Pandora 5.0 for Android arrives with proper tablet interface

Despite the rumors from earlier in the week, this latest Pandora app update did not add Chromecast support. We suspect some may be disappointed about that, however this update did bring something that was long overdue — proper tablet support. In fact, this update is being touted as one that has been “designed specifically for Android tablets.”

First though, unlike the recent Twitter update, Pandora for tablets isn’t limited to just one model. The folks at Pandora haven’t offered any specifics on tablet models, however they have said the app “now natively supports hundreds of different Android tablets.” Otherwise, there was mention of how this update brings features that touch on the listening experience and personalization as well as discovery and exploration, your personal profile and music feed and connecting and sharing with friends.

Basically, it seems the larger screen simply provides more room for features. For example, the listening experience portion touches on how users will keep the same core experience, but also get some additional station details and easier access to shuffle, rename and the ability to delete stations. The discover aspect is similar — more room for more on the screen. In this case we are seeing more detail about what is currently playing and enriched artist pages.

Shifting to the profile and music feed. Here we have Capture which offers a detailed timeline on what you are doing. This includes everything from stations created to bookmarked tracks to your thumb history. You can opt to have this public or private. The Music Feed acts as a central place to view your listening activity, but also allows you to see what friends are listening to.

Lastly, there is the sharing aspect. Pandora has said the social sharing features are now “easier than ever to navigate” and that users will be able to publish their activity to Facebook using the Pandora Timeline app and also share manually.

SOURCE: Pandora, Google Play Store