Mixtapes used to be a way that we cultivated a personal selection of music for our own enjoyment, or to give as gifts to those we wanted to impress with a personal touch. These days, we’d typically try that with a playlist, but it’s less romantic despite also being more ephemeral. Songs fall off streaming services all the time, and few of us have the exact same subscriptions as those we’re trying to flirt with. Thus, [Hunter Irving] whipped up a more lasting solution for this modern age.
The concept is simple—it’s a collection of songs that are packaged together in a easily portable format that won’t disappear because of corporate bureaucratic nonsense. [Hunter] has termed their project Mixapps—because it’s a method of sharing music based around Progressive Web Apps (PWA). To create a custom mix, you start by running a Python script, which will then let you add tracks and reorder them as you desire. From there, you run a second script that builds the web app for you.
You can then upload the prepared app directory to a web host to share it with anyone you like. They can then save the PWA to the home screen of their mobile device, where it will live happily ever after. There’s no need to keep hosting the app online or for the user to remain connected to the Internet; everything is self contained on their device. If you’re curious, there’s a demo you can check out online.
It’s worth noting that there are intellectual property concerns to be had as with any form of music sharing, but what else is new? We’ve explored the magic of mixtapes in the past, anyway, to be sure. If you’re finding new ways to trade music and playlists, romantically or platonically, don’t hesitate to let us know.
