How to play a whole album or folder on Android without making a playlist
Short answer: Use a player that treats albums, artists and folders as things you can play directly. In such a player one tap on an album starts the whole album, and one tap on a folder plays everything in it. You only need playlists for mixes you build yourself.
Why some players force playlists
Some players only queue what is in a playlist or a single song. Reviews of retro-style players often say it plainly: "it doesn't let you simply pick an artist or album to play" and "creating a playlist is a tedious process".
What to look for
- Separate Albums, Artists and Folders views.
- Tapping a row plays it, not just opens a detail page.
- Tapping a song in a list keeps playing the rest of that list.
- A shuffle-all button for the whole library.
Folders vs. tags
Albums and artists come from each file's tags. If your files have missing or messy tags, the Folders view is the most reliable way to play music the way you copied it onto the phone.
In SunTape
SunTape has Songs, Albums, Artists and Folders tabs. Every row plays in one tap, and there is a shuffle-all button. It works offline with the files already on your phone.