Rdio just rolled out a new iOS and Android update to its super popular music streaming service, and I think they may have read my mind before pulling the trigger. The application now has a unified look and feel across all devices (minus the desktop), and we can’t help but get a little giddy about how great the UI looks. That said, the biggest and most important news from the announcement is that Rdio just released a built-in Remote for its apps.
Have you ever plugged an iPad into a music dock, hit play, and then went to sit on the couch, only to decide once you get comfortable that the music is the wrong track? With the new update you can change the track directly from another iOS device, as well as see what’s playing across the room. Long story short, you now have a remote for Rdio that doesn’t require AirPlay.
The remote is pretty great, but it does have a few shortcomings. You can’t change the volume remotely. You can’t queue up new music remotely. You can’t search new artists locally and then push the music to the remote device. It may be something coming in a future update, but it’s certainly something that needs to be available as soon as possible. Having to get up constantly to put on a new album, while a first world problem, is still a problem if you’re trying to manage Rdio remotely.
The desktop app has not received an update, so the Remote and other features have yet to make it to the desktop version of the application.
The streaming service starts at $4.99 per month for web only access, and then scales up to $9.99 per month for mobile access, and $17.99 per month for two user accounts that can stream simultaneously. You can, however, try it for 30 days free of charge.