Design used to follow function
Seriously why is sending music to an iPhone from a Linux computer not directly possible in fucking 2026? I need to use VLC but its artist grouping sucks, it cannot assign the same track to multiple artists.
I know the pain. I had to use iTunes in a Windows VM. Now I have a Google Pixel with Graphene OS. No problems now.
Navidrome > Tailscale > Symphonium (or any other player)
i had that exact samsung
Do they not make those arm strap things to hold your mp3 player/phone on your upper arm anymore? I can control the music through my headphones (with voice or actual buttons) so the thing actually playing music doesn’t matter all that much, personally.
They do, but they are INCREDIBLY uncomfortable. Running 10km with an unbalanced extra weight on one of my arms is torturous to me, to say nothing for the skin issues that I get from one of those bands holding the sweat against me the entire run.
Then, on top of that: slipping down the arm, tan lines, the bouncing of it, snagging it on things, how filthy and disgusting they quickly become, how they’re still damp the next day getting ready for a second run…
Get a belt.
Oh, the bouncing is even worse there. I don’t want a phone slamming into my hip repeatedly in the exact same place with every single step for over an hour. When you are running EVERYTHING that isn’t locked down immediately resonates with your run, and if the weight isn’t trivial it throws off your entire stride.
Am a runner. A tight fitting elastic belt holds everything close and tight and is comfy. Best solution ive found.
I’m sure a tight belt is a good solution for most people, but I’m going to run right into the same problem I have with armbands - tight elastic is going to trigger my eczema as soon as I start sweating.
And then even if a phone weighed absolutely nothing, I’ve still got to look at the screen to control it, which means either stopping motion or taking my attention off where I’m going, it’s still got to be set to the highest brightness to see anything on the display, and as soon as I’m sweating, the touchscreen becomes almost useless anyway.
Do what works for you, but at the end of the day, I will never be satisfied trying to square peg a general purpose smartphone into the round hole of a run. Devices that were made specifically for this purpose and did it brilliantly used to exist, and don’t now.
Your headphones can control the audio. Make a playlist and then its easy to skip.
Good luck 👍
Appreciate the perspective. I’ll keep it in mind, but I generally use extremely cheap headphones with no controls because they don’t last long for me anyway. Between the sweat and the rough use, they only last a few months, and the extra cost for controls is an ongoing loss for me.
If it comes down to it though, I’ll keep your suggestions in mind.
Counter point, the screen is easier navigation for choosing albums to play.
Might work better for you.
In my experience, once I’m dripping with sweat, a touchscreen is completely useless and non-functional.
Smartwatch?
Viable if I don’t mind being locked into an ecosystem, and spending 6-7 times as much for something that is more or less guaranteed to lose software support long before it breaks.
Still need the phone with you
Not at all. Most watches support running the music apps directly, downloading to the watch directly and connecting to your phone directly.
Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, all support these functions.
Not the case for the Garmin watch I have
Now I feel like a god for still having my 256MB Nomad (which still works) and a 160GB iPod (which also works) during in a drawer just hanging out. I should probably take up running.
I need a music player to replace AIMP. F-droid so far has been unable to provide me with a suitable drop-in replacement.
Musicolet is the best player I’ve come across. Unfortunately, not on F-Droid.
I go on my little daily walks for my little mental health with a Fiio Echo Nano, works a treat and supports modern file formats and all
I have given up on portable musical electronic until I can find something that isn’t defective, because my old source, best buy all became defective in 2021. All headphones I’ve ever gotten have been defective cheap garbage, made with miniscule little wires and cheap connections, as if it’s unforeseeable the cord would get yanked.
It’s not like these are all cheap products either, paying 30 dollars for headphones, I expect more than 50 cents worth of raw materials. I don’t even know why we have forced labour factories overseas if we are paying more than we did back when we made our own quality products.
Wall Street is a fucking joke.
To be fair, part of this is that it’s been like 30 years since we made our own electronics
Longer for almost all of it really, it was already fucked in the 90s, but quality just keeps getting worse.
Most of the good audio gear is coming from niche channels direct from China. Moondrop and Fiio/Snowsky are probably the two biggest brands that you’d potentially find in your nearest city if there’s an audio shop with a chi-fi bent.
Getting iems with removable cables also helps. I resoldered my Porta Pros with MMCX jacks so that I could replace the cable. It is shit that you can’t get anything worth having unless you arguably know too much about the category, but it is out there.
Beyerdynamic still produces some of their headphones in Germany. Granted, that doesn’t necessarily make them more reliable. But spealing from experience (have a gaming headset for 7 years now), they have excellent customer service and repair your headphones in Germany swiftly (and in my case free of charge as well as providing new softening)
Thanks for the tip, I will check that out.
