Jaangle 0.98i Build 977

Overview

Jaangle is a free open-source media playback and library organizing software that simplifies the process of categorizing and playing various types of audio and video files.

Installation

At a file size of 5.1 MB Jaangle consumes very little disk space and downloads quickly. The installation process is very user-friendly, with an intuitive guide walking you through from start to finish. After checking whether you'd like to include a desktop and quick launch icon in the installation, and agreeing to the terms and agreement, a brief automated setup will occur.

Interface

The user interface is very dynamic, versatile, and customizable, with a plethora of personalized skins and preferences to choose from. The left side of the main window is occupied by a navigational pane that lists the albums/songs contained within your media library. A song list that is categorized by genre is displayed in the top right of the main window, along with a few basic controls like Enqueue, Play, and Song Info. Your current playlist is displayed in the bottom left corner, and the media player interface is conveniently located along the bottom of the main window.

Pros

• Automatically downloads artist biography/image from the Internet and conveniently displays it within the information pane. Lyrics to popular songs may also appear in the information pane, if available

• Integrated audio player includes effects equalizer and crossfading capabilities

• Lets you sort your audio collection by artist, album, release dates, and other criteria

• Automatically logs all music files you play, so you can quickly pull up recently played songs within the history dialog

• Choose from a collection of more than 50 skins to customize the user interface

• Available in multiple languages

• Includes an integrated file renamer and mass renamer

• Utilizes proprietary techniques to decrease computer workload during operation

• Includes a fun music trivia game built-in

• Automatically fetches tags based on file name

• Lets you utilize advanced search options to find songs using a diverse criteria

• Mini player mode provides access to basic playback features without taking up a large portion of your screen

• Supports MSN messenger Now Playing statuses, so your chat friends can see what you're listening to

• Open source functionality lets developers contribute third-party plug-ins and skins at will

Cons

• Video playback abilities are lacking in advanced settings

Alternatives

Other popular media player applications include iTunes, Winamp, foobar2000, Songbird (Win, Linux), MediaMonkey, Miro, MusicBee, and Clementine. Of these alternatives, iTunes is the most popular, with foobar2000 and Winamp being close competitors. As far as overall media playback capabilities are concerned, Jaangle is not as powerful as iTunes, however it does provide many of the same music library organization features.

Conclusion

If you have a large collection of music files that you need to organize, Jaangle offers an optimal solution for novice to intermediate computer users. With plenty of custom skins to choose from, and integrated web access for quick retrieval of album/artist information, this application offers a feature set that any music lover would be satisfied with.