Is Your Old Phone Gathering Dust? Make It Your Dedicated Music Hub
The rise of the smartphone may have killed the mainstream MP3 player, but there are plenty of arguments in favor of this “dumb” music device. Relying on your primary phone for audio means every song is interrupted by pings, emails, or low battery warnings. It’s hard to get lost in an album when your device is constantly demanding your attention or dies before you’ve even finished your journey.
MP3 players continued to exist alongside smartphones for a while and even added support for additional music file formats like WAV, AAC, WMA, and FLAC. But as music streaming replaced the traditional practice of purchasing digital albums and titles, it didn’t take long for having a separate music player to seem redundant. iPod sales peaked in 2008 (the same year Apple launched the iPhone App Store), and the last iPod was discontinued in 2022.
Still, just because you can keep all your music on your phone doesn’t mean it’s always the best idea. Let’s say you’re going to the gym or going out for a run and you don’t want to be tempted to check your messages. A separate portable music player gives you all your songs without the annoying notifications.
Or let’s say you’re in a place with weak signal: you’re taking the subway or walking through the woods and you want to listen to a podcast. You can still access any episode you have downloaded to your phone. But all these files take up valuable storage space, which is probably already used by your apps, photos and videos.
One solution is a throwback to the 2000s: keep all your music and podcasts on a separate device.
Before you rush out to buy a used iPod or Zune, you might want to rummage through that box in the back of your closet. Chances are you already own a device that can be used as a dedicated MP3 player.
Your old smartphone is perfect for this task; It doesn’t have the classic iPod click wheel, but it can still run Spotify or hold whatever music files you have.
What are the requirements for turning an old phone into an MP3 player?
Your old phone probably no longer has a data plan. No problem: as long as it’s still charged and powered, you can listen to any track you have saved in your digital music library.
If you can connect your device to Wi-Fi, you can use it to stream songs or podcasts. And if you download your files while your device is connected to your home Internet, you can take them with you wherever you go.
To save your songs and podcasts, you will need to use the latest version of your favorite music streaming app. Even if your old phone can’t be upgraded to the latest system software, there’s a good chance it can still run Spotify, YouTube Music, or similar apps.
Spotify is still accessible on phones released eight years ago. You can download the app on any iPhone running iOS 16.1 (supported by devices as old as the iPhone 8 or iPhone X) or higher. You have even more options if you’re using an Android phone: Spotify is supported on Android OS 7.0 (Nougat), released in 2016.
YouTube Music has similar requirements: you can download the app on iPhones running iOS 16 or higher, and on Android phones running Android OS 8.0 or higher.
SoundCloud can be downloaded on iPhones running iOS 16.4 or higher, and on Android phones running Android OS 8.0 or higher.
Apple Music has the least restrictions. The app can be downloaded on iPhones running iOS 10.0 or higher and on Android phones running Android OS 5.0 or higher.
How to put your music on your old smartphone
Tracks uploaded to Spotify are marked with a green arrow icon.
If you use a streaming app like Spotify or SoundCloud, you can download songs, playlists, and albums for offline listening. However, you will need to have a premium subscription to the service. (Spotify allows free users to download podcasts.)
As for the amount of music, audiobooks, and podcasts you can download, your main limitation will be the amount of storage on your device.
Spotify lets you download up to 10,000 songs on up to five separate devices. You can keep your downloads indefinitely, as long as you maintain your Spotify Premium subscription and access the app at least once every 30 days.
You can’t download individual songs separately on Spotify, but you can download albums or custom playlists. Tap the arrow icon to save the album or playlist to your library. Once downloaded, they will be marked with a green arrow icon.
YouTube Music will allow Premium users to download unlimited songs on up to 10 devices. To save a track for offline listening, tap the three-dot icon and tap Download. You will see a checkmark icon appear next to each recorded track.
SoundCloud Go and Go Plus users can also download unlimited tracks for offline listening. Tap the arrow icon next to one of your favorite songs and albums.
Apple Music subscribers can download up to 100,000 songs. Go to your library, tap the three-dot icon next to the tracks you want to save offline, then tap Download.
If you purchased songs or albums digitally, you can access those files from your phone’s music player app. And if you have CDs or other physical media, you might consider backing up those tracks to your device using an external disk drive.
Once your old phone is set up with your favorite tunes, all you have to do is find a pair of wired headphones and party like it’s 2005.
Don’t have an old phone? Here are some great portable MP3 players
If you don’t have an old smartphone or don’t feel like installing one, you can always buy a brand new MP3 player. These modern devices are compact and easy to use. They’re relatively affordable, with some options under $100. And they include a headphone jack – arguably one of the most important components of a dedicated music player.
