Today's Best Apps: Bench Player, TuneMob And Aero
Bench Player by Imre Katai (Free, 2.6 MB): This visually-focused music player adds freshness to your listening time through ever-changing backgrounds. Bringing a kind of personal touch, the app fetches different portraits of the artist or band, swapping them out every minute or so. As it should, the eye-pleasing imagery spreads throughout most of the app with simple white text overlays, blurred and updated photos while navigating song lists, and a miniaturized version of album cover artwork displayed in the bottom corner. In addition, artist areas contain an Info section, courtesy of Last.fm, so that you can learn more about the artists. Not quite as elegant, which could be intentional for unmistakable recognition, the semi-translucent green control panel is accessed at the very top of the screen, providing volume adjustment, playback commands, and activity sharing options via Twitter or Facebook. NOTE: The app frequently utilizes data channels for downloading biographies and new images. Remember to responsibly monitor all cellular data usage to avoid any overage charges.
TuneMob by TuneMob (Free, 7.5 MB): Conveniently share your tunes with people nearby using this DJ-type streaming music player. More specifically, the app broadcasts music to up to seven iDevices, all playing in sync. Therefore, you are able to quickly and easily construct a wireless multi-speaker system at a party or allow multiple passengers in a vehicle to listen with their own set of earphones and still be comfortable. The app operates through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and requires very little configuration. One device is the host and able to add songs to the queue while any others nearby running the app may freely join as listeners. All devices can individually mute the audio, control volume, and view the playlist. As a note, all iDevices must be utilizing the same connection type, either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If the host changes the type, usually by disabling the other, the session must be closed and restarted to take effect.
Aero by Robert Paul Neagu ($1.24, 5.7 MB): Ready for the iOS 7 experience, this minimalistic weather app gets you the important outdoor details quickly and efficiently. The main viewing panel consists of the basics, such as temperature and wind speed, plus the 5-day forecast in white text atop a dynamically changing sky-type colored background, namely some animated 2-D clouds. Obviously, the color helps indicate the temperature, red for hot and dark blue / black for cold. As a nifty way of separation from the upper portion, the week ahead report is accompanied by a temperature-based line graph. If you need an hour-by-hour forecast, just tap the clock icon in the top-right. Last, but absolutely not least, Aero also provides the highly requested temperature displaying app icon badge, updated every 30 minutes for the current location. The app supports both Metric and Imperial units, unlimited locations accessed effortlessly via a horizontal swipe, as well both the badge and Push notifications.
