Music apps have been somewhat wanting for Windows Phones for some time now. We have to rely on third party developers for simple things like Pandora and YouTube and to their credit, developers behind the likes of MetroTube and MetroRadio have done a fantastic job in getting these services delivered to Windows Phone users, even with all the API bumps and hiccups to which a non-official app is bound to be subjected. Searchler deserves a place among these top apps as an aggregate way to enjoy your favorite artists and their music.
The app is super simple to use, presenting you with a search box for you to discover any artist you’d like. In my time with the app, I searched for the likes of PSY, Aerosmith, Rammstein, and Counting Crows and the app was able to find several results for each of these, despite each being from a different genre of music. The similar artists search worked better for established artists like Aerosmith and Counting Crows, while having a harder time finding similar matches for the likes of PSY and Rammstein. That’s only a small slight though, considering both are foreign music to most United States listeners.
The developer has put together a companion site where you can try out Searchler for yourself before you decide to download the app on your phone. The site works equally as well as the app and is a great way to see just how well Searchler aggregates various videos for whatever you may search. Videos play within the app and are crisp, loud and clean, though given the fact that some videos are aggregates are YouTube you’re just as likely to find a still image that plays the song as so many people like to upload these to the social service.
Overall, Searchler is a great way to discover new music as well as listen to old favorites. I never experienced any stutter and videos loaded quickly on both WiFi and 3G/4G access. The only downside to the app is that it features an ad at the bottom that offers no way to get rid of it. I’d gladly pay $1.99 just for that feature, as being able to create playlists of my favorite artists is something that I enjoy, especially when Pandora decides to twist its API to cut out Windows Phone users once again.
Download the app here.
