Pandora for iOS gains new alarm clock mode, Amazon Cloud Drive Photos comes to iPad

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Popular Internet radio service Pandora has updated their iOS app with a new iOS 7-style design and an alarm clock feature, while Amazon's Cloud Drive Photos app has gone universal with support for Apple's iPad and iPad mini.

Pandora

Pandora users can now instruct the their iPad and iPhone app to wake them at a predetermined time by playing one of their custom radio stations, rounding out the app's sleep-related functionality after the app's last update brought sleep timer functionality.

Pandora


Like Apple's own alarm, Pandora's version can be silenced permanently or snoozed temporarily via touch controls on the device's display, and users also have the option to let the music continue playing.

Additionally, the app gets a new visual design that more closely matches Apple's new iOS 7 aesthetic. The company also promises "other small improvements and bug fixes."

Pandora version 5.1 is available now as a free, 32.6-megabyte download from the App Store.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos

The Internet retai giant has brought its Cloud Drive Photos app to Apple's tablets in the latest update, allowing Amazon Cloud Drive users with iPad or iPad mini units to display their photos and videos on the devices' larger canvas.

Pandora


Videos up to two gigabytes in size or 20 minutes in length can now be uploaded or downloaded through the app, and saved video can be instantly streamed to any of a users' other devices. A new autosave feature, similar to that found in Dropbox's iOS app, can back up a user's camera roll to Amazon's servers automatically.

Amazon says the update, the app's first major version bump since it debuted in May, brings "crash and bug fixes" as well.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos version 2.0 is available today as a free, 19.7-megabyte download from the App Store.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    This piece on Amazon would be informative if they added info on how large this Cloud Drive of theirs is, so I looked it up. Not easy, as I couldn't find the info without creating an account, login and see their data plan:

    5GB free and the yearly subscription runs upto 1TB for $500, so no thanks for me. iCloud works fine for me, and should it become too small I'd take a look at Yahoo, who is offering 1TB for free.

    Edit. Amazons' music offering is more interesting:
    Cloud Player Premium
    250,000 imported songs
    $24.99 / year

    I'm not using iTunes Match as they max out at 25,000 songs, and I have twice of that in my library. Well, including videos that is.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    philboogie wrote: »
    I'm not using iTunes Match as they max out at 25,000 songs, and I have twice of that in my library. Well, including videos that is.

    Paying $25/year for iTunes Match has saved me $100-200 every one or two years on iPhones as I find myself listening to so relatively songs in my collection so only the 5 star, 4, star, most recent and top 25 need to be on the device at any one time which allows me to by the 16GB model. I assume next year it will be 32GB as the start for the flagship iPhone. That's $50 to $350 in savings depending on what I would have bought and how often I update. For my needs it's a must have.


    PS: Why is Apple so stingy with their iCloud data storage?
  • Reply 3 of 6
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    ^ post

    That's a good point. But for this to work I need to clean out my music collection, which I probably never get around to (thought you wouldn't either IIRC (perhaps that's what you've been doing after goodbyeeeeing AI :p )

    Just read that you can store music, movies and videos in iCloud as well:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#iTunes_in_the_Cloud_.26_iTunes_Match

    That would / could be a solution to my excessive library.

    They are stingy, aren't they? The competition is offering way more storage for the same price. Or less. I guess they think the free 5GB for every iOS customer AppleID holder is more than enough. Currently I'm not using any could solution for my documents and do just fine without it.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    damedame Posts: 1member
    The article and app description fail to mention that the alarm function isn't available for the ipad. Also, IPad's sleep function involves using the clock app.

    Takes the wind out of the ipad user sail. I guess the nightstand app is still an option.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    dame wrote: »
    The article and app description fail to mention that the alarm function isn't available for the ipad. Also, IPad's sleep function involves using the clock app.

    Takes the wind out of the ipad user sail. I guess the nightstand app is still an option.

    Thanks for posting this. Pity the article doesn't mention this. Well, at least now you know what to expect from AI :smokey:

    Welcome to the forum.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    tbehunintbehunin Posts: 56member

    The Pandora alarm clock seems like a great feature, but the devil is in the details.. You need to turn on the alarm EVERY NIGHT and keep the app open in order for it to work apparently..

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