Music, more than two decades ago was all offline and solely a local playback on your iPod or MP3 player, but the world of today has presented us with the era of streaming music. They are available whenever and however until you find yourself offline, which can occur more times than you realize. Whoever is always on the move can attest to the fact that you’ll require some kind of music offline to get your ears and brains busy when the location you are at is not internet enabled. If you are trying to minimize your data usage, or your data is sluggish, or you find yourself in a dead zone where it is difficult to access your extensive library of music, you will have to make use of something capable of aiding you to listen to songs of your choice offline.
Local playback can save the day, but for whoever is trying to enjoy songs in offline mode, you should try out the offline abilities of our preferred apps. If you do not pay for a streaming app yet, maybe you are searching for the most appropriate option, or Spotify is still working its magic for no charge, its amazing to know what offline options you have in the beautiful world of music streaming.
Together, lets go into the world of streaming music apps that will provide offline options, so that when next you encounter a dead zone, you’ll still be jamming Kizz Daniel, Drake, 2face, Teni, Adele, Burna Boy and the rest as you move.
1. Apple Music
If you seek the best combination of streaming and offline music playback that will not need a data connection, this is your app. iOS and Android users have access to it and it works as both a streaming service and an exciting platform to rock your local music as well. That option is for iOS devices though. For Android users, you have to pay the $9.99 i.e 3,601.40 naira charge monthly for an Apple Music subscription. But if you were an iTunes user in the past, you can access every iTunes purchases by making use of this method as well. The app comes with features regular music subscription apps should have. Radio stations, new songs, creation of your personal curated library can all be done on this platform.
As per playing songs offline, Apple Music caters for that brilliantly. Adding songs to your phone makes it simple to download directly from your library, assigning all you want to download on your mobile device by clicking on the More icon in your library and using the download button. It also has a toggle visible in the settings mode that is useful for switching onto downloaded songs alone, ensuring it is simpler to enjoy tracks you adore. There is no offline radio stations on it. Playback can be handled on iOS devices.
2. Google Play Music
For whoever fancies music offline, you are covered with this app. There are so many things to like in it. This music streaming app can do it all. It has a basic library view, that lets you stream unlimited tunes for $9.99 i.e 3,601.40 naira per month. Free users get to enjoy several radio stations based on moods and locations, but if you are a member that pays actual money, you get to use these radio stations without advertisements and you can even have them downloaded on your smartphone so you can have them played with no internet connection. It also functions as a local library player, and your library of local songs can be uploaded to the cloud for zero charges which you can enjoy and download to your phone whenever you want.
This app is also able to auto-cache music for you while you’re online. It saves songs automatically when it feels it is a jam you’d like. Whenever you switch Play Music into offline mode, clicking the shuffle button will instantly play music that is in your downloaded library and tracks from your auto-cached songs. This ensures it passes as an amazing mix of your preferred songs and some fresh additions that might shock you. There is one thing to note though, YouTube Music is set to replace it sometime in 2024, no one is aware of the exact time yet though.
3. YouTube Music
The application that is set to replace Google Play Music this year started recently. Its latest relaunch has also ensured that its future is very bright. YouTube Music is Google’s freshest and most reliable streaming service. It is still far from being the perfect streaming app, but it is getting there especially when you consider it is still early days since its launch. This app combines Spotify-esque radio stations with a full library mode.
Offline listening is a possibility even if you will have to sign up for it. Immediately you register, and it is successful, go ahead and download all types of songs to your phone. You can also download and save music on your phone using the Offline Mixtape feature. Offline Mixtapes automatically downloads a particular number it feels you will love so you get to discover new music offline. This app does exactly that on a daily basis. You can also alter the quality and amount of jams downloaded to your phone to ensure there is still space for it to use. This can pass as the best feature of YouTube Music. The app is one to consider, surely.
4. Spotify
King of streaming, definitely. It aids several access to music especially on desktop, and you do not pay a dime for it. There is a full on-demand experience on Windows and Mac, that is capable of controlling what you hear as long as you listen to some advertisements. On mobile, you are aided to access playlists in a shuffle-only mode, even though 15 playlists brought to you by Spotify also let you access music whenever you please for zero amount. You should try this out, if you haven’t already.
Sadly though, free tier Spotify will not give you the downloaded listening feature, so that has to be paid for. It goes for the usual $9.99 i.e 3,601.40 naira monthly, but students can score both Spotify and Hulu for just $4.99 i.e 1,798.90 naira, which makes it one of the best options to go for. Downloading your full collection of music, radio stations e.t.c for offline play is also easy.
5. SoundCloud
Like several apps on this list, it will not aid offline listening if you do not make payment for their offline tier, SoundCloud Go. But not to worry, SoundCloud Go is pretty cheap at just $4.99 i.e 1,798.90 naira monthly to have access to every of your favorite SoundCloud genre of music seen all over the platform. SoundCloud also provides a streaming music service for the regular $9.99i.e 3,601.40 naira, including 30 million tracks from the musicians you will see on Spotify or Apple Music, even as it gives you access to the standard SoundCloud library. If you fancy that, SoundCloud Premium is a effective option even if it is still inferior to what Spotify brings to the table.
Several apps on Android will let you save your SoundCloud songs offline without you paying anything. SoundLoadie is one of those apps, it lets you make use of the Share interface on SoundCloud to download your songs. When SoundLoadie is installed, click the option to forward your song to the app. Your song gets downloaded immediately and will be set to be listened to on your phone. Fortunately too, there are no ads.
