Skip to main content

Songbird Open-Source Media Player Launches

If you’re sick of using iTunes as your default music player, but love its interface, you may want to start exploring the nest of Songbird. It is a program created by a group called Pioneers of theInevitable, which is made up of former Firefox creators and programmers among others. Thus, it’s being pushed by the open-source community just like Firefox was when it took off. It runs on theFirefox browser engine which is something entirely new for a music player. Songbird works using XUL and an open-source platform to help it stay very customizable. Users will have the ability to skinSongbird to their liking and customize features so that it feels like their own personal music player.

Songbird is currently only available for Windows and is still in early stages at Version 0.1. in proof-of-concept form. However, the software, like Firefox,plans to be cross-platform and will be available soon for Linux and Mac OS X. It plays all popular media formats from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis to AAC to WMA. But what about DRM-enabled music files? Songbirdwill be able to play some at first and promises to play more such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store format if an API is released. Also, Songbird currently doesn’t support external music players such asthe iPod or Zen, so don’t go throwing away your old software just yet. Expect Songbird to start gaining attention and become more developed over the next few months.

You can download the player from their website.

Editors' Recommendations

Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…
Microsoft’s emoji library goes open source
The design process of emoji.

Microsoft has announced it is making over 1,500 emojis in its library open source for developer and creator use as of Wednesday.

You can access the Microsoft emoji library on Figma and Github, with the brand noting that images can be saved as SVG, PNG, and JPG files "to allow for true versatility." However, Microsoft recommends you make a "vector, flat, and monochrome version," of each emoji designed for "scale and flexibility.

Read more
The best free music players for MacOS
MacOS Catalina Hands-on | Macbook Pro

There are multiple apps out there you can use to manage your music library if you're on a Mac, but you may have trouble deciding which is best for you. If you've been looking for a cost-free alternative to Apple Music, there are plenty of great apps out there to check out. Whether you're an audiophile with a thirst for feature-heavy players or a casual listener looking for a no-frills option, we're sure you'll find something here that suits you.

More interested in streaming music instead? Take a look at our side-by-side comparison of Spotify and Apple Music to see how these services stack up. And if you're primarily interested in mobile music players, we've got some killer iOS apps for you to check out too.
Elmedia Video Player

Read more
Chinese hackers use VLC media player to launch cyberattacks
A large monitor displaying a security hacking breach warning.

Researchers discovered that Chinese hackers have been using VLC Media Player to launch cybersecurity attacks.

The hacker group, allegedly affiliated with the Chinese government, uses the popular video player to deploy malware on the targeted computer.

Read more