Free Ape Player

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on February 16, 2010

APE is a file format that allows the compression of audio files without the loss of quality that comes with formats like MP3. Free Ape Player is an extremely basic media player that allows users to play both MP3 and APE files. It doesn't have much in the way of features, but if you need a simple way to play APE files, which can't always be handled by the average media player, it's a good choice.

The program's interface is quite basic, with the typical media player controls. The player's screen is split in two; on the left, a large numerical display shows the timestamp as the song plays, while on the right users can view the song's audio spectrum in three different styles. That's really the extent of what the program does. There's no Help file and no other features, and it doesn't appear that the program is even capable of playing more than one song at a time. There's no way to create playlists or, as far as we can tell, have the program play a directory of songs. The program is lightweight and easy to operate, and it does a fine job of playing both MP3s and APE files, but that's really all we can say for it. Users who require even basic non-essential features from an audio player will find that Free Ape Player is not going to meet their needs.

Free Ape Player is free. The program installs and uninstalls without issues. We recommend this program to all users who need a very basic way to play APE files.