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--- guides:divest-from-spotify [2026/05/20 20:06] – wgp
+++ guides:divest-from-spotify [2026/05/24 17:14] (current) – wgp
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
   * Convert Spotify links to find music on other platforms (for example SoundCloud): [[https://github.com/sjdonado/idonthavespotify|idonthavespotify]]
   * Smoothen your transition to listening to your local music library by gradually reducing your dependence on Big Tech streaming platforms. During that transition, some music might not be available on your local library. As kind of a compromise, I occasionally use [[https://pipepipe.dev/|PipePipe]] on Android, which allows you to listen to music on YouTube Music, by allowing you to bypass ads without a paid subscription, in a pirate manner.
-==== Use your old smartphone as your digital audio player ====
 ==== Delete your Spotify account, self-host your own streaming service ====
 After we started running our [[homeserver|tiny home server]], we began using [[https://jellyfin.org/|Jellyfin]], an open source media server. It is mainly designed for films and TV shows, but is equally great for making your own self-hosted music streaming service. There are clients for Jellyfin for practically every device and operating systems, and many third party Android and iOS music apps support adding your Jellyfin music library to them (my personal favorite is [[https://www.symfonium.app/|Symfonium]] on Android). What you need is basically a PC, running Jellyfin, which you can leave on all the time at home. Then you can stream your own music library of MP3s and FLACs etc. on your mobile device or your laptop when you are not at home. [[https://www.navidrome.org/|Navidrome]] is another open source media server, but it is focused on only music, using OpenSubsonic API. A great thing you can do with Jellyfin or Navidrome is to setup one server and share it with your friends. You and your friends can create different accounts, share one music library, or create separated libraries for each user, making sharing music between friends super easy—much better than algorithmically curated slop-playlists brought to you by Spotify! For how to setup and run Jellyfin, refer to its [[https://jellyfin.org/docs|documentation]].
+==== Use your old smartphone as your digital audio player ====
+Recently there has been a growing interest in old iPods, with modding community growing and people retrofitting them with flash drives, changing their cases, batteries etc. There are also a lot of really cool new digital audio players (DAPs) being released. This new trend is undoubtedly cool, but it also resulted in prices going way up in the second hand market. If you want to save some bucks, what you can do is to repurpose your old smartphone as a DAP. We came across a social media post by @assortedtapes, where he explains his way of doing this, and it made us rethink our approach too. Here are the steps to turn your old smartphone into a DAP:
+  * First, debloat your old smartphone. On Android, you can do this with a software on a computer, called [[https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater|Universal Android Debloater]], or you can install the app [[https://github.com/sunilpaulmathew/De-Bloater|De-Bloater]] (root required) from F-Droid on your phone. This will clean all the unnecessary stuff your phone comes with. This step is for Android users. I personally would also de-Google it as much as possible, if you want to keep the network connection on. If you want to use it just for on-device music files, you can cut the network connection.
+  * Both on iPhone and Android, you can go to the settings, and disable all the unnecessary things. If you are going to use streaming (for your own local streaming server), you can leave network on. Same goes for Bluetooth. But you can disable location, and even put your iPhone into [[https://support.apple.com/en-us/105120|Lockdown Mode]] if you want, to disable all the unnecessary stuff.
+  * On iPhone, you can install an alternative "launcher" called [[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dumb-phone-dp/id6504743503|Dumb Phone]], to make your home screen look very simple, where you add only the things you use for this purpose. There are similar launchers on Android, but there are too many to list!
+  * Transfer your music to your smartphone, using either wired transfer, USB drives, SD cards, or your cloud storage like [[nextcloud|Nextcloud]] etc. If you want to stream your own music library, you can use Jellyfin or Navidrome.
+  * Finally, install a nice app to listen to your music on the smartphone-turned-into-DAP. My favorite on Android is [[https://www.symfonium.app/|Symfonium]]. There are also AIMP, Musicolet and UAPP for Android, and [[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pentaton-hifi-offline-music/id6711346182|Pentaton]], Doppler and Sonara for iOS. [[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jellyamp-music-player/id6762120337|JellyAmp]] and [[https://discrete.app/|Discrete]] are iOS apps specifically for streaming your Jellyfin library. But apps like Symfonium also supports Jellyfin streaming.
+  * As a bonus, if you want to upgrade the sound quality of the smartphone, you can pair it with a wired or Bluetooth DAC, there are many relatively inexpensive ones from brands like Fiio etc. which will give you nice audio quality when paired with some nice headphones.
 ==== I deleted my Spotify account. How do I listen to podcasts now? ====
@@ Line 38: / Line 46: @@
   * [[https://fairplayer.org|Fairplayer]]: Amazing initiative to make a platform-independent streaming solution. Currently supports music hosted with Faircamp, will add more platforms/services soon. Addresses the challenge of music discovery on Faircamp, and aims to create a truly decentralized streaming service.
   * [[https://itch.io/|itch.io]]: An [[https://blog.curiousquail.com/looking-for-bandcamp-alternatives/|interesting way]] to use indie video game publishing platform itch.io as a music streaming/distribution tool.
+ --- //[[publishing@wellgedacht.com|Well Gedacht Publishing]] 2026/05/20 20:10//
 ----