The iPod music player didn’t just change the music industry as we know it, it also changed Apple and set it on a path it is today. Feeling nostalgic? Check out this web app that replicates the iPod classic interface in your browser and syncs with your Spotify or Apple Music library.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Apple debuted the iPod music player on October 23, 2001
- The iPhone killed the iPod (but the iPod touch lives on)
- A nostalgic web player recreates the iPod classic look
- It even simulates Apple’s iconic click wheel navigation
This iPod-like web app takes you down memory lane
As a trip down memory lane, a web app created by software developer Tanner Villarete is just perfect. It works in any web browser and syncs with your Spotify or Apple Music library so you can actually listen to your favorite tunes in a web browser, no app install required.
To get started, visit tannerv.com/ipod in your mobile or desktop browser, then choose “Sign In” from the virtual iPod’s menu to sign in using an Apple Music or Spotify account.
You’ll instantly notice that the app recreates the iPod’s iconic click wheel interface. Our younger readers may be unfamiliar with it, but the click wheel was an extremely effective invention for navigating the iPod’s menus because it combined touch and traditional buttons.
Villarete’s app simulates the click wheel, and it works great!
How to use the iPod classic web app
Just use your mouse on a computer or your finger on your mobile device’s touchscreen to interact with virtual controls. To navigate the iPod menu up or down, just turn the virtual click wheel clockwise or counterclockwise. To select something, hit that center button.
You can also use the four controls around the click wheel to go up a level, play/pause and skip forward/backward. Apple’s legendary music player also supported Cover Flow, a way to browse your music visually. Cover Flow used to be so popular back in the day that it eventually carried over to the original iPhone’s Music app (the app was actually called “iPod” back then).
Villarete’s app replicates Cover Flow in a browser using album covers from Spotify or Apple Music—sjust choose “Cover Flow” from the iPod menu to flip through album covers.
The iPod classic was the last iPod model to use the click wheel.
If you like this app, you should also check out an awesome iOS music app, created by Elvin Hu. His software also simulates the look and feel of the iPod classic music player, complete with the click wheel interface and Cover Flow album view, only on your iPhone rather than the web.