In order to tap into the increasing number of listeners using mobile, SoundCloud has released an all-new iOS app which it has described as having the “most aggressively mobile-optimised playback experience on the market.”
As well as the new waveform player – in which all key interactions were thought of as gesture-first – other notable features of the new app include anonymous access, i.e. access without an account a la YouTube, a more attractive user profile and the introduction of the explore feature, already available on the web, which gives users trending tracks at a glance.
The app has also cut away many excess features in the name of simplification, with some to be brought back in future including playlist creation, search filters and suggestions, following/followers, timed comments and account management.
Dubbed the YouTube of sounds, the Berlin company has grown to become the city’s most prominent startup success, and recently moved into its flash new digs as the cornerstone tenant of Factory. Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud’s co-founder and CTO of the Berlin startup, told the Guardian: “For us, it’s a snapshot of how our vision of the listener experience has been evolving. Can we make it more visual and simpler, so it’s easier to discover and hear more stuff, to collect things and listen to them again.”
SoundCloud tracks reportedly reach some 250 million listeners each month, with 12 hours worth of audio uploaded every minute.