What’s the best music app for offline listening?
With the rise of music streaming services, many people enjoy access to vast libraries of music online. However, there are times when an internet connection is unreliable or unavailable, such as when traveling, commuting underground, or in remote areas. This is where offline listening options become invaluable.
Being able to download songs, playlists or even entire albums for offline use provides uninterrupted access to your favorite music. You don’t have to worry about buffering, skipping or losing connections. Offline listening also saves mobile data usage compared to streaming everything. Many popular music services now offer robust offline listening features to meet this need.
In this article, we provide an overview and comparison of the best music apps for offline listening. Whether you use an iPhone, Android device, or desktop, options abound to suit different needs and preferences.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music allows users to download songs, albums, playlists, and music videos for offline listening. The app has a large catalog of over 80 million official songs, albums and playlists that are available for offline download (Source). To download music, users simply tap the “download” icon next to any music content in the app. An offline mixtape is also automatically generated based on the user’s listening history and can be easily downloaded.
The offline experience in YouTube Music has received some criticism for not being as seamless as competitors. Some users have complained that the downloaded music does not integrate well into the overall app experience (Source). The interface for accessing and playing downloaded content is not as intuitive as streaming content within the app. There are also limitations around playing downloaded content outside of the YouTube Music app due to DRM restrictions.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services, with over 456 million monthly active users worldwide as of 2022 [1]. One of Spotify’s key features is the ability to download music for offline listening. With a premium subscription, Spotify users can download over 70 million songs, playlists, podcasts, and other content to listen to without an internet connection [2].
Offline playlists on Spotify are easy to set up. Users can download any playlist, album, or podcast by tapping the download button next to it. Downloads are available in standard (96 kbps), high (160 kbps), or very high (320 kbps) quality so listeners can optimize for audio quality or storage space. Downloaded content stays in the Spotify app and syncs across devices. Spotify also makes smart personalized recommendations for playlists and music to download based on listening history and preferences.
The offline experience on Spotify is seamless. The interface looks the same whether online or offline, and playlists automatically update when internet access is restored. Spotify Premium’s extensive catalog, ability to download albums and playlists, and high quality offline audio make it an excellent choice for offline listening.
Apple Music
Apple Music is deeply integrated with Apple devices and operating systems. Users can download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening across iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, and more. According to Apple, you can save over 100,000 songs offline per registered device.
Apple Music’s offline capabilities allow you to access your favorite playlists, albums, and other recommendations even without an internet connection. The service can automatically download new music it thinks you’ll like based on your preferences. Smart playlists will also update with new recommendations when you’re online.
With a catalog of over 90 million songs, Apple Music gives you plenty of options to download for offline listening. The seamless integration across Apple devices, intelligent recommendations, and vast catalog make Apple Music a top choice for offline listening within the Apple ecosystem.
As noted in this source, Apple Music provides a robust offline listening experience across devices.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud allows users to save music for offline listening through its premium subscriptions like SoundCloud Go. With SoundCloud Go+, you can download your likes, playlists, albums, and stations for offline listening on mobile. The size of the offline catalog depends on your subscription – SoundCloud Go provides access to 120 million tracks while SoundCloud Go+ offers over 200 million tracks available for offline download.
The process of saving content offline is relatively straightforward – you simply tap the “available offline” toggle on playlists, albums, stations or tracks. However, some users have complained that the offline syncing can be slow and buggy at times. Playback of offline content within the app has also been criticized as being unpolished compared to Spotify and Apple Music. Still, SoundCloud offers a decent sized library for offline listening on mobile, albeit with some rough edges in the user experience.
Amazon Music Offers Comprehensive Offline Listening
Amazon Music integrates seamlessly with Amazon’s family of products and services. Users who already rely on Amazon’s Echo speakers and Fire TV have convenient and instant access to Amazon Music from those devices, even in offline mode (1). With a Prime subscription, Amazon Music offers over 2 million songs and thousands of playlists and stations available offline, rivaling Spotify and Apple Music (2).
Amazon Music provides features like personalized recommendations, voice control, and hands-free listening while offline. Subscribers can download songs, albums, playlists and stations using the mobile app for offline playback when an internet connection is not available. Amazon Music even uses advanced AI to continue suggesting recommended tracks and mixes based on a user’s listening history, despite being offline (1,3).
