ALSong

Editors' ReviewDownload.com staffFebruary 21, 2024ALSong is an innovative music player that lets users view lyrics to thousands of songs as they play. Although the program's design could be better, its unique features still make it worthwhile.ALSong's interface is fairly intuitive (it's set up much as any media player is), but we didn't love that several of its features open in different modules. The media player opens in one window, the playlist in another, the lyrics viewer in yet another--things get cluttered pretty quickly. We were also irritated by the small text used throughout the program; anyone whose vision isn't what it used to be is likely going to have a hard time with it. At least the tiny buttons are all equipped with mouse-over tool-tips so you can see what the not-entirely-obvious icons mean. Although the interface made us a little grouchy, we thought the program's main feature--its lyrics viewer-- was pretty cool. The program connects to a database that contains, according to the publisher, over a million songs, and the program automatically finds and displays them when you play an MP3. If lyrics aren't listed for a particular song, users can submit them to the database themselves. The program's built-in Help file is thorough and contains plenty of screenshots. Overall, we liked ALSong for its features, but its interface could use some improvement.ALSong is free. The program installs politely but leaves a folder behind upon removal. We recommend this program to all users.