Download Squad

Friday amidst the fury new iPhone application releases, Pandora released an application for iPhone and iPod touch that allows users to take their personalized radio stations with them. Existing Pandora users can download the free app and instantly have access to all their current radio stations as well as add new ones. If you're not already a Pandora user then the process is slightly more difficult to get started and involves authorizing your mobile device on Pandora's web page.

Pandora for the iPhone offers the same features as traditional Pandora for your PC. Stations can be easily created around a particular artist or song that you enjoy. As you're listening to a song you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down to help customize the station to your preferences. Songs can be skipped if you really don't like them, bookmarked if you do, or immediately purchased through the iTunes store if you can't live without them a moment longer. The app also has an information button where you can read about why a particular song was selected to play on your radio station.

We gave the app a little test drive last night. We were really impressed with the app's interface and love that looks a lot like traditional Iphone music player, complete with full screen cover art. If you're still rocking a first gen iPhone and live somewhere where your EDGE data tends to be a little hit or miss, then so is your Pandora. We drove around town and had a few instances where the music would skip, or in some cases stop entirely which is no fun when you're trying to rock out. Most of the issues seemed to happen in-between songs so the app may be designed to work a little ahead of itself to compensate for passing through areas that aren't EDGE friendly.