Overall, Amazon Music’s tight integration with Amazon devices and services combined with a robust catalog for offline listening makes it a compelling option for those seeking an offline music experience.
Sources:
(1) https://www.tunefab.com/amazon-music/enjoy-amazon-prime-music-offline.html
(2) https://www.viwizard.com/amazon-music-tips/play-amazon-music-offline.html
(3) https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonMusic/comments/rrcw54/is_an_internet_connection_required_to_play/
Comparison of Top Music Apps for Offline Listening
When comparing the top music apps for offline listening, there are some key differences in catalog size, features, and audio quality to consider:
YouTube Music (1) offers over 50 million official songs, albums, playlists, and music videos. However, the audio quality maxes out at 256kbps even with a paid subscription. Offline mixtapes are a unique feature.
Spotify (2) has the largest catalog at over 70 million tracks. Paid subscribers can download 10,000 songs for offline listening. Audio quality goes up to 320kbps with premium. Useful features include curated playlists and shared playlists.
Apple Music boasts a catalog of over 75 million songs. Paid users can save unlimited music for offline listening. Audio quality goes up to 256kbps with a subscription, or lossless 24-bit/48kHz with Apple Digital Masters. Features include hand-curated playlists, radio, and synced lyrics.
In terms of audio quality, Tidal offers the highest fidelity with lossless FLAC streaming up to 1411kbps for $20/month. The catalog is smaller than Spotify at around 60 million tracks. Helpful features include expert editorial and concert livestreams.
For free offline listening, apps like SoundCloud and YouTube Music allow saving music without a paid subscription. However, the selection is more limited compared to premium services. Sound quality maxes out at 128kbps.
The Best for Offline Listening
When evaluating music apps for offline listening, some of the most important criteria are the size of the catalog, features that enhance the offline experience, and overall usability. Based on these factors, Spotify and Apple Music stand out as the top options.
With over 70 million tracks, Spotify has one of the largest music libraries available. Downloaded playlists and albums are available offline, and Spotify offers features like offline playback and crossfade to improve the offline listening experience. The interface is easy to navigate, and Spotify connects with various platforms and devices.
Apple Music also provides access to an extensive catalog of over 75 million songs. Downloads are seamless, and Apple Music allows you to save music for offline listening across all your devices. Offline playback includes playlists, albums, and artist radio stations. With a polished interface optimized for Apple devices, Apple Music integrates fully into the Apple ecosystem.
For the best overall offline listening experience combining huge catalogs, special offline features, and intuitive interfaces, both Spotify and Apple Music stand out as excellent choices.
Tips for Offline Listening
To listen to music offline, you first need to download songs, albums, or playlists for offline use. Most music apps like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music have options to download music for offline listening. Here are some tips for managing offline music:
On Spotify, tap the “Download” button next to tracks or playlists to save them for offline listening. There is a 10,000 song download limit for Spotify users. You can manage downloaded content in the “Your Library” tab.
For Apple Music, tap the cloud icon next to any song, album or playlist to download it. Go to Settings > Music to manage the size of your offline music library. Apple Music members can download up to 100,000 songs.
On YouTube Music, tap the 3 dot menu next to songs and select “Add to offline”. You can access downloaded music in the Library tab. YouTube Music allows up to 500 songs to be saved offline with a regular subscription.
When organizing offline music, create playlists for different genres, moods or activities. Downloaded playlists make it easy to access music without an internet connection. Rename downloaded playlists by the date for easy cleanup. Regularly review and remove listened to downloads to save storage space.
Conclusion
In summary, the top music apps for offline listening are Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Spotify offers the largest music catalog, playlists, and podcasts for offline listening. Apple Music has seamless integration with iOS devices and also offers a substantial catalog for offline use. YouTube Music stands out with its vast collection of music videos that can be downloaded.
To get the most out of offline listening, make sure to connect to WiFi regularly to download new content. Save storage space by removing downloaded content you no longer want. Use the available settings to control the quality of downloads and manage storage. Consider getting expanded storage if you plan to save a lot of music and videos offline. Lastly, take advantage of playlists and recommendations to discover new artists and songs for offline listening.