Tap That App: NexMusic Brings Android Lollipop Looks and Functionality to Everyone
While most Android users will have to wait a long time to get the new Android 5.0 Lollipop system, there are already some apps available -- redesigned based on Google's new "Material Design" user interface guidelines. Most notably, so far, is a little-known music player that reappeared on the Google Play store last week with a new beautiful minimalist Android L design, called NexMusic.
Google's release of the brand new, redesigned Android 5.0 Lollipop is very exciting but only for some Android users: Only those who were planning on buying a new Nexus 6 or Nexus 9 device, bought a Nexus or Motorola device in the recent past or own a rare Google Play Edition smartphone will be getting Android 5.0 anytime soon.
But you can still get a taste of Material Design on your old Android phone. Firstly, Google's suite of productivity and entertainment apps feature design elements you'll find in Android 5.0.
And there's a big and growing list (here) of apps using Google's Material Design philosophy, but most (so far) are simpler apps like calculators, calendars, currency converters and the like.
Outstanding in that list of minor Android 5.0-looking apps is NexMusic. It's a little-known free music player from a Dutch developer called "Loco main" that reappeared on the Google Play Store last week -- after being taken off for some time due to copyright problems. And it represents one of the first full-featured apps that takes advantage of Material Design, not only as an aesthetic perk but for simple and fluid functionality as well.
Upon opening NexMusic, you'll find all of your music and playlists preloaded with album and artist art that automatically downloads as you browse through by playlist, artist, album, song, genre or "recents."
At first blush, NexMusic looks a lot like Google's Play Music app, with boxy album art set apart in rows of what Google has taken to calling "cards."
(Photo : Google Play: NexMusic)
But NexMusic is much more customizable than Google's player, and you'll find the "detailed" or "simple" view just as nice and Material Design-like as the Play Music-imitating default screen.
I found myself liking the simple view, as it mimics Google's redesigned email app and is quick to scroll through.
Following Material Design's functionality principles, the cards in each menu and sub menu (be it playlist, artist, album or song) all have a three-dot quick menu that accesses options like play next, add to queue, add to playlist and other useful actions.
This means that common actions for albums, artists and individual songs all operate the same way (simplicity!).
But if you just want to dispense with queue-building altogether and shuffle play right away, the Material Designed "floating button" is available in any menu for quick access.
(Photo : Google Play: NexMusic)
NexMusic also features audio scrobbling, favoriting, lyrics display, pinning albums to your homescreen, an equalizer and customization up the wazoo -- including a bevy of downloadable themes and skins, a la WinAmp.
But the Material Design theme is what we were after, and NexMusic is a great example of taking advantage of Google's new Android 5.0 UI philosophy to make a clean, minimalist, beautifully functional music player -- which is available to all Android users running 4.1 and up.
Hopefully, there will be more Material Designed apps as well thought-out as this one on the way, since most Android users will have to wait for Samsung, LG or HTC to tinker with their own versions of Android 5.0 before they can get Material Design elements across their entire smartphone. Here's one idea for developers: something like the new Google Dialer?