Universal Anywhere - Offline Music Player 🇺🇦

[Anywhere Offline Player]

Hey MacRumors community!

I'm an independent developer from Ukraine and a true Apple aficionado 🍏

My Journey 🧭​

A while back, I embarked on a mission to create the ultimate music player inspired by the iconic Winamp. The vision? A player that blends seamless functionality with a sleek design, making it a joy for music lovers like me to use. Nowadays, targeting iOS, as my favorite platform, using all its advantages and the latest technologies.

However, life took an unexpected turn with the russian occupation of Ukraine. Amidst the chaos, my city faced constant threats, and my project had to be put on hold. Fast forward to 2024, amidst ongoing challenges, I found the strength to pick up where I left off. With daily alarms and drone attacks in the backdrop to my city, the spirit to create prevailed. Now, I'm thrilled to share the result of this journey with all you.

Anywhere - Offline Music Player​

Introducing Anywhere, not just an app but a music player crafted with love, offering you the power to enjoy your favorite tracks anytime, anywhere. it boasts a killer UI/UX that sets it apart from the rest. And trust me, there's more greatness to come!

Key Features 🔑​

• Listen anytime, anywhere: Your music, offline, no internet required.
• Seamless Music Import: From Files, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more to come
• Versatile Audio Support: MP3, FLAC, WAV, and beyond.
• Effortless Playlist Management: Because your mood deserves the perfect soundtrack.
• Intuitive Design: Navigate effortlessly through your music library.
• Easy Music Sync: Connect seamlessly with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
• Personalized Sound Experience: Fine-tune with a customizable equalizer.
• Additional Features: Playback Speed control, Sleep Timer, Bookmarks, Bass Booster, and more.

The Vision 🌟​

This isn't just a player; it's a commitment to a smooth, offline music experience. I created Anywhere because I wanted to enjoy my favorite tunes hassle-free, and now you can too.
Ready to redefine your music journey? Anywhere is here for you. Stay tuned for more features and, most importantly, happy listening! 🎧

I can't wait to hear your thoughts. What features are you most excited to try out? 🤔 How do you see Anywhere enhancing your music experience? Share your thoughts below! 🎧 Your feedback is invaluable as I continue to improve and add more exciting new features.




Press Kit

Cheers,
Volodymyr 👋

 

[mattspace]

Looks like a nice app. If you're open to suggestions for it:

• A non-subscription price option - US$20-40 or more. I don't rent software, but I do expect to pay a reasonable price for good tools.
• Add a wifi file server option so users can add music directly to the app from their Mac, rather than having to copy to Files, then import from Files. The user experience should be to press a button in the app, which enables the server, then connect to the iPhone in Finder, so I can use whatever file sync tools I have on my Mac to add / remove content.
• Audiobooks and Podcasts. I dont need any fancy settings for speed, I just want to be able to copy non-drmed sets of files as folders, and have the app treat them as audiobooks - so play in order, remember the play position etc. For podcasts, I don't care about streaming, or subscribing on device, same thing, I just want to be able to copy the files across, and have the iPhone app play them (with no dynamic ad insertion network access during playback).
  • I would suggest the root folder presented to Finder have 3 subfolders - Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, and then let us just use a folder hierarchy within to set things - so you're not getting Podcast metadata and feeds etc, you just go with the folder name as the Podcast name, and present the files in created date order.

It's a very pretty app - in all things, the more you can make it like the original iPod app from iOS 1-5, the better.

 

[Anywhere Offline Player]

Looks like a nice app. If you're open to suggestions for it:

• A non-subscription price option - US$20-40 or more. I don't rent software, but I do expect to pay a reasonable price for good tools.
• Add a wifi file server option so users can add music directly to the app from their Mac, rather than having to copy to Files, then import from Files. The user experience should be to press a button in the app, which enables the server, then connect to the iPhone in Finder, so I can use whatever file sync tools I have on my Mac to add / remove content.
• Audiobooks and Podcasts. I dont need any fancy settings for speed, I just want to be able to copy non-drmed sets of files as folders, and have the app treat them as audiobooks - so play in order, remember the play position etc. For podcasts, I don't care about streaming, or subscribing on device, same thing, I just want to be able to copy the files across, and have the iPhone app play them (with no dynamic ad insertion network access during playback).
  • I would suggest the root folder presented to Finder have 3 subfolders - Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, and then let us just use a folder hierarchy within to set things - so you're not getting Podcast metadata and feeds etc, you just go with the folder name as the Podcast name, and present the files in created date order.

