MusicSearch

All Features

Feature Matrix

This represents whether a feature is available (✅) on a platform, planned (⬜), or not supported (❌). Some ✅ features are still work-in-progress, and their progress are tracked under their respective sections. Inspired by Spotless’ feature matrix.

Feature Android Desktop iOS
Browse
Collections
Export
Images
Graph
Local Database
MusicBrainz Login
Pixel Now Playing History
Search MusicBrainz
Spotify Playing History ⬜️ ⬜️
Swipe to Refresh
Up navigation from subtitle
Wikipedia Extract

Browse

The following table shows all resources you can browse for in an entity’s details screen. It was derived from https://wiki.musicbrainz.org/MusicBrainz_API#Browse.

Given an entity, when you click on them from anywhere in the app, you will land on their details page. In separate tabs, you can see all related entities listed under browsing supported. e.g. On an artist’s page, you can see their events, recordings, releases, release groups, and works.

Entity Browsing supported Browsing not yet supported Unsupported
area artists, events, labels, places, releases collections recordings, works
artist events, recordings, releases, release groups, works collections  
collection areas, artists, events, instruments, labels, places, recordings, releases, release groups, series, works    
event   collections  
instrument   collections  
label releases collections  
place events collections  
recording releases collections artists
release artists collections labels, recordings, release groups
release group releases collections artists
series   collections  
work artists, recordings collections  

Collections

Your personal list of entities.

From an entity’s details screen, tap More (vertical ellipsis) show a bottom sheet of collections that you can add it to. You also have the option to create a new collection from this bottom sheet. If it is already in a collection, a checkmark will appear next to that collection.

The Collections screen shows all of your collections. Local collections only exists on your device and will not be synced to MusicBrainz’s server. Remote collections are synced to MusicBrainz’s server as long as you are logged in.

New local collections can be created but will only exist locally because there isn’t an API to create new collections yet.

Tapping a list item’s icon or long-pressing the item will select it. From the More menu item, you can delete all selected items. Be careful with remote collections, as it will delete the item from your collection in MusicBrainz. You are given a brief period of time to undo your deletion. Once up, or if you leave the screen, the items will be deleted from your collection for good.

A collection can only store one type of entity. See below for the supported types of collections.

Entity Supported
area
artist
collection
event
instrument
label
place
recording
release
release group
series
work

Export

Exporting the app’s database as a sqlite database is supported.

You will need to use a tool such as SQLite’s CLI to interact with it.

Images

Entity Supported Source
area ⬜️ wikidata?
artist Spotify
collection ⬜️  
event ✅️ Event Art Archive
instrument  
label ⬜️ wikidata?
place  
recording  
release Cover Art Archive
release group Cover Art Archive
series  
work  

Graph

Artist/recording graph showing which artists and recordings a given artist collaborated with and on. This is currently limited to artists credited on the recording, which are primarily performers.

Inspired by Obsidian’s graph view.

Local Database

Browse all entities that have been cached locally in the app’s database while you were searching.

Browse local database images

All images that you’ve come across are stored in the app’s local database. This feature allows you to browse them in a grid. You can filter and sort based on a few metadata such as its type (e.g. Front, Spine, Back), comment, and the linked entity’s name.

MusicBrainz Login

From the app’s settings, you can login to your MusicBrianz account. This allows the app to fetch and display all of your collections.

Search MusicBrainz

Entity Supported
area
artist
collection
event
instrument
label
place
recording
release
release group
series
work

Spotify Playing History

You must enable “Device Broadcast Status” from Spotify’s settings to allow this app to receive broadcasts from Spotify. Afterwards, with both Spotify and MusicSearch open, your listening history will be recorded, allowing you to search for recently played tracks’ artists, albums (release groups), and tracks (recordings) in MusicBrianz.

Swipe to Refresh

TODO: screenshot of details screen TODO: screenshot of list screen

Entity Details List Screen
area
artist
collection
event ✅️
instrument
label ✅️
place
recording
release
release group ✅️
series
work

Up navigation from subtitle

TODO: Insert an image/gif of a release with multiple artist credits

From the subtitle of the following screens, you can navigate “up” without having visited them first.

Wikipedia extract

Displays a Wikipedia excerpt of the entity along with a link to deep link into Wikipedia to read more. This depends on the existence of a Wikidata link. If an entity is missing one, consider adding it to MusicBrainz, and/or to Wikidata.

At the moment, we always get the English Wikipedia article’s extract.

Entity Details
area ✅️
artist
event ✅️
instrument
label ✅️
place
recording
release
release group
series
work