foobar2000
Freeware audio player for Windows, with versions for macOS, iOS and Android.
Liked as a simple, focused audio player12 that plays many music formats without conversion3 and extends through plugins and integrations.456 Complaints are scattered: run under Wine on Linux, its UI scaling breaks,7 and the iOS version lacks queue controls and sorting by date added.8
Why people recommend it
Extensions · 3
Commenters use it with a Spotify plugin, scrobbling, a built-in radio directory and an Android remote app.
“I was going to recommend foobar2000 with the spotify plugin”
“I've used one with foobar2000 for non-streaming”
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“I keep using foobar2000 even though I switched to Fedora KDE because I don't see any alternative”
Cross-platform · 3
Commenters use the macOS and iOS versions, not only the Windows original.
“foobar2000 already has an osx version (https://www.foobar2000.org/mac), I've been using it for years.”
“An abandoned Java App called aTunes and foobar2000 on iOS.”
Show 1 more
“I use Foobar on my iPhone. The features it's missing for me”
Hard to replace · 3
Long-time users see no worthy alternative on Mac or Linux.
“Still waiting for a worthy alternative to foobar2000 on either Mac or Linux...”
“I keep using foobar2000 even though I switched to Fedora KDE because I don't see any alternative”
Show 1 more
“foobar2000 already has an osx version (https://www.foobar2000.org/mac), I've been using it for years.”
Simple interface · 2
Valued as a smaller, simpler player dedicated to audio.
“later I switched to foobar. I prefer foobar's simple interface.”
“Foobar for just listening to music”
Format support · 1
Plays music in exotic formats without forcing conversion.
“I keep using foobar2000 even though I switched to Fedora KDE because I don't see any alternative”
Caveats and dissent
Wine on Linux · 1
Under Wine the UI scaling is broken and track changes can produce a loud glitch sound.
“I keep using foobar2000 even though I switched to Fedora KDE because I don't see any alternative”
iOS queue features · 1
The iOS app can't queue a few songs and return to random play, or sort by date added.
“I use Foobar on my iPhone. The features it's missing for me”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra 2 mentions
- Winamp clone in Swift for macOS 2 mentions
- Show HN: Sol, my macOS music player and jukebox app, is now free and open source 1 mention
- Fastpotify 1 mention
- CodePen 2.0 1 mention
- Last.fm is now independent 1 mention
Data: foobar2000.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 11
“I use Foobar on my iPhone. The features it's missing for me”
“foobar2000 already has an osx version (https://www.foobar2000.org/mac), I've been using it for years.”
“I was going to recommend foobar2000 with the spotify plugin”
“Still waiting for a worthy alternative to foobar2000 on either Mac or Linux...”
“foobar is being developed by a single dev”
“I've used one with foobar2000 for non-streaming”
“I keep using foobar2000 even though I switched to Fedora KDE because I don't see any alternative”
“I use the search/directory built into foobar2000 or apps like radiodroid”
“An abandoned Java App called aTunes and foobar2000 on iOS.”
“Foobar for just listening to music”
“later I switched to foobar. I prefer foobar's simple interface.”