It's a very pretty app - in all things, the more you can make it like the original iPod app from iOS 1-5, the better.

Hey there!

I'm really glad you took the time to share your thoughts and suggestions—it's incredibly valuable to me as I continue to improve Anywhere. Let me address each point you raised:

1) I'm definitely planning to introduce a non-subscription pricing option in upcoming versions of the app. Keep an eye out for updates!

2) Wi-Fi server functionality is indeed on my radar, and I'm committed to making it as seamless and user-friendly as possible. I've been doing some testing and research to ensure that when I implement this feature, it provides the best experience for users. I want to avoid any glitches or lagging, so I'm taking my time to get it right. Rest assured, it's a priority for me, and I'll be working on it diligently.
I've tested other apps with similar functionality and found that any desktop browser starts to lag when dealing with a large number of files (approximately 250 or more), so I'm striving to overcome this challenge to deliver a smooth experience. It's worth noting that these lags occur in the browser, not the app itself, which makes it even more tricky to address. But I'm dedicated to finding a solution that ensures a seamless experience for users.

3) Audiobooks and Podcasts are also in the pipeline for Anywhere. I really appreciate your suggestions regarding folder organization—it aligns perfectly with what I had in mind. I'm currently exploring ways to automatically recognize and categorize content based on its type, but I also want to provide users with the option for manual organization to avoid any confusion. It's a bit complex, but I'm dedicated to figuring it out to ensure a smooth experience for everyone.

If you have any other suggestions or questions, please feel free to ask! Your feedback is invaluable as I strive to make Anywhere the best it can be.

 

[mattspace]

Hey there!

I'm really glad you took the time to share your thoughts and suggestions—it's incredibly valuable to me as I continue to improve Anywhere. Let me address each point you raised:

I've literally found myself looking at the numbers for investing in contracting someone to make this myself a number of times. I think there's a really solid niche, possibly growing all the time, for a music player that works in a way that there's no tying of one product to another - because what always happens is the makers start using the dependence to hold the user experience to ransom, and then the ******tification sets in.

1) I'm definitely planning to introduce a non-subscription pricing option in upcoming versions of the app. Keep an eye out for updates!

I'll have my wallet ready.

2) Wi-Fi server functionality is indeed on my radar, and I'm committed to making it as seamless and user-friendly as possible.

I think unless you're going to make a Mac app that manages the music like iTunes, then you want to present your player app's storage to Finder like it's just a thumb drive, or SMB share. That way we can use automation tools like Hazel, or even front ends to rsync like Chronosync to manage how we create our own systems for music management etc.

And who knows, if you make your app a viable target for this sort of direct-copy "sync", it gives folks making other iTunes replacements, Swinsian, Submariner etc a potential endpont to make their own "Sync-to" functions.

I've tested other apps with similar functionality and found that any desktop browser starts to lag when dealing with a large number of files (approximately 250 or more), so I'm striving to overcome this challenge to deliver a smooth experience. It's worth noting that these lags occur in the browser, not the app itself, which makes it even more tricky to address. But I'm dedicated to finding a solution that ensures a seamless experience for users.

I'm not sure if by browser you're referring Safari, or the file browser, Finder. But, I suspect if you can present the app's storage as an SMB share, Finder should be able to transfer to it OK. As a bonus, any app that supports SMB becomes a potential sync app - folks could use a dedicated FTP app with local bookmarks to their music, podcast, & audiobook folders, and just make use of the built in upload sync functionality to handle their music transferring etc.

I use Chronosync with it's tickable file lists to do all the new-art-version replacement tasks for building extract versions of my EPUB comic books before they get sent to Apple Books and my own direct sales channels - left column is all the pages in the full version, right column is the images directory in the extract version, and the specific pages I want to always use in the extract are ticked in the synchroniser document.

