New Features in Pandora for the iPhone and iPad

Pandora is one of those essential apps that I've written about in my Tips for Listening to Pandora on the iPhone post. The latest update has a couple of really big improvements that make for a better user experience.

Hitting the thumbs up or thumbs down on a song teaches Pandora what you like and what you don't, in essence, training your station to play more songs you will enjoy and less songs that you won't enjoy. However, in the past, if you were busy listening while doing other things, you might miss the opportunity to press the thumbs up or thumbs down. Once the song was over, it was too late. With the latest update, you can tap a button on the upper right portion of the screen that gives you access to information about the songs you've already listened to since you started the app. You can swipe to get to anyone of them and then hit the thumbs up or thumbs down after the fact.

On the same screen that shows your history, the lyrics to any of the songs you have listened to (or are listening to) are shown if available. This comes in handy if you are listening to "Blinded by the Light" by Manfred Mann, for example.

If you don't have Pandora, it's one of those apps worth having, especially given that it is free. If you do, the upgrade makes it an even more compelling app.