Review: Instinctiv Shuffle
July 7, 2008
Instinctiv Shuffle v1.0.1 | Published by Instinctiv | Via ModMyIfone Source | Free
Overview
From the publisher's site:
If you've found out about Instictiv Shuffle, you're obviously smart. So naturally, we can't really explain how our Instinctiv Shuffle™ works (or you might steal it :)). But here's a quick outline of the steps that our application takes to "understand" you and select just the right songs at the right moment:Review Hey, ever had a day where your shuffle skips from Frank Sinatra to NWA to Frou Frou to Mozart? Isn't that a head trip? Instinctiv Shuffle claims it can fix that... and it sorta seems like it can. This is somewhat of a difficult app to review, because it's so simple. [SCREENSHOT SHUFFLE] That's the whole program. It's like a big red switch: "magic" or "more magic". Turn on for awesome. After you switch the smart shuffle on, it replaces "Shuffle Songs" in the Songs menu under your device's Music program. From fiddling with it a fair bit, it seems to stick around in albums and grooves you're enjoying, and switches up the tempo if you skip a given song. It will wait a few songs before playing that artist again, as well, and each time you skip that artist there's a longer wait before trying him/her again in the rotation. It's kind of like having a friend say, "you liked that? Check out THIS! No? Ok, how about THIS! Yeah, cool. Here's some more. Sure you don't like this other one? Ok, I'm moving it away..." It's fairly impressive as-is, but apparently the program learns as you use it and becomes smarter. Which is both cool, and kinda creepily reminiscent of HAL. If my iPod starts playing "Daisy, Daisy" as every fourth song, I'm coming after the makers of this software. I imagine they'll have an iPod inside a double-locked vault, and there would be an extended standoff with police until Arnold walked into the lobby with the tear gas canister and... ahem. Summary Cool little idea, cool little program. The more you use it, the more accurate it's supposed to get. Usability: 4 / 5 Value: 5 / 5 Utility: 4 / 5 Aesthetics: 4 / 5 Overall Rating: 4.25 / 5Our application gathers the names of your songs and their associated playback. Via a secure and anonymous connection, this data is uploaded to our server. We analyze the music data and return information to your iPhone, enabling your formerly random shuffle to determine the perfect songs for you. Instinctiv Shuffle™ doesn't stop there! It continually gets better, learning about you and your preferences based on your skipping behavior.