I turned my old Samsung Galaxy into a dedicated offline music server and it outperforms my streaming setup

I have repurposed my old Samsung Galaxy phone as an offline music server, which now outperforms my previous streaming setup. My collection resides on the phone, accessible from other devices within the same local network. Utilizing BubbleUPnP, I transformed the phone into a dedicated offline music server, handling file serving, playback, and playback control.

BubbleUPnP's DLNA media server feature made my music collection available to compatible devices, with no need for a Linux environment or terminal commands. The music files, residing on the Galaxy, were easily browsable by artist, album, and folder, with options for playlists and a playback queue. Proper tagging of albums and artists ensured a tidy browsing experience.

After installation, I granted BubbleUPnP access to my music and confirmed its appearance in the app's local library. Remote browsing, enabled in BubbleUPnP's settings, allowed other devices on the same Wi-Fi network to access the phone's music library. To ensure optimal performance, I added BubbleUPnP to Samsung's background restrictions, preventing it from sleeping when not in use.

For more advanced features, such as a browser interface, playlist management, and user accounts, I considered Navidrome. However, setting up Navidrome on Android involved more technical steps, including using Termux, configuring music and data directories, and ensuring the server runs in the background. Despite this, BubbleUPnP proved to be a straightforward and effective solution for sharing my music collection.