DoubleTwist Android app: Don't get your tunes in a twist

DoubleTwist, the desktop music manager software, has launched a new music player app for Android phones.

The app currently doesn't do much more than the built-in music player in Android, except for adding video playback and putting podcasts in their own category. It synchronises your tunage, podcasts and video with your desktop PC too, and keeps your iTunes playlists, ratings and play counts intact.

The app lacks a widget, so you can't control your music right from your home screen, and we'd also like to see it add features such as landscape view. But the developers promise a widget and more features are coming soon.

We've loved DoubleTwist since it first came out swinging as an iTunes killer for all our mobile devices. Then Google started pushing it as the must-have music manager for the Google Nexus One, since as well as music, it handles video conversion automatically. This means you can transfer the confusing array of video file types to your phone more easily. It even has a front end for the Android app store, so you can browse apps on your computer rather than just on your phone.

DoubleTwist isn't just for Android, either, it can also sync BlackBerry phones, iPhones, PSPs and plenty more. 

But for the love of Pete, get on the Android market right now -- or use your phone's barcode scanner to scan the handy QR code we've provided -- and download the DoubleTwist app, because it's free for a limited time only. We're pretty sure that even if you don't want it now, you will, so get it while the getting's good.

One note: HTC Hero owners may struggle, because we weren't able to find the app in the Android Market with our test phone, which may be down to its older 1.5 version of Android. We had no trouble installing it on phones with more recent Android versions, such as the Nexus One and the Motorola Milestone.