Personal shared playback

Synchronization of a group of mobile devices so that each mobile device substantially simultaneously and synchronously plays a selected piece of content (e.g., a compressed music file). Implementations can selectively allow mobile devices to transfer content and control information via a wireless connection such as a Bluetooth connection. Via this data transfer, each mobile device can be synchronized with respect to content to be played and the timing of the playback. Each of the users of the group of mobile devices can have a personal experience (i.e., experiencing the playback without disturbing people that are not part of the group), but at the same time share the experience with the other users of the group. For example, users can experience a musical performance in a public place that no one but themselves can hear.