Looking for a music app for an iPhone

[statsman]

I am looking for suggestions of a music app for my iPhone 13. I do not use iTunes, nor do I intend to. I do not use a cloud service for my music, nor do I intend to. We own well over 1,000 music CDs. I have enough music to not need a service to download more, at least at this time. I have 2,000+ FLAC files I created from some of these CDs, and I can convert any of them to whatever format I need (MP3, AAC, etc.).

I just need an app that will let me load my music onto my iPhone and store it there. The interface should be just as a player, whether through the iPhone's speakers or through Bluetooth (car audio, headphones, earbuds, etc.). This was easy on my previous Samsung smartphone. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of Android apps that allowed this.

But I don't see this for iOS. Nearly all want you to tie into an iCloud account or register for some other Internet/cloud account. They all have search features to locate music online to download, and it seems like most of these apps have ads. I've watched enough YT videos to the point of screaming. It can't be this hard.

Anyone know of an app that would help me out here?

 

[Midpack]

You didn’t say where your files are PC, Mac or other. If on a PC, sounds like you only need the second step of this

https://www.copytrans.net/support/how-to-transfer-cd-music-to-iphone-without-itunes/.

https://mobi.easeus.com/iphone-data-transfer/how-to-transfer-a-cd-to-iphone.html

Just do a search for others. I haven’t used either of the above because…

…we still have 425 CD’s boxed up for years (just to be legal as we don’t have a CD player anymore), all ripped using iTunes years ago, and we play them (stored) on our iPhones/iPads/Macs using Apple Music now (iTunes is an after thought now). Any newer music we just purchase from Apple, but we don’t add to our collection often. No music in the cloud…

 

[eytonxav]

Is this something that might work you:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flacbox-hi-res-music-player/id1097564256

Personally, I need to learn more about streaming hi-res audio thru my AVR, but might need a service like Apple Music.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Maybe see what VLC can do for you. While primarily now a video media player, it seems to support several audio formats as well. It's been my go to 3rd party media player for years on PCs and Macs. But I've never used the iOS version. But it seems to have an iOS app.

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ios.html

 

[bloom2708]

You will likely have to have the largest iPhone storage size (expensive) to keep all your music files. Your post reads like 2002.

I have a drive with over 100GB of music files. It is about as useful as my VCR and my 8 track player.

Why not just use iTunes to add your music? It is built in. You do not need to buy or listen to a song from Apple Music.

 

[Midpack]

You will likely have to have the largest iPhone storage size (expensive) to keep all your music files. Your post reads like 2002.

Depends on format? We have 2600+ songs (mostly MP3@256 and AAC) and a handful of music videos, they use 14.65G. It wasn’t clear to me what format the OP wanted to put on her/his iPhone. I realize there are formats that use MUCH more space.

 

[statsman]

Depends on format? We have 2600+ songs (mostly MP3@256 and AAC) and a handful of music videos, they use 14.65G. It wasn’t clear to me what format the OP wanted to put on her/his iPhone. I realize there are formats that use MUCH more space.

The primary use would be for car audio via Bluetooth. Pretty much anything beyond what you've stated would be wasted via Bluetooth. Since I am mostly Windows (some Linux and, of course, the iPhone 13), it would probably be MP3 VBR-0, which usually averages around 256 kbps. Our library of music files we would use in the vehicle would be smaller than what you have.

I can't use Apple CarPlay because our 2015 Buick Enclave's audio system doesn't support it (no Android Auto either). There is a USB port, and I would much prefer using it. But the volume level on the USB sources is about "12" lower on the dial than the FM/XM radio stations. The volume difference is damaging to both the vehicle's speakers and our ears if not caught.

This may be a moot point because the Bluetooth input on this Enclave appears to have a similar issue. Maybe not quite as bad as the volume level on Bluetooth can be increased a touch, but probably to the expense of audio quality. The real solution is replacing the vehicle's head unit with an aftermarket unit, but I would be concerned about maintaining the rear camera properly along with whatever non-audio information is currently passed to that unit.

Regardless, I would still want to have a music app that wasn't tied to iTunes, an Internet music streaming service, or the cloud. I have way more iPhone space than I need, so I'm quite fine muddling around in 2002.

 

[Midpack]

In addition to my post #2. I haven't tried any since I use Apple Music, but here are several iOS alternative music players. Good luck.

https://playbutton.co/best-flac-audio-players-for-iphone/

 

[mpeirce]

Regardless, I would still want to have a music app that wasn't tied to iTunes, an Internet music streaming service, or the cloud. I have way more iPhone space than I need, so I'm quite fine muddling around in 2002.

Assuming your iPhone 13 is running the latest iOS, iTunes isn't really a thing anymore.

Apple Music (and Apple Podcasts and Apple Books for audio books) replaced it years ago.It's certainly what I use now - it's nice to have virtually every song published at my fingertips.

While almost all people use Apple Music or Spotify to listen to music on iOS, there are a ton of music players in the iOS App Store. Most, unsurprisingly, are focused on music streaming since that what most people use these days, but there are a bunch of players that work with music files.

At random I tried Melodista. I was able to import a few .mp3 files I put in the file system ("Files"). They imported quickly and I was able to play them and setup playlists with them. It's a free app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/melodista-music-offline-player/id1293175325

I'd invite you to browse through the App Store and try other similar apps. There is certainly lots of junk (as in all app stores), but many little gems too.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Why not just use iTunes to add your music? It is built in. You do not need to buy or listen to a song from Apple Music.

Android user here--does Apple Music work when on an airplane?

Because stored music on your device will work.

 

[bloom2708]

Android user here--does Apple Music work when on an airplane?

Because stored music on your device will work.

I can download any playlist or album or song to my phone with my Apple Music subscription. That enables it to be played offline with no Wi-Fi or Cell signal.

You can't copy the files off or burn a CD. Not sure anyone burns CDs anymore.

I remember buying a playlist of 15 songs for 99 cents and then burning it to a CD. $15 for that and now for $7.99 per month you can listen to virtually every song.

 

[Music Lover]

I use Musicolet, it's free. However, I did pay for the "full" version ($5) which comes with volume leveling feature.

Since I have a few thousand songs from several different sources, the ability to have every song the same volume was a requirement for me.