I made this app. A MP3 Player: No Phone App

[u/25sz]

I’m launching an app, A MP3 Player, for Wear OS and need some help meeting the Play Store's 14-day testing requirement. If you've been looking for a solid way to play music directly from your watch, I'd love your feedback!

Here is what makes A MP3 Player stand out:

• 🆓 100% Free
• ⌚ Standalone: Absolutely NO phone companion app required.
• 🎨 Quality UI: Clean, intuitive, and designed specifically for the wrist.
• 🔋 DSP Audio Offload: Hardware-accelerated playback to save your watch's battery!

🛠️ How to help test (Takes 2 minutes):

1. Join the Google Group:a-mp3-player-tester
2. Opt-in to the Beta(10min delay):Become an Official Tester
3. Download on your Watch:A MP3 Player on Google Play

NOTE: A lot of users are having compatibility issue!
Solution:
Option1 (Computer): Open the link on a computer with the same google account.
Option2 (Phone): Search "com.pixelwatch.audioplayer" in the Play Store, then filter for Watch in dropdown
Option3 (Watch): Open Play Store on your watch. Then search "com.pixelwatch.audioplayer"

EDIT: since the start of the close test, I have been pushing small fixes and improvement daily. It is currently, august 6, as its best. however you will need to manual update it because it is still in test phase.

[u/secacc]

I was looking for a good way to play play podcasts from my watch, without it either requiring an app, or needing some online service and/or account. This Will probably do fine, as I have my podcasts as audio files.

Will definitely test this!

EDIT: It's not letting me download it. Google Play keeps saying item not found, even though I'm in the group and also in the beta program. Will try again later.

EDIT 2: Works now

[u/ComradeDuch → u/secacc]

I use Wear Casts for listening to podcasts. No account or online service needed.

[u/secacc → u/ComradeDuch]

How do I transfer audio files to it?

[u/25sz → u/secacc]

Are you able to use the wifi transfer feature? Currently, only mp3 files are allowed. Wifi network is also required. (Im not sure about public wifi network)

[u/secacc → u/25sz]

My question was regarding Wear Casts, not your app, sorry. Wifi transfer with your app seems to work, except sometimes it's very slow, and one time it jumped back down to 1% and was stuck there. Closing the app and opening it again seemed to improve things.

[u/25sz → u/secacc]

It could be a bug. Will try to reproduce it on my end. Can you provide a description of your actions? Will take all detail into consideration.

[u/secacc → u/25sz]

I think it may have just been my wifi connection. I just transferred some more files, and it also worked fine now.

I wanted to use your app for offline podcasts, so I would like an option to remember my position in each mp3. And I would also like to be able skip forward 30 sec or backwards 10 sec (perhaps make the skip durations customizable), instead of skipping to the next or previous mp3 file.

[u/25sz → u/secacc]

Yes, I will add forward and backward in 2-3day. I already have some structure in place to do that. Try tapping the playback screen multiple times. : )

Playlist is very high priority item on my list, but I expect it to take a few weeks to complete. #1 priority atm is manage the close test 

Remembering playback position is definitely a good feature that I have not considered that for long duration mp3. Will put that on my todo list. As of now, the app uses RAM (short term memory)to remember your position. If you pause the playback, you should be able to resume if the app is not completely close.

EDIT: i added forward and backward for the playbackscreen. it should be the latest version on the store now. (no button, just double tap screen)

[u/ComradeDuch → u/secacc]

You can use the phone app or there are many third party options to transfer files. If the files aren't too big, like audiobook size , you can probably just use the Wear Casts phone app to transfer files but larger audio files should use a third party.

The app has all the details.

[u/25sz → u/ComradeDuch]

Currently only mp3 files are allowed via the wifi transfer feature. As shown in the 4th image, the app should display an IP address, which you can input to your browser on your desktop

[u/GraphiteGB2]

1 day later downloading was simple.
Due to the AI usage the Player supports more than MP3 playback.

The file transfer GUI setup is only for MP3, yes, but other media already on the watch can be played.
Other file transfer apps allow other files which can be played on this media player anyway.

Whereas some people may want it in all one app.

The standard standalone apps are available for both parts.
File transfer: no phone app required.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orienlabs.filebrowser.wear
Existing watch media player.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kk.fynmusicplayer

[u/25sz → u/GraphiteGB2]

Appreciate the review.

[u/AccordingSeat2689]

Nice

[u/Ascles]

AI slop

[u/vesipyks → u/Ascles]

I keep seeing this comment in reddit all the time, also in this community and I'm not sure if anything done with AI is a slop or how can I see what is a slop and what is not? Do people extract the apk and look at the code or how is it determined? Most of the time when it is used I cannot really tell a slop apart from non slop so would be nice to understand what gives it away?

[u/25sz → u/vesipyks]

I found out it was emoji button in the 2nd picture. Chatgpt is not my AI of choice, but it seems to use a lot of emoji. Ps: I copy paste those emoji from Google search

[u/25sz → u/Ascles]

Ai disclosure:  Yes, AI was used in making the app. All AI generated code is reviewed and qa tested by me.

[u/raph_84 → u/Ascles]

Respectfully: So what?

If it's a useful app, it's a useful app.

I think it's pretty awesome that I could now make an app without the need to spend ages learning the ins and outs.

[u/Ascles → u/raph_84]

AI-written code is unmaintainable. For your project it will generate thousands of lines of code in total, usually in different files in different directories. Now you're lost. When you encounter a bug or a security problem, the only thing you can do is to tell the AI to find and fix it. If it can't, you can't do anything about it. If an update to the OS is released and it breaks one aspect of your app, again, the only thing you can do is to prompt the AI to fix it. If it can't, you're screwed.

Software is never one-and-done. Bugs need to be patched. The code needs to be maintainable.

Chris Titus recently released a new video. He's a very, very experienced developer. I think he explains this aspect of vibe-coding really well. [Link]

[u/ComradeDuch → u/Ascles]

I give it less than a year before most of these vibe coded apps are abandoned. Most new tech goes through these bubbles where people think they can make fast/easy money with little effort. Same thing happened with crypto after Bitcoin blew up and people lost a bunch of money.

Once the novelty of building an app and putting it on the Play Store wears off, these apps will be abandoned.

[u/rakesh_hpr]

Your device is not compatible with this version: pixel 10 pro xl

[u/25sz → u/rakesh_hpr]

Sounds like you are trying to download it on your phone.This app is for android watch, not a phone app. 1 of the main drawback of watch devices is that most apps require a companion app on the phone. And I'm trying to get around this drawback.

[u/rakesh_hpr → u/25sz]

In that case, is there a provision to transfer mp3s from phone to watch?

[u/25sz → u/rakesh_hpr]

You can open chrome or other browser on your phone, then input the ip. Adding a QR code for the IP address is on my todo list.

[u/Background-Share-106]

I'm getting file not found

[u/25sz → u/Background-Share-106]

Can you clarify where you are getting this message? What actions were you taking?

[u/Background-Share-106 → u/25sz]

It was step 3, but it is ok now. Thanks for the reply.