When I was going into my freshman year of high school, I had an Android. I was the odd one out with my family because we were what people knew as an “Apple family:" families who exclusively bought Apple products.
I was given an Apple iPad when I was a freshman for schooling purposes, obviously. While I did notice that the iPad was faster, it seemed so much harder to find applications or functions I was interested in. I was tech savvy and knew that Androids had an easier time getting modifications and hacks onto the phone. I downloaded gaming emulators, virtual assistants that compared to Siri, and anything else that was state of the art.
This led me to music downloading apps. Since Android was using mp3 files to store the user’s songs at the time, I was able to download any song from the internet as long as I had the link to the video/sound file. This was one of the main reasons I held onto my Android for so long.
However, I did have one problem. The phone I was using broke extremely easily. While I did have insurance on every phone I got, I decided after the fourth one (yeah, I know I’m stupid) to switch over to the iPhone at the suggestion of my family.
At the time, the iPhone 5 had just been released and what I did really like about it was that with my mobile company, they were allowing it to have 4G LTE coverage. This meant faster loading time when I was online. I thought the faster and slicker design of the iPhone would be a good trade for the emulators and media downloading applications I had on my Android.
My first few weeks with the phone felt normal. I was happy the phone was fast and user-friendly. However, I tried to get music via iTunes and I just was not happy with it. Songs were overpriced, and I couldn’t find a great deal of artists I found on SoundCloud or TouTube. I tried getting SoundCloud, but it was eating through my data like my brother eats through Thanksgiving.
After SoundCloud, I decided to use Spotify. I was able to download songs, but it cost a monthly subscription and I did not have much money. I eventually found myself using my brother’s iTunes to listen to the music he had bought like the freeloader I was in high school.
I needed to find a way. I didn’t have time to download the ten albums/playlists onto my computer and put them on my phone, nor did I even have them on my computer (I had them uploaded to my Google Drive).
After I thought I had lost, I decided to just try my luck at the App Store. I searched “YouTube music download.” Most apps didn’t seem like anything I was looking for. But one caught my eye. “Itube.” It seemed generic, but the description said, “Download YouTube videos” on it. I was skeptical, but I was also desperate.
I downloaded the app and opened it up. It had a search bar and multiple functions seemed generic. But when I searched, “Night Visions Imagine Dragons," an option that said "Download" came up. SUCCESS. I downloaded the album that I found, and before I listened to it, I checked how much data I had. After playing the album, I checked the data again, and to my surprise, it didn’t go up. Not an MB. After this, I downloaded all the albums and songs I wanted and was finally at peace.
However, this peace would not last. After about four to five months, I found that the application stopped working. I checked for an update, but the application was no longer on the App Store...sort of. It was there but had a different name.
It was the same name but was spelled "iTube". Sneaky I know. The logo was the same and the description was the same, only it didn’t have any mention of the downloading of songs. I thought that maybe Apple saw this app and shut it down because it was hurting both their store and other music service apps.
It made sense, but when I looked through the pictures, I noticed something. The download symbol that appeared when I playing a song was still there. I downloaded this application and did exactly as last time. Low and behold, the app worked identically to its predecessor. Literally, all they did was change their name on the App Store to throw Apple off.
This, however, did not last either (you might be seeing a pattern). I ended up finding yet another application called “Tubify.” It has the same function except with a different interface and a bit glitchier. This is the app I had been using until I deleted it and I will explain why.
iOS 11 was a huge update for iPhone. I’m not going to go into the details, but it completely changed how iOS functions. I don’t know exactly how but iOS 11 made my application Tubify unusable. I could open the app, just not do anything with it. It seems that iOS 11 only allows certified applications to use media functions like play music. At this point, the app was just taking up space, so I deleted it along with ten hours worth of songs. I had nothing I could do. Apple had my number. Check-Mate.
After accepting that I needed to move on to new platforms, I decided to get YouTube Music. It had all the features that Tubify had...for $12 a month. Looks like I’m going to have to pay after all. But hey. Five years of free music--that is a pretty long trial membership.
