Dave got the update back at CES that Slacker would soon be offering wireless caching for its Android, Blackberry, and iPhone apps. For Android and Blackberry device owners, that day is here. The good folks at Slacker confirmed the news for us when the updates dropped tonight, and I headed straight over to the Android app market to update my mobile Slacker software.
As I write this, six stations are caching wirelessly on my Android phone for any-time playback. While I still have my dedicated Slacker hardware (good for saving songs via my premium subscription), I have to admit that my phone is with me more often than the little music player. Sample use case? I’ve started plugging my phone into my car speakers for Slacker tunes on the road. The mobile connection sometimes causes a station to stutter, but the offline function will now help me avoid that problem altogether.
Other tidbits from the latest Slacker update:
UPDATE: I tried the app out on a cross-country flight yesterday and was sadly disappointed. It crashed. A lot. And instead of just quitting the app and re-starting, I had to power down and then power up the phone to get my cached stations to play again. Very frustrating. After multiple restarts, I did manage to get the app working for one long stretch. When it worked, it was fantastic.