Music

Passing 300M users, Shazam announces revamped iPad app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The media discovery and recommendation engine Shazam at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on Monday said it surpassed 300 million users and announced updates to its app for iPad and Android tablets in the coming weeks. Some of the newly added capabilities include a much faster tagging with automatic resubmissions (handy during poor network reception), better Shazam Friends interactions and a new streamlined way to share your finds via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and email.

Also on tap for iPad and Android tablets: a revamped home screen with updated layouts for tagged results from TV and music and a brand new interactive mapping feature letting you see what people aroun the world are discovering and sharing using Shazam mobile apps. What's best, Shazam is now providing the two premium features - fast (and unlimited) tagging in as little as one second and full-screen LyricPlay lyrics - as part of the free tablet experience...

Google said to be working on streaming music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is pretty interesting. Hot on the heels of rumors that Apple is looking to get into the streaming music space, a new report popped up late last night alleging that Google too is working on a service of its own.

Citing 'people familiar with the matter,' The Wall Street Journal is claiming that the search giant's Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music streaming service...

Traktor DJ makes the leap from desktop to iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScjJiGYawuM

German developer Native Instruments has long been regarded as the maker of some of the finest music and DJing software on the market and today they released Traktor DJ, a pro music mixing $19.99 iPad app that complements the desktop Traktor Pro software with bi-directional content synchronization and a host of other feature.

Unlike virtually all the other DJ apps that tap virtual turntables, Traktor DJ sports touchable waveforms and has two virtual decks, each with dedicated three-band equalizer and filter sections, including eight Traktor effects.

The app relies heavily on multitouch gestures: you can grab audio waveforms with two fingers to set a loop, perform scratches, mark cue points for live re-editing, and scrub, browse or navigate through tracks. Go past the break for additional tidbits and a hands-on video...

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

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 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...

Always know what song is playing with NowPlaying on Status Bar

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Do you hate it when you're listening to music, and you can't remember the name of the song you're listening to? This might not seem like such a problem with your own music collection, but what if you have a streaming app running in the background?

Sure, you could jump to your music player or podcasting app and check to see what was just playing or check the Lock screen, but that can get to be a pretty big disruption. If you just want to take a peek, install NowPlaying on Status Bar instead...

AirFloat turns any iOS device into an AirPlay receiver

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Not sure what to do with your old iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? Instead of throwing it out or selling it for a fraction of its original value, what if you could get some more use out of the device by turning it into an AirPlay streaming box?

AirFloat is an open source tweak that's been in development for a while, but hasn't been released on Cydia until now. (It was actually removed from the iTunes store last year.) With AirFloat, you don't need to buy an Apple TV or an AirPort Express to stream music through your house. All you need is Wi-Fi and a spare iOS device...

Slacker iPhone app gets major makeover in brand relaunch

Cody Lee ∙ February 14, 2013

If someone asks you what a good streaming music service is, who do you recommend? Pandora? Rdio? Spotify? What about Slacker Radio? Yeah, despite the fact that the company has been around for 6 years, Slacker rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as the others.

But it's looking to change that. Yesterday, Slacker Radio essentially relaunched itself as a brand—touting complete redesigns of its web and mobile clients. The new iPhone app looks particularly sharp, with a revamped visual interface and new Slacker "Music Guide" feature...

Music Controls Pro 6.0+ discounted while developers bring features back to iOS 6.x

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Since iOS 3.x, the most feature rich jailbreak apps for music was Music Controls Pro. If you wanted a custom control overlay for music, swipe controls, a remote server, and a host of other features, Music Controls Pro was the way to go. Unfortunately, the original version of Music Controls Pro is no longer compatible with iOS 6.

While the all new Music Controls Pro 6.0+ only has a fraction of the previous app's capabilities, the price is currently discounted to $3.99 while the developers bring the new app up to speed. Currently Music Controls Pro includes swipe controls, Notification Center plugins for playback and volume, task switcher controls, and status bar integration for song titles. These are the core features that kept the original Music Controls Pro on my iPad in iOS 5.1.1...

Rdio app updated with new design and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Rdio, one of the more popular streaming music subscription services on the market, released a solid update to their iOS app this afternoon, making it quicker and easier to browse and interact with your content.

Version 2.1 of the application features some gorgeous new design touches, and some other cool enhancements like a new long press-activated content menu, and music badges. The full change log is after the fold...

Flex patch highlight: 5 essential enhancements to iOS

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

As we've mentioned in the past, Flex is basically a Game Genie for the iPhone. While Flex can't create new content, it can nullify lines of code, override return values, and mess with variable return values. These can be used to prevent jailbreak detection, enable hidden features, hide interface elements in apps, and even, as you may expect, cheat in games.

Flex is a very versatile tool with a near limitless number of potential uses, so today we're going to highlight 5 general purpose Flex patches for iOS...

PhotoAlbums+, PwnTunes, and iRealSMS updated for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Want apps that are already compatible with the iOS 6 and the iPhone 5? Want to update your music library without using iTunes, reply instantly to text messages, and organize your photo albums?

SpiritOfLogic had their three flagship apps PwnTunes, iRealSMS, and PhotoAlbums+ ready for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 well in advance of the evasi0n jailbreak...

Apple slashes a bunch of love songs to 69 cents in Valentine’s Day iTunes promo

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 6, 2013

Hot on the heels of announcing 25 billion song purchases since the iTunes Store's inception nearly a decade ago, today Apple of California has conveniently kicked off a fitting Valentine's Day love music promotion.

The company has discounted some of its most popular love songs, which now cost 69 cents a piece. These music tracks span genres and decades, from artists like Aerosmith, Celine Dion, James Taylor, Kenny Chesney and Whitney Houston, to name a few...