Pandora redesigns iPad app as iTunes Radio rolls out
The top online radio company gives its iPad experience the first major refresh since the device debuted, coming the same day as Apple is set to launch its competing radio service.
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Pandora's iPad app on Wednesday got its biggest revamp since the Apple tablet came into being.
The same day that Apple is slated to roll out iTunes Radio in the US, Pandora added elements like social sharing to its tablet app in the first major changes to the application since debuting on the device when it was introduced in April 2010.
The Pandora iPad update allows users to learn more about artists and share via Facebook and Twitter. A music feed provides a timeline of your music preferences, such as stations created.
At the same time, Pandora updated the rest of its iOS designs to adopt the look and feel of iOS 7, which Apple is set to make available Wednesday, and refreshed its branding, like its logos and icons.
Pandora Chief Technology Officer Tom Conrad told CNET in an interview that the fresh coat of paint, not only for the iPad app but also the company's general visual presentation, marks "an evolution of where we've been both in terms of visual design and how we talk about ourselves."
"If anything, it's a reflection of a certain amount of maturity," he said.
The company will release the redesigned version of the Pandora app for Android tablets this fall.
The company holds sway at the top of the Internet radio market, but it faces uncertainty as it takes on a major new competitor in iTunes Radio while adjusting to leadership under a new chief executive with a track record in advertising.
Pandora has more than 200 million registered users, more than 71 million of whom were regular listeners at the end of last month, but even at the front of the pack, Pandora only represents about 7 percent of US radio listening.