Spotify 0.5.2 (for Android)

I'm one of the Spotify faithful, but I used to always gripe about the Android app's lack of music discovery. I can search and instantly stream most songs on-demand, but there are times I just want to listen to a radio station. During those moments I turned to Pandora and HypeMachine. No longer. In a July update, Spotify 0.5.2 for Android added a Pandora-like radio feature that integrates seamlessly with your Spotify playlists. I experienced some performance issues, but the overall design is great, and I love having all my music functionality in one app so much that I'm willing to forgive some early glitches.

Spotify 101
For the uninitiated, Spotify is an online music service that lets you play songs from a mainstream-heavy library of more than 15 million tracks, build playlists, and get recommendations from other members or from Spotify's own recommendation engine. Upgrading to a Premium account removes ad interruptions, and lets you store playlists offline (up to 3,333 tracks), and sync your account to an unlimited number of mobile devices. Trust me, it's worth it. If you don't have Premium, you can (and absolutely should) sign up for a free 30-day trial to enjoy our Editors' Choice pick for premium music services on your Android device.

If you'd rather not pay a dime, Spotify lets you use the radio feature for free, albeit with frequent ad interruptions. Meanwhile Songza is the Editors' Choice among free music services, and it supports iOS and Android.?Slacker Radio, another Editors' Choice pick on the PC and iPad, serves tons of streaming radio stations. For a pure cloud-based music player, Google Play Music is a solid option, but you can only share a full stream with Google+ members and you can only add music you've purchased through Google Play.

Gorgeous Look and Feel?and Sound
Spotify for Android looks more like Spotify for iPad than Spotify on an iPhone or desktop. The app sheds Spotify's original black and green color scheme for lots of clean lines, white space, and grey trim. Graphics, particularly album covers, are so vivid they almost pop. It's a beautiful way to play music on a tablet.?

Navigation is faster and snappier, too, thanks to lots of buttery-smooth scrolling and swiping. For example, you can swipe left to access your Settings menu to open your playlists, Inbox, Friends list, song recommendations, and search box. The menu simply layers on top of an existing page. This is the first Android app I've reviewed that performs better than its iPhone counterpart. Not only is it faster and more intuitive, but it also ports a few awesome desktop features.

You can stream or download tracks at a deliciously high 320kbps, called Extreme mode. It'll hog your data, so use it sparingly or with Wi-Fi. Spotify for Android also supports gapless playback and crossfading between tracks so there aren't any abrupt pauses.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/i767KgXdevY/0,2817,2405831,00.asp

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