In 2025, playing your own music on an iPhone is surprisingly hard, unless you pay Apple or navigate a maze of limitations. So I built my own player from scratch, with full text search, iCloud support, and a local-first experience. GitHub link Why I Built My Own Audio Player Like many people, I’ve picked up too many subscriptions, some through Apple (iCloud, Apple Music), others got lost in random platforms (like Netflix, which I forgot I was still paying for). I actually used Apple Music regularly (and previously Spotify), but the streaming turned out to be more convenience than necessity. With a curated local library, I didn’t lose much, just the lock-in.
        • Obelix@feddit.orgEnglish
          2·
          16 hours ago

          Sadly, you have to. Plex wants a subscription if you want to stream outside of your home network now

          • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auEnglish
            1·
            15 hours ago

            I could be wrong, but I don’t believe that’s correct. Their page that has the latest updates around the Plex pass and remote pass still has music streaming under the free tier:

            There’s no specific mention of remote music streaming being paywalled.

            Could be wrong though, but I can’t test since I have a pass.

            • Obelix@feddit.orgEnglish
              2·
              15 hours ago

              The initial announcement is talking about “media” and I assumed that this did include music. That was my motivation to install Jellyfin and that works so great for me that I didn’t try to use Plexamp remotely

        • WolfLink@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          16 hours ago

          Ah neat, it used to require PlexPass to use the app at all. Now it only requires PlexPass for most of the app, including some pretty basic features like downloads.

          Still, it is nice that there’s some level of “free trial” for it.

          To be clear I love PlexAmp and use it as my main audio player, but I’ve paid for a plex lifetime pass.

          • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.auEnglish
            1·
            16 hours ago

            The point of a streaming music service is to stream, not download.

            It’s not a “free trial”. It’s free with paid features.

            I also have a lifetime Plex Pass and don’t really use any of the paid features of Plexamp despite using Plexamp a lot.

            Nothing there is necessary or really even remotely a “must have”

            • WolfLink@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              16 hours ago

              I use a good chunk of the paid PlexAmp features, although I agree they are mostly just extras.

              However, Downloads is a must-have IMO. I often listen to music while traveling, e.g. on a plane or train or on a road trip, and cell service is unreliable in those situations.

              Also just getting bombarded by ads to upgrade would be enough for me to consider the product a “free trial”, although tbf I don’t know how bad PlexAmp is about that.