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Portable Music Player Software
Plug and play your music on practically any computer using a portable app
By Mark Harris Mark Harris Writer University of Wolverhampton Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 21, 2020 Tweet Share Email StefaNikolic / Getty Images Tweet Share Email Apps Best Apps Payment Services Normally, in order to play media files (music, videos, etc.) on a computer from an external device such as a hard drive, flash drive, or a memory card, you need to make sure that an appropriate software media player is already installed on the machine you are using. However, if you don't want to be tied down to a particular computer just because it has the right software on it, then a more flexible way is to use a portable version of your favorite media playing software. This is commonly referred to as a portable app and can be stored on virtually any hardware device (including an iPod, MP3 player, PMP, etc.) that can be connected to a computer (usually via USB or Bluetooth). Advantages
Portable apps (short for applications) are software distributions that don't need to be installed on a computer to run. They are therefore perfect to carry around with your media library without you having to install the right software on every computer you use. Using this type of software isn't just for external hardware devices either. You can burn MP3 CDs for example with a portable jukebox app on them so you can play your music on any computer with a CD-ROM drive. Another advantage of using a portable media player app is that everything remains on your portable device so you don't have to be concerned with copying files over to a computer's fixed hard drive or worry about leaving any traces of your activities. If you like the idea of having a portable media player app on your USB hard drive, flash pen, or MP3 player, so you can play your music on virtually any computer, then check out the list below. This list (in no particular order) covers some of the most popular software media players that come in portable form and support a wide range of different audio/video formats. 01 of 04 VLC Media Player Portable
VLC Media What We Like Widely popular and free. Supports a wide variety of formats. Easy-to-use interface and library of plugins. What We Don't Like The user interface, in some modes, is a bit dated. App sometimes crashes for videos with malformed headers. VLC player portable (Windows download ¦ Mac Download) is a very popular software media player that is light on resources, but rich on features. It is available on several operating system platforms and can even be used as a streaming media server on your home network. As well as supporting a wide spectrum of audio formats, VLC player is also an excellent choice if you want to carry around videos and movies on your portable storage device. 02 of 04 Winamp Portable
Nullsoft What We Like Solid music-playing capabilities. Venerable brand identity. What We Don't Like A shell of its former early-2000s glory. Unclear development and future-feature roadmap. Winamp is a popular iTunes and Windows Media Player alternative that is a very capable audio player. It supports many formats and can be installed to any external storage device as a portable app. The lite version of Winamp doesn't come with all the bells and whistles that the full installation does (like video playback), but it's an excellent performer for playing digital music. 03 of 04 Spider Player Portable
What We Like Highly rated by users. Recording capability sets it apart. Freeware. What We Don't Like Hasn't been updated since 2011. Antiquated, busy interface. If you are looking for a solid audio player that covers a lot of different audio formats, then Spider Player is worth a look. With its built-in support for CD ripping / burning, MP3 tag editing, DSP effects, etc., this program could be the portable app you choose to carry around. Spider Player also has the ability to record music streamed from SHOUTcast and ICEcast Internet radio servers — not all jukebox software can boast this. 04 of 04 FooBar2000 Portable
What We Like Lightweight footprint great for older computers. Despite its name, it's still actively developed. What We Don't Like Installed so infrequently that Microsoft Edge might suppress it as malware. Despite a last update in November 2018, it looks "Designed for Windows Vista" and even appears to mimic the design choices of Windows Media Player from that era. Foobar2000 has two modes of installation. You can either install the full version on your computer or choose the portable mode which copies the program to your attached external device. Foobar2000 is another iTunes alternative media player that is light-weight, but powerful. It supports a wide variety of audio formats and can be used to even sync music to an iPod. In fact, the iPod Manager plugin gives you the facility to convert non-iPod audio formats before syncing to your Apple device. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire The 21 Best Free Data Recovery Software Tools (Oct. 2022) AC3 File (What It Is & How to Open One) Use Your Spare USB Drive as an MP3 Player 6 Best Free Audio Converter Software Programs WMA File (What It Is and How to Open One) Best Free iTunes Alternatives for Syncing Music How to Rip Music From CDs Using Windows Media Player 11 11 Best Free System Information Tools (October 2022) 14 Best Free Hard Drive Testing Tools (October 2022) 26 Best Free Video Converter Tools M4V File (What It Is and How to Open One) OGG File (What It Is and How to Open One) 12 Best Free Defrag Software Tools (October 2022) 12 Best Free Spyware Removal Tools (October 2022) 8 Best Free Disk Space Analyzer Tools Recuva v1.53.2083 Review (A Free File Recovery Tool) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies