Pandora pushed out an iPhone app update yesterday that leverages an interesting new feature of iOS 5 — the ability for third party developers to change lock screen imagery and provide textual information. Cues that seem perfectly suited for a music streaming app such as Pandora.
For years we complained about missing iPhone features. But now, while still lacking the customizability of Android, iOS is supremely polished and (for most) well beyond feature complete. Need more proof? While I’ve invested in the fine TrackThis app, at some point the iPhone software was updated to natively link tracking numbers in email messages to their respective shipping companies.
I’ve been flirting with Windows Phone 7, but little touches like these (along with the massive app ecosystem) make it difficult to quit Apple.
I will say that Notification Center still needs work (but not notifications). Gizmodo and Gruber also make good points regarding the crazy backgrounds. But these are nits.
FYI: The Rdio iPhone app does the same thing with the lock screen.
The native music app on the Thunderbolt (Android) also shows whatever song is playing on the lock screen. Though Slacker doesn’t do this yet.
And I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Android/HTC Sense to see the amount of integration between social media apps and standard features like contacts and calendar. I would never see a damn thing on Facebook if it weren’t connected to my phone contacts.
Spoken like a true Android fanboy! ;)
It has always irritated me that the iPod app would work with the lock screen controls (and my steering wheel attached Kensington Liquid Aux remote) but not with other applications. Looks like that’s been fixed with iOS 5. Interesting that nobody else has mentioned this Dave… I guess when there are “hundreds” of new features some of them get skipped over.
Course this also means my ICE wallpaper (In Case of Emergency–call my wife, here’s my home phone number if I lose this phone, etc) might not be visible when somebody picks it up and they’ll have to know to hit the pause button…
I follow the Windows Phone 7 phones as well though they seem kind of “me too” in the hardware department. Had been hoping the Nokia phones would kick this up a notch, but those feel kind of ‘meh’ too honestly, and we still don’t know what US carriers, what prices, or even when (next February maybe?) and by then another 50 Android phones will have come and gone. Will they even have LTE? No idea. Not impressed with how slow they are moving.
The third party app lock screen playback controls aren’t new, I think that came with iOS 4 or whenever background music did. It’s the image and text that’s new.
Yeah, I like where the WP7 software is… but the hardware has been kinda blah. Considering the Nokia Lumia 800 is a retrofit, they did a pretty good job. But it’s still not quite sexy enough in the spec department – some of that is on MS due to software-based resolution and processor limitations I guess.
One thing I also like about the new Pandora app, it sends the track info to my Sony Bluetooth stereo in my car.
These are good details, for sure, but when I hear the word “polish” used about an operating system that ALWAYS displays on-screen keyboard letters in ALL CAPS, regardless of the current mode, I laugh.