.
Whether you’ve had one in the past or never used it, this skin is great for listening to music. Everything is controlled as before, with a touch wheel —and haptics, which emulates the vibration and inertia of the original control wheel—. You can go back and forth in each screen by touching the menu or the ‘Play/Pause’ icon.
How to turn an iPhone into an iPod
Once you open the app, you can link up to three music services: Spotify, Apple Music and retrofit, which is actually a way of calling managing the music you’ve downloaded to your iPhone. The app will play all supported music and add it to your folders, by artist, disc name, etc. You can also link playlists etc. The player runs the app in the background and that’s it; easier, not possible.
And, even better, all the music you purchased in Apple Music will be seen instantly on the screen, mimicking that Cover Flow of the past that showed the different covers. You can navigate between the different windows as you would on an iPod Classic.
Relive the “classic” experience: even video games!
The last photo is taken by the section of ‘Supplements’. Here you can change the color of the control wheel with dozens of possible alternatives, in addition to accessing the ‘Discord‘ from the developers, to make suggestions, watch helpful videos, relive some Easter eggs from the past and, of course, access a small games section.
Two mythical such as ‘Breakout’ and ‘Tetris’ are available at the heart of this emulated iPod. Games are controlled in the same way as on an iPod Classic, by rotating the tiles with the bottom control wheel. A challenge that took me some time to get used to, but which is worth it.
If you want to give it a try, be aware that this beta is about to expire, but TestFlight will send you a notification whenever a new build or version is available for download. I am clear that, once it is launched, retro music player This will be among my favorites for playing music.
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