To get lyrics and other information, users must click on a link and go to their web browser. However, one change that is not an improvement is the song info tool. Still, no matter what the appearance, ClementineвЂ™s sidebar goes one better than Amarok by adding a file manager to the tool collection. This sidebar has several options, although the most legible, the plain toolbar, is not the default. All of Amarok's most useful tools are still available, but just rearranged more convenientlyДЇigure 3: The cover manager adds an extra touch to listening to music with Clementine.Д¬lementine has improved the interface by putting all the main features, from accessing the local library to streaming services, on a sidebar on the left. Beside the artistвЂ™s name and the track title, the album cover is displayed if you have used Tools | Cover Manager to search for it (Figure 3). Similarly, the artist and track title remain on the bottom left, instead of just flashing for a moment when the track changes, as happens in Amarok. Little-used context, such as tours by the current artist, is no longer available at all, although few users are likely to miss the omissions. Some of the context information is moved to the left-hand sidebar. Sensibly, Clementine does away with this awkward arrangement (Figure 2).

That placement meant that tracks had to be dragged from the left-hand pane across the context pane to the playlist in the right-hand pane. The InterfaceДЄmarokвЂ™s best-known - if not most notorious вЂ“ quirk is the default placement of the context pane, which displayed lyrics and other information about the current track, in the middle of the window (Figure 1). As a result, the transition was as painless as could reasonably be expected. In fact, except for a few rough edges, Clementine is an improvement over Amarok, with a more traditional arrangement of features, and, often, better performance. For all my grumbling, I had to admit that the transition was smooth. Under these circumstances, Clementine is an obvious replacement. The last release was 20 months ago, and people are asking if it is still an active project. Amarok development has slowed as the project struggles to produce a version for Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5.

Over the years, IвЂ™d become used to Amarok, and seeing it vanish without a warning was disquieting.

Since I have used Amarok as my music player for the better part of the decade, I was annoyed, to say the least. When I upgraded to Debian 10 a few months ago, I discovered that Clementine had replaced Amarok without asking me.

Clementine music player no lyrics