Eight marvelous music players for iPhone

Apple builds the Music app right into the iPhone. It lets you browse and search your songs, create playlists, and access iTunes Match and iTunes Radio all from one, unified place. The App Store has several music app alternatives, however, that focus on different features or simply offer different takes. Whether you want more playlist options, social integration, or a safer option while driving, there are a lot of other apps to choose from.

If you're still looking for a Music app, here are some of our favorites. And when you choose — or if you've already chosen — let us know which one you went with in the poll!

1. Ecoute

Ecoute gives you the ability to shuffle albums, adding songs easily to up next, auto night mode. It also offers lyric support, AirPlay, and iTunes Match, and keeps all your metadata in sync, including play counts.

2. Groove

Groove focuses on playlists. It keeps track of your listening habits and learns to build you better playlists. Groove also lets you connect with friends, integrates with Last.fm, and has intuitive gestures for things like volume and playback controls.

3. Stringer

With Stringer you listen to music on shuffle but pull songs onto your "string" and change things up as often as you'd like without going back to the beginning. You can even save your strings for later and build up unique collections over time.

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4. Songbucket

Songbucket provides lets you easily make and manipulate track lists. It offers unique and interesting ways to view your tracks and intuitive gestures for searching, zooming into and out of albums, and playing your music.

5. Muzik

Muzik embraces Microsoft's modern interface style, offering alphabetical tiles to get to your favorite music, sort by audio type, and customize your home menu with your favorite tracks in just a few taps.

6. Musio

Musio has the same general look and feel as Apple's Music app but lets you queue and control your songs with gestures. Swipe to add, swipe to remove.

7. TapTunes

TapTunes is elegant but powerful, with advanced options that are available but not overwhelming. There are five different displays to choose from and controls that are never more than a tap, swipe, pinch, or shake away.

8. Listen

Listen offers complete gesture controls that let you skim through your music collection without ever having to actually look at the screen. That makes it idea for any time your iPhone is in your pocket or your eyes need to be elsewhere.

9. Your favorite?

If you're new to music apps on the iPhone, one of the above apps should absolutely suit your needs. Read them through, pick the ones that interest you most, try them out, and tell us which one you end up liking the best. If you've already found your favorite mail app, let me know which one it is!