Discogs app for Android is out
Music tracking, collection and marketplace Discogs released the official Android application on the Google Play store just a moment ago.
The new app comes months after the release of the Discog iOS application. While late to the party -- there are several third-party Discogs applications out there already -- it brings along with it a major feature set.
While you cannot expect all features offered on Discogs supported by the application, many major features are.
Please note that you need to register a Discogs account before you can start using the application. Registration works from within the app, but you need to confirm the account by clicking on a link in an email sent to you.
Discogs for Android
Existing users will notice that their collection, want list and other lists are available on Android automatically. New users will stare at blank pages for the most part though.
If you tap on Collection for instance, you will get "there are no collection items here". All you can do is tap on the menu icon and select search to use it to find items to add to the collection. It would have been better if the search would be listed right on the page, and not hidden in the menu as it would improve the usability for new users.
You may search for artists, band names, album names and other information you have, or use the barcode scanner to scan codes if available.
You may get a lot of results depending on what you enter as a search term. Each result is listed with the artist and band name, year of publication, and a cover photo.
Additional information is displayed to you when you select an entry. You get a tracklist for the selected version, and may display all versions known on Discogs as well if it is not the right one.
Each result is listed with information about the record company, type (LP, tape, CD), and location it was published in.
The Discogs application may display links to YouTube videos once you have opened an album using the application. Those are unfortunately not opened directly in the app but redirected to one of the installed apps capable of playing YouTube videos.
Discogs users with Spotify may tap on any song to play it using the service.
Marketplace and Wantlist
Another tap on a result lists price suggestions if available, Discogs users who offer the item for sale and for how much, and a sales history detailing lowest, average and highest price fetched for that particular record.
You may tap on a seller for detailed information. First, information about the price, condition of the media and sleeve, and comments are displayed.
Discogs displays the seller rating, accepted payment methods, and an option to add the item to the cart.
So, what you can do is search for an album you are interested in, and check out the offers on the marketplace.
The Wantlist on the other hand lists music that you want but don't have yet in your collection. Discogs tracks these records for you and will notify you if they become available on the marketplace.
Other features and future
If you prefer Vinyl over CDs or digital files you may find the integrated Vinylhub handy. It is a map that lists vinyl record stores anywhere in the world.
A couple of things are still missing or nice to haves but not yet implemented. This includes searching by images -- you can only search by text or barcode currently --, improving the Discogs inbox experience, integrating the checkout experience completely, and adding push notifications for the wantlist.
Closing Words
Discogs - Catalog & Collect is a well designed application for Android. While it would benefit from a little bit of polish here and there, it works quite well already for the most part.
The app is great for having your collection at the ready when you are on the go, or for quickly checking pricing information before you buy or sell records.
