A friend of mine has a daughter who is too young for a smart phone, but he still wants her to be able to listen to music on the go. I found the following devices using spotify. Have you used any of these or do you have any alternative suggestions?
https://www.tunepat.com/spotify-music-tips/portable-spotify-music-player.html
Edit: found what I was looking for. https://bemighty.com/
https://www.crowdsupply.com/cool-tech-zone/tangara
If you want a modern iPod literally.
Audio nerds have a niche for this, they think (usually incorrectly) that they get better sound quality from dedicated digital media devices than from their phone with a $8 dongle.
But this is good news for you because it means people still make these things! Another commented mentioned Fiio, which is good. You might want to browse around AliExpress, as you will likely find many that are very reasonably priced.
I don't have experience with those, but I'd go with non-streaming media, let her pick albums and listen to them after downloading, helps my media consumption.
Sony has a few
https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders/c/walkman-mp3-players?srsltid=AfmBOoqclCc7Q2ne0PQqXUogxq6Lmea_cGlmVmQHGwOUkbfewoEJV8Lg
Fiio is a company that makes these smart music players. Might want to check them out.
