[Alpha Test] Pleez — Lightweight, Ad-Free Local FLAC Player for Android (Privacy-First, Clean UI)

[marcoroche]

Hello ASR Community!

Like many local music enthusiasts, I got tired of bloated Android players filled with ads, forced cloud subscriptions, and sluggish interfaces.

We are building Pleez, a lightweight Android audio player focused purely on local library playback, clean navigation, and respect for user privacy.

What Pleez Focuses On​

• 100% Offline & Private: Zero tracking, zero telemetry, no user account required, and no ads.
• Local & SD Card First: Smooth handling of your local lossy and lossless audio files (FLAC, MP3, WAV, etc.) stored on internal storage or MicroSD.
• Clean UI & Fast Indexing: Built to navigate large local collections and custom playlists easily without the lag of heavy streaming apps.
• Native Audio Pipeline: Designed to make the most of your phone's or Android DAP's local hardware without unwanted background bloat.

Looking for Alpha Testers​

We are looking for 20 Alpha testers from the audio community to help us test real-world local libraries, FLAC file handling, and UI ergonomics across different Android devices and DAPs.

If you listen to local music files on Android and want to test a clean, privacy-focused player:

Apply for the Closed Alpha here (1 min): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/UawVEqXPxP

We'd love to get your feedback on tag management, playback stability, and overall usability!

 

[Redacted]

I use FB2K on my phone. Are you saying that it does not have "Zero tracking, zero telemetry, no user account required, and no ads"? It's also under 17MB, so hardly 'bloated'.

I also like the fact that it plays music from my NAS's DLNA server (or from my PC which runs UMS), and also from SMB shares - I would not want any player lacking those features. For those who like EQ it also has an 18-band GEQ.

But it's good to see develeopers on ASR!

 

[somebodyelse]

We are building Pleez, a lightweight Android audio player focused purely on local library playback, clean navigation, and respect for user privacy.

Who is 'we'? Is this a community project or a commercial one?

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Will there be any EQ features?

 

[thegeton]

I've been using Poweramp Music Player for years. It does not have ads, forced cloud subscriptions, nor a sluggish interface. It has a lot of great features, EQ/PEQ, etc.

Happy, no need to change.

 

[AndyRoo]

Neutron Player on Android…

Unless you can improve on that then your project won’t interest me. Neutron’s UI is non-standard and takes getting used to. Now that I’m used to it, it’s perfectly usable. No ads. No account. Local library. Plenty of connectivity options. Full DSP, etc…

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Unless you can improve on that

Won't be hard to improve on the UI.

 

[AndyRoo]

Won't be hard to improve on the UI.

Maybe, although now I’m used to it the UI is easy to use and consistent on Android, iPhone and Windows.

It’s the sound quality and functionality of Neutron that is hard to match, let alone improve on.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

If a UI is done in a rationally standardized way you shouldn't have to "get used to it". The fact that you've mentioned that twice is a tell that the UI is awkward. This is coming from a paid customer on Android & Windows. The UI still drives me nuts.

 

[AndyRoo]

If a UI is done in a rationally standardized way you shouldn't have to "get used to it". The fact that you've mentioned that twice is a tell that the UI is awkward. This is coming from a paid customer on Android & Windows. The UI still drives me nuts.

I don’t disagree - unique UIs are off putting.

But having got used to it, I’m no longer driven nuts by it. YMMV.

 

[Redacted]

OK, a nice UI for Pleez would be welcome.
Also, so far, any or all of GEQ/PEQ/ReplayGain/True bit-perfect/playlist support/DLNA/SMB/remote control/no ads/free would be nice, as would a crate of wine being delivered each week, gratis.

 

[Ruediger]

It’s the sound quality and functionality of Neutron that is hard to match, let alone improve on.

I tried it and did not find a different sound than other apps. Haven't been using DSP though.

It's hard to say what Neutron even does different. It doesn't reveal much. On a supported DAP it even says AudioTrack under hardware. Confusing.

 

[marcoroche]

Who is 'we'? Is this a community project or a commercial one?

When I said "we," it's actually a passion project between my son and me.

 

[marcoroche]

Won't be hard to improve on the UI.

Yes and no. Crafting great UX isn't that simple, especially when applying Lean concepts—delivering true simplicity actually takes a lot of discipline.
We are actively refining the interface, but we refuse to turn Pleez into an over-engineered system. We focus strictly on what matters for on-the-go listening: seamless FLAC playback, automatic file detection, and lightweight playlist management.

 

[Soundproof]

Great, bring it on!

Would be very interesting for non bt/wifi daps, Volla ("clean" Android) and Jolla and OEM Sailfish (HiBy uses OEM Sailfish I believe) and similar.

