MiniPlayer 2.1 is a beautiful update to a great jailbreak tweak

By Jeff Benjamin on May 10, 2013

You know how they say some things get better over time? Wine falls squarely into that category. MiniPlayer does too. The upcoming 2.1 version, which is being submitted to Cydia’s BigBoss repo today, is a more refined experience than its predecessors.

The first version of MiniPlayer had potential, but left a lot to be desired in the avenue of designed. Now that Surenix has stepped on board with the project to help out with its design, the tweak has come into its own.

Music controls have always been a part of a crowded market in Cydia, so it takes a lot to make any particular tweak stand out in this space. I’m happy to report that not only does MiniPlayer stand out with its latest 2.1 update, it shines. Check out our full video walkthrough of the latest version of MiniPlayer right after the break. Read More

 

Spotify is now compatible with Ford’s SYNC AppLink vehicles

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 2, 2013

We love Spotify here at iDB as much as the next guy. Personally speaking, I rarely buy music files these days from iTunes and instead choose to pay ten bucks a month to stream my music. And with approximately twenty million songs available for streaming, Spotify pretty much has me covered.

With today’s update, the popular Swedish music startup has become more useful, especially should you happen to listen to music while driving (who doesn’t?) and own a Ford vehicle supporting the company’s SYNC AppLink solution. Just like BMW’s ConnectedDrive Apps platform, the AppLink platform from Ford allows iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices to run approved applications using the car’s steering wheel buttons, radio or voice commands… Read More

 

Spotify could rival Netflix with own video service and original content

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 25, 2013

Spotify, which recently updated its iOS client with a brand new biography feature in the artists view, is reportedly considering getting into video with a rumored streaming product meant to take on the likes of Netflix and HBO. Conveniently enough, the Swedish startup has kicked off its first-ever advertising blitz around music as it steps up efforts to sign up more people to its service.

Spotify battles Pandora and Rdio (and quite possibly Apple and Google soon) and has emerged as the most popular streaming music service out there. It offers two basic tiers that bring the best of both worlds, an ad-supported free desktop streaming and a $9.99 a month premium tier for unlimited ad-free music.

Though the firm does have lots of experience negotiating media deals and moving chunks of data through Intertubes, a full-blown video streaming service would be an entirely different pair of shoes, one marking a radical shift in strategy for the young company… Read More

 

Spotify 0.6.1 update brings images and biographies to artist view

By Jeff Benjamin on Mar 21, 2013

Less than one month after its awesome 0.6.0 update, which brought along a brand new app interface, Spotify has been updated again. Version 0.6.1 adds a brand new biography feature to the artists view. Now you can see a photo of your favorite band, along with a link to a written biography.

This brings the iPhone version of Spotify closer in line with the desktop version, which has had images and biographies since its inception. The 0.6.1 update also brings a new bug fix. Check inside for more details. Read More

 

Spotify redoes iOS app, squashes Lock screen bug

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 27, 2013

Not to be outdone by Amazon’s new Cloud Player app and Apple’s roll-out of iTunes in the Cloud in a dozen European markets, Spotify, the popular Swedish music streaming startup, has revamped its iPhone and iPad client with a brand new interface and a handful of fixes, most notably squashing the annoying bug (no, not that one) which displayed the wrong track on the Lock screen… Read More

 

Spotify and record labels in talks over free streaming on mobile devices

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 20, 2013

I get literally 90+ percent of my digital music through Spotify. Just ten bucks a month buys me unlimited, high-quality, ad-free streaming. Apple’s à la carte iTunes downloads just don’t stand a chance. But Spotify isn’t the juggernaut of Apple’s calibre so no wonder record labels have limited free streaming to computers and notebooks. That could change now as the Swedish startup is reportedly in talks with content owners over extending free streaming to smartphones and tablets like iPads and iPhones… Read More

 

AssistantLove receives an iOS 6 update

By Jeff Benjamin on Feb 18, 2013

One of my favorite jailbreak tweaks, AssistantLove, just received an update for iOS 6 compatibility. AssistantLove was featured in our top jailbreak tweaks of 2012 list, and would have been added to my “perfect iPhone” feature, if it had iOS 6 compatibility at the time.

If you’re a Spotify user like I am, then you will really appreciate what AssistantLove brings to the table. Along with allowing you to integrate GPS apps with Siri, and launch apps using shortcut names, AssistantLove meshes Siri with Spotify. This means that you pretty much search for any song or artist you can think of using your voice. Read More

 

Browser-based Spotify music player in beta rolling out today

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 15, 2012

I’ve always loved iTunes, but I must admit that nearly all of my music discovery, purchasing and sharing is on Spotify these days. Why pay ten bucks for a whole album when Spotify provides unlimited access to its 20+ million-strong catalogue for $9.99 a month?

Spotify subscribers have enjoyed both the official desktop and iOS apps, the latter recently updated with support for the iPhone 5. Word on the street is that Spotify is due to launch a beta of its upcoming browser-based music player later today.

The web application will allow people to access and stream their cloud music from supposedly any device with an HTML5-compliant browser, like Safari on iOS and OS X… Read More

 

Spotify app finally receives update for iPhone 5

By Cody Lee on Nov 6, 2012

Spotify users rejoice, the cloud-based music service has finally pushed out an update to its iOS app that makes it compatible with the iPhone 5′s new 4-inch display. The company has taken a lot of heat from its subscribers over the past several weeks, as it was the last out of the big three music-streamers (Pandora and Rdio) to optimize its app for Apple’s new handset… Read More

 

Microsoft to launch new Xbox Music service, iOS app in the works

By Cody Lee on Oct 15, 2012

Microsoft announced Sunday evening that it was going to be launching its new streaming music service, Xbox Music, in the coming weeks. The move will pit Microsoft directly against Spotify, RDIO, and even iTunes.