I could easily see reusing this sort of system for synchronising a music collection, with as fine-grain as I want just by setting the master sync points as the root folders I'm using for Music, Audiobooks and Podcasts on the Mac.

3) Audiobooks and Podcasts are also in the pipeline for Anywhere. I really appreciate your suggestions regarding folder organization—it aligns perfectly with what I had in mind. I'm currently exploring ways to automatically recognize and categorize content based on its type, but I also want to provide users with the option for manual organization to avoid any confusion. It's a bit complex, but I'm dedicated to figuring it out to ensure a smooth experience for everyone.

Great to hear. If you can get it all working on Manual mode first, to me that's most important, because that's the thing really lacking in the current environment. Overcast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc, they already handle the app-managed side of things, but if I can just go into my FTP/file sync app, tick the files that I want to sync across, and transfer, that's already working the way I use Podcasts in iTunes with the "only transfer ticked files" option.

If you have any other suggestions or questions, please feel free to ask! Your feedback is invaluable as I strive to make Anywhere the best it can be.

*grabs a case of beers, and opens the first one* "right, first off..."

Honestly, the only other one that immediately comes to mind would be (looking at the app store currently) to see if you can get your privacy rating down to "Data Not Collected". See for example Mike Clay's C's Music Pro, which is the app you're essentially trying to be me to swap from. I understand if there are technical reasons you need some info, but analytics etc, that has to be an opt-in thing for me to send crash reports if things aren't working.

Oh, and make your main nav items at the bottom user-configurable, so I can have my preferred choices for mail items, and then an overflow menu item for the rest if there isn't enough room - eg if I never need to see Downloads, but want Music, Audiobooks & Podcasts as my first three items.

I'll keep an eye out for updates on this thread, but feel free to direct message me if there's anything you want to ask - you're doing an immense service to the community by building this, so bravo to you. Slava Ukraini 🥃

 

[Anywhere Offline Player]

I think unless you're going to make a Mac app that manages the music like iTunes, then you want to present your player app's storage to Finder like it's just a thumb drive, or SMB share. That way we can use automation tools like Hazel, or even front ends to rsync like Chronosync to manage how we create our own systems for music management etc.

And who knows, if you make your app a viable target for this sort of direct-copy "sync", it gives folks making other iTunes replacements, Swinsian, Submariner etc a potential endpont to make their own "Sync-to" functions.

Yes, I was considering the idea of developing a Mac app initially, but it would have limited functionality to Mac users only. Moreover, implementing such a feature would essentially replicate the functionality of the Apple Music app on Mac, which I believe isn't the best direction to take. Instead, my original intention was to create a simple way to manage music from any platform, primarily through wireless file uploads. However, I'll explore possibilities for simpler music management, possibly through browser-based interfaces, and see what I can develop.

I suspect if you can present the app's storage as an SMB share, Finder should be able to transfer to it OK

To be honest, implementing an SMB share is currently lower on my to-do list. This is because it caters more to advanced users, and while I do plan to include this feature, it's a task for a later stage. My focus initially is on providing a simple and straightforward Wi-Fi transfer option, which I believe most users prefer. Rest assured, features for advanced users will also be implemented eventually.

Honestly, the only other one that immediately comes to mind would be (looking at the app store currently) to see if you can get your privacy rating down to "Data Not Collected". See for example Mike Clay's C's Music Pro, which is the app you're essentially trying to be me to swap from. I understand if there are technical reasons you need some info, but analytics etc, that has to be an opt-in thing for me to send crash reports if things aren't working.

I actually did my best to lower this privacy rating to the minimum, but it's impossible to develop an app without analytics, which helps with investigating crashes as the first step and improving users' experience as the next. I'm not interested in any personal data, and the analytics I collect are anonymous crash data, crucial for improving my app without sacrificing user privacy. If I were to obtain a 'Data Not Collected' badge, it would mean removing all SDKs, depriving me of valuable information about my app.

