About the situation with VKontakte
On April 28, 2020, it became known that Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and My World were introducing a paid music subscription costing 149 rubles per month. And unsubscribed users are limited functionally. First of all, audio advertisements will be played from time to time. The free mode was deprived of the function of caching music for offline listening, and this is a key feature of the old VKontakte player.
The introduction of a subscription is a natural event; content cannot be pirated forever. At the same time, the new service looks strange, to say the least. After all, this is the same vast, unorganized catalogue, only now they ask for an amount comparable to competitors’ offers for use. At least two questions immediately arise!
Music on the social network “VKontakte”
With the advent of computers, our lives have changed dramatically: digital photographs, computer graphics, high-precision technologies, new developments in the field of medicine, huge online libraries, against the background of which Alexandria seems like a bookshelf, recording of music and human speech, and much more.
In 2006, the social network VKontakte was created. In addition to unlimited communication with friends, interactivity, watching videos, walls, and the latest news, there was also a music section where people from all over the world could upload their audio files. It was because of this that VKontakte became so popular, because even at that time no site could compare with the abundance of different types of music that was uploaded by users.
However, in 2020, the social network VKontakte limited listening to audio from computers, and prohibited saving in the official application on phones. This is not the first attempt to limit the music library on a social network; attempts have previously been made (and are still being made) to find and remove “pirated” content. Don't worry that audio will no longer be available. There are many ways to listen to music on VK offline. Let's get to know them.
How to return music to VKontakte?
At the time of publication of the article, there are several ways to return the usual functionality, and it is possible that over time the administration will block the loopholes.
VKontakte 6.13.1 Android 5.1 and higher
The easiest way is to roll back to the previous version of the official client numbered 4.8.3. To do this, just uninstall the updated client and manually install the apk file of the desired version.
Afterwards, it is recommended to disable auto-update of the VKontakte application. For this:
- Open Google Play.
- Find the VKontakte application.
- Disable auto-update in the context menu.
Moosic 3.11 Android 4.0.3 and higher
In 2020, Mail.Ru Group launched an alternative music service with integration with VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. Unfortunately, already in August 2020, the application was hidden in Google Play, after which the client was no longer updated. This did not affect the performance of older versions in any way!
The main feature of the application is public playlists, which include songs from social networks. The users themselves create and maintain playlists.
After adding an account, all tracks and playlists are imported. The latter can be made publicly available and shared with friends. You don't even need a social account to listen.
Unfortunately, new tracks added on the site are not automatically imported; you have to synchronize the application manually.
There is no automatic caching of audio files; manual downloading is available. In addition to individual songs, you can download entire playlists, which significantly saves time.
The player interface looks neat, information about the composition is displayed. By clicking on the artist, a search with the corresponding request opens, extremely convenient! The program can substitute album covers, but, as a rule, they are incorrect. You can loop playback of an individual track or the entire playlist. The function of playing a random track is available.
From my point of view, this is the best alternative player for music from social networks! It is completely free and has no ads. The application itself is lightweight, works quickly and stably even on third-generation networks.
Stellio Player 6.2.8 Android 4.1 and higher Android Wear
When talking about alternative players for VKontakte, one cannot fail to mention Stellio with the corresponding plugin for integration with the social network. The application has a wide range of capabilities; everything is customizable down to the smallest details.
The player is great for playing music from VKontakte. In addition to all tracks, playlists and audio recordings saved on the wall are imported.
Each listened song is automatically cached, similar to previous versions of the official VK client. It is possible to preload the necessary tracks and playlists manually.
The player interface is made in a modern style, the control elements are original, but quite convenient and do not require much getting used to. In addition to the basic functionality, additional functions have been added, such as searching for covers and viewing the text of a composition.
The application is notable for its own special effects manager.
As a result, it turns out that Stellio is a player with a bunch of additional features and settings. However, the free version is filled with advertising, and they ask for 99 rubles to turn it off.
I have listed the simplest and most accessible methods that do not require additional manipulations.
