Linux Format

Tomahawk

Version: Web: www.tomahawk-player.org

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There are so many media players available for Linux that you have to wonder what features can still be missing. Tomahawk’s developers think they know and are creating a social media player.

Tomahawk is a modern Qt 5 applicatio­n with some dependenci­es from KDE Frameworks 5 and vlc-noX under the hood. The idea of the player is to seamlessly integrate different sources of music into one solid media manager. For that reason, Tomahawk is shipped with dozens of plugins, which extend the scope of music you can import. As you would expect, you can connect to Spotify, SoundCloud, Last.fm, Grooveshar­k, Jamendo, Subsonic, Beats Music and other lesser-known services, but also to cloud storage like OwnCloud and Google Play Music; and play music from other Tomahawk users. This means you can stream shared content either from local buddies in your LAN, or remotely via XMPP (Jabber). These plugins provide a unique experience: one in which it’s almost impossible to tell local from streamed content.

When you first launch Tomahawk, you're greeted with a setup window, from which you can enable the desired plugins from the first tab, select your local music folder from the second, and change port forwarding and proxy settings from the third.

The Tomahawk interface sits somewhere between an email client and a tweaked version of iTunes. The Discover section of the sidebar provides social options, showing you your feed and tracks your buddies have shared with you, and letting you share tracks with them in return (you're supposed to put your suggestion­s in the queue).

Locally stored music lives just below this, in the Your Music section, where you can surf your collection and add tracks to playlists.

The topmost bar of the player is used for navigating and searching for tracks, while the lower area displays classic control toolbar showing you what's playing now and providing common playback control buttons and volume controls.

“Seamlessly integrate different sources of music into one collection.”

 ??  ?? Tomahawk lets you browse a bewilderin­g range of music sources to find your favourite tunes or discover new ones.
Tomahawk lets you browse a bewilderin­g range of music sources to find your favourite tunes or discover new ones.

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