The Daily App: Max MP's Power Amp

We've had scant few complaints about the apps that are included with every Android OS install. Hey, no charge means no complaints, right? But when Ice Cream Sandwich came along, the music player was stripped of the ability to easily delete media files from within the app. Tisk tisk, Android OS development crew; we like being able to zap songs and old podcasts from our devices without hassling around with the file system, as in prior versions of the free music player.

So we sought an alternative that was equally affordable (as in free), and we're recommending Power Amp from Max MP. Power Amp plays everything Android's free player does, including mp3 and mp4/m4a, ogg, wma, wav, aiff and many others. A 10-band graphic equalizer lets you tailor the sound to your liking (or to the content) with presets, plus separate bass and treble "knobs."

Features beyond the stock player include crossfade, gapless playback, dynamic queuing, a balance control, support for lyrics, cover-art animation, and of course, the ability to delete files directly. What's more, Power Amp supports m3u and other play list file types, direct screen unlock and can disable the pause/resume feature when connecting headphones or a Bluetooth device.