However, I understand your concern about opting in or out of this anonymous data collection. It's akin to someone collecting data on how many people run down a street each day, and someone wanting to opt out, even though the data is anonymous and doesn't identify individuals. Without personal identifiers, it's even impossible to know which user has opted out, so the impact on individual privacy is zero. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.

Slava Ukraini 🥃

Героям Слава!
Glory to Heroes!

 

[mattspace]

To be honest, implementing an SMB share is currently lower on my to-do list. This is because it caters more to advanced users, and while I do plan to include this feature, it's a task for a later stage. My focus initially is on providing a simple and straightforward Wi-Fi transfer option, which I believe most users prefer. Rest assured, features for advanced users will also be implemented eventually.

I have a (no longer available) file management app on iOS (Olive Toast's Files Pro), which predates iOS having a user-accessible filesystem. It uses Webdav over Wifi with (I think) bonjour service discovery, so you connect to http://iDeviceName.local via a browser, or directly in Finder like it was any other fileserver. It's only http and not https, probbly because it's very old, but the remote access can be password protected.

Once you're connected in Finder, it's just like being connected to any volume on your Mac. VLC also does Webdav, but it only works in a web browser, not in Finder, which makes it a non-starter for me.

That's a minimum viable product, in my opinion. Without that, no matter how nice it is to look at or use, my question would be what is it doing that dozens of other music players don't do already, and all of their users are likely pretty committed to their solutions, because otherwise they'd be using Apple Music, Spotify etc.

The market that is not being served currently, is people who want their iPhone's music experience to be like copying files onto a hard drive they've plugged in, where the music is managed from their computer and the handheld device just browses the collection, and plays music, the way pre-iPod MP3 players worked.

The point of being able to mount the app's storage in Finder, is I can then use any file management tool, any automation tool to manage the content on that device.

Chronisar, for example, looks to be a recreation of the iTunes sync system, but it syncs to any mounted storage (but not to the iPhone's internal music etc library).

I actually did my best to lower this privacy rating to the minimum, but it's impossible to develop an app without analytics, which helps with investigating crashes as the first step and improving users' experience as the next. I'm not interested in any personal data, and the analytics I collect are anonymous crash data, crucial for improving my app without sacrificing user privacy. If I were to obtain a 'Data Not Collected' badge, it would mean removing all SDKs, depriving me of valuable information about my app.

I understand that. However, my current music player (C's Music Pro) doesn't collect anything, so it's obviously quite possible. Again, the question, what's in it for me as a customer to move to a different app - what is the narrative where someone who already has options makes the choice to use your app?

However, I understand your concern about opting in or out of this anonymous data collection. It's akin to someone collecting data on how many people run down a street each day, and someone wanting to opt out, even though the data is anonymous and doesn't identify individuals. Without personal identifiers, it's even impossible to know which user has opted out, so the impact on individual privacy is zero. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.

The thing is, I'm not inclined to trust that analytics providers are honest. I see too many apps whose privacy policies are "we don't collect or store anything, but all the under-the-hood stuff we got off the shelf has its own privacy policy, and we're not responsible for what they do". Look at Bound, one of the most popular iOS audiobook players - they're using Firebase analytics, and they have a link to Firebase's privacy policy in their FAQ. When you follow that link you get:

This URL (https://firebase.google.com/policies/analytics) previously served the Google Analytics for Firebase Use Policy. That use policy was applicable only to Google Analytics for Firebase (GA4F) properties, which no longer exist.

GA4F customers who chose to continue using Google Analytics upgraded to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) properties, which are under the Google Analytics Terms of Service: https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/.

So do I trust that the creators of Bound are paying attention to what their analytics package is doing to customers?

Again, this is not to criticise you - I hope your app is a wild success - that it's successful enough that you can add in edge case stuff like a file server so it can be mounted in Finder, and gets enough right that you can pull the analytics from the shipping version (or ay least make it an opt-out feature), and keep that for testflight QA builds.

 

[Anywhere Offline Player]

I have a (no longer available) file management app on iOS (Olive Toast's Files Pro), which predates iOS having a user-accessible filesystem. It uses Webdav over Wifi with (I think) bonjour service discovery, so you connect to http://iDeviceName.local via a browser, or directly in Finder like it was any other fileserver. It's only http and not https, probbly because it's very old, but the remote access can be password protected.

