While I like my iPods I think this trend is mostly found on YouTube, rarely irl. Maybe somewhat more popular in Japan too.
this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Technology
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It is?
I mean "its back" in the sense that demand is rising for nostalgic purposes. Not in the sense that anyone wants a new one.
Yes, but not one made by Apple.
Bring on the Zune!
Theres a metric ton of open source clones.
Also plenty of low tech Chi-fi options like Fiio/Snowsky.
Maybe I'm the weird one here, but when I look at fiio, and they are essentially smartphones (beefy Exynos or Qualcomm SoCs, running a bloated Android), minus some connectivity apps and a mobile antenna, I'd rather just use a phone, thanks. Most portable music players have this minimalistic appeal of devices that were engineered for just one single purpose and to do it well, and fiio certainly isn't having that vibe.
Yeah that's fair, I am personally leaning deeper into things like the Echo Mini or soon to be released Echo Nano from their sub brand. I think DAPs are in a weird place, and do wish there was a higher quality iPod-like solution.
Remember owning stuff?
Uh, yes? I have all the mp3s I want to listen to on my phone (and my NAS),I don't need an Ipod for that.
While you're not wrong, and at the moment I am the same, there is also something very appealing to me about decoupling music from my phone.
If you're moderately tech-inclined, its not super difficult to set up a streaming music server that you can access from anywhere. The most basic solution that almost anyone can spin up is a cheap NAS (or always-on PC), and setting up a VPN between your phone and router to access your library.
From there you can add complexity by configuring a true music server like Navidrome, adding web-facing access, erc
After typing this, I realized maybe you meant completely decoupling music from your phone, not just decoupling the storage
Yeah I have dabbled with hosted music, but I do mean "offline" device + storage. Like MP3 players of old. I have also been blursed with an interest in audio gear so it becomes a very appealing rabbit hole for me.
Navidrome serving up my 200gb library from home, via Tailscale, and all it cost me was the music that I bought* over the years. Oh, and a fiver for Symfonium on my phone. But Feishin is free on my computers.
Then I worked out how to redirect it through the VPS I use for my website, and now I have my own streaming service. It's pretty sweet.
_ *well, some of it...
That's my setup almost exactly, with the addition of Lidarr to grab new music. It's been amazingly solid, no regerts!
I might look into Lidarr. Currently, I have a folder in SymcThing that my server monitors, so any audio I drop in there automatically gets moved to my Navidrome folder. It works well enough, but is a little clunky.
Really? There’s something appealing to me about decoupling my cellular modem from my phone; I used an iPod Touch instead of a smartphone for years (with Wifi and VoIP).
At this point I have zero interest in a dedicated audio player.
And if I wanted one… my watch holds more MP3s than the original iPod did. I can just play music from my watch.
Or my graphing calculator.
Or, for that matter, my over the ear headphones which have a microSD slot.
Yeah, that's totally fair. I prefer wired listening devices and want less "smart" things in my life. At the moment my music library is about 180GB so a bit much for the smaller available offline devices, and mostly FLAC so the DAC needs to be powerful enough. Absolutely a me problem, as I mentioned in another comment my hobby rabbit hole into audio makes the full decouple very appealing to me.
Sorry but
Why would I need another iPod? My phone does everything the iPod did but better, and more. I've loaded it up with all my DRM-free MP3s from Google Play Music before that shut down, and I can watch whatever I want on it offline. Why buy what would certainly be an even more enshittifird iPhone with less features at Apple's totally sensible prices?
Does it do jack, sd card, and the ability to use it without being flooded by notifications, calls, alarms, reminders? In my case I just want to shut off the world and listen to music without having this addictive machine near me.
Yeah I specifically picked a phone with a jack and SD card slot (iPods never supported these afaik). Do Not Disturb is also an Android feature, or airplane mode like the other reply said.
You have the ability to turn on airplane mode or do not disturb, yes?
Could also buy a device and not connected it to a cellular network. I have old phones that would fill this role perfectly, actually.
Would like to have one for my car. It should have intuitive buttons, so I don't have to swipe on my phone to change to song
YES MORE PLASTIC BULLSHIT pleeeeeeaasse I need another tracking device that's already superceded by having a phone! and remember: no headphone jacks
I never had a cable subscription (that I paid for), nor have I ever subscribed to a streaming service (I had Prime for years for the shipping, not the content).
I own things, and I like it, much to the chagrin of the tech bros.
Look. We already have a little computer in our pocket. Besides Apple can go fly a kite with their DRM audio files. Just let me own my phone.
EDIT: iTunes used to sell DRM music a long time ago and then I stopped paying attention. They're DRM free now, my bad.
DRM audio files? Where? All songs that I have purchased in the past from iTunes didn’t have any drm. They where simple m4a (mp4 audio) files…
My early purchases from iTunes had DRM. Then they shifted to no DRM and offered a way to get previous purchases DRM free. I don't think i did that for a lot of songs as my older purchases still get downloaded as .m4p files.
Hey, good to know Apple's music has been DRM free for a while! I've bounced off iTunes many, many years ago.
I somewhat modernized my old 160GB iPod with this board and a larger battery that seems to last for several days between charges. Oddly, only my Windows install of iTunes detects and syncs with it properly. Any modern version of Apple Music on MacOS sees it as an iPod but tells me to reformat every time.
I find it to be absolutely essential for long trips since Apple Music on Android will automatically "manage" my downloaded songs and I can't listen to them offline anymore once airborne and flying over an ocean.
An iPod classic with Bluetooth support, SD card support, and with zero Apple input would be great.
I miss my old, stupid mp3 players…
Hiby, Shanling, Fiiio and Ibasso already make such devices. People who wanted to keep large libraries, use their favorite headphones never stopped using mp3 players/DAPs.
Eternally sad I can't sync my old iPod Classic from highschool with Apple Music. Maybe I need to go find out what replaced What.CD and work out a good storage solution once the current silliness over storage(/RAM) ends.
(On that, I bought a Samsung SATA SSD at the start of the year knowing things would get worse; lo-and-behold, three months later it's x4'd in retail price.)
iPods are still out there, and you can still buy parts to mod them. Mod a 6th gen iPod Classic with 500gb of flash storage and a new battery, and you need never worry about another music player. You can even wedge bluetooth into them now. And a USB-C connector.