Available methods
Depending on the device from which you want to listen to your audio recordings offline, the method by which you can do this will differ - we will tell you more about each of them below. However, keep in mind that programs of this kind can pose a threat to your data, so be careful when using them.
VK music offline on iPhone
Owners of Apple smartphones can only get offline VK music for iPhone (iOS) in one way - listen to tracks from the cache (short-term memory of the device). Until mid-2020, it was possible to install the old version of the official application, which still supported audio caching, but the developers are actively defending themselves. Most older versions work, but with all the restrictions on background listening and cache, and some versions do not start at all.
But for users who need VK music offline on iPhone, you can listen to free audio in 2020 using a number of third-party applications available on the Internet. Among the workers we can note:
- LazyTool 2 is a program for listening to music on VK offline, without restrictions on background mode and cache (there are paid functions).
- Sobaka (Dog) is a program in the App Store that allows you to download and listen to audio from popular services and social networks. networks.
Offline music VK on Android
If you need an application for listening to VK music offline, Android provides users with many opportunities, they can be divided into several categories:
The easiest way to listen to VK music offline on Android is through applications from third-party developers that allow you to bypass the limitation.
- VMP is available to users - a program for listening to tracks from social media. networks, as well as full-fledged clients without audio restrictions: Sova V and modifications of the popular Kate Mobile program (for example, Kate Mobile 51.1 from Fellin).
- For phones with root and Xposed installed, you can install Midnight Murmur, a program for downloading audio from social media. networks.
On Android, for a long time it was convenient to use those versions of the official application that did not yet have cache restrictions. But social the network is struggling with this loophole, some versions do not launch at all, most of the rest work with all restrictions.
On the computer
If a user is looking for a way to listen to music on VKontakte offline on a computer (PC), then it is better to download tracks from the page and listen to them in the player on the PC.
Browser extensions are most often used for this purpose:
- SaveFrom.net - extensions for Google Chrome, Yandex.Browser and Mozilla Firefox, allows you to download audio from most popular services and social networks. networks.
- The VKSaver extension is also used for Google Chrome.
- For Mozilla Firefox - VK Tune.
- For Yandex.Browser - Kenzo VK.
All extensions can be found in the browser directories.
Alternatives to music from social networks?
Every year, music streaming services are becoming more widespread. Subscription is the most popular model; its essence is that for a small monthly fee the user gets access to the entire music collection.
Google Play Music 8.26.8771 Android 4.1 and higher Android Wear
All major streaming services from Spotify to Apple Music are available for the mobile operating system from the search giant. If you are not subscribed to any of them, I recommend paying close attention to Google Play Music as a native service.
A personal subscription costs 159 rubles per month, which is comparable to the cost of the new service from Mail.ru Group based on VKontakte. In addition, there is a family tariff for 6 family members for 239 rubles per month.
The main emphasis is on automatically created selections - radio stations. They contain music for all occasions: from training to getting ready for bed. A system of personal recommendations has also been implemented; you just need to add a dozen of your favorite songs to your music library, and the system will begin to select more and more similar tracks. Recommendations are issued based on location data and time of day.
Unfortunately, some performers are still missing. In this case, it is possible to download missing tracks from your computer. It is noteworthy that the service allows you to upload up to 50,000 songs to the cloud for listening online without a subscription!
In the settings, you can select one of four levels of streaming quality for any size of the Internet package.
For offline listening, a caching system is used, which saves only the most popular music files, and not everything in a row, like Stellio.
The icing on the cake is the web player, just log into your Google account from any personal computer and the entire music library will be at your disposal, very convenient!
As a result, it turned out, albeit a paid one, but the most interesting service in terms of all its characteristics. The best choice for listening to legal music!
Why did the VKontakte administration remove the ability to listen to music for free?
It all comes down to copyright and artist support. According to a company employee, copyright holders often complain about free listening and illegal insertion into video materials. This is why in recent years numerous tracks from popular bands or artists have become unavailable.