Xbox Music will debut on — what else — the Xbox, and then roll out to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices as they become available later this month. Microsoft says it’s also working on iOS and Android clients… Read More

 

WSJ: Apple working on Pandora-like music streaming service [updated]

By Cody Lee on Sep 6, 2012

As next week’s iPhone event draws nearer, and rumors of an October gig continue to swirl, the tech world is scrambling to figure out what Apple will announce. We know new hardware is on the menu, but what about software?

Obviously iOS 6 is about to launch, and we continue to hear talk of an iTunes refresh. But according to a new report, Apple has something else up its sleeve: a custom-radio service, similar to Pandora, that will stream music… Read More

 

Spotify app updated with new Pandora-like radio feature

By Cody Lee on Jun 19, 2012

Spotify, the popular Swedish music streaming startup, has released an update for its iOS app today that includes a killer new Pandora-like radio feature.

Users will be able to create radio stations based on genre, artists or track-style, and can further customize them via a thumbs up/down ratings system… Read More

 

Music Widget: an upcoming Dashboard X music interface

By Jeff Benjamin on May 23, 2012

One of the wonderful things about the Dashboard X widget interface is its out of the box compatibility with Notification Center add-ons. Cjori — the developer of the popular widget interface — could have easily used that as an excuse to not design widgets exclusively made with Dashboard X in mind, but as a benefit to us, he and others have decided not to do so.

As a result, we have exclusively designed items like Dashtweet, Clock Widget, and now Music Widget — a widget designed specifically for showcasing now playing music on the iOS Home screen. Read More

 

Spotify hits iPad, get downloading

By Christian Zibreg on May 2, 2012

Music-streaming service Spotify has finally released their native app for Apple’s iPad so get it while it’s hot. It packs in Retina graphics and high-definition album art to really take advantage of the new iPad’s gorgeous display.

It also does AirPlay, features the brand new full-screen view and lets you search for playlists, users and music, all from the same view. The interface looks great in both portrait and landscape, especially high-res cover artwork in full screen.

Put simply, it’s been worth the long wait: Spotify for iPad is a must-have and a prime example of an iPad music app done right… Read More

 

Could the official Spotify iPad app be revealed this Wednesday?

By Jeff Benjamin on Apr 16, 2012

I don’t know what the folks over at Spotify have been thinking all of this time while their competitors have released iPad versions of their mobile offerings, but it looks like they’re finally about to snap out of it.

Why we’ve had to wait so incredibly long for an iPad version of Spotify is anyone’s guess, but it looks like a release is finally coming to fruition after what seemed like an eternity of waiting.

Has Spotify been resting on its laurels all of this time, or were they just working on providing the absolute best iPad music experience known to man? If the puzzle pieces fit, we could be finding out very soon… Read More

 

Hud: Visualize when your music skips to the next track

By Jeff Benjamin on Mar 13, 2012

Want a quick and easy way to visualize when the music you’re listening to skips to the next track? If so, then Hud may be up to the task.

Unlike a tweak such as MusicBanners, Hud places the album art and track name smack square in the middle of your iPhone’s screen.

Check out our video demonstration of Hud inside… Read More

 

‘AssistantLove’ integrates Spotify with Siri, GPS, and more

By Jeff Benjamin on Feb 24, 2012

If you know me, you know I’ve been waiting on a way to integrate Spotify with Siri’s voice search for a long time.

I’m happy to say that it’s finally here. AssistantLove can launch your favorite songs on Spotify via Siri, theoretically giving you a seemingly infinite library of songs right at the command of your voice.

Not only that, but AssistantLove features GPS app integration with TomTom, Navigon, and other popular GPS apps, and that’s not all… Read More

 

Sony to Bring Music Unlimited Service to iOS

By Oliver Haslam on Jan 11, 2012

Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, and even iTunes itself could be set to get some new competition later this quarter, according to Venturebeat, with the news that Sony is set to join the already burgeoning music streaming market with a new iOS app in the works.

Sony’s “Music Unlimited” service offers music lovers a way to listen to tracks using a subscription model, with streaming music being the order of the day. The iOS app that is expected to be released during the next three months will support offline playback via caching, just as the competition does, negating the need for a constant internet connection.

The Music Unlimited service currently comes in two monthly flavors: a $3.99 basic option and a $9.99 premium one, with the latter offering unlimited playback and more advanced features… Read More

 

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Shows Off Voice-Controlled iOS App

By Oliver Haslam on Jan 4, 2012

It looks like Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is a self proclaimed “Siri-holic” after the streaming outfit’s head man waxed lyrical about his love for Apple’s digital assistant.

But that’s not all. During an interview for Forbes, Ek gave a sneak peek at a potential new feature that could be on its way to the Spotify iPhone app at some point in the future. When asked about the possibility of voice activation coming to Spotify, Ek picked up his iPhone and requested a dose of Coldplay.

Naturally the handset obliged, though God only knows why Ek wanted to hear Coldplay at all. Regardless, the news that Spotify is working on voice recognition will come as a late Christmas present for fans of the streaming music service… Read More

 

NowPlayingDetailInfo: Detailed Music Info For Music and 3rd Party Apps

By Jeff Benjamin on Dec 26, 2011

Finding your iPhone’s App Switcher music info a bit on the feeble side? If so, and your iPhone is jailbroken, try out NowPlayingDetailInfo.

This free jailbreak tweak provides detailed information about the song currently playing in your App Switcher, and it works with 3rd party apps like Spotify. Check inside for a hands-on video analysis of NowPlayingDetailInfo… Read More

 
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