Pandora betters last.fm in the iPhone music war

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:35:23 -0700

Those who were able to get an iPhone 3G or update their iPhones and iPod Touches to 2.0 probably noticed that at first, last.fm, the social music service now owned by CBS, was missing. Instead, users had the options of Pandora, AOL Radio, and Virgin, with many opting for the familiar and once-popular Pandora.

On Monday, last.fm finally had an app in the App Store, but it looks like it's too little, too late. Pandora's iPhone app has the momentum as well as the user features.

The iPhone app from last.fm both looks and feels like it was rushed. The UI is downright ugly, with plain text song/artist/album information, status bar, "Share," and "Buy on iTunes" buttons overlayed over the album graphic. Most of the functionality on the iPhone app is similar the Web version, except the key iTunes rating feature. On a PC, with the iTunes interface, you are able to love and hate tracks as they play, but if you are listening to the music in iPod mode on your Touch or iPhone, you are out of luck, as nothing can be scrobbled (or loved) until you sync back up to your iTunes installed on your PC. There also doesn't seem to be anyway to tag songs, even if you are playing recommended songs or a friend's station. Those used to the full-featured app will be disappointed with the number of missing features, and the amateur-looking UI just buries the app.

In contrast, Pandora's simplicity translated well to the iPhone, and it's obvious that the designers were really thinking about how things should both look and feel in a mobile app. Rather than trying to cram everything onto the small screen, Pandora utilizes most of the screen real estate for the album image. The text for artist/song/album is in a top bar with buttons to go back to the station selection and get information, and a bottom bar gives you simple options to vote the song up or down, pause, or forward past the song. Options to bookmark the song or artist or buy the song or album on iTunes are accessible with a pop-up menu, freeing screen real estate.

It may simply be a case of one app having features that lend themselves more readily to a mobile app, but in the battle of iPhone music recommendation apps, Pandora is winning hands down. last.fm needs to really pick up their game.

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Pandora betters last.fm in the iPhone music war

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:35:23 -0700

On Monday, last.fm finally had an app in the App Store, but it looks like it's too little, too late. Pandora's iPhone app has the momentum as well as the user features.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Prediction: Facebook announces iPhone application platform at F8
News: Is the iPhone 3G slowing down AT&T's network?
News: Apple grants MobileMe users a 30-day stay of payment, kills the word “push”
News: iPhone 2.0 adds support for embedded YouTube

Pandora betters last.fm in the iPhone music war

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:35:23 -0700

On Monday, last.fm finally had an app in the App Store, but it looks like it's too little, too late. Pandora's iPhone app has the momentum as well as the user features.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Prediction: Facebook announces iPhone application platform at F8
News: Is the iPhone 3G slowing down AT&T's network?
News: Apple grants MobileMe users a 30-day stay of payment, kills the word “push”
News: iPhone 2.0 adds support for embedded YouTube

Pandora betters last.fm in the iPhone music war

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:35:23 -0700

On Monday, last.fm finally had an app in the App Store, but it looks like it's too little, too late. Pandora's iPhone app has the momentum as well as the user features.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

Prediction: 3G iPhone jailbroken within a week
Prediction: Facebook announces iPhone application platform at F8
News: Is the iPhone 3G slowing down AT&T's network?
News: Apple grants MobileMe users a 30-day stay of payment, kills the word “push”
News: iPhone 2.0 adds support for embedded YouTube