The stock Android multi media functions are OK. The music player plays music has a lot of ways to view your music. But there are isn't an equaliser and the sound isn't bassy enough. The video player is very basic and is only accessed through the photo album. Not sure about that. The main gripe for me is that it doesn't start a video where you left off - it always starts back from the beginning. Anyway, this isn't a review about what's already in the box, it's about an App.
So, RealPlayer has a very good reputation as a multimedia player. Does the Android app hold up? (Bearing in mind of course that we're looking at a beta version).
Starting the App
Starting the app presents you with 3 options: Music, Videos and Photos. So far so good - all multimedia in one place!
Music
At the top of the screen there's a lovely little home button - this returns you to the opening screen. In the music mode, there are a variety of viewing options. Albums, Artists, Genres, Ratings, Most Played, Recently Added, All Music. They do what they say on the tin, so not much to talk about. Some of the views have album art - and if you haven't added art, you get a double crotchet symbol or a CD depending on whether it's a song or a album.
Selecting an album then shows you the tracks in the album. The main fault here is that the tracks are listed alphabetically and there aren't any other views. Clearly this is something that a full release of RealPlayer needs to address.
Playback of music is pretty standard. You have options for skip track, shuffle, repeat, play/pause, scan. You can also rate your songs with a 5 star rating system. There's a little button in the corner that brings up the track listing. This works well. Press it again, and there's your album art... There's no swipe to change tracks, but pressing a button isn't that hard. Playback does continue in the background and you can return to the app quickly through the Notification screen.
There isn't a lockscreen widget, nor is there a homescreen widget. These are things that a full release needs, as it increases the usability of the app, particularly when using the phone as a music player and putting it in your pocket.
On the main music screen, you are limited portrait screen view. Landscape is available throughout the rest of the app.
Videos
On selecting the videos option, you're presented with a list the vids on your device. There are lovely little icons as well as time information.
Playback of videos is as you would expect. The quality depends on the quality of the file. On the HTC Desire, it is smooth and full screen. Touch the screen and a transparent control panel appears at the bottom. Play/pause, skip and a slide bar are present. Again, no equaliser.
There's not much else to say. You are limited to landscape only view, so watching a movie in a desktop stand isn't an option.
Photos
When you select the photo option, you see a thumbnail view of the pictures on your device. 3 across and 4 down. Although it's essentially infinite down as you then scroll through your images.
Tapping on an image selects it and a set of onscreen controls let you turn music on and off, play a slide show, zoom or skip to the next or previous pic. You can also swipe to select next picture. The controls fade out and return on a tap of the screen. Generally, things are intuitive and fit with the rest of the Android UI.
There are a few basic image manipulation options: crop and rotate in fact. Photoshop Mobile is a much better photo editing app.
Other Bits
There's a logo in the background that disappears when you scroll and then reappears when still. Strange. Probably something that the full release will change.
There is an option to download content when you're browsing - but it didn't work when I tried it. Never mind.
Conclusion
And that's your lot. On the whole, the program does what it says on the tin. There are pros and cons. The main pro is the video player - it's better than the stock player. Main con - track listing is only alphabetical.
All in all, a great app that's clearly in development. I'm going to keep using it as it's free and has pretty good features that can only get better.
[UPDATE]: the music player controls on the headset do not control the realplayer controls. Disappointing.
[UPDATE 2]: the video player doesn't adjust to the aspect ratio of the video. It just goes automatically to full screen. Again, disappointing. No one likes distorted people on their screen.
