SoundCloud 3.7.1
Quite a looker
Not to favor the service over others but SoundCloud really got its act together a long time ago, and the iPhone app is no different. The sleek translucent UI simply slides under your fingers and it’s a testimony that the developers care about the user experience more than revenue (or at least just as much).
Probably the best thing about SoundCloud’s UI is the playback screen, where you can grab hold of the track and swipe it left and right, complete with a visualization of the sounds (a trademark feature of SoundCloud). Album artwork displays front and center, and everything just flies.
Just music, no hassle
One of the best things about SoundCloud (not necessarily just the iPhone app) is that you can hop on it and instantly hit play. No account required if your preferences aren’t too fancy.
To share, save for offline listening, comment and other features, you do need to log in, but you can do so with your existing Facebook or Google account.
Playing is just a matter of tapping anywhere on the playback screen, and pausing is done the same. Playback runs in the background if you want to leave the app, and SoundCloud even displays on your lockscreen, if you put the device to sleep. iPhone users can also finally create private playlists by collecting their favorite tracks. They can even add tracks to the existing ones.
The search feature lets you directly fetch the songs you want and even save them for offline playback. Whatever SoundCloud puts at your disposal, it’s free to grab (but not for commercial purposes, of course).
What you get
All in all, SoundCloud is one awesome music app. You get to listen to music for free, discover new artists and tending tracks, follow friends and DJs, take a sip of contemporary classical music, save for offline listening... all without ads or tricky subscriptions and in-app purchases. Really, there’s not much more you can ask for.
Thanks to a recent update, longer tracks now have longer waveforms and users can rewind and forward with greater precision. Streaming retry has been improved for poor connections, and the app has been optimized for iOS 8 and iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. A bug involving sharing on iOS 8 has also been addressed.
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0/5
Hits & Misses
hits
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misses
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Bottom Line
Design / UI10
Picture-perfect! SoundCloud is hands-down one of the best-looking music players available for iPhone. There’s nothing about its UI that needs tweaking, from where we stand. |
Function8
Get your music fix free of charge, discover new artists and tends tracks, follow friends and DJs, share |
Security8
Its various social ties make it somewhat exposed, but remember that you can also use many of its features without an account |
Battery8
Not a major drainer, and certainly not an issue when running in the background. It drains just as much as Apple’s own Music app |
Price10
Like we said, you get everything for nothing. Not even an ad. Technically that link to grab AudioCopy on iTunes can be considered advertising, but we'll let it slide |
Compatibility9
Requires iOS 7 and supports all iDevices natively, including iPads |
One heck of a music player for your pocket, 100% free, no hassle
Specifications
- price:
- 100% Free
- current version:
- 3.7.1
- reviewed version:
- 3.6.0
- developer:
- SoundCloud Ltd.
- category:
- AUDIO
- os version req.:
- 7.0
- age rating:
- 4+
- in-app purchases:
- No
- hits:
- 951