This isn't ever going to be an app with mass appeal, though there are certainly enough users of the Discogs platform out there. If you're not familiar, Discogs is a resource for music collectors to not only catalog their collections but to also seek out those precious records they're on the hunt for. There's a want list, a marketplace, and basically every album you could probably ever think of.
It has a large community and it's the community that helps keep it up to date. On iOS and Android, there are, predictably, official apps. But on a whim, I decided to check the Windows 10 Store and that's when I came across Disko.
There are a couple of important things to point out right away. The first is that yes, this is a UWP app and it runs on both PC and phone. The second is that it's a very early release, and you're told of this in the Store listing so it's not really something to miss. Essentially, the developer has put it out as is right now to test the core functionality.
The core experience is basically what you get. The biggest omission thus far is access to the marketplace. So, while you can add titles to your want list, you won't be able to buy them within Disko right now. But, since you're signed in to your Discogs account anyway, you'll still get notifications elsewhere when items on your list come up for sale.
The user interface is minimal, and it looks nicer scaled down on a phone, but it's easy to use nonetheless. And what I particularly like is that once you're signed in to your Discogs account in Disko it starts roaming, meaning you'll automatically be signed in on any other Windows 10 devices you install it on that are linked to your Microsoft account. For such an early version of this app, it's a nice touch.
You've got a collapsible menu on the left that besides settings and a quick look at your profile has options for search, your collection, and your want list. And again, anything you have set up in Discogs will sync to Disko. So if you've got categories set up to manage your collection, you'll find them in here too. What you can't see in Disko yet are the handy figures Discogs can give you to tell you how much your collection might be worth.
It might be basic right now but it's a nice start and for Discogs users, particularly those on a Windows phone, it's great to have an app available to help us interact with the service. Inside the app, you have the option to donate to the developer, so if you like what you see and want to help support any future developments you can.
Once again, where the official sources don't seem interested the Windows developer community comes up with the goods.
