The way we listen to music on the go has changed a lot over the years, with the industry moving from an ownership model to a subscription model. Initially, you'd have to listen to music at a physical vinyl or CD setup. Then portable music players came around, and all the aforementioned options have been replicated — if not outright replaced — by modern-day smartphones. But regardless of whether you prefer to stream or own your music, there's an Android app designed for your listening pleasure. Since the app that comes with your smartphone might not be the best one available, we've curated a list of alternatives here.

Some of these music player options are the greatest the Google Play Store has to offer and can be found in our collection of the best Android apps. They range from streaming services to simple music players and provide key features like high-fidelity playback. Whether you're trying to stream music from the cloud or just access the saved music you own on your smartphone, these picks are a curated list of the best music player apps available on Android in 2023.

1 Spotify

Spotify is always at the top of our list, and for good reason. It's the best music streaming app currently available, period. It has a vast library of tracks from various genres and artists and support for podcasts, making it truly a one-stop shop for your music and podcast needs. One of the best features of Spotify is its personalized recommendations, which are based on your listening history and what is popular in your region.

Users have the option to use Spotify for free, with some limitations on features and ads, or they can upgrade to a paid subscription for a more seamless listening experience. The paid version, known as Spotify Premium, gives users access to additional features such as the ability to download songs for offline listening and higher-quality audio along with Spotify Kids. In addition, Spotify can also play locally stored music, which is really handy if you have a large collection of music saved on your device.

Pricing for Spotify Premium will depend on your region, but in North America, a standard plan costs $9.99 per month. Students can get Spotify Premium for $4.99 per month, and there are also Duo and Family plans available. These prices make Spotify competitive with other similar streaming services, and given the aforementioned benefits, upgrading to Premium is a solid choice.

Overall, it's easy to see why Spotify is a popular choice for music streaming. Its extensive library, personalized recommendations, and support for podcasts make it a top pick for many users. Whether you're a casual listener or a music fanatic, Spotify has something to offer for everyone.

Spotify: Music and Podcasts Developer: Spotify AB
Price: Free
4.4
Download

2 Deezer

If Spotify is not your cup of tea, then Deezer might fit the bill a little bit better, as it's one of the most well-known alternatives to bigger apps like Apple Music and YouTube Music. Deezer actually provides a very similar feature set to Spotify, down to the number of features the Premium version it offers, and it also has an ad-supported free version. Both are pretty good, as there are features such as downloads, recommendations, and a vast library of music tracks and podcasts for you to choose from.

If you're on the lookout for one of the best music player apps out there, this might be pretty close.

3 Apple Music

It's been years, and we're still surprised Apple actually made Apple Music available on Android, but alas, they did. And for what it's worth, it's definitely on the upper tier of the best music player apps for Android. In order to have access to this service, you have the option to pay an $11/month subscription for a personal package, $6 if you're a student, or you can pay a monthly $17 if you want to enjoy a family package, allowing you to share your subscription and Apple's enormous music library with up to six people. It now even offers lossless music with Dolby Atmos, so if you have the right audio equipment, you can enjoy great quality audio with Apple Music on your Android phone.

Plus, Apple Music can be an even better value if you use more than one Apple service. They can be bundled together with an Apple One subscription, allowing you to save more. Plus, Apple shockingly continues to add features to the Android Apple Music client, so your experience might get better over time. Recently, the company added its new Apple Music Sing karaoke feature to the Android app, albeit in a somewhat limited way.

Apple Music Developer: Apple
Price: Free
3.8
Download

4 iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio is way different from what you might think of a conventional streaming app and instead focuses on streaming something a little bit different — radio stations! In this sense, it's a lot more similar to tuning into AM or FM radio than it is to actually stream music. So if you like doing things the old-school way, this is as good as it gets.