Currently streaming only thus not an candidate for alpha. (Microsoft/Google Forms are no go anyway as far as I'm concerned)

AppSupport - The Privacy Respecting European OS and AI Solution Provider

AppSupport for Linux Platforms gives any Linux platform capability to run Android apps. With AppSupport the apps can be run on a wide variety of devices like smartphones, tablets, automotive solutions, wearables and other embedded devices. The app performance and user experience on Jolla’s...

jolla.com

Volla Mobile Devices

volla.online

 

[Soundproof]

Yes and no. Crafting great UX isn't that simple, especially when applying Lean concepts—delivering true simplicity actually takes a lot of discipline.
We are actively refining the interface, but we refuse to turn Pleez into an over-engineered system. We focus strictly on what matters for on-the-go listening: seamless FLAC playback, automatic file detection, and lightweight playlist management.

Plenty of evidence proving your statement pertaining UX right. Brilliant simplicity caretaking all functions logically and obvious is hard indeed.

 

[marcoroche]

Great, bring it on!

Would be very interesting for non bt/wifi daps, Volla ("clean" Android) and Jolla and OEM Sailfish (HiBy uses OEM Sailfish I believe) and similar.

Currently streaming only thus not an candidate for alpha. (Microsoft/Google Forms are no go anyway as far as I'm concerned)

AppSupport - The Privacy Respecting European OS and AI Solution Provider

AppSupport for Linux Platforms gives any Linux platform capability to run Android apps. With AppSupport the apps can be run on a wide variety of devices like smartphones, tablets, automotive solutions, wearables and other embedded devices. The app performance and user experience on Jolla’s...

jolla.com

Volla Mobile Devices

volla.online

Thanks for the feedback! For now, Pleez is built around standard Android ecosystem distribution (via Google Play), as maintaining custom deployment setups or standalone APK builds for alternative OSes isn't in our current scope.

 

[Soundproof]

Thanks for the feedback! For now, Pleez is built around standard Android ecosystem distribution (via Google Play), as maintaining custom deployment setups or standalone APK builds for alternative OSes isn't in our current scope.

Ok, fairly convinced that's where "the market" is though. Technically Android by Google/Samsung/whatnot is great, but I seriously doubt any app on regular/brand modified Android will provide privacy regardless of efforts put into the app. Keyboard, soundsystem and what not will make sure Google++ will get what they want from their users.

Besides, what you'll get from the Sailfish/Volla crowds are users who share your philosophy (like me) - target audience, and they both allow users to grab Android apps from Google or other respositories.

Anyway, good luck with your project

 

[Ruediger]

As for privacy it is nice when the app has no ad components and does not include stuff like f.e. facebook graph. Of course no selling of location data and so on. These things are in the hand of the devs. Devs unaware of privacy concerns and/or in the business of refinancing via bundled malware (that's what it is basically) in their apps produce bloated, leaky software. It's their choice.

Then there are the other leaks or simply not configured for privacy devices. I mean if you use a Google keyboard what do you expect. The extra functions are designed to sniff data. It's not like there aren't normal keyboards available.

An android device can be made pretty lean, but it's a lot of details and doesn't interest all users. What the devs can do is not add to the dilemma. If a project starts out with that principle I like it. If it gets somewhere, take donations or sell it on the Playstore. But keep it clean. Personally I would never pay for a malware bloated audio app. Oops reminds me I should monitor my apps in the category a bit..

 

[marcoroche]

As for privacy it is nice when the app has no ad components and does not include stuff like f.e. facebook graph. Of course no selling of location data and so on. These things are in the hand of the devs. Devs unaware of privacy concerns and/or in the business of refinancing via bundled malware (that's what it is basically) in their apps produce bloated, leaky software. It's their choice.

Then there are the other leaks or simply not configured for privacy devices. I mean if you use a Google keyboard what do you expect. The extra functions are designed to sniff data. It's not like there aren't normal keyboards available.

An android device can be made pretty lean, but it's a lot of details and doesn't interest all users. What the devs can do is not add to the dilemma. If a project starts out with that principle I like it. If it gets somewhere, take donations or sell it on the Playstore. But keep it clean. Personally I would never pay for a malware bloated audio app. Oops reminds me I should monitor my apps in the category a bit..

Spot on! You hit the nail on the head regarding app bloat and tracker SDKs.

Many developers integrate ad networks, Facebook Graph, or third-party analytics SDKs without realizing (or caring) how much background data those libraries harvest and leak—all to monetize or refinance their apps.

From day one, Pleez was designed around a clean, zero-compromise privacy model:

• Zero Trackers & Zero SDKs: No Facebook Graph, no ad components, no location access, and no hidden analytics frameworks.
• 100% Local & Offline First: The app operates strictly on your local files without phoning home or requiring account creation.
• Clean Monetization: As you suggested, we are completely avoiding subscriptions, ads, or data selling. For the Play Store release, our plan is a simple, modest one-time fee (roughly the cost of buying a single music track) to cover store fees and keep the app completely clean and malware-free forever.

As a father-and-son project built out of our own passion for offline music, keeping the codebase lean and respectful of the user is our top priority! Thanks for sharing such a grounded perspective!