Music

Spectral: Improved Lock screen album art backgrounds

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Spectral is a new jailbreak tweak from one of my favorite developers, Adam Bell. It's a tweak that improves the look of the now playing album artwork on iOS 7's Lock screen.

The stock Lock screen on iOS 7 features a boring blue background when music is playing. Spectral spices up the Lock screen's background by utilizing a blown up and blurred version of the now playing album art as a background.

I've created a comparison video and have a comparison screenshot inside for you to analyze. I think you'll be surprised when you see how much of a difference Spectral makes to what most would consider to be a minor change.

How to add a Now Playing shortcut to Control Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 10, 2014

I don't like to do it all the time, but sometimes I'm jamming to a song so hard that I just have to let the world (or at least my own corner of the Internet) know what I'm listening to. For moments like these, CCNowPlaying is a great jailbreak tweak to have in your repertoire. It allows you to quickly send a tweet or a Facebook status update telling your followers what song you're currently playing. It's a tweak that integrates directly into Control Center, and features a stock look and feel.

I put CCNowPlaying through its paces on video and I was impressed with what I saw. Have a look past the break as I showcase how the tweak works in action.

Free iPhone and iPad streaming goes live for everyone in latest Spotify update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Spotify, the popular Swedish startup, has upped the ante in the music space when it said recently it would enable free streaming on smartphones and tablets.

Desktop users have been able to stream ad-supported music free of charge since Spotify's inception, but mobile streaming has always required a $9.99 Spotify Premium subscription. This ad-supported free desktop tier has now migrated to mobile.

Now available on the App Store, the new Spotify version 0.9.2 fixes many bugs and flips the switch on free mobile streaming for everyone (they've been rolling this out gradually), here are your caveats...

Sephora teaches Apple how promos are done right with notable iOS freebies

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Apple's 12 Days of Gifts promotion has come to a close today with Day12 gift: an extended play from the legendary English rock band The Rolling Stones. Judging by your comments, Apple's gifts are - shall I put it politely? - lacking in many respects.

Now, of all companies, makeup retailer Sephora has launched a similar promotion in the United States through its free Sephora to Go iPhone and iPad application offering continually changing freebies such as apps, movies, songs, books and more.

Unlike Apple's rather embarrassing gifts, Sephora is currently giving away an eight-song playlist for free, in addition to such notable programs as journaling software Day One, art creation app Silk and djay 2 for the iPhone and iPad, to name just a few...

Digital music sales drop for the first time since the iTunes Store’s inception

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 4, 2014

Proponents of digital music are in for a surprise as sales of digital albums and individual songs nosedived last year, for the first time since Apple revolutionized the music business with its iTunes Music Store back in 2003. According to a report by Billboard, industry executives are once again oblivious to the fact that consumers' tastes are changing and are blaming streaming music services such as Pandora and iTunes Radio for the drop. The full breakdown is after the break...

Day 9 of Apple’s 12 Days of Gifts: Kings of Leon EP

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

We are now on day 9 of the big 12 Days of Gifts event, meaning Apple has removed the Diary of a Wimpy iBook and has posted a new free item for download. Today’s gift is an EP (or extended play) from the American rock band Kings of Leon.

The band is widely popular in the UK, and more recently the US, taking home 3 Grammy Awards in 2010 thanks to hits like 'Use Somebody.' And today's free EP includes some of those hits, which it played at Apple's iTunes Festival this year...

Day 6 of Apple’s 12 Days of Gifts: ‘New Year’s Eve Mix’ by Avicii

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

We are now on day 6 of the big 12 Days of Gifts event, meaning the company has removed the Hugo movie and has posted a new free item for download. Today’s gift is the song 'New Year's Eve Mix' by popular Swedish producer Avicii.

It's been a huge year for Avicii, who has been topping charts around the globe with his latest album True. And New Year's Eve Mix is a 9-minute track that features a mashup of some of his hit songs from that album such as 'Hey Brother.'

Apple kicks off its ’12 Days of Gifts’ event with Justin Timberlake EP

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

Christmas may be over now, but that doesn't mean you have to be done getting presents. Apple has kicked off its '12 Days of Gifts' event this morning with a free gift for its faithful users, and will continue to give one each day for the next week and a half.

Today's gift is the iTunes Festival EP from music superstar Justin Timberlake. The album contains 4 live performances from Apple's annual music festival this year, and is free for all users in qualifying areas who have downloaded the 12 Days of Gifts app...

‘RadiSpot’ brings “Open in Spotify” support to Pandora

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Pandora is great, but there are times when you don't feel like being told what to listen to, and you know exactly what you want to hear. For times like these, Spotify is best suited for your needs. The point is, both apps have strong points—Pandora is best for music discovery, while Spotify is best for playing exactly what you want to hear.

Wouldn't it be great if these two apps could join forces and take on the evilness that is silence? Indeed! That's what Hashbang productions had in mind when it created this new tweak. Have a look inside to see how RadiSpot works.

Google Play Music app updated with new UI for iOS 7 and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Folks trying out Google's recently-released Play Music app for iOS will be happy to hear that a new version popped up late last night. The update, which brings the app to 1.1.0.988, brings about a refreshed UI and a handful of new features.

Among the new features is support for 'I'm feeling lucky' radio, which builds an instant playlist based on your listening habits, and other new radio options. Users now have access to Genre radio stations and the ability to search for them...

The 10 best music apps of 2013

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Music makes up the fabric of humanity’s existence. It is so important in our lives that it is everywhere. In movies, television, stores, schools. Music is also a universal language. You don’t have to know what the lyrics are to understand a song’s meaning.

The App Store has produced some fantastic apps for music lovers and musicians alike this year. Whether you want a new music listening client or are looking for a mobile way to record your band, there is a wealth of apps to help you.

The editors at iDownloadBlog have come up with a list of what they think are the 10 best music apps of 2013. Check out our favorites and then vote for the one you like best to be added to our Best Apps of 2013 list…

Shazam gains auto-listening feature, WhatsApp and Pinterest integration and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2013

The increasingly popular music discovery and fingerprinting service Shazam has just refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with a new Auto Shazam feature that basically listens for songs and television shows in the background and tags them automatically, even if the device is locked, courtesy of new iOS 7 technologies. You can now share your Shazam Tags with people on WhatsApp, pin them to your Pinterest boards and send them to others via the iOS Messages platform.

Jump past the fold for more on Auto Shazam...