Last.fm for iPhone begins its comeback tour
Last.fm (free, App Store), is an app which connects to the namesake Last.fm website, a service which offers software that tracks information about the music you listen to. After it has collected enough information, it begins to recommend songs, which you can listen to in their entirety. Last.fm for the iPhone and iPod Touch allows you to stream these recommendations, as well as any other music available on the Last.fm website.
Last.fm for iPhone was initially released in July. The interface was 'OK', the implementation of the features was 'OK', on the whole it was quite 'OK.' When the iPhone 2.1 firmware was released, it was made incompatible. Thankfully, a new version has been released which fixes compatibility with 2.1, and gives the app a whole lot more than a new lick of paint.
At a first glance, it seems Last.fm has gone absolutely native, interface-wise. The music player looks similar to Apple's own iPod, and the Events Calendar looks a lot like iPhone's Calendar. This has the twofold effect of making the interface both good-looking, familiar and more useful to the user. Other design touches make it very clear that this is a very professional and well-thought out operation.
There are only two tabs: Radio and Profile. Radio lets you create new "Stations" and listen to your Recommendations, while Profile allows you to look at the statistics of your listening habits, or your friend list, or events that you're going to.
Starting a Radio Station starts the music player. The streaming is really impeccable, even on 3G, with rebuffering happening very rarely. With the wide selection of music that Last.fm is capable of playing, it can become a stand-in iPod for those who want to hear something new, or for those who can't fit their music library on their 8 GB iPhone.
While listening, you can do all the things you'd expect to be able to do with a music player, as well as Last.fm specific functions, like Recommending, Favoring, or Banning from your playlists. You can also press a button which allows you to purchase playing music from the iTunes store on your iPhone.
Extensive information about artists is also available, as well as tour dates, similar artists, and top listeners. As previously mentioned, the Events calendar resembles the native Calendar, and can perform nice little tricks like showing you the location of the venue on the iPhone's very own Maps App.
All in all, Last.fm has really picked up their game with 2.0, and gone from 'last page' to 'right underneath SMS'. If you don't have a Last.fm account, you should register for one (they're free) and then download this app (it's also free).
Last.fm for iPhone was initially released in July. The interface was 'OK', the implementation of the features was 'OK', on the whole it was quite 'OK.' When the iPhone 2.1 firmware was released, it was made incompatible. Thankfully, a new version has been released which fixes compatibility with 2.1, and gives the app a whole lot more than a new lick of paint.
At a first glance, it seems Last.fm has gone absolutely native, interface-wise. The music player looks similar to Apple's own iPod, and the Events Calendar looks a lot like iPhone's Calendar. This has the twofold effect of making the interface both good-looking, familiar and more useful to the user. Other design touches make it very clear that this is a very professional and well-thought out operation.
There are only two tabs: Radio and Profile. Radio lets you create new "Stations" and listen to your Recommendations, while Profile allows you to look at the statistics of your listening habits, or your friend list, or events that you're going to.
Starting a Radio Station starts the music player. The streaming is really impeccable, even on 3G, with rebuffering happening very rarely. With the wide selection of music that Last.fm is capable of playing, it can become a stand-in iPod for those who want to hear something new, or for those who can't fit their music library on their 8 GB iPhone.
While listening, you can do all the things you'd expect to be able to do with a music player, as well as Last.fm specific functions, like Recommending, Favoring, or Banning from your playlists. You can also press a button which allows you to purchase playing music from the iTunes store on your iPhone.
Extensive information about artists is also available, as well as tour dates, similar artists, and top listeners. As previously mentioned, the Events calendar resembles the native Calendar, and can perform nice little tricks like showing you the location of the venue on the iPhone's very own Maps App.
All in all, Last.fm has really picked up their game with 2.0, and gone from 'last page' to 'right underneath SMS'. If you don't have a Last.fm account, you should register for one (they're free) and then download this app (it's also free).