Help Understanding Music Options

[neanders2]

My wife and I both just got this phone, and we really like it. But, I'm a little confused with all the music options. There's a "Music" app, a "MOG" app, and a "Play Music" app. I used doubleTwist to get my iTunes songs onto my phone, and they appear in my Music app. I downloaded an album from Google Play, and it appears in my Play Music app. I haven't used the MOG app and right now don't plan to.

My question is, can I just use one app for all my music. Seems I don't really need the Music app and Play Music app. I don't want to try and keep both libraries updated.

Sorry, this probably seems overly basic to many of you but it's not like there's just a simple iTunes app...there are at least three music apps on my device. I want to be able to have my purchased iTunes songs and all Google Play purchased songs in one app to make my life easier.

Will songs that I buy on Google Play be "on my phone"? Or, are they just in the cloud? I'm thinking of being able to hook my phone up to my truck's uConnect for listening while driving.

Thanks in advance for helping me work thru the "newness" factor.

 

[sherri]

Mog app is pre-installed on your phone. You can not remove it without rooting. It has the feature of downloading free songs. (On Android, there are lots of free mp3 download apps, but some have adds and don't use air push add ...both stink...) Mog doesn't do this. Only issue is that songs from there can only be played from Mog player.

Anything downloaded from Google Music store should show in phones music app. Anything purchased from iTunes (why??) Can be dl to phone, unless they are drm protected. There are methods to work around this if you need.

I personally do not like the Google Music Player, although it syncs what I have on tablet to phone and desktop. I use TuneWiki as my main player, and I have tried them ALL.

The phones built in music app (on my phone, at least....) is quite lacking. I like being able to use a queue list and edit tags/covers from within the app.

Hope some of this helps!

 

[neanders2]

Anything downloaded from Google Music store should show in phones music app. Anything purchased from iTunes (why??) Can be dl to phone, unless they are drm protected. There are methods to work around this if you need.

So I have two Google music players as best I can tell. One just called "Music" and the other called "Play Music". The stuff I tried to move over using doubleTwist showed up in the Music and Play Music apps. But the one album I downloaded from Google Play ONLY showed up in Play Music.

So the Music app and Play Music apparently don't sync or work together, or am I missing something?

 

[neanders2]

And as a follow up question, if I buy songs from Google Play (on my PC for example) and want to listen to them on my Android phone, do I need the new "Play Music" app or just the regular "Music" app?

 

[sherri]

So I have two Google music players as best I can tell. One just called "Music" and the other called "Play Music". The stuff I tried to move over using doubleTwist showed up in the Music and Play Music apps. But the one album I downloaded from Google Play ONLY showed up in Play Music.

So the Music app and Play Music apparently don't sync or work together, or am I missing something?

And as a follow up question, if I buy songs from Google Play (on my PC for example) and want to listen to them on my Android phone, do I need the new "Play Music" app or just the regular "Music" app?

I just typed up a very detailed answer to this, but was logged out! Pissed....

Anyway...You have 2 Players on phone. One is Google (Play Music) and the other is native to your phone (Music). Different ROM's and manufactures use different players.

I am going to break up this response, because it seriously took me quite a while to type the other one, and I got logged out. Please bear with me...

 

[sherri]

Everything you download to your phone will show up in both players. If you use an mp3 download app directly on the phone, it can be played from either player. Anything on sd card is seen in both players on the phone.

If you download from a song from the Google play store (either on phone or from pc), music is stored "in the cloud". To make it seen/playable in other music players, you have to "make available offline" (from the Google music player.)

Now...anything that is downloaded directly to phone's sd card is on phone (in both players), but will not be in the Google Music app on the pc.

I was confused about this, so I contacted Google. This is the response:

Thank you very much for contacting me this evening. Keep in mind that the
music application on your device, also recognizes music stored on your SD
card.
If this music has not been uploaded it will not show on your library.
However, if these are uploaded music files, I recommend trying a hard
refresh on your browser.
A hard refresh will load the Google Play web player in your browser
without using the cache. To perform a hard refresh, hold CTRL (Windows) or
Command (Mac) while refreshing your browser.
If you have any further questions, or concerns, I'd be more than happy to
offer my assistance.

 

[sherri]

Now...there are definitely benefits to using your Google Music player, especially if you have a large collection of music. The main one is that the music IS stored in the cloud, taking up no space on your phone. However, in order to listen to this, you need an internet connection (either through carrier or wi-fi).

If you decide to purchase all your music from now on through Market/Play Store, either on the phone or from pc, music will sync from phone to pc application without a problem, but as stated, you must make it available offline to listen without a data connection (as on a plane...)

 

[sherri]

If you purchase music from iTunes on your pc, and use Double Twist to sync it to phone, it will be put on phones sd card. You will see it in both players on phone, but not in Google desktop application. However, since it is on your pc, refresing the browser as the Google rep suggested should put it in Google app as well.

I have huge "issues" with iTunes, so I will never use that service. If you are having problems getting your iTunes songs onto phone, let me know.

Long story longer....Anything on your sd card is seen in all players on phone. Downloaded from Google (either pc or phone) is only in Google Player, unless you make it available offline. If you want phone and pc google music synched, music must be uploaded from sd card to desktop (usb cable/wirelessly/drop box type app).

I hpe some of this was understandable, and that it maybe even helped!

 

[neanders2]

For me, the easiest thing so far has just been to use Play Music. I uploaded my iTunes songs to music.google.com so they now appear on my phone and tablet along with music purchased from Google. I did mark a few albums available for offline playing. They don't show up in the music app though, not sure where they are stored on my phone. Overall, Play Music gets me what I need.

 

[tjbender]

I'm a fan of iSyncr for getting iTunes music and playlists ported over. It's a playlist manager, though, and uses the default player when you're listening to your music.