Rdio - iPhone App Review
Posted: July 16, 2011, 12:24 am
This is related to audio and computers but I'm putting it in Audio.
I've been spending some time comparing Spotify, MOG and Rdio. These are all Online Music Services that allow you to access millions of songs directly.
All three have iPhone Apps. All three look great. So far, of the three, I like Rdio the best, both for PC and iPhone use.
Took some screenshots on my iPhone to help explain it:
Rdio's home page on the iPhone. Most are self explanatory but I'll go through them anyway!
You are able to add songs to your Collection or a Playlist. The Collection works just like iTunes sorted by Artist. The thing to note here is that if you've downloaded/sync'd the song to your phone so you can play it offline, you'll see the little orange icon by the album/song. In the screenshot above, Shakira is collected but not synced. It will still still play over wifi or 3G.
This is a sync in progress. You can download using wifi or 3G. 3G sync is defaulted to off, just toggle it on if you have the bandwidth.
You can sync anything. Here's a playlist I was screwing around with to test it. You can sync the entire playlist if you want, albums or just songs.
Heavy Rotation lists the most popular recently played songs/albums. You can filter Everyone, Your Network (who you follow), or Yourself
Listening History shows the songs and albums you've played as well as any Radio Stations you created in the timeline. yeah yeah, I was selecting some random stuff for testing purposes!
New Releases if you want to check out the latest.
Top Charts allows you to search the top songs, albums and also Playlists.
Recommended is kind of neat. It takes your recent play history and recommends songs. You can see the artist it's based off under each recommendation. I'd only played a handful of songs at this point.
Activity page is a little creepy. It shows what people are doing real time. You can select anyone in the stream to view their profile.
There's quite a bit of info in a profile. First, I wouldn't use your real name which a lot of people seem to do.
You can view all of their songs, playlists, who they follow and who follows them.
You can see their recent activity, what they listened to, their most popular songs, and what they will be listening too...TMI!
That's why I suggest not using name. Don't think you really want someone seeing exactly what you're doing...along the same lines as not wanting someone to see if you're playing an MMO at 4 in the morning then call in sick, etc.
This lady's most popular recent songs.
People following her
I grabbed her 5K plus playlist in seconds. That part is kinda cool for browsing.
Same with playlists.
Doing a search brings up Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists, People...all nicely categorized.
Selecting an Artist allows you to create a Radio Station based off of that Artist, select albums, or lower on the page, starts listing their songs by popularity.
Example of a 25 song playlist created from The Cars. If you don't like it, just hit the Radio button again and 25 more songs are randomly generated.
All songs and albums have + signs next to them which allow you to add them to your Collection, Sync (which adds to Collection as well), or add to a playlist.
Tap the screen and you have a song time search bar whether it's sync'd or being streamed.
As for the web based Rdio functions, this bubble thing is interesting. Shows song/listens in visual format. This is mine for the handful of songs I've listened too.
Impressive for iPhone. (you can get it on Android as well) The web based service is also nice. I'm liking it better than Spotify or MOG that I've tried out for comparison. Everything you do whether on web or mobile syncs quickly back and forth.
http://www.rdio.com/
It's free for a one week trial with no CC required. Just need to provide an email address.
I've been spending some time comparing Spotify, MOG and Rdio. These are all Online Music Services that allow you to access millions of songs directly.
All three have iPhone Apps. All three look great. So far, of the three, I like Rdio the best, both for PC and iPhone use.
Took some screenshots on my iPhone to help explain it:
Rdio's home page on the iPhone. Most are self explanatory but I'll go through them anyway!
You are able to add songs to your Collection or a Playlist. The Collection works just like iTunes sorted by Artist. The thing to note here is that if you've downloaded/sync'd the song to your phone so you can play it offline, you'll see the little orange icon by the album/song. In the screenshot above, Shakira is collected but not synced. It will still still play over wifi or 3G.
This is a sync in progress. You can download using wifi or 3G. 3G sync is defaulted to off, just toggle it on if you have the bandwidth.
You can sync anything. Here's a playlist I was screwing around with to test it. You can sync the entire playlist if you want, albums or just songs.
Heavy Rotation lists the most popular recently played songs/albums. You can filter Everyone, Your Network (who you follow), or Yourself
Listening History shows the songs and albums you've played as well as any Radio Stations you created in the timeline. yeah yeah, I was selecting some random stuff for testing purposes!
New Releases if you want to check out the latest.
Top Charts allows you to search the top songs, albums and also Playlists.
Recommended is kind of neat. It takes your recent play history and recommends songs. You can see the artist it's based off under each recommendation. I'd only played a handful of songs at this point.
Activity page is a little creepy. It shows what people are doing real time. You can select anyone in the stream to view their profile.
There's quite a bit of info in a profile. First, I wouldn't use your real name which a lot of people seem to do.
You can view all of their songs, playlists, who they follow and who follows them.
You can see their recent activity, what they listened to, their most popular songs, and what they will be listening too...TMI!
That's why I suggest not using name. Don't think you really want someone seeing exactly what you're doing...along the same lines as not wanting someone to see if you're playing an MMO at 4 in the morning then call in sick, etc.
This lady's most popular recent songs.
People following her
I grabbed her 5K plus playlist in seconds. That part is kinda cool for browsing.
Same with playlists.
Doing a search brings up Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists, People...all nicely categorized.
Selecting an Artist allows you to create a Radio Station based off of that Artist, select albums, or lower on the page, starts listing their songs by popularity.
Example of a 25 song playlist created from The Cars. If you don't like it, just hit the Radio button again and 25 more songs are randomly generated.
All songs and albums have + signs next to them which allow you to add them to your Collection, Sync (which adds to Collection as well), or add to a playlist.
Tap the screen and you have a song time search bar whether it's sync'd or being streamed.
As for the web based Rdio functions, this bubble thing is interesting. Shows song/listens in visual format. This is mine for the handful of songs I've listened too.
Impressive for iPhone. (you can get it on Android as well) The web based service is also nice. I'm liking it better than Spotify or MOG that I've tried out for comparison. Everything you do whether on web or mobile syncs quickly back and forth.
http://www.rdio.com/
It's free for a one week trial with no CC required. Just need to provide an email address.