As the name implies, iHeartRadio is a radio streaming application where people can listen to a variety of stations according to their personal tastes. In addition to radio shows, it also offers on-demand music, podcasts, news, and sports content. The service follows a freemium model. The free tier lets you listen to thousands of radio stations, while the premium plans unlock on-demand music, unlimited personalized playlists, ad-free playlists, and Artist stations. iHeart Radio also gives you content you can't get anywhere else, like indie and collegiate radio stations that aren't otherwise available on AM or FM frequencies.

5 Tidal

Tidal has a big thing going for them that not many other streaming services have — it features lossless audio. It's set to face competition from none other than Spotify, as the company recently announced that Spotify HiFi is a thing. Tidal pioneered the concept of streaming lossless music, and having CD-quality music without having to own CDs or without having to download FLAC files is pretty darn great. Once we get past the lossless aspect of things, Tidal still remains a pretty compelling package with access to a claimed library of 70 million songs.

We think it's one of the best music player apps in the market because of the lossless quality it offers, which is a boon for audiophiles. But there's also a free version if you aren't interested in the high-fidelity audio quality that Tidal provides.

TIDAL Music: HiFi, Playlists Developer: TIDAL
Price: Free
4.1
Download

6 YouTube Music

YouTube is considered "the king of free apps" par excellence because it gives you access to an enormous library of media, which also includes music. But YouTube Music, while using the same platform as YouTube, is a different thing entirely. It mixes YouTube's name and brand as well as its enormous popularity and joins that with a library of over 40 million songs (and that's without counting in videos, which you can play the audio for in the app) and a free tier that packs pretty much the same limitations as the YouTube app for videos.

The best part about the YouTube identity is that all your liked music from over the years is also carried along, so you can dip into nostalgia with ease. But that isn't saying it the service isn't getting updates. From adding in a year-end round-up, excellent automated mixes, and Podcasts, YouTube Music continues to grow into a high-end service. The paid tier removes ads and gives you access to features such as background playback. The free version does leave a few things to be desired, though, so if you aren't willing to shell something out, it's best you go with a different option in this list.

YouTube Music Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
4.5
Download

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8 Shuttle 2 Music Player

If you're looking specifically for an offline music player, Shuttle 2 Music Player is one of the best options. This feature-packed music player is a sequel to the original Shuttle Music Player. It's rewritten from the ground up in Kotlin, offering improved speed, reliability, and a modern user interface. Shuttle 2 Music Player scans folders specified by the user and reads file tags itself, resulting in a more accurate and reliable music library.

It natively supports FLAC and Opus codecs and allows users to stream music from Emby, Plex, or Jellyfin media servers. The app also includes a custom-built 10-band equalizer with a frequency response graph, Android Auto support, batch tag editing, Chromecast support, album shuffle, sleep timer, replay gain, and a range of themes and customization options. Shuttle 2 Music Player is available on the Google Play Store with a 14-day free trial, after which users can choose to pay for the full version or continue using the free version with limited functionality.

Shuttle 2 Music Player Developer: SimpleCity
Price: Free
3.8
Download

9 Poweramp

Finally, there's no way we can make a music player app roundup without giving Poweramp a shout-out. Poweramp is, well, kind of an ugly duckling compared to the rest of the apps in this list. But looks are not the point of it. This app's whole point is purely function over form, and the function more than makes up for the lack of form.

It supports a bunch of formats, it supports hi-res audio whenever the device supports it, it has internal 64-bit processing, and that's just to mention a handful of the features Poweramp comes with. It's really that great. If you can look past the app's utilitarian UI and pay a one-time license for the full version, you got yourself one of the best music player apps available on Android.


The choice of which music player to download probably depends on what devices you use daily, although you can't go wrong with any of the above options. People who use Apple devices alongside their Android phones might prefer Apple Music, but people deep in the Android and Windows ecosystems will probably pick Spotify. There are also the niche options, like Tidal and iHeartRadio, which each provide their own compelling feature sets.

Chances are, you'll find a great way to listen to music on your Android device with an app on this list, whether you're looking for a free app or a paid subscription. Further, you can check out some of our recommendations for the Best TWS as well as the hardware you need to get started with Lossless Audio.