So a while back I wrote an article about how bad Windows Media Player Mobile stunk. I set out to find a replacement media app and found Mobile Media Center. The other day I began thinking, if there are a lot of people like me, than most of them will just stick with Windows Media Mobile until it gets better. So this prompted me to find a way to make it more tolerable.
Windows Media Player Mobile Problem
The biggest problem first and foremost was that the buttons were all way to small. When designed the intention was to use a thin stylist not a fat finger. So I guess I can be honest and say it really lacked the type of touch support we expect in devices today. There, you Apple nerds can be happy! What had dawned on me is Microsoft made Windows Media Player on the desktop “skinable” so maybe the did the same thing for Media Player Mobile.
WHAM!! Hit the nail right on the head. There are a ton of people trying to do the same thing. I hit a few websites that had created mobile skins but I will save you the trouble and just say they didn’t work. But just when I had given up hope I stumbled across one created by an XDA developer. They are given the skin away for free and if you’re a member of the site you can download it here. What a difference. Just take a look below at the nice black transition and the bigger buttons. The player already supports sliding across the screen to change tracks. So bigger finger friendly buttons makes a huge difference. Also if you notice they added a shuffle and repeat button instead of having to hit the menu first.
Even the library looks better.
To install the new skin it is a very simple process. Just copy the downloaded folder to the program files/Windows Media Player Directory
After that just simply go back to the player and click Menu|Options
Under the options window choose the “Skins” tab.
From there just use the Previous or Next buttons to choose your new Skin.
So if you have a problem with wholesale change this may be a better option for using Windows Media Mobile.
