I would like to build a music player / device for an older person, not tech savvy user.
I have the MP3s on my linux desktop/laptop, but not all the metadata and cover art.
I’ve worked with RPi before, jailbreaking iPhones and roku. So I have some limited experience with small devices.
I’m wondering if I could obtain some kind of old/used android phone, remove all the apps so the home screen is completely empty, transfer via USB or ssh/scp the MP3 files (and metadata + cover art), then have some kind of music player app which would be the only app on the phone/device.
Then shutdown any wifi or internet connectivity, but still allow bluetooth to pair with an external speaker.
I think you’re over thinking this a lot. Why not buy a cheap MP3 player with Bluetooth? It’s bound to be infinitely more usable and stable for an older person. Physical buttons is king for the elderly.
I’m totally with you on this. But I want her to see the cover art. And I want to transfer my downloaded MP3s. Is there a device that does this?
Any of the old colour screen iPod classic models did this, I’d be very surprised if there aren’t modern equivalents.
Any MP3 player that has ever existed will play mp3s no matter where they come from.
And I’d bet if it’s got a screen, it’s going to show the album art.
And flashmodding a classic iPod can give you 500gb of storage, if you want.
“No wireless?
Less space than a Nomad? Lame”You’ve solved one of the critiques.
That thread is still magnificent.
What’s the link, please?
The newest iPod nano does have Bluetooth. Not sure if 16 GB counts as “less space than a nomad” though.
Some very dedicated modders have managed to squeeze bluetooth into their Classics. Personally, I think that undoes the point of having one of the best sounding DAPs, but all power to them for adding some versatility.
Why would having bluetooth affect sound quality?
Quick search for a product that satisfies your use case that is available in my region:
https://www.westerndigital.com/products/mp3-players/sandisk-clip-sport-plus?sku=SDMX28-016G-G46B
There’s bound to be a plethora of cheaper and more expensive alternatives. And probably a lot on the used market as well.
Start with this list
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hi-res-portable-daps-comparison-chart-2022.961903/
Honestly you can get an old iPod, slap a new battery inside, and flash mod it to replace it’s hard drive with an SD card, and you have exactly what you’re looking for in a small, robust, easy to use device.
Its* hard drive.
They never actually stopped making offline MP3 players, they just went out of style.
Not that you should buy off Amazon, just to give you an idea – https://www.amazon.com/touchscreen-mp3-player/s?k=touchscreen+mp3+player
Tons of name-brand options from days of yore, too, that weren’t just iPods. RockBox supports a pretty good selection if you need some model numbers to look up: https://www.rockbox.org/
I recall people liked their Archos players a lot, I had a few Sansas and Creatives over the years, they were pretty alright.
Old iPods are coming into fashion because even younger folks are wanting something like this.
I would consider buying a refurbished iPod classic on eBay. Simple and elegant. User friendly. Do you really need the Bluetooth part?
I would consider buying a refurbished iPod classic on eBay. Simple and elegant. User friendly. Do you really need the Bluetooth part?
The only issue with those is the price + modding the disk to SD card + restrictions on the number of songs the OS can handle and whatnot. They’re cool and great indeed but not as perfect as one would think.
Are you wanting to put songs in wav or flaac Format or something? I feel like a decently size used iPod wouldn’t be a whole lot more than $100 and 100 GB could hold 10,000 songs in high-quality 320 kB/s or so.
It sounds like you’re trying to build an iPod classic with Bluetooth
I DJ weddings for about 10 years and literally had my entire entire DJ library backed up on one
Like I want to preload all the songs, and I don’t want her to be confused with any other apps or any other app store.
Just see the cover art and find the songs.
Almost like an iPod from 20 years ago. Or the geriatric flip phone equivalent.
In my day, we called this standalone device an MP3 player.
Why not just an iphone from 20 years ago and some speakers?
Cheap android phone + some kind of minimalist launcher (ask r/androidapps) + musicolet + Syncthing (if you want to get fancy and download them more music later, you have to keep the music on your computer though)
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An old phone with clean home screen seems perfect.
Probably a bit hard to justify the price for this purpose, but there are a few really high end dedicated music players out there that run Android. I know Sony make one, and I believe some of the Fiio players run Android too.
I use a Fiio M6 to run Spotify, by downloading playlists through my home wifi before going out. It’s not the cheapest option, but I’ve had it since before the pandemic and it still works like a charm.
The device comes with an app to play MP3s, so that should work easily as well.
One possible solution is to use any old phone to run Plexamp app. Used to require paying for Plex Pass, but it is now free. Check it at https://www.plex.tv/plexamp/
How it works: You would need to run a Plex server on your machine. Plex allows you to also get missing metadata and cover art, some of it automatically, and to have the Plexamp app to pull all the music you want from your machine and can fit in that phone.
Then turn off WiFi and all music will be on that device with cover art and metadata. I think, not sure, the only thing that it may not have while off of the internet is lyrics, but I might be wrong.
Leave Bluetooth on and you have the device with all your requirements: music with art cover on intuitive interface, off the internet and Bluetooth capability.
Others reading this can vouch for or make additional suggestions.
Let us know if you try it.
Plexamp is pretty great but it won’t feel very slick without a connection to the server. You can download tons of stuff, but that means digging into the downloads section, and ignoring most of the stuff on the front page where it offers artist mixes, etc. For a person who needs a simple interface, it would be a minefield of buttons that lead nowhere.
I am all about raising the Jolly Roger, but honestly think that if it is affordable, the best option would be just subscribing to a music service. The user will have access to everything, can probably use voice commands on the device, and can enjoy whatever auto-playlist features are on offer. “Hey google, play oldies music.”
Depending on how well the user is able to operate a device, a set of internet radio stations like SomaFM might be better.
I’m wondering if I could obtain some kind of old/used android phone, remove all the apps so the home screen is completely empty, transfer via USB or ssh/scp the MP3 files (and metadata + cover art), then have some kind of music player app which would be the only app on the phone/device.
This is exactly what I did. I used an older Moto and uninstalled or disabled everything I didn’t want and only used BlackPlayer EX. It also has halfway decent external speakers so I can just play music directly off the device if I want to. The only thing that doesn’t thrill me is that it’s a full sized phone, which can be a bit awkwardly large at times. It’s been working great, but when the time comes for another device, I might go with one of the little Unihertz models.
Yep, solid idea, could be done. And then you can get one of these to hook up to an old stereo.
Here a few more options:
- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005237553574.html
- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005456424797.html
- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005447498316.html
- https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004833557032.html
Look up for online reviews for a better picture of what they deliver.
