DoubleTwist Adds a Music Store

By  |  Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 10:10 am

DoubleTwist LogoHere’s what DoubleTwist was talking about in its Steve-Jobs-is-an-evil-overlord ad from last week: The company has released a new edition of the Mac version of its media-management software with Amazon’s MP3 Downloads store built in. That makes it a more formidable alternative to iTunes–and DoubleTwist’s key attraction remains the fact that it supports hundreds of phones, media players, and other devices rather than just iPods and iPhones:

DoubleTwist Devices

As with the rest of DoubleTwist, the store feels like a minimalist, defeatured iTunes. There’s no information about the artists or albums, no listener reviews, and no links to concert information. DoubleTwist also doesn’t provide access to Amazon’s video download store (it does, however, let you manage and convert unprotected videos you already have, as well as photos).

Basically, all you get is a search box and the ability to listen to samples and purchase tracks and albums:

Jelly Roll

In some ways, DoubleTwist’s extreme simplicity is a pleasant break from the bursting-at-the-seams behemoth that iTunes has turned into. Other than the expansive gadget support, the best thing about it is its pure speed: You can be in and out of the music store with a purchase far faster than in Amazon’s browser-based interface or in iTunes’ Music Store. (Every time I click the iTunes Store link in iTunes, I gird myself to mentally drum my fingers while it loads.)

All in all,the new DoubleTwist doesn’t justify an ad which seems to suggest its significance is worthy of comparison to the original Macintosh, or that users of iTunes (which DoubleTwist largely mimics) are zombies. But it’s well worth checking out, especially if you’ve got a Mac and a device that comes with poor vendor support for OS X, or none at all. (DoubleTwist says that the Amazon store will come soon to its Windows version.)

 
5 Comments


Read more: , ,

3 Comments For This Post

  1. DaveZatz Says:

    You could also just purchase MP3s directly from Amazon and into iTunes for syncing to your iPods/iPhones.

  2. OHaleck Says:

    Too late for me. Got rid of my iCrap long time ago. I could live with it freezing from time. I could live with its short battery time and the lack of features other phones had had for very long. However, I just couldn’t stand iTunes…

  3. Vince Says:

    iTunes is so customizable, with very few braincells you can whittle it down to your needs / liking.

    -Vince

2 Trackbacks For This Post

  1. Is it Too Early to Start Designing the Verizon Droid II? | Technologizer Says:

    […] come with a utility to sync the phone with iTunes. Maybe Verizon can just put a custom version of DoubleTwist on the […]

  2. Palm’s Pre, Plussed: The Technologizer Review Says:

    […] seems to be over, the OS could also use a media-syncing app for Windows and OS X. (I used the free DoubleTwist to transfer music, video, and podcasts; it worked just […]