Music

Rhapsody gains offline mode, exclusive playlists curated by human editors

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2013

I'm a simple guy when it comes to listening to digital music: the iTunes/iTunes Radio + Spotify combo pretty much has me covered these days. That's not saying I'm not on the lookout for music solutions outside the Apple-Spotify landscape.

Take the once relevant jukebox app and music subscription service Rhapsody (remember them?), which has been trying to become relevant for years now.

Just two months ago, the firm has renewed its efforts by overhauling its aging mobile app, adding tons of goodies.

In another update issued today, Rhapsody version 3.5 brings out standard social sharing features and the useful offline playback mode whilst putting exclusive curated content front and center...

Add album art to your iPhone’s wallpaper with ‘HomeArtwork’

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

HomeArtwork is a newly released jailbreak tweak, which takes the "now playing" album artwork and uses it as wallpaper for the Home screen background. The tweak works with the stock Music app, but I'm also happy to report that it plays nice with streaming services like Spotify. HomeArtwork is a great tweak that allows you to constantly switch up the look of your Home screen wallpaper. Check out our video coverage inside...

iTunes Radio, right on cue as streaming dollars replace download dollars

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

You don't get anywhere in consumer tech by being tone-deaf to trends. Apple's decision to get into digital music downloads just as sales of CDs slowed is just an example. Now comes evidence the iTunes Music Store owner is on the leading edge of the latest trend to hit: streaming replacing music downloads.

Apple's upcoming ad-supported iTunes Radio will appear as the number of digital songs sold have been slowing for some time while the number of tunes being streamed across the Internet is skyrocketing lately. Through the first half of 2013, 682 million digital songs were sold, a 2.3 percent drop from the 698 million in 2012.

By comparison, the number of songs streamed has risen 24 percent, according to industry watchers...

Beta of beautiful LyricFlow tweak now available for download

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 29, 2017

Earlier this year, developer Eric Castro previewed a gorgeous-looking jailbreak tweak called LyricFlow. The utility is essentially a standalone music player, though it can be integrated into the stock Music app, that offers up a number of features.

As the name suggests, LyricFlow provides the lyrics to your favorite songs—that's the main focus of the tweak. But it also enables you to browse through your music in several interesting ways, like spinning through your albums on a carousel...

Apple releases brand new Logic Pro X with Virtual Drummer, updates MainStage

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

Good news for fans of Apple's pro audio software as the company has just announced this morning an update to MainStage 3 and a major new version of Logic Pro with Virtual Drummer and Flex Pitch features, plus an iOS Remote application to go along with it. Apple pulled a Final Cut Pro X here as Logic Pro X appears to be a reboot of the previous version.

The next-generation audio editing for the Mac, according to Apple's global marketing chief, features a set of advanced tools and a modern new interface designed to streamline the process of creating professional quality music. "Musicians are going to love creative new features like Drummer, Flex Pitch, Track Stacks and the Arpeggiator," he was quoted in a press release...

Sony’s Music Unlimited iOS client enables offline mode and 320kbps streaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Sony back in May promised to update the iOS client supporting its Music Unlimited service with the much-needed offline playback and support for high-quality 320kbps AAC streaming. The refreshed software was originally meant to surface in the App Store shortly, but it got lost in the approval limbo. Sony finally today put out a press release announcing availability of Music Unlimited version 1.3.1 with offline playback, high-quality streaming and more...

SoundTracking app receives major update with hashtags, song requests and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

SoundTracking, the popular social network for sharing and discovering new music, has posted a significant update to its iOS app this morning. The update, which brings the client to version 3.3.0, includes a number of new features and improvements.

Among the app's new features is hashtag support—users can now add hashtags to their posts or comments to participate in a trending topic. And with song requests and dedications, users can now ask friends what they're listening to, and send them songs...

Algoriddim previews djay 2, coming soon to iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

There's no shortage of apps for DJs on the App Store. For instance, one of the ten apps and games Apple made free as part of its 5 Years of the App Store promo is Traktor DJ (normally a $20 value), an excellent piece of software that appeals to pro DJs. Even the famous iOS hacker pod2g, known for his jailbreak releases, took notice of the trend and created his own app that will make you the star of every party, podDJ.

In my view, Algoriddim's djay for iPhone and iPad is arguably the best-known and certainly one of the first DJ apps to grace the App Store. Two and a half years following its App Store debut, the successor to djay is coming soon to an iPhone and iPad near you, Algoriddim confirmed Thursday. I've included a nicely done promo vid after the break...

Spotify’s Discover tab finally makes its way over to Apple devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The Swedish streaming music startup Spotify has finally updated its iOS client today with a new Discover tab which made its way into the Android build back in December 2012 and four months later into the web interface.

Basically a music recommendation engine, Discover suggests similar songs based on your listening history and your playlists. Oh, and iPhone users will be happy to learn that Spotify now lets them fully customize their playlists.

This feature was previously inexplicably reserved only for the iPad client. Oh, and they just flattened the app icon so it fits better on your iOS 7 Home screen...

Apple sending out iTunes Radio terms to indie record labels

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In dramatic fashion, Apple's iTunes Radio negotiations with the top 3 record labels came down to the wire. After a number of setbacks, the company was determined to unveil its new streaming music service at WWDC. And it reportedly spent the days leading up to its keynote closing deals.

But now that the [beta] launch has come and gone, Apple is looking to expand its streaming library. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the company has been talking to various indie music labels, letting them know how the royalty pay scale work on the new service...

Rdio upgrades family plans to allow up to 5 people

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

The popular Internet-based radio service, Rdio, today announced it has refreshed its subscription plans for families to allow up to five people on a single plan. Previously, only three people on a family plan were allowed to use the service. The online radio service has also amended its pricing to reflect these changes, offering a $17 saving for a family of five compared to individual plans...

Sony adds 320kbps streams and offline mode to Music Unlimited app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Sony's Music Unlimited is still relatively new to iOS. The app, which requires a subscription to the like-named service, just launched on the iPhone last year, giving similar streaming offerings like Spotify and Rdio at least a two year head start on the platform.

But it's doing its best to catch up to the rest of the pack. Sony announced today that it has submitted a significant update to the App Store for its iOS app that includes a number of new features including offline listening, 320kbps streaming audio, and more...