6 best Xbox One background audio apps

Background audio is one of the best Xbox One features recently rolled out, allowing gamers to listen to their favorite songs while playing the latest Xbox One games. All you need to do to is launch an app supporting Xbox background audio, start playing your favorite music, and then hit the Home button to resume your game.

The next question is: which apps support background music? For the time being, there are only a handful of apps that support Xbox One background audio, but Microsoft promises more will soon follow.

Xbox One background audio apps

Groove Music

You need to install the latest version of Groove Music to be able to use the Xbox One background music feature. Go to the main dashboard screen and click on Games & Apps. Then select the Apps tab, click on Groove with the view key on your controller, and install the update.

With Groove Music you can stream and download millions and millions of songs. Choose the perfect playlist for every game genre from Groove curated or make your own. You can also add your MP3 tracks to OneDrive, and then listen to your favorite songs on the Xbox One.

You can download Groove Music for free from the Windows Store.

Pandora

Pandora is one of the most popular streaming services, offering millions of songs from thousands of artists. Thanks to a recent update, the Pandora app now supports Xbox One background music. Play your favorite tracks in the background, while heading to the first position in leader boards. The only disadvantage of Pandora is its availability limit: you can use in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

You can download Pandora for free from the Windows Store.

Simple Background Music Player

The Simple Background Music Player allows you to play tracks stored on a USB-connected external device. It can’t get easier than this: all you need to do is transfer the tracks on the stick, plug it in to your Xbox One, launch the app, and hit the play button.

This app supports MP3, M4A, MP4, FLAC and WMA music file formats. The only disadvantage is that it can only play 200 songs at a time.

You can download Simple Background Music Player for free from the Windows Store.

Spoticast for Spotify

Spoticast brings Spotify on your Xbox One, allowing you to enjoy your favorite tracks while sweeping your enemies. The app relies on YouTube to stream music and allows you to access your Spotify playlists.

Other features include:

• No need for Premium Spotify account
• Create and manage your Spotify playlists
• Customize the search filter: live, acoustic, remix, covers
• No subscription : buy it once and enjoy it forever on all your devices.

You can buy Spoticast for Spotify from the Windows Store for $4.99.

Cast app

The Cast app allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts on your Xbox One. With this app, you can handle your podcasts in one place and synchronize them over your Windows devices.

1. Go to the Xbox Store
2. Type Cast App to locate the app. If you can’t find it, check to see if you have the option Apps selected in the drop-down menu.
3. Download the app
4. Browse through for your favorite podcasts and start listening.

VLC

This app doesn’t currently support Xbox One background music, but Microsoft promises it will in the near future – this is why we included it on our list. VLC is a feature-rich app that supports a wide range of audio and video file formats. According to the tech giant, VLC will be launching on Xbox One in a few months, which means that most likely it will support Xbox One background music by the end of the year.

You can download VLC for free from the Windows Store.

As stated in the beginning of this article, more apps supporting Xbox One background audio will soon be available, including iHeartRadio and MyTube. No information is available as to when these apps will support Xbox One background music, but we’ll update this article as soon as more details emerge.

Have you tried out the Xbox One background audio feature? Tell us more about your experience in the comment section below.

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