I really like the effort of this product, but it isn't usable for me as it currently is. Here are the things which are non-starter for me that I've found:
- Loading music is SLOW. I'm seeing a variable response of ~2-10 seconds PER song. This is when I dump a single track to the interface. It doesn't seem to matter which screen I drop the track into. This happens with MP3s and M4As.
- Doesn't automatically go to the next track after a track is done.
- No search field? It accepts my typing, but doesn't show it anywhere in the GUI.
+ The animations and the UI touches are admittedly nice and give it a nice polish. But it doesn't matter if the product underneath doesn't play music well.
You're asking me what you should do next with this, but it really depends on what you want to do. Do you want to build a business out of it? What would your business model look like? What is going to make people give you money for this?
You might have a hard time developing a business model out of this project as music players are a well-entrenched industry with many successful products already on the market. The only way you'll be able to break into this is by releasing a superior experience. And frankly, the other companies have a huge head start.
This is not a bad thing at all! It's okay for this to be a project without trying to make it into a business. The GUI skills from this will certainly help with future products you'll inevitably make!
Something that also concerns me is that you're willing to drop college to attend a startup program if they accept you. This should be a clear indicator to you that this is not a project worth dropping everything to work on (because you'd be working on this full-time and have dropped college already if you were that motivated). And even if an incubator sees something valuable in you to go through their program, I would ask yourself why you're even in school if you're willing to drop it for a 3-month program. Figure out what that answer is and see if there are ways to achieve that on your current path. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't drop school, or should/shouldn't apply for an incubator. It just sounds as if you're thrilled about the prospect of being a successful entrepreneur with all the recent buzz these last years. (This is great!) Just think pragmatically about what you REALLY want and find a way to get there within your means.
first, thanks for providing your thoughts, it is much appreciated :)
now for the minuses
- i am aware of that but security restrictions don't allow me to read songs from the OS itself, so i have to copy each song to the app's ow file system so it takes more time.
- it does not go to next track because it is in 'explorer' mode, a playlist does that work, explorer is for managing files, i thought that was the prospect. but i guess that the difference b/w explorer and a playlist is not clear hence the confusion, i will work on that thanks!
- there is a search field, it pops up on top left, maybe there is a bug but i haven't heard of search bar not popping up before but i will look into it :) thanks! here is a screen of how the popup comes (when user clicks on 'search' tab) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/NPI_iOXSKRiMn8bjoZ-5rzhK8e...
and i really want to work for it but i need to convince my parents to get me to drop it, its India and we are not so 'independent' :P my parents are very understanding and cooperative but they would still need a very good reason to allow me to drop college. acceptance to YC would be enough i guess. :)
thanks alot for the detailed feedback, you have already helped me to decide what i need to work on (improve underlying app and UX)
I really like the effort of this product, but it isn't usable for me as it currently is. Here are the things which are non-starter for me that I've found:
- Loading music is SLOW. I'm seeing a variable response of ~2-10 seconds PER song. This is when I dump a single track to the interface. It doesn't seem to matter which screen I drop the track into. This happens with MP3s and M4As.
- Doesn't automatically go to the next track after a track is done.
- No search field? It accepts my typing, but doesn't show it anywhere in the GUI.
+ The animations and the UI touches are admittedly nice and give it a nice polish. But it doesn't matter if the product underneath doesn't play music well.
You're asking me what you should do next with this, but it really depends on what you want to do. Do you want to build a business out of it? What would your business model look like? What is going to make people give you money for this?
You might have a hard time developing a business model out of this project as music players are a well-entrenched industry with many successful products already on the market. The only way you'll be able to break into this is by releasing a superior experience. And frankly, the other companies have a huge head start.
This is not a bad thing at all! It's okay for this to be a project without trying to make it into a business. The GUI skills from this will certainly help with future products you'll inevitably make!
Something that also concerns me is that you're willing to drop college to attend a startup program if they accept you. This should be a clear indicator to you that this is not a project worth dropping everything to work on (because you'd be working on this full-time and have dropped college already if you were that motivated). And even if an incubator sees something valuable in you to go through their program, I would ask yourself why you're even in school if you're willing to drop it for a 3-month program. Figure out what that answer is and see if there are ways to achieve that on your current path. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't drop school, or should/shouldn't apply for an incubator. It just sounds as if you're thrilled about the prospect of being a successful entrepreneur with all the recent buzz these last years. (This is great!) Just think pragmatically about what you REALLY want and find a way to get there within your means.