Groove for iPad Makes iTunes Fun Again
By 
Technological changes such as the invention of the iPod and the creation of MP3s caused a sea change in the way that everyone, from hipsters to jazz aficionados, listen to music. While it would be an exaggeration to that as music lovers we have grown blasé about using an iDevice to enjoy music, some of the novelty has definitely worn off.
Groove for iPad spruces up a user’s digital music library by offering countless new ways to listen to tunes. Groove generates a variety of playlists including The Groovy Mix, Three of a Kind, Surprise Me, and Favorites, as well as automatically creating genre-based playlists.
Groove offers playlist choices to match a listener’s mood. The Groovy Mix and Better Together options match artists based on style. Better Together pairs artists, while the Groovy Mix draws on the entire library to create a playlist that makes sounds good together.
Favorites allows a user to revisit the artists or categories that she listens to most often, while Three of a Kind plays three songs from each artist in succession.
The app also improves on iTunes’ standard playlist offerings. It automatically generates playlists based on the type of music in a user’s library. Groove matches tags from Last.fm to songs on the iPad. While it is possible to achieve similar results in iTunes, but tagging is often inconsistent, and it is up to the user to create the playlist.
Groove’s UI is sleek and easy to navigate. The app overrides the lock screen on the iPad, so it is easy to change the volume, skip a song, or check what is playing without completely unlocking the iPad. After years of squinting at my Nano I also enjoyed seeing the cover art rendered large enough that I could actually see it.
Navigating in Groove was easy. It is important to remember to sync with iTunes (do this by touching the arrows on the bottom right once inside the app) if you have made any changes to your library since the last time you ran Groove. The app will not do this automatically, but it will continue to suggest songs that are no longer on your device.
Groove is currently available for download in the App store for the introductory price of $1.99.
What I liked: Accessing my music from the lock screen was very convenient. I usually listen to music on shuffle, so Groove’s Surprise Me was my favorite playlist option. Groove’s band information was up-to-date fun to glance at.
What I didn’t like: The option to MP3s on the iPad automatically would improve Groove’s performance.
To buy or not to buy: Any user who stores music on an iPad, however, will enjoy Groove, but a user who stores several GBs of music on her iPad will benefit more from Groove than a user who only has room for a few songs. Although Groove improves upon iTunes, its appeal may decrease once iOS 5 arrives and users have access to music through the iCloud.
- App Name: Groove for iPad
- Version Reviewed: 2.0
- Category: Music
- Developer: Zikera
- Price: Introductory price: $1.99. Final price: $3.99
- Score:
