As great as modern engineering is , sometimes it can be a minute overwhelming . Smartphones today are capable of virtually dateless task and are unaccented - years better than wandering widget from a decade or two ago . Still , it ’s hard not to have some nostalgia for “ retro ” devices like the Palm Pilot , the first Motorola Razr , or your trusty old iPod .
While doomscrolling X the other night , I saw that Quinn Nelson of Snazzy Labs hadposted a unforesightful videoabout an iPhone app call “ My Classic – Retro Console ” that promises to turn your iPhone into an iPod Classic . It ’s a very airheaded idea , but at a one - clock time price of $ 3 , it was crummy enough that I decided to render it for myself . After living with myiPhone 16transformed into an sure-enough - schoolhouse iPod for about a twenty-four hours , I ’m dead possessed with it .
Using my iPhone like an iPod in 2024
So , what ’s it like having an app call on your iPhone into an iPod ? Honestly , it ’s kind of awe-inspiring . The user interface is almost identical to what you would see on an iPod Classic or an iPod Nano . The home concealment read options for shuffle your strain , browsing your music , seeing what ’s presently playing , and a few app preferences ( plus an alternative to tumble the developer ) .
You navigate the carte du jour by using the practical scroll roulette wheel , which vibrates and clicks to mimic the feel of an actual iPod scroll bicycle shockingly well . It palpate fantastic for browsing artist and record album , but the material deception happen when you start the Cover Flow survey , which looks just as incredible in 2024 as it did in 2007 .
All of the music cognitive content in the app is perpetrate from your Apple Music library , include your saved albums and play list . If you select the Shuffle Songs option , it starts playing a shuffle playlist from all the songs carry through in your Apple Music subroutine library .
Objectively , this is nothing more than another user interface for the Apple Music app . If you play a song from the My Classic app and switch to Apple Music , you ’ll see it playing there , too . It ’s not add any Modern feature film . If anything , it ’s a more limited way of life of interact with Apple Music . You ca n’t search for songs or happen music not already save in your library .
However , that ’s also why the app is so charming . Not only is the user interface and iPod Classic UI carry out so dead , but being forced to interact with my music in a simple way has been so novel .
It makes me focus more on my music library without being distracted by new release or other recommend playlist . I ’ve rule myself listening to saved albums I ’ve not played in months because , in the regular Apple Music app , I typically listen to recommended playlist or new albums . I do n’t know if that ’s good or high-risk , but my medicine selections using My Classic have been different .
How to turn your iPhone into an iPod
Want to use this app to release your iPhone into an old - school iPod ? Thankfully , it ’s easy to do and only costs $ 3 . TheMy Classic appinitially present itself as a Game Boy simulator , but it takes just a couple of taps to actuate the iPod interface . Here ’s what you need to do :
A wonderful blast of tech nostalgia
In addition to the unbelievable execution of the My Classic app and the mode it take you listen to euphony , there ’s also an undeniable nostalgia ingredient at swordplay here .
I grow up with a 3rd - generation iPod Nano . I receive it as a Christmas gift one year from my parents , and for many years later ( until I fall behind it ) , that iPod Nano was a gadget I used near every unmarried day . The port of the My Classic app is exactly like the one used on my older Nano , so using the software has felt like teleport back in prison term . It has bring back memories of me sit down at the computer with my cousin-german and synchronise songs from our iTunes describe to our respective iPods . Or playingThe Sims Bowlingon car ride to school . Not to mention discovering artists like Green Day and Switchfoot for the first time .
My iPod Nano went through a lot with me , and being able-bodied to institute back that experience to my iPhone is really something particular . perhaps I ’m feeling particularly nostalgic because of the holiday time of year , but this is one of the coolest peregrine apps I ’ve used this year — and one I call back I ’ll keep on my iPhone for a while to total .
