Folder Player: Freeware MP3 player for Android (and Java Phones*)

*Note: Currently, only Android version is supported. Java (J2ME) Phone version has been discontinued (As of Dec 2010). If you need older version, please proceed to java phone version section.

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What is Folder Player?

Folder Player is a free Android application (no ads) which knows how to play directories the same way you play mp3/ogg/flac files :-) It can play individual files, folders, or whole folder trees.

Why another player for Android?

There are several great mp3 players out there. If you're happy with them, you probably don't need another one. But if you reached this site, you probably have the same problem as I had before I created this app - you tried many players , and your access to your music still too cumbersome.

Is Folder Player a solution?

If you want to manage playlists, album pictures, and edit mp3 tags - Folder Player is probably not the best fit for you. If playing music is what you do with you music player (Duh!), this is your lucky day :)
Avoiding rarely used things enables Folder Player to perform better in the most important thing you do with your player - listening to the music.
Here are the basic principles which were used to build the software:
  • User already organized music into folders (this is natural, isn't it?) - lets take advantage of this fact.
  • Playlists are useless most of the time. They're killing user experience. Folders are our playlists now.
  • I open player, and get to my music right away. You don't need to click around to reach music you love.

How to get?

Tips

  • Touch folder's play icon to play songs inside the folder
  • Touch folder name to see songs inside folder.
  • Long touch play button to re-play song or whole folder.
  • Long touch name of file or folder to delete file or folder
  • Quick volume up\down or down\up for next\previous song (this would work only if screen is unlocked)


Frequently Asked Questions


1. Question: I can see FLAC/WAV/AAC files, but player does not play them. Description mentioned you support them
Answer: As mentioned in the description, playback for these is supported only if hardware supports it. Most new phones support them, so I would highly recommend upgrading your phone and\or Android OS. Yes, it is possible to add software decoders, but this would make the app very heavy, which does not make sense for a relatively small (and rapidly declining) number of devices.

2. Question: I have music on my network drive. How can I play that from my phone?
Answer: Your phone is a unix machine, and it is perfectly capable of mounting external network drives and see files as if the were stored locally. Unfortunately, most mobile operators block your ability to do that, however, if you happen to gain root access, you can search for "cifs" on Google Play and install application that allows this function. If you uncover a better solution please let me know, and I will post it here for others.

3. Question: Why no support for Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)?
Answer: Short story is that in version 3 of FolderPlayer I introduced search functionality, which is deeply integrated into Android 4+ platform. There is a possibility to introduce backward compatibility though additional libraries, but this alone would make the application 3 times heavier. Considering stability of 2.9.4 version of the player and the fact that non-4+ Android devices are minority now and number of them keeps declining, I decided to concentrate on Android 4+ devices and keep footprint small. Everybody is going to upgrade anyways at some point, right? ;-)

4. Question: Why this app is running service?
Answer: Every music app needs to run some service, otherwise music will not be able to play in the background. If you want to shut down the service, use Menu->Exit in the app. But you dont have to do that as it does not use your battery if music is not playing. Also, every service like that must be represented as an icon in the notification bar. If you want to hide the icon, go to your phone Settings->Application Manager->"Folder Player" and uncheck "Show Notifications"

5. Question: This app is praised in the reviews but it is constantly freezes and crashes on my phone?
Answer: Don't use "battery saver apps" and "automated task killers". Beside placebo effect, they're not helpful anyways.



How can you help?

If you'd like to share something important or you have an idea or comment, please use the form below.
Also, if you feel this application made your life brighter, please use donate button on the right :-)

Thanks!
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