Android: Now Playing is a new Holo-themed music player that’s fast, looks great, and comes with just the features you actually want in a music player without a ton of the bloat that you don’t need.
Now Playing’s UI may look simple, but don’t let that fool you. The app is fast, auto-imports the music on your phone, includes a lock screen widget, and persists in the notifications drop-down, so you can control playback without unlocking your phone, or while you use other apps. There’s no homescreen widget for the app yet, but looking at the settings page, it’s on the way.
The app also sports a built-in equaliser (which in our tests wasn’t completely implemented), a sleep timer, and can download and display lyrics while it plays a song. The app automatically downloads album art and artist photos for you in the background via Wi-Fi, and did it fast enough that I didn’t know it happened when I opened the app. Aside from that, Now Playing’s minimal design is what makes it so special. album covers display on the “Now Playing” screen, and artist photos show up when you’re browsing albums and scrolling by artist.
Music players for Android come and go, but every now and again we find one that’s elegant and simple, without a lot of unnecessary cruft. Now Playing keeps the flashiness to a minimum, and focuses on playing your music. The app is actually built from the source code from the now defunct Apollo player, so it’s off to a good start. It’s free for the time being, and you can grab it from the link below.
Now Playing Beta – Holo Music Player [xda-developers via Droid Life]
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