Conclusion

This year feels so different from the last, and not for the obvious reasons; last year I remained determined the find and declare the “best” player, but in retrospect that goal seems silly. Marvis Pro is brilliant, yes, but it was not what I sought out this year when I wanted to read lyrics; I used Power Player, instead. Even then, if “live” lyrics were available, I instead switched back to Music.app. Likewise, if I wanted more metadata about the current record, I switched to Albums, but then I sometimes switched to Picky later on to appreciate its pretty player view. It’s now apparent to me there’s no “best player”, despite narrowing my focus the past couple years in an effort to make that answer more clear. I always find myself returning to different players for different scenarios: the ones highlighted earlier in the “Standouts” section.

Exploring and experimenting new options is a pain—in no small part thanks to the App Store’s heinous search results—and it’s easy to settle on just using a “somewhat good enough” player like Music.app, or a “best” player like Marvis Pro that despite being preferred in some contexts is clearly not in others. With so many options available now that better serve a widening range of edge cases and niche needs, discovering and using the right tool for the job is now clearly the better path forward. With any luck, this showcase helped serve as your own spark to explore iOS’s growing list of music players, as well. You never know, the next player you try might just end up your new favorite player for lyrics reading, record spinning, or maybe even something else not covered in this showcase. Like with many things in life, you need only give it a try to find out.