May 20th, 2009
by admin.
Filed under: Audio, iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
In our discussions of radio apps for the iPhone we’ve briefly mentioned Stitcher, a great app for accessing a wide variety of audio programs on the go. In fact, Stitcher has been kind enough to add our TUAW Talkcast in the app and on their site (where you can stream via your browser). Stitcher is currently available for the iPhone and several of the latest BlackBerry models, although the Storm version is still pending. I’ve been using Stitcher 2 for a while, and if you’re a news junkie, you will be pleased.Check the gallery for a screen-by-screen analysis, but here are some winning points for Stitcher:
- A large library of podcasts. Why listen via Stitcher? Well, you can get them on the go and you don’t have to download them.
- A library of headlines — posts read aloud from sites like TechCrunch and Macworld. It might seem silly to some, but for commuters it’s a great way to hear what your favorite sites are writing about.
- Even more content from people like NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, Slate, CNN, The Onion and many others.
- A “station” model like Pandora. The idea is to “stitch” together a station of the stuff you like. Maybe you like a little offbeat humor, a little financial news and then wind down with Engadget headlines. Stitcher can do that.
- Stitcher is also pretty good at recommending content, so it becomes a discovery tool (again, like Pandora). The pre-configured stations are excellent and grouped around content. One of note: Short Attention Span — all shows are under 3 minutes.
- You can choose to enable an account with Stitcher, providing a connected experience from the web to your iPhone.
- The app itself has a history feature (handy and underrated), an excellent search function and a way to favorite stations.
- Since Stitcher has a web presence, you’re also able to get alerts via email or SMS when fresh content arrives. You can set this for any station or broadcast.
Stitcher [iTunes link] is free, setting up an account is free, and all the content is free, so you won’t lose anything by trying it out. While you do, be sure to check out the TUAW Talkcast on Stitcher and Engadget’s headlines.
TUAWStitcher 2.0, now with 100% more TUAW originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 20 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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