iPhone vs. Android, part 3: Music

Continuing my overanalysis of what phone will replace my Sprint Blackberry when the contract expires this August.... The choices I am considering are an iPhone 4 or an HTC Evo. 


I really hadn't got much enjoyment from music over the last several years, until I got an iPod.  Before the iPod I was primarily an FM radio music listener.  I would listen to CDs in the car, but the six CDs in the changer wouldn't be changed for months at a time.   Several years ago Deborah got me an iPod mini for my birthday which I enjoyed for a while but its poor battery durability combined with the permanent crash of the PC that I had used to manage it caused it to eventually be relegated to a drawer in the bedside table. 


This year Deborah got me an iTouch for my birthday and it's got me enjoying music again.  I spent a few days ripping my CD collection into iTunes.   Many were CDs that I'd had for 10 or 20 years and hadn't listened to in years.  But that was just the start, as I started using iTunes to fill in gaps in my collection.  


Music Player


That the music player on an iPhone is well implemented and well integrated goes without saying.  Is the music experience on Android as good?   The consensus of reviews is no.  The built-in Android music player is usually rated somewhere between worthless and barely adequate.  However there are other music players available, for example DoubleTwist is apparently well regarded and seems to be the player of choice on Android. 


One thing that's nice about iTunes is that the same PC application that manages the entire iPhone also manages the music.  It looks like with DoubleTwist a second application will be required on the PC alongside the application that manages the phone.  This is kind of awkward and annoying, but really how bad is it?  I don't really use desktop iTunes for much more than ripping CDs (and I've pretty much ripped my whole collection already) and backing up/upgrading the iTouch. 


Compatibility will also be important.  I have over 600 songs on my iTouch along with album art.  They would need to be imported seamlessly into a new app.  It appears from reviews  and experiences of friends who have Android phones that this is the case with DoubleTwist, but I wouldn't know until trying it.


I also like podcasts. I listen to a lot of National Public Radio and often hear only parts of longer programs like This American Life. I usually end up going to get the podcast to hear the parts I missed. I also often do the same with public radio shows Marketplace and Fresh Air.   All these programs have podcasts easily accessible in iTunes.  Reviews of DoubleTwist say that it supports podcasts, however looking at the podcasts I like they are all in iTunes but for other sources they are all over.  But it appears that DoubleTwist has a site where you can search for an organize podcasts so that may well covered. 


SoundHound

Lately I've been a big user of Soundhound.  First I had to buy a cheap microphone for the iTouch since it doesn't have a built-in mike.   Now when I hear a song I like and want to get on my iTouch, I capture it with Soundhound and then use Soundhound's interface into iTunes to buy that tune. I usually end up buying a few other tunes from the same album or artist as well. This has helped me build a very enjoyable and varied (for me) music collection. 


So one of the first things I looked into was to see if SoundHound is available on Android.  It is, which is good.   However I did some research and found there are a few limitations.  Obviously the link to iTunes isn't there, instead it links to Amazon.com's music store.  I haven't used that store but reviews indicate it's more awkward to use than iTunes and has less selection. 

Soundhound on the iPhone also integrates with the iPod music player built into the iPhone.  Reviews indicate it does not do this on Android.  The main value of this integration to me is shown in the Soundhound screen capture to the right.  After it identifies a song, it tells me with a small iPod icon on the lower right corner of the album art if I already have the song.  It does this even if I have it from a ripped CD, not purchased from iTunes.  This has saved me from making a redundant purchase many times. 


Since the Android version doesn't integrate with the music player I assume this feature is missing, so I would have to leave Soundhound and check my music library before making a purchase.   Or risk spending an unnecessary 99 cents!


However I shouldn't overstate the value of this feature.  It does every once in a while miss a song I own,  for example if one of the songs is remastered, or I captured a live version but have the studio version in my collection.    


Also the Soundhound integration with iTunes isn't perfect.  It often indicates a song is not available for purchase, but when I go to iTunes and search for the song manually, it actually is.   And once inside iTunes and exploring music similar to what Soundhound sent me there for, there is obviously no safety against purchasing something I already have in my collection.  


So while Soundhound is undoubtably nicer on the iPhone than on Android, this probably would not be a major deciding factor for me. 


Conclusion


After looking into this, I realize the music experience gap between Android and iOS isn't as big as I thought it was, and it's getting smaller.  Before I started looking into it I assumed my large music collection and use of iTunes would lock me into an iPhone.  Now I'm not so sure.