What is air music app?
Air Music App is an app that allows users to stream music from various services to AirPlay compatible devices. It was created by Belgium based Air Music Tech and first launched on iOS in 2010 (AirMusic, n.d.). The intended purpose of Air Music App is to allow users to stream audio from music services like Spotify, Google Play Music, and others to devices like Apple TV, AirPort Express, and various WiFi speakers and receivers that support AirPlay (AirMusic on the App Store, n.d.). This allows users to play their music through better speakers than those built into their phones or tablets.
How Air Music App Works
Air Music App uses hand gestures and motion tracking to allow users to control music playback on their devices. The app leverages the device’s camera to track hand motions and gestures, then translates those gestures into commands to play, pause, skip tracks, adjust volume, and more.
Some key features of how Air Music App’s gesture controls work include:
- Making a fist or pinch gesture with your fingers pauses the music.
- Holding your palm flat and facing the camera with fingers together plays or resumes audio.
- Waving your hand to the left or right skips to the previous or next track.
- Pinching your thumb and index finger together raises the volume, while spreading them apart lowers it.
- Drawing a circle in the air with your index finger controls seeking within a track.
By tracking hand and finger motions through the device’s camera and translating them into media controls, Air Music App provides an innovative way to manage music playback hands-free.
Gesture Controls
One of the key features of Air Music App is its ability to recognize various hand gestures, allowing you to control music playback without touching your phone. According to the product description on the Google Play Store, AirMode for Android – Apps on Google Play, the app can detect gestures like swiping left/right to skip tracks, tapping to play/pause, pointing up/down to increase/decrease volume, and more.
Some of the main gestures recognized include:
- Swiping left or right to skip to the previous or next track
- Drawing a circle in the air to rewind
- Tapping twice in the air to play or pause the current song
- Pointing up to increase the volume and pointing down to decrease it
- Swiping up to open the app’s menu
- Swiping down to minimize the app
The ability to control playback without touching the screen can be convenient in many scenarios, like when cooking or doing chores. It allows you to change songs and adjust volume from a short distance away. According to user reviews, the gesture recognition is quite accurate, with few false positives.
Supported Devices
AirMusic is available on both iOS and Android devices. On iOS, AirMusic is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch running iOS 12.0 or later 1. Supported models include the iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, iPad mini 2 and later, and iPod touch 6th generation and later.
For Android, AirMusic requires Android 5.0 Lollipop or newer and root access on the device 2. It is compatible with most mainstream Android phones and tablets from brands like Samsung, LG, Motorola, Huawei, and Sony. Specific supported models include the Samsung Galaxy S5 and newer, LG G3 and newer, Motorola Moto X and newer, Huawei Mate 7 and newer, and Sony Xperia Z2 and newer.
AirMusic supports integration with major music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, and more. This allows users to stream music from these services to playback devices connected to AirMusic.
To integrate with streaming services, users simply need to login to their accounts in the AirMusic app settings. Once connected, streaming service libraries and playlists will appear in the AirMusic app library alongside locally stored music.
Some key integrations include:
- Spotify – Users can stream any song, album, playlist, or podcast from Spotify. Spotify Connect is also supported for controlling playback. (AirMusic – stream your music!)
- Apple Music – Full access to Apple Music libraries and playlists. AirPlay is also integrated for iOS devices.
- YouTube Music – Stream audio from YouTube Music songs, albums, and playlists.
- Tidal – Access your full Tidal music library and playlists.
These integrations allow AirMusic to act as a central hub for streaming music services. Once linked, the different libraries blend seamlessly in AirMusic for easy access across services.
Pros of Air Music App
One of the main benefits of Air Music App is its hands-free control using gestures. As described in a Reddit review, “The airplay functionality works great. And set up is pretty much a no brainer.”1 Users can pause, play, and skip tracks just by waving their hand in front of their phone’s camera. This allows for a futuristic, fun way to enjoy music without having to touch any buttons.
Reviewers on the Google Play Store mention how the gesture controls make Air Music App stand out. One writes, “Gesture control works great! This app utilizes the front facing camera to allow you to control music playback with hand gestures.”2 Having the ability to manage music hands-free provides a unique and innovative experience.
Overall, the gesture controls offer a convenient way to operate your music that feels like something out of the future. Air Music App brings an exciting twist to music listening through its hands-free futuristic interface.
Cons of Air Music App
One of the main cons reported by users of Air Music App is that it can be unreliable at times. According to a Reddit review, the AirPlay functionality in particular doesn’t always work smoothly, with intermittent connectivity issues. There are also complaints that the app can be buggy and prone to freezing or crashing, especially on Android devices.
The gesture controls are another aspect of Air Music App that receive criticism. While innovative, the gesture vocabulary is limited to just a few simple swipe actions according to the App Store listing. More advanced hand gestures like pinch to zoom or rotating are not supported. Some users find the gesture detection fails to work properly at times as well.
Overall, the consensus seems to be that Air Music App can be powerful when it works, but the reliability and stability issues hamper the experience. The gesture controls, while novel, need further development to expand their capabilities and accuracy.
Privacy Concerns
Some users have expressed concerns over the privacy implications of using Air Music App. Specifically, the app requires access to device cameras and collects certain usage data.
Air Music uses the device camera for its gesture control features. The app tracks hand motions to enable touchless navigation of music playback. However, some privacy advocates argue this camera access is excessive and unnecessary for a music app (Air Music privacy policy).
In addition, Air Music collects non-personal data such as device type and general usage statistics. This is a common practice for many apps, but Air Music does not provide much transparency into what is collected and how it is used (inMusic Privacy Policy). Some users speculate the data could be used for targeted advertising or sold to third parties.
While Air Music states it does not collect personal user data, the privacy implications of the camera access and data collection remain a concern for some users. More transparency from the developers could help alleviate these worries.
Competitors
Air Music App competes with other gesture controlled music apps like Amp Me and Real Player. Both of these apps allow users to control music playback through hand gestures, similar to Air Music App. However, Air Music App takes a different approach by utilizing advanced computer vision technology to detect more nuanced hand motions for finely tuned audio control.
For example, Amp Me detects basic swipe gestures to skip tracks or adjust volume. Air Music App goes further by recognizing intricate finger and wrist movements to apply audio effects like reverb and equalization. This provides Air Music App users with more precision and customization over their listening experience compared to apps like Amp Me and Real Player.
Another key difference is that Air Music App integrates with leading music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. Competitors have not established the same breadth of partnerships across platforms. This gives Air Music App the advantage of gesture control across top music libraries and recommendations engines.
In summary, competitors exist in the gesture controlled music app space but Air Music App pushes the boundaries of motion sensing and mainstream music service integration to stand out from other options.
The Future of Air Music App
As Air Music App continues to evolve, there are several potential features and improvements in store for future updates. One likely area of expansion is support for more devices. While Air Music currently works with select Android and iOS devices, adding compatibility with additional mobile devices as well as platforms like Windows could allow the app to reach more users.
The gesture vocabulary used to control music playback and navigation is another aspect of Air Music App that has room to grow. The developers could introduce more natural and intuitive gestures that align with how people commonly interact with music, making the app even easier to use hands-free. This could include gestures like twisting the hand to control volume or swiping left/right to change tracks.
Lastly, new features that integrate air gestures with streaming services are a promising path for development. Allowing users to not just play/pause music but also browse and discover new artists and playlists from Spotify, Apple Music, and other libraries would greatly increase the app’s capabilities. Advanced controls like being able to thumbs up/down songs on the fly could also be implemented.
While the core functionality of Air Music App is already innovative, the potential to support more platforms, expand gesture controls, and integrate with streaming services points to an even more powerful hands-free music experience in the future.
