Most Android phones come pre-installed with Google Play Music. The phones running customized Android skins also offer their music players. While both of them do a superb job, they are mostly bloated.
I personally don’t like Google Play Music, and I rarely listen to music. So downloading a heavy, feature-rich music player app doesn’t make sense. A simple, lightweight music player app that plays offline songs with basic features is enough for me. Such apps can also come handy for anyone with a large offline collection who doesn’t want to deal with extra features.
So, if you are also looking for small-sized music player apps to play local music files on an Android phone, we have handpicked 7 of them for you. Let’s check the free alternatives to Google Play Music that weigh less than 3MB and have no ads.
1. AOSP Music+
From the developer Ryan M comes AOSP Music+ app. No fancy features. Nothing. The app is a simple music player that shows tabs such as Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists. You can use them to view your music files in an organized manner.
As you must have noticed, the app supports playlists. You can add a song or a full album to the playlists. And it also supports search. When it comes to the player screen, the app offers you features like shuffle and repeat.
Size: 1-2MB
Pros:
- Can be controlled from the notification panel
- Supports albums and artists
Cons :
- No equalizer
Download AOSP Music+
2. Clean Music Player
One of the lightest music apps is the Clean Music Player developed by Michael Howell. You may be taken aback when you launch the app for the first time. That’s because it shows all the folders on your device irrespective of whether they have a music file or not. You need to find the folders having your music files yourself.
The Clean Music Player doesn’t support artists and albums. However, it does support shuffle, repeat, and even offers an equalizer. Further, the app includes search too. Not only that, I was surprised to see that the tiny app also remembers the position of the last played song.
By default, some features aren’t enabled. You need to activate them from settings. The biggest con of the app is that the developer no longer maintains it.
Size: 80-180KB
Pros:
- Extremely lightweight
- Remembers the last position
- Equalizer
Cons :
- No longer maintained
- Doesn’t support artists categorization
Download Clean Music Player
3. mMusic Mini Audio Player
If you are not a fan of gestures on Android , skip this app. However, if you are okay with gestures, do give mMusic player a shot. The app comes with three screens – folders, now playing, and playlists. To move between them, you have to swipe the screen.
Swiping from the extreme left edge also unfolds the navigation bar that houses equalizer and settings. Fortunately, the app works from the notification panel and lets you customize the notification area buttons, sort by, and screen orientation.
Size: 300-500KB
Pros:
- Equalizer
- Customization available
Cons
- No artists and albums
Download mMusic Mini Audio Player
4. Vanilla Music
Adrian Ulrich makes another simple, lightweight music app. Known as Vanilla Music, the app lists songs in several ways such as artists, albums, tracks, genres, and playlists. You even get a file manager to add your files.
The Now playing screen is a separate one and offers the ability to add files to favorites. Unlike other apps, here you get many options inside settings. You can customize them according to your preference. And, yes, the app can be controlled from the notification panel.
Size: 1-3MB
Pros:
- Very customizable
- Many organization options
Download Vanilla Music
5. Simple Music Player
From the house of Simple Mobile Tools, famous for Simple Gallery app comes this music player. Similar to their other apps, the music player app is also a simple yet powerful one. On the home screen of the app, you will find all the audio files available on your phone. You can sort them according to the title, artist, duration, etc. Everything is accessible from a single screen.
Size: 2-3MB
Pros:
- Extremely simple app
- App theme colors can be changed
Cons:
- No proper categorization
Download Simple Music Player
6. Foldplay: Folder Music Player
As the name suggests, the focus is on folders. There is no artists, albums, and similar categorization. You have to play music from folders. And, yes, the app supports playlists. You can even bookmark folders.
On the now playing screen, you get two ways to forward or reverse a song — using slider and buttons. Further, other than remember position, the app lets you set the sleep timer, shake to skip a song, customize theme color, and much more.
Size: 2-3MB
Pros:
- Bookmark folders
- Remember position
Cons :
- Difficult to locate new files
Foldplay: Folder Music Player
7. Nocturne Music Player
This app from TechNarcs has one of the best designs among the apps listed here. The home screen lists the various tracks available on your phone, followed by showing them under Albums, Artists, Genres, and more. And if you want, you can use the search to find a file.
The app offers visualizing bars on the now playing screen, which adds a lively touch to it. You can even customize them in settings. Further, you can change the background of the app. When it comes to musical features, you can set a sleep timer and modify equalizer.
Size : 1-3MB
Pros:
- Good design
- Audio visualization
Cons:
- Many permissions
- Last updated in 2017
Download Nocturne Music Player
Small is Big
Next up: Are notifications bothering you when you are listening to music? Here’s how to disable them.
