The Apple Music app on the Mac is not up to the mark. I don’t like how it looks or behaves, and Apple should take some inspiration from Spotify to make the app more modern and useful. Until that happens, we are stuck with a subpar app experience.
That’s why I never use the Apple Music app on my Mac and rely on third-party apps that let me control music. Today I am featuring one of the latest apps I discovered. It’s called Liqoria, and it’s probably the only music player app you will ever need.
What makes Liqoria different from other music apps?
Most third-party music player apps are glorified remote controls. They sit in your menu bar and press the play button on Apple Music or Spotify for you, which is of limited use.
Liqoria takes a different route. It works as a proper music app in its own right, letting you carry out actions without falling back on the original app. For example, it lets me not only play/pause or skip songs but also search for them, making it easy to find and play the songs I want without opening the original app.
This results in a more unified experience, where everything happens inside Liqoria instead of bouncing between apps. The app also supports Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and your browser, so you can control all your music from one place.
What other features does the app bring to the table?
Liqoria gives you multiple ways to control your music. There is a floating player you can place anywhere on your desktop, a menu bar player for a quick peek, and a macOS Dock player that keeps the controls in easy reach.
Because you can pick the player that suits the moment, you are not stuck with one rigid layout. Working in full screen? Use the Dock player. Sitting back with a coffee? Let the floating player do its thing.
You also get a real-time waveform, smooth animations, and some visual customization options. The app also supports animated artwork for Apple Music, but it was buggy for me.
But that might be because I am running macOS Golden Gate beta. Apart from that minor inconvenience, Liqoria seems like a solid music player that your Mac has been missing.