Once you're connected in Finder, it's just like being connected to any volume on your Mac. VLC also does Webdav, but it only works in a web browser, not in Finder, which makes it a non-starter for me.

I fully agree with you. Implementing WebDAV is indeed a feature I plan to incorporate in the future. Thank you for highlighting this!

I understand that. However, my current music player (C's Music Pro) doesn't collect anything, so it's obviously quite possible. Again, the question, what's in it for me as a customer to move to a different app - what is the narrative where someone who already has options makes the choice to use your app?

I understand your concern. Allow me to elaborate with an example. In my current version of my app, I've integrated basic cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox logins. With recent updates, I've expanded to include OneDrive and Box, with plans to add more services like MEGA, HiDrive, pCloud, and Amazon Drive:

Now, these services come with their own SDKs that handle user authentication and tracking on their end. As a developer, I don't have control over the tracking mechanisms implemented by these services. However, I ensure that my app does not request user tracking permissions, like the App Tracking Transparency dialog, which means your device won't be tracked across other apps or by advertising providers.

Also, it's important to note that even if a developer specifies that their app doesn't track users, it's not something the App Store Review team actively checks during the review process. They typically rely on user reports or complaints to investigate such issues. For instance, logging into Google Drive would be recorded by Google itself, similar to logging into a forum like MacRumors, which likely collects data too or not)?. What I'm saying: this is a common practice on the web and doesn't necessarily indicate privacy violation.
This is simply standard analytics, providing developers with data on active users or daily user counts, allowing them to gauge the growth of their product. Without this information, developing software would be extremely challenging, as developers would essentially be working blind, unable to understand how their product is performing or where improvements are needed. Analytics are crucial for identifying areas for refinement and enhancement in a product. However, it's important to emphasize that this data is strictly for analytics purposes and does not involve sharing any device identifiers.

In essence, while I strive to maintain user privacy within the capabilities of my app, the tracking mechanisms of third-party services are beyond my direct control. If you have any further concerns or questions, feel free to ask.

The thing is, I'm not inclined to trust that analytics providers are honest. I see too many apps whose privacy policies are "we don't collect or store anything, but all the under-the-hood stuff we got off the shelf has its own privacy policy, and we're not responsible for what they do". Look at Bound, one of the most popular iOS audiobook players - they're using Firebase analytics, and they have a link to Firebase's privacy policy in their FAQ. When you follow that link you get:

I previously integrated Firebase Analytics into versions 0.1 to 0.3 of the app, then removed it.
However, even after removing it, the nature of the tracking user IDs remains unchanged. Since I'm not requesting a real tracking user ID through the App Tracking Transparency dialog (which Apple now permits), neither I nor other SDKs can obtain ID without this dialog and user content. Instead, a random ID will be sent to analytics(thats how SDK' works). Therefore, if the app is uninstalled and then reinstalled, a new ID is generated again and again, effectively treating the device as a new user. This is because the system cannot recognize that this new ID corresponds to the previous device ID.

Again, this is not to criticise you - I hope your app is a wild success - that it's successful enough that you can add in edge case stuff like a file server so it can be mounted in Finder, and gets enough right that you can pull the analytics from the shipping version (or ay least make it an opt-out feature), and keep that for testflight QA builds.

I truly appreciate your insights and concerns regarding privacy and other aspects of the app. Your feedback is invaluable to me as it helps me better understand user perspectives and build a stronger sense of transparency and trust.


Following the implementation of Apple's App Tracking Transparency dialog, user privacy has emerged as a paramount concern. It's imperative for users to retain control over their data and have a clear understanding of how it's utilized.
Consider the analogy of shopping at a physical store: when you make a purchase, the store records the transaction without tying it to your personal information. Similarly, in the digital realm, tracking focuses on user behavior rather than individual details.
The introduction of the App Tracking Transparency dialog empowers users to make informed decisions regarding their privacy preferences. By either allowing or denying tracking, users dictate how their data is utilized. If tracking is permitted, apps can gather data on user interactions and behaviors to tailor experiences or advertisements.