In addition, in order for your favorite singers to develop and delight you with new songs, they need to be supported financially. Only on VKontakte there is an abundance of remixes of original audio - how support occurs here is still unclear.
Useful materials on the topic: and transfer music from VKontakte to Apple Music
Own music library online
For those who have already collected a rich music collection, but do not want to take up the precious memory of their mobile device, there is also a way out. Applications for streaming music from your personal cloud!
CloudPlayer 1.8.1 Android 4.1 and higher
The most prominent representative of this category is CloudPlayer from doubleTwist. This is the case when the application does not have a clutter of additional options, and the necessary functionality is thought out to the smallest detail. Unlike Google Play Music, the necessary compositions simply need to be placed in your personal storage; no manipulations in the browser are required!
The application supports such cloud storages as: Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.
Imported tracks are grouped according to tags. Despite the lack of Russian localization, there are no problems with encoding. The amount of music does not matter; the program does an excellent job with my music library, which contains more than 1,500 music files!
CloudPlayer supports lossless formats - FLAC and ALAC. To play them online, you need a stable Internet connection; mobile networks can’t always cope.
There is no automatic caching, but you can manually download both individual tracks and entire albums and playlists.
The application is designed in a modern style, with 4 color schemes available to choose from. A nice option is to automatically add artist photos to the artist showcase, the search works accurately!
The player interface is familiar; it contains all the necessary functions, such as playing a random track. The application has a built-in simple equalizer with a large number of presets.
A nice bonus is the online radio catalog, which includes local radio stations.
After installation, the trial is activated for 30 days, after its completion you will need to pay 99 rubles one-time. Compared to other services with monthly payment, it looks attractive!
Ways to save to a gadget
If you need to download music from VK to your iPhone, do one of two simple but proven methods:
- Copy the name of the song and paste it into the search bar in your browser. Download the ringtone by clicking on the link that appears.
- Install the SaveForm.net application for the social network. Reboot your gadget. An icon with an arrow pointing down will appear opposite the melody. Click it. The musical composition will be saved in the device memory.
If you have access to the Internet, then enjoy your favorite tunes online. Go to VKontakte, select “Audio” in the menu, turn on the desired song. Edit the list of works in the same way - delete them, look for new ones.
On a note!
First make sure that the antivirus program is running on your phone. If you download a file from an untrusted file, you may download a malicious virus, which will lead to problems with the operation of the device.
Instead of output
I've tested a lot of music streaming players over the past year, and this approach is the future! Users should not waste their time downloading new songs to their smartphone; access to the entire music library in one click is not fantastic! Sometimes it’s a shame that music files take up precious internal storage space. The cloud approach allows you to selectively cache your favorite songs without losing access to other music.
As a result, it became clear that VKontakte is not a panacea; there are services with a better approach. The introduction of a paid subscription is another reason to try something new for yourself! Social networks have lost their main advantage - they are free, which will undoubtedly affect their popularity.
How to listen to music on VK without the Internet on your computer?
So far, there is only one more or less comfortable way to save audio files from a social network on a computer. Maybe in the future craftsmen will create a special extension for the browser that will be able to download music from a social network to listen to it there, but this option is not entirely reasonable. It is much easier to download music from VK to your computer using a special extension, and then listen to it through a standard Windows application.
This is not difficult to do, you just need to follow the following instructions:
- Install Google Chrome browser from the official website.
- Launch it and go to the “Services” item, after which you need to go to the Chrome Web Store.
- In the header of the open site there will be a search line, in it you need to write “Downloading VKontakte music”.
- Install one of the suggested applications that suits you best.
It is worth choosing an application that is suitable specifically for your needs, because all developments differ in their set of functionality, and some are even paid. Each of them is good in its own way. It is also worth remembering that you need to select a directory for downloading music, otherwise the download will be carried out in the “Downloads” folder. After completing the above steps, there will be a “Download” icon next to the music status bar.
