Microsoft replaces Groove Music with a new application called Media Player on Windows 11

In early November 2021, Microsoft surprised us by announcing the implementation of Media Player, a new media player app for Insiders Windows 11 in the Dev Channel. At that time, Microsoft placed Media Player in parallel with Groove Music, another media player application that has been available on Windows platforms for a long time, and is becoming obsolete.

However, recently, the Redmond company decided to 'turn the car around', making an announcement that Media Player will completely replace Groove Music as the default media player application on Windows 11. The appearance of the application This is geared towards improving the media playback experience in Windows 11, specifically making things simpler, more intuitive, and more enjoyable.

Unlike Groove Music, this new Media Player application has an interface that closely adheres to the general design language of Windows 11. Along with a series of handy media library management features. Specifically, Media Player includes a full-featured music library that allows you to quickly browse and play music, as well as create and manage playlists, and link it directly to the Photos app. In addition, with the new interface, users will also be able to easily navigate between videos in the library and playlists, much more convenient than Groove Music. There will be dedicated video viewing modes, as well as options such as full-screen play, mini player and graphic equalizer.

To make the transition even simpler, Microsoft also said that a user's music collection in Groove Music will be automatically migrated to this new app.

In addition to music playback, Media Player has full support for browsing, managing and viewing your local video collections. Microsoft has also optimized this application for flexible accessibility, with a richer improved keyboard shortcut system.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has worked hard on updating existing system apps to match the design language of Windows 11. So far, we've seen improved versions of Paint, Photos and Clock. Therefore, Media Player can be considered as a worthwhile upgrade for Groove Music.

Samuel Daniel

Update 06 January 2022