Music has always been a great way to relax, de-stress, and lift our mood. Modern innovation has made this experience of listening to music much more convenient and trouble-free through our smartphones. However, the digitalisation of music has given us two ways of how we listen to our songs — downloading and streaming.

Streaming gives us access to a vast database of tracks. However, in a country like ours, where one can’t always find a stable internet connection everywhere, streaming music can get a bit frustrating. That’s when most of us tend to favour downloaded music. Super convenient, can be played anywhere, and if you want specific songs, download them whenever you’ve got an internet connection, and you’re good to go.

If you often travel, either with friends, family or solo, you know that music is one thing that gets the party started and alive. To make sure that spotty internet connection doesn’t take away from the fun, here are the top picks of offline music apps to keep the party going.

AIMP

Developer: Artem Izmaylov | Size: 6.7MB | Price: FreeIf you prefer a very minimalistic music player, then you should check out AIMP. It has no fancy themes or colours and features a rather simplistic interface made up of straight lines. However, it makes up for the lack of aesthetics by offering more functionality. 

It features a 29 band equaliser, and can also mix multi-channel files to stereo or mono or both. In addition to that, it can also play almost all types of audio files, including lossy and lossless audio formats. So if you’re unfazed by the bland exterior, AIMP makes for a pretty solid option.

You can download AIMP here.

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Retro Music Player

Developer: Hemanth Savarala | Size: 6.7MB | Price: Free with in-app purchases

Apart from being able to customise the music player, the app also allows you to customise the look of your lock screen. Besides, it also identifies the artists in your downloaded songs and then shows you their data. It is incredibly fun to use, and if you like tweaking around with your music player, then you should check this out.

You can download the Retro Music Player here.

Google Play Music

Developer: Google LLC | Size: varies with device | Price: Free with in-app purchasesIf you’ve been using an Android device for a while now, chances are you’ve already heard about this one. Launched back in 2011, the Google Play Music app comes preinstalled on most Android devices and allows you to stream music as well as play your downloaded music offline.

The offline music player is pretty simplistic and has all the required features. You can create playlists, shuffle music, and play songs on repeat. If you do add background art to your downloaded music, it does show up, although it’s sometimes glitchy — all in all, basic but sufficient for all your needs.

You can download Google Play Music here.

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Deezer

Developer: Deezer Mobile | Size: varies with device | Price: Free with in-app purchasesDeezer is another app that lets you stream songs and download them offline. It features a well laid out interface and has a database of more than 53 million songs. However, not all songs are available in some countries due to copyright issues, but it doesn’t harm to check for yourself. 

To be able to play music offline, you will need to get the paid plan of Deezer. This eliminates ads, offers you a higher quality of streaming while also allowing you to download songs offline. Deezer also displays the lyrics of the song currently playing, something many users will appreciate. 

You can download Deezer here.

Spotify 

Developer: Spotify Ltd. | Size: varies with device | Price: Free with in-app purchases Spotify is quite arguably the best music playing service out there and the most popular as well. Having made its much-awaited debut in India this year, it racked up 2 million users within just one month of its launch, and that’s proof of how good it is. However, to be able to access this app’s offline prowess, you have to opt for the Premium package, for which Spotify has many flexible plans laid out.

Spotify allows you to download up to 3,300 songs offline from its vast online database. You can choose from various offline download qualities, and it also has features such as crossfade between songs, an equaliser, private session listening and specially curated playlists, based on your listening habits.

You can download Spotify here.

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Impulse Music Player

Developer: Rahul Muthyam | Size: 10MB | Price: Free with in-app purchases The Impulse Music Player stands out among the plethora of music players available with a unique feature. The ability to use gestures to control your music while driving.

But that’s not all. It also features a five-band equaliser with bass boost and virtualiser, gapless playback, crossfade and much more making it a highly functional music player. If you like experimenting with your listening experience, then you should check this one out.

You can download the Impulse Music Player here.

SoundCloud

Developer: Soundcloud | Size: 19MB | Price: FreeSoundCloud is one of the largest music sharing and streaming platform in the world, and this is because apart from mainstream music it also has music from other non-commercial artists and indie artists. 

One of the most drawing features of SoundCloud is the ability to download any of its music available for free. Being promoted as a music sharing community, it also offers the option to upload your music to the platform. This app is excellent for non-conventional music lovers and budding artists.

You can download SoundCloud here.

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