Pandora has released a major update for its iOS application this weekend, bringing it to version 3.2. The new app includes a refreshed UI, and several other welcomed ehancements.
Among the new features is a modification to the app's architecture, which, Pandora claims, greatly reduces the amount of battery life it uses. Keep reading for the full change log...
Playing music from within a Home screen folder is now within the realm of possibilities, thanks to a recently released jailbreak tweak called FoldMusic. Once FoldMusic is installed on your iPod or iPod touch, you can easily add new albums or playlists to a Home screen folder.
From there you can open the folder, and tap to play the tracks within. You'll also find volume/AirPlay controls, and transport controls for previous, play, and skip — all located conveniently within each folder.
For a full video walkthrough of FoldMusic, check inside...
It appears that Apple is continuing its aggressive international push this week. Just a few days after launching the App Store in 32 new markets, the company is now looking to roll out its iTunes Store into 7 new Asian countries.
Update: this article and its title have been updated to reflect Apple's official announcement...
According to "numerous industry sources", online retailer Amazon is negotiating deals that will soon enable it to match most of the music features offered by Apple's iCloud.
Amazon shocked the industry by launching its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player last year without necessary licenses from the top labels.
They are now reportedly close to striking license deals that will let them offer a scan-and-match service akin to iTunes Match...
One of the markedly little improvements in iOS 6 that many people originally missed is the ability to stream songs stored in your music locker in the cloud. When Apple introduced iTunes Match last August, much of the debate centered around the question whether or not it streams songs.
Though it appeared as if it did, Apple denied iTunes Match streaming. Semantics aside, iTunes Match in iOS 5 used to exclusively download and store songs on your device. With iOS 6, you can now choose to either stream a song as many times as you'd like or download it for offline listening...
Something that has always amazed me about Apple – even long before I actually converted to the cult – is that the company pays an incredible amount of attention to details. It seems that everything has to be meaningful and thought all the way through.
The latest extreme attention to detail we came across was sent to us by iDB reader Aaron, and refers to the volume knob of the Music app in iOS 6...
Amazon launched its cloud-based music player and an accompanying Android app a little more than a year ago.
Though users on Apple's platform have been able to access the web-based version of Cloud Player using the Safari browser on iOS devices, the online retailer wouldn't release a native iOS app until now...
The iTunes and App Store apps aren't the only one to get a make over with the introduction of iOS 6. Next on the list is the Music app, which was in serious need of a redesign as well. Not that it was bad, but after 5 years, it just gets old.
The Music app now has a slick grey skin and the music player a black skin that could make jailbreak themers jealous. More screenshots below...
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auCwQQpr-Mw[/tube]
Jukebox — the Dashboard X and Notification Center compatible music widget — is now available for download on Cydia. As you no doubt saw in our walkthrough, Jukebox is an awesome music widget that can be used to directly manipulate your Music app from the convenience of your Home screen.
One of my complaints with Jukebox was that it currently only supports the stock Music app, but the good news is that support for 3rd party music apps like Pandora and Spotify is in the works. Check out our full coverage of the tweak, and be sure to head over to Cydia's BigBoss repo where it can be had for $0.99.
Jukebox is an upcoming Notification Center widget that also does double duty as a Dashboard X widget. Its purpose is to allow you to control your music from literally anywhere, which is primarily attributed to its flexibility as both a Notification Center widget, while at the same time maintaining a spot on your Home screen.
The initial release of Jukebox will only feature integration with the stock Music app, but the developer is hard at work at making it play nice with 3rd party music apps like Spotify and Pandora. Besides this one obvious shortcoming, Jukebox is shaping up to be a top tier Notification Center widget, and by far the best Dashboard X widget yet...
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJjmo5BQwag[/tube]
Music Widget, the Dashboard X compatible music interface that we previewed a couple of days ago, has now appeared for download on Cydia.
Music Widget allows you to view your "now playing" album art, along with placing play/pause, skip, and previous buttons conveniently near the bottom of the interface.
Take a look at our full walkthough, and head over to Cydia's BigBoss repo to download it for free. What do you think?
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.