Yes after buying some manufactured goods at Aldi, I have come to not think german engineering is better necessarily as well. At least they pay their workers a living wage and don’t overly pollute as much though.
Maan, I had Exactly that mp3 player, big and bulky and not especially better IMO. You slid out the whole part with the display to access the USB-A IIRC.
Same. I remember it generally held about 65 songs.
And you could use it as a thumb drive too! Just pop it in and slide those mp3s and text giles or whatever in there! 128MB Baby!
Apple: please install our shitty proprietary software everywhere first, and buy all mp3s (again).
You did! I had the same one too and I liked that I never had to try to find the right chord. People hadn’t really settled on micro USB for most things yet, so you still had 5 different flavors of usb cable floating around.
Yeah, you just removed the “darker part” with the display and plugged it in a classic usb A right?
You got it!
I won’t lie here. I miss my Zune. Of course, it would be unusable garbage by this point.
RIP Zune, the best product Microsoft ever made. Mine died several years ago (the lock switch broke and it was a hassle to turn on/off) but I didn’t have the heart to e-scrap it until recently.
Honestly it was amazing at the time. You could cast to a TV before that concept as it exists today. Automatic album art. Multiple format support. It was even a decent video player.
You have to look with a magnifying glass to find music players without touchscreen.
AliExpress: so no screen at all it is then
Running tights with tight-fitting pockets allow for comfortably carrying a phone when out on a run.
Half-tights for the summer season.
Yeah, I have a dozen pairs and they’re so much better than holding or wearing an arm band or waistband or anything. Yes, I miss just rocking my silkies, but I’m also 40, and the compression shorts provide comfort that definitely is appreciated.
I have a Pixel 9a and I’ve got room to spare in the sleeve. When I drive to races the other leg sleeve is for my car key. I’ve considered a weapon of some sort when I run through wooded areas, because I fear being attacked by bears or wildlife, which will never happen where I live, but it still goes through my mind when I’m back there.
I honestly miss nothing about non-tight fitting running clothing. Zero chafing issues since I switched.
I think picking up cycling helped me dispel the last little bit of caring about what kind of clothing I wear. I suspect as a man ten years younger I may have had reservations about running tights.
Not able to upload images anymore for some reason, but I love the Sandisk Clip Sport for this.
I do like this form factor, and have had some offbrand ones, but the color LCD with backlight drains the battery incredibly fast. The monochrome LCD on a Creative basically uses no energy and is perfectly visible out in the bright sun, even when fast forwarding through podcasts or audiobooks. Still, I’ll take the physical buttons over a touchscreen that can barely work once I start sweating. Also the physical buttons let me actually CONTROL it while I’m running while still paying attention to where I’m going - no need to take my eyes off anything.
I still have my screenless Creative nomad muvo, and really wanted the one with the screen back then
From the era just after, the Bluetooth audio player + FM radio Sony Ericsson MW600 was absolutely brilliant with a touch sensor along the side for volume and buttons for media controls, and built in selection menu for what to connect to
I didn’t notice that the model in the link has color LCD! I have an older model which is monochrome and looks slightly different though the size and shape are the same. It has lasted for years and I’m very pleased with the battery life. Don’t think it is manufactured anymore but there might be used ones sold online or off brand models as you said. Agree that buttons > touchscreen during physical activity.
Looks cute :3
The clip broke off mine the very first time I used it :(
I had the one later generation of iPod nano that was a little square touch screen with a clip. That thing was great, I could clip it onto my clothing anywhere and go for a run and it wouldn’t move. I miss the days of iPod nanos and classics.
I miss my 8th gen nano. I accidentally got in the pool with mine :(
sandisk made the best mp3 players
This seems to be the new version of the clip by sandisk. You would want light but also be able to download a podcast on it and this is always a lot of fiddling with a bare bones thing like that.
So annoying, this problem had been solved long ago and now I need an expensive watch or something to get the experience that an iPod had more than 10 years ago.
I’m getting a permission denied error lmao
“You do not have permission to access this document.”
Huh, maybe it’s region restricted? This sometimes happens to me depending on which VPN server I’m using. But searching for “Sandisk Clip Sport” will turn up the right image :)
I’ve been getting a “problem uploading image” error anytime I try to post one from my device which only started recently.
My old Garmin watch doubles as a mp3 player, is quite nice for running since I don’t have to carry anything
What’s your setup there? Can you think of a way to avoid using a smartphone app?
You don’t need the app, at least not for the mp3 player part, just plug it in to a pc and drag and drop into the location
This is however only the case for watches that support mp3s like my venu sq music
Well noted, thanks. Does this work without the Garmin express app?
In this youtube video he shows how to transfer mp3s with the Garmin Express (desktop) app to a venu sq (music)I know you can use the app for it, but I’ve never done so. No reason to download somthing extra if I do not need to
