The new Pandora App for the iPhone has emerged as one of the most popular Apps after the initial launch of the App Store. It allows iPhone users to access the enormous database of music available at Pandora.com.
If you're not familiar with Pandora, it is an internet radio station that builds its library of songs based on your specific interests. On the website you can create an account, add one or more artists that you already like, and it will create an entire "radio station" around that artist(s). Pandora is able to do this because they have created the "Music Genome Project," which has classified almost every song by its core musical components. When you suggest a new artist, it takes the characteristics of that artist's songs (such as "strong male vocals" or "jazz influences") and finds other music with similar components. The Pandora algorithm is extremely good at finding music that you're likely to enjoy.
So how does the Pandora iPhone App compare to the awesomeness of the main service? Well, in general, the App holds up very well. It allows you to create an account or use a current account. If you do have an account, it will use the stations you have already set up online. If you create a new station, there is one drawback. Normally you can submit one artist/song to create a new station and then add more later if you like. This latter option isn't available on the iPhone, so new stations are stuck with only a single artist. Of course, if you rate all of your music, it will eventually even out, but I find that limitation somewhat annoying.
The main interface has great, high-res images of the cover art for each song and the familiar "rate-up" and "rate-down" buttons. It also has a pause/play button and a skip to next button (though that button will only jump forward 6 songs per hour, just like online). There is a volume slider, but unfortunately it won't move with the external volume controls, so while either one works, it is kind of awkward to use.
One other gripe I have about the App is that if you let it sit dormant for too long (except while it is playing), it will let the phone fall asleep and when you unlock it again, the App will have closed and you will have lost any song that it was playing at the time. Sometimes I pause things for a long time, so I wish it could hold itself open somehow.
Overall, the App is decent and works in the sense that it allows the user to access the amazing Pandora library. This first version is slightly clunky, but I think in time it will have all the bugs worked out of it. Just keep checking for updates.