Music

MusicBanners: Banner Notifications for Track Changes and More

If you use the iPod app on your iOS device as much as I do, then you're going to love the new jailbreak tweak: MusicBanners. The tweak, made by popular developer Ryan Petrich, brings your music to iOS 5's notification system.

So what does it do? Essentially, MusicBanners sends you a notification every time a new track comes up on your iPod app. This means that you receive a notification with the track's name, album and cover art after every song change...

Siri Gets its Groove On in New Flaming Lips Song

Siri gets around a bit these days. If Apple's virtual assistant isn't starring in an episode of the Big Bang Theory then it's making music, with The Flaming Lips deciding to give Siri a shot at laying down the vocals for a new experimental song.

Called "Now I Understand," the track also features the voice of Erykah Badu alongside Siri, with the result being an interesting one to say the least.

Experimental is possibly the best way we can describe this song, though it does have a certain charm to it...

HomePlayer: A Fully Focused Audio Interface for the Music App

HomePlayer is a jailbreak tweak that brings a fully focused audio experience to your SpringBoard. It interfaces directly with the Music app to bring a full screen music playing session to the Home Screen.

When I say "fully focused" I truly mean it, as the app completely disables the Home button's functionality to prevent users from exiting the interface.

It's an interesting concept, although it can be a bit buggy at times. In the end it's an obvious 1.0 tweak that can go as far as its developers decide to take it...

Here’s Why You Should Install XBMC on Your Apple TV

If you haven't noticed by now, we're pretty big fans of the Apple TV here at iDownloadBlog, and for good reason.

As we alluded to in our benefits post yesterday, the Apple TV is probably one of the best sub-$99 purchases that money can buy if you're looking for entertainment.

In this article, we'll show you another reason why the Apple TV is a must have, and once you own it, why you must jailbreak it. The answer? XBMC.

Learn to Play the Guitar on Your iPad With This Awesome Add-on

Looking for a fun, innovative way to learn how to play the guitar? Well if you happen to own an iPad, you might not have to look further than Ion Audio's new Guitar Apprentice.

The guitar-shaped tablet accessory made its debut last week at the Consumer Electronics Show, and it's been getting a lot of positive feedback. Keep reading for an overview of the Apprentice and a video of it in action...

Grooveshark Back on the iPhone With HTML5 Web App

Popular music service Grooveshark has made its way back to the iPhone, thanks to the company's new HTML web app. Grooveshark fans will be happy to hear that you can now access the free service on iOS devices without the jailbreak app.

Apple originally pulled Grooveshark from the App Store because of its questionably-illegal nature, and then app then showed up in Cydia for jailbreakers. Grooveshark has now abandoned Flash for a mobile-friendly HTML5 web app that all iOS users can enjoy.

Shazam Player iPhone App Adds a Touch of Lyrics to Your Music

Shazam made its name as a music recognition engine, helping users find tracks based on the music that was being played at a club, on TV, or just about anywhere. The software was one of the first in the App Store, and certainly one of the biggest success stories of its generation.

As the years have passed the app has seen new features added, and the download numbers have continued to increase. Now the team behind that app has released a new, improved music solution called Shazam Player, and we're going to go ahead and assume it's going to be just as popular as its older brother.

Shazam Player is built to completely replace the iOS music player, taking over music playback duties and adding in that Shazam magic, with social aspects thrown in for good measure.

Sony to Bring Music Unlimited Service to iOS

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...

SpringPod: Add Individual Music Controls to Your Springboard

Adding individual music controls to your Home screen in the form of app icons is nothing new in the world of jailbreaking. But SpringPod brings a slightly different approach, and few more customization options to the table than previous tweaks.

Along with play/pause controls, SpringPod brings previous, next, rewind, fast forward, and volume functions directly to your iPhone's Springboard. But is it worth the $0.99 asking price?

Recludo Takes You Straight to The Music App When Unlocking Your Device

Recludo is a jailbreak tweak that's a bit hard to describe, but simple in function. Its purpose is to force your iPhone straight to the Music app whenever the lock screen music controls are invoked and you unlock your iPhone.

Since there's a good chance that you will want to use your Music app when the music controls are being used anyway, Recludo can usher in a seamless music listening experience to jailbroken iPhones...

Blue Debuts New Microphones for iOS Devices

With the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking over Las Vegas this week, we're expecting to see an onslaught of new iOS-aimed hardware and accessories. A lot of manufacturers use the convention to show off their latest creations.

And it looks like one of those manufacturers will be Blue Microphones, the popular USB Microphone-maker. The company is looking to step outside its scope of professional desktop equipment and venture into iOS gear....