AnotherPlayer

AnotherPlayer is a cross-platform desktop music player written in Go with a strong focus on performance, ownership, and long-term maintainability. Inspired by classic players like foobar2000 and Winamp, it combines a clean, modern Qt 6 interface with a powerful backend designed for both local and network-based music libraries.

Unlike many modern players, AnotherPlayer is built as a native desktop application with no web UI, no Electron, and no cloud lock-in. It is designed for users who value speed, control, and transparent architecture.

What Makes It Different

• Native Go + Qt 6 application – fast startup, low resource usage, predictable behavior
• Virtual File System (VFS) – play music directly from local disks and network shares
• First-class SMB/CIFS support – stream music from NAS or servers without copying files locally
• Offline-first – your library lives locally, always accessible
• Synthwave-inspired UI – retro aesthetics with modern polish

Supported Audio Formats

AnotherPlayer supports a wide range of common and lossless audio formats:

• .mp3
• .aac
• .m4a
• .mp4
• .m4b
• .ogg
• .flac
• .wav
• .opus

Playback is powered by FFmpeg with a native audio pipeline.

Core Capabilities

• High-quality audio playback via FFmpeg (go-astiav) and Oto v2
• Media library with ID3 tag extraction, SHA-256 deduplication, and fast search
• Playlists with notes, ordering, and checksum-based track identity
• Audio visualizations (spectrum analyzer, oscilloscope)
• Two UI modes: compact Winamp-style and full library view
• Cloud sync via GitHub Gist for playlists and encrypted credentials (TODO)
• Soulseek integration for music discovery and downloads

Music Discovery & Downloads

AnotherPlayer features a built-in music discovery system based on a Soulseek-compatible client:

• Search for music directly from within the player
• Download tracks from the network
• Integrate discovered music into your local library

This makes AnotherPlayer not just a player, but also a music discovery tool.

Network & Security Focus

AnotherPlayer treats remote sources as first-class citizens:

• Stream directly from SMB/CIFS shares with automatic reconnection
• Credentials are encrypted before leaving your machine
• GitHub Gist sync uses your token as a cryptographic key (PBKDF2 + AES-256-GCM)
• No proprietary servers, no telemetry, no forced accounts

Current Status

AnotherPlayer is under active development and already usable for daily playback.
An internal alpha build is available for tryout, offering early access to core functionality such as playback, library management, UI modes, visualizer, and music discovery features.

The application is under active development, with ongoing improvements to stability, performance, and feature completeness.

This project is built with a long-term vision: software that remains understandable, debuggable, and fast — even years from now.

It is software for users who still care how their tools work, not just how they look.