Description: For those that have been living under a rock the past few years, Pandora Internet radio (www.pandora.com) aims to play “The music you like”. Basically you create a “Station”, based on an artist or genre, and then as it plays music for you, you rate the songs with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Songs that get a thumbs up get played more often, and songs with similar qualities are added to the circulation, while songs that get a thumbs down are skipped and similar songs are removed. Drawbacks include the fact that, like radio, you can’t choose what songs you want to hear, only artist or genre, you can’t repeat songs you like, and you can only skip so many songs per day.

Pandora for iPhone is essentially the Pandora website, in a streamlined iPhone version. It’s a great tool to expand your musical taste, but suffers the same drawbacks as the website, as well as a few functionality issues that make it hard to recommend.

Interface: As with most iPhone/iPod touch applications, interface is key, and Pandora pretty much nailed it.

The most important functions are laid out across the bottom of the screen, allowing you to quickly switch between stations, the station creator, your bookmarks, and settings. Music selection is arranged in the same way the iPhone’s music library is arranged, making it a familiar interface, and easy to use. The Now Playing screen is similar to the iPhone’s, with the rewind button removed and thumbs up and thumbs down buttons added. A button in the top right corner allows you to display artist information, and the reason why the song was selected for you. All other features, including artist search and genre selection, should be more than familiar to iPhone users.

Pros: Good free app with an extensive musical library available for streaming. Good if you want to listen to something on the go and don’t have your computer with you. The music quality is good, buffers quickly, and usually doesn’t skip, which can be a problem with streaming media. A good clean interface makes it easy to quickly start playing your music.

Cons: Just like the website, Pandora for iPhone does not allow you to choose specific songs or repeat tracks. This is not Pandora’s fault, they are limited by the music industry regulations, but this is a frustrating drawback. The biggest drawback I’ve encountered is that, like other streaming music programs for iPhone, is that it cannot run in the background, so the app must be open to listen to the music. This is compensated by the fact that it resumes the previous song you were playing when you closed it, but still severely limits the functionality.

iPhone vs. iPod Touch: The iPhone clearly wins out here, with the ability to access the internet anywhere. iPod touch is limited to areas with wifi, and the restrictions that come with it.

Conclusion: A good application that does what it’s supposed to, but not as well as one might hope. In Pandora’s defense, most of the restrictions and issues are out of their control. This does not change the fact that I rarely use this application unless I’m completely occupied with something else (like writing this review) and have no need to use my iPod touch for anything other than music.

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