New age media. Microsoft has started to roll out the new Media Player app for Windows 11 to Insiders in the Dev channel. This new application will replace the Groove Music app.
We first heard about this a while back during a Windows Insider podcast, though nothing major has leaked since then.
Now, though, the software titan is here with the news that this new program is up for grabs.
Microsoft designed the new Media Player to make listening and watching multimedia content more enjoyable on Windows 11. The music playback experience offers rich album art and artist imagery, while a mini player is also available.
The artwork will appear in the app regardless of the view mode of the player — full-screen or mini-player.
This new creation features a user interface that complements the new look and feel of the OS while beautifully showcasing your local music and video collections. It is a UWP app that uses XAML technology and incorporates WinUI controls.
Although fully featured, a couple of issues affect this new Media Player app, which the development team is aware of.
One is a bug that prevents playback from network locations. It also has trouble when editing albums from metadata, and some UI elements do not respect your app theme preferences. You may also encounter problems sorting library content with accented characters.
But overall, this is a really solid debut.
Since this is just the beginning of this new Media Player app, the team will listen to feedback to improve it over the coming weeks.
Groove Music has been around since the launch of Windows 10. It will now be removed from the operating system, and users will find their Groove library and playlists in this new Media Player application.
A Microsoft Store update will replace Groove Music with the new Media Player, so you don’t have to install this new app manually. However, it will not replace the Movies & TV app.
Oh, and if you are worried about the legacy Windows Media Player, don’t be, because that program will remain available in Windows Tools.
