There’s no question that iTunes dealt some heavy blows to WinAmp over the years. But with a new Android app that aims to manage music between the smartphone and a computer, perhaps it’s time for WinAmp to make a comeback.
WinAmp for Android is out of beta, TechCrunch reports. In addition to music playback and download management, the MP3 player now supports wireless syncing to the desktop and Shoutcast radio stations.
In fairness, WinAmp hasn’t been living in total obscurity. It currently has 60 million users, says TechCrunch, but only 5 percent of them are in the United States. This was once the most popular program for listening to MP3s.
I actually kind of like WinAmp. Sure, it always tries to install some kind of bloatware on your computer (or at least it used to), but once you get past all that, it’s a wonderfully customizable MP3 player thanks to plug-ins, visualizations and easy access to the equalizer.
But as an iPhone and iPad user, iTunes is tough to escape. Syncing music to an iPod was once possible using a WinAmp plug-in, but that whole process is pointless when you’ve also got apps and other data to manage.
Android, however, doesn’t have an official tool for syncing media between the phone and PC. In lieu of an all-encompassing iTunes equivalent on Android, there’s definitely room for WinAmp to grow, and given that Android is white hot, this could be WinAmp’s best shot at restoring its former glory.
By Jared Newman | Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 10:55 am