A tech writer dropped Spotify and YouTube Music for Poweramp, a 16-year-old Android player that runs on music files you own, with no subscription needed.
A writer at Android Police says he stopped using Spotify and YouTube Music and went back to Poweramp, a music player for Android that has existed for 16 years. His reason was simple. He was paying monthly fees for features he barely used and felt he had little control over what he listened to.
He lists three complaints. The first was the recurring fee. The second was constant recommendations for artists and playlists he did not care about. The third was offline listening. Both services let paying users download songs, but those downloads stay locked inside the app. He could not move the files, copy them to another device or play them in a different player.
He also realized he kept returning to the same collection of songs. He did not need millions of tracks.
Poweramp plays music files stored on the phone, including MP3, FLAC and WAV. He copied his existing collection to a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the app scanned the folders and built a library. He can browse by album, artist, genre, playlist or folder. The folder view keeps his own filing system instead of replacing it.
He singles out the equalizer, a set of controls that shape how music sounds. Poweramp offers graphic and parametric versions, bass and treble controls and custom presets. He made separate profiles for his wireless earbuds and his car speakers, and says the difference was noticeable.
It also works with Android Auto, the system that puts phone apps on a car's screen. He can browse offline music and control playback from the dashboard. He adds that Gemini, Google's voice assistant, can play a specific song from his Poweramp collection while he drives.
The writer is clear that this is not for everyone. People who depend on music discovery or a huge streaming catalog will likely miss what Spotify and YouTube Music offer. His case is for people who already own a personal music collection and value control over convenience.
The article does not say what Poweramp costs or how its pricing works, so that is worth checking before switching. It also reflects one writer's experience on one phone.
If you already own a music collection, a local player like Poweramp may replace a streaming fee, but it will not